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Mônica no Castelo do Dragão (lit. "Monica in the Dragon's Castle") is a platform electronic game published by Tectoy in Brazil in 1991 for the Master System. It is an authorized graphic and textual reprogramming of the Master System version of Wonder Boy in Monster Land, developed by Westone Bit Entertainment and Sega, which features Monica (Mônica), from the Monica and Friends (Turma da Mônica) comic books, as the main character. The objective of the game is to stop Captain Fray (Capitão Feio) from taking over the world with dirt and pollution, defeating monsters throughout twelve stages.
The game was made in partnership with Mauricio de Sousa Produções, the owner of Monica and Friends, and Tectoy used reverse engineering and its own software to reprogram Wonder Boy in Monster Land. Released at Christmas 1991, Mônica no Castelo do Dragão was well received by Brazilian electronic game magazines and marked the beginning of a series of partnerships between Tectoy and Sega. The game had two sequels: Turma da Mônica em O Resgate and Turma da Mônica na Terra dos Monstros, the latter for the Mega Drive. In 1992, it was freely adapted into a Turma da Mônica comic story.
Plot and Gameplay[]
In Mônica no Castelo do Dragão, Captain Fray, the "Master of Manholes", has the dream of conquering the world and leaving it dirty and polluted. To help him, he gathered an army of monsters, who attacked and took over the world. Monica, with her stuffed rabbit, is the only one who can stop him, defeating the monsters she encounters along the way. Mônica no Castelo do Dragão is a 2D platform game with RPG elements, which is a graphic and textual reprogramming of the Sega game Wonder Boy in Monster Land. The player controls Monica throughout twelve stages, each with its own monsters, items and scenarios. Each city has a store to buy items, using gold, which include shields, armor, boots and magic. When Monica defeats monsters, she receives gold or treasures worth points.
The player initially has five life points represented by hearts, which are used up when Monica is attacked by enemies. When all hit points are lost, she turns into a dirt monster. An hourglass representing the time to complete the level appears at the top of the screen, and when it runs out, Monica lose one heart. Collecting small hourglasses or using the services from shops and hospitals restores time. Within the game, Captain Fray is only seen in the title screen and mentioned in text; The last boss is the dragon mentioned in the title, with Captain Fray only appearing as a boss in the sequels.
Background and Release[]
Tectoy was founded in Brazil in 1987 as a technology toy company. The partnership between the company and Sega began in 1988, when it licensed Tectoy to launch its Zillion laser-tag weapon, based on the anime of the same name. With the success of the product, Sega realized that Tectoy could be the ideal partner to distribute its products in Brazil and, thus, the Master System was launched in the country in 1989. The partnership between Tectoy and Mauricio de Sousa Produções — responsible for Monica and Friends — began in the same year, when a product based on the film Turma da Mônica e a Estrelinha Mágica (1988) was launched.
With the success of the Master System and other products, Tectoy moved from its old office to another that was opposite the Mauricio de Sousa Produções office at the time, which further strengthened the bond between the two companies. Tectoy suggested the idea of an electronic game starring Monica to cartoonist Mauricio de Sousa, this being a graphic and textual reprogramming, authorized by Sega, of Wonder Boy in Monster Land. Mauricio approved the idea, but asked that the sword — used by the main character in the game — be replaced by Monica's stuffed rabbit, Samson (Samsão), since, according to Mauricio, she was not a violent character.
Sega did not send software development kits (SDKs) or other tools to Tectoy, forcing it to reverse engineer Wonder Boy in Monster Land. Tectoy used a visual editor created by one of its engineers, called "EdMega", a software from MS-DOS. Mônica no Castelo do Dragão was released in December 1991, close to Christmas. Simultaneously, Tectoy began offering a phone line offering tips and tricks for gamers, as well as support for consoles and games. Later, the game began to be included in a pink version of the Master System, aimed at a female audience.
Rounds[]
Map
| Round | Name | Translation | Wonder Boy in Monster Land counterpart |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reino do Capitão Feio | Captain Fray's Kingdom | City of Wonder Land |
| 2 | Vale dos monstros | Valley of Monsters | Valley of Peace |
| 3 | Castelo do Conde Malvado | Evil Count's Castle | Wizard's Castle |
| 4 | Cidade dos pântanos | City of the Marshes | City of Baraboro |
| 5 | Deserto de Fogo | Fire Desert | The Mam Desert |
| 6 | Piramide do Duque Armadura | Pyramid of Duke Armor | Pyramid of Sphinx |
| 7 | Ilha dos ratos | Island of Rats | The Southern Island of Pororo |
| 8 | Vila dos cactos | Village of Cacti | Village of Cacti |
| 9 | Cidade flutuante | Floating City | Floating City of Tonnovia |
| 10 | Castelo de gelo | Ice Castle | Ice Castle |
| 11 | Reino Submarino do Rei Sapo | Undersea Kingdom of King Frog | Undersea Kingdom of Catfish |
| 12 | Labirinto sem fim | Never-Ending Labyrinth | Labyrinth of No End |
Reception and Legacy[]
In general, Mônica no Castelo do Dragão received positive reception in Brazilian electronic game magazines. VideoGame magazine rated the difficulty at 7/10, graphics at 8/10 and music/sound at 7/10, giving a final rating of 8/10. The magazine Ação Games rated the graphics as "great" and the sounds and challenge as "good".
Mônica no Castelo do Dragão was the first game adapted by Tectoy. Although the game was not one of the best-selling for the console in Brazil, it marked the beginning of a series of partnerships between Tectoy and Sega; Tectoy released several other games that were based on originally Sega games, such as Chapolim x Dracula: A Scary Duel, based on Ghost House. In 1993, a sequel to Mônica no Castelo do Dragão, Turma da Mônica em: O Resgate, was released, based on Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap. A third game, Turma da Mônica na Terra dos Monsters, based on Monster World IV, was released the following year for the Mega Drive. In 1992, the game was freely adapted into the story "Mônica against the terrible army of Captain Fray". In this comic, Mônica is summoned by Jack Jacaré to go to his kingdom, located inside an electronic game cartridge, to defeat the invading monsters led by Captain Fray.
Characters[]
| Mônica no Castelo do Dragão | Translation | Wonder Boy in Monster Land counterpart |
|---|---|---|
| Mônica | Monica | Book |
| Capitão Feio | Captain Fray | N/A |
| Lili Jacaré ("Madame Lili" in the comic adaptation) |
Lili Alligator (Madame Lilly) |
Catharine |
| Zeca | Zeca | Jack |
| Bete | Beth | Betty |
| Eremita | Hermit | Old Man |
| Rei Sapo | King Frog | The Great Catfish |
- Unnamed seer and shopkeepers.
- The comic book adaptation has an original character named "Jack Jacaré" ("Jack Alligator", "Ali Gator" in the official English translation), which may or not be based on the game's Jack, who looks like a yellow reptile.
Enemies[]
| Name | Translation | Wonder Boy in Monster Land name (and altenative names) |
Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cobra | Snake | Snake | 200 |
| Serpente | Serpent | Python | 200 |
| Urutu | Urutu | Anaconda | 200 |
| Chapéu de Sapo | Frog's Hat | Myconid (Malkonid) | 200 |
| Duende Zim | Goblin Zim (as in "Zim the Goblin") | Orc (Goblet) | 300 |
| Duende Zom | Goblin Zom (as in "Zom the Goblin") | Goblin | 300 |
| Morcego Fang | Bat Fang (Fang was left untranslated, appearing to be used as a name, like "Fang the Bat") |
Vampire (Fang Bat) | 300 |
| Morcego Vamp | Bat Vamp (Either as a name, "Vamp the Bat", or a reduction of Morcego Vampiro, Vampire Bat) |
Were Bat (Vampire Bat) | 500 |
| Bolha | Bubble | Will-o'-Wisp (Eel Whisp) | 200 |
| Super Bolha | Super Bubble | Ghost | 30000 |
| Glub | Glub | Jellyfish | 200 |
| Escorpio | Escorpio (From escorpião, Portuguese for scorpion.) |
Bubbly Crab (Snapper Crab) | 500 |
| Alee Rato | Alee Rat (as in "Alee the Rat") | Were Rat (Allee Rat) | 500 |
| Master Rato | Master Rat (as in "Master the Rat") | Rat Master (Master Rat) | 800 |
| Homem Lama | Mud Man | Mudman (Madman) | 500 |
| Homem Lodo | Sludge Man | Tarman | 800 |
| Vegetarius | Vegetarius | Roper (Rohpah) | 500 |
| Octopus | Octopus (Left untranslated. "Polvo" in Portuguese) |
Octopus | 500 |
| Dona Foice | Lady Scythe | Death Master (Death) | 2000 |
| Junior Foice | Junior Scythe | Mini-Death Master | 1000 |
| Demian (Named "Lulu Morcego" internally[1]) |
Demian ("Lulu the Bat" internally) |
Vampire Lord (King Vampire) | 2000 |
| Jenifer | Jennifer | Myconid Master (Master Myconid) | 2000 |
| Conde Malvado | Evil Count | Red Knight | 3000 |
| Escudeiro de Bronze | Bronze Squire | Mini-Red Knight | 3000 |
| O Coisa | The Thing | Kraken (Kuracken) | 3000 |
| Duque Armadura | Duke Armor | Sphinx | 3000 |
| Bing Bong | Bing Bong | Giant Kong (Giant Cong / Giant Khong) | |
| Sir Aço | Sir Steel | Blue Knight | 4000 |
| Escudeiro de Aço | Steel Squire | Mini-Blue Knight | 4000 |
| Feiticeiro | Wizard | Wizard | 3000 |
| Medusa | Medusa | Medusa | 4000 |
| Super Demian | Super Demian | Demon (King Demon) | 3000 |
| Rino | Rhino | Hob Goblin (Mega-Goblin) | 4000 |
| Sing Song | Sing Song | Snow Kong (Snow Cong / Snow Khong) | 4000 |
| Sir Prata | Sir Silver | Silver Knight | 5000 |
| Mama Foice | Mama Scythe | Gold Collector (Coin Collector) | 40000 |
| Mega Foice | Mega Scythe | Mini-Coin Collector | 40000 |
| Dragão Cospe Fogo | Spitfire Dragon | Dragon | 20000 |
Gallery[]
Videos[]
References[]
- Mônica no Castelo do Dragão instruction manual. Tectoy. 1991
- Mônica no Castelo do Dragão – A primeira aventura da dentucinha no Master System!. Tectoy. November 6, 2016. Consulted on June 24, 2022
- Interview with João Manoel Quadros Barros. From the magazine Jogos 80 #14. 2014. p. 10. Consulted on June 24, 2022
- ↑ "Mônica contra o terrível exército do Capitão Feio". Mônica, nº 64. Editora Globo, abril de 1992