Steam Week in Review: The curious case of Wonder Boy in Monster Land's dubious PC debut

Wonder Boy in Monster Land released in Japanese arcades in 1987 and for the Sega Master System the following year. Its success led to numerous ports, including to ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64 and Atari ST. Oddly, it never received an official PC port, though that long absence appeared to have come to an end on September 28.

Did fans rejoice? Not really.

The Steam listing for Wonderboy in Monster Land raises one immediate red flag: note the rookie error of "Wonderboy" versus Wonder Boy. The developer and publisher is Retro Maniac, whose only other Steam game is Street Hoop, or Street Slam, an old Data East arcade game from 1994.

To bring you up to speed: LAT Corp owns all IP and assets once belonging to Westone Bit Entertainment, the creators of the original Wonder Boy games. But at the same time Sega, confusingly, owns the Wonder Boy trademark. In other words: LAT Corp owns the games, Sega owns the name. Both parties would need to OK any Wonder Boy re-release bearing the Wonder Boy name.

While the "Wonderboy" misspelling is damning, a Wonder Boy game appearing on Steam without SEGA or LAT Corp prominently displayed isn't unusual. Wonder Boy Returns Remix, which is a "remake" of the original Wonder Boy, lists CFK Co., Ltd as developer and publisher. Not only was it officially licensed, but series creator Ryuichi Nishizawa was involved. Meanwhile, Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap is a thorough remake of the 1989 Master System original, developed by Lizardcube and published by Dotemu. It's also officially licensed. Each listing discloses as much in the Steam page fine print which appears under system requirements.

There's also the wider confusion around the name Wonder Boy itself, which reared its head with the release of Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom in 2019. Since rights to Wonder Boy games are split between LAT Corp and Sega it's necessary to get an OK from both to publish a Wonder Boy game with a Wonder Boy name. But what if you can only get the blessing of one? This dynamic was in play with Monster Boy, which is definitely, spiritually a Wonder Boy game—it had Nishizawa's handprints all over it—though publisher FDG Entertainment didn't license the Wonder Boy name from Sega, hence the name.

To confuse matters even more, the original arcade version of Wonder Boy released as Adventure Island in the United States, spawning a parallel line of unrelated follow-ups.

So what is a Wonder Boy game, then? Very few but diehards know off the top of their head, and if this new arcade "port" is illegitimate, it's probably released with full knowledge that this confusion will help it fly under the radar.

I wouldn't have thought twice about it if it weren't for the Wonder Boy Universe fan account on X, which raised the alarm on September 28. Composer on the original game, Shinichi Sakamoto, also weighed in, agreeing that the Retro Maniac port is illegitimate while pointing out that it's not available in Japan. (Sakamoto also claims it's been downloaded 10,000 times on Steam, though I don't know where he got that figure).

Against my better judgement I bought and downloaded the alleged illegitimate version of Wonderboy in Monster Land, and can confirm it's simply a ROM running in the MAME arcade emulator (I've since requested a refund, which was issued promptly). The one obvious change is that a splash screen bearing the Sega logo has been removed.

(There's another variation depicted here, only Monster Land is in English rather than Japanese. The SEGA logo remains).

I reached out to Valve about the listing but didn't hear back. I also reached out to Sega several times but received no response. The Wonder Boy Universe X account claims the Retro Maniacs listing is "in the process of being DMCA'd by officials". Presumably they have a direct line to Sega or LAT that I don't have, because only Sega or LAT can file a DMCA. According to Valve's own documentation a DMCA complaint is processed in a maximum of 72 hours but can take longer if the situation is more complex.

Complex or not, Valve's documentation also shows what happens if your listing has a DMCA filed against it. Importantly, a public-facing notice will appear on the Steam page reading "A DMCA takedown notice has been filed on this item". That is yet to happen with Retro Maniac's listing.

This kind of thing happens a lot on mobile storefronts, especially for abandonware. But Wonder Boy in Monster Land isn't, at least strictly speaking, abandonware. I can't say I'm especially worried for Sega or LAT: it's obviously legally wrong for Retro Maniac to upload and profit from a game it didn't make or license—assuming that is the case—but Sega and LAT do themselves no favours by not having legitimate versions of Wonder Boy games easily available on Steam. Monster Lair and Monster World (but not Monster Land) used to be available as part of the SEGA Mega Drive and Genesis Classics collection, but that was removed from Steam in 2024.

Still, it's pretty funny how easily one can simply upload a rip off Wonder Boy game on Steam in 2026. A fortnight after its initial launch, Wonderboy in Monster Land is still officially available, and enthusiasts continue to wonder whether they should support it or not.

Top Steam games by revenue (September 29 - October 6)

That an effortful-looking MMORPG should hit number one in its launch week is unsurprising if you've been following PC gaming for the last quarter century. Also unsurprising is that it's currently sitting on "mixed" reviews. MMOs rarely or never launch to near-unanimous customer satisfaction, and the case against Aion 2 seems to be that it's structured like a free-to-play mobile game. The monetisation is apparently deep-rooted and endlessly distracting.

(I also wonder if NCSOFT will bother employing a proper artist to replace Aion 2's AI-generated assets. Surely you've got the cash?)

It's noteworthy that Minecraft Dungeons 2 only reached number ten during its first full week on sale. It's a Minecraft game, after all. It did launch onto Xbox Games Pass, and it's probably a better performer on console, but it still feels like a humble showing for an offshoot of one of the biggest games in the world.

I also expected Nivalis Nights to factor higher in the list: it came in 27th, though this chart doesn't paint the full picture since the game released on September 30 and thus is handicapped by a day.

Last week's Steam deep cuts

Car Park Capital | October 9

Who needs parks, places to live, shops etcetera, when the land they inhabit would be better served by a car park? That's the dystopian premise of Car Park Capital, which has you destroying the world with vast stretches of yellow-lined tarmac. In addition to turning the world an ashy shade of grey, you'll also need to convince people that they like it. Sounds familiar.

Silver Pines | October 9

Silver Pines is a sidescrolling, rotoscoped horror with the structure of a metroidvania. You're a PI sent to a rundown small town to find missing rock musician Eddie Velvet. Naturally, this small town is not a cheerful and tranquil place, and it's your job to survive its many and varied horrors in pursuit of Velvet. Ammo is scarce, save points are monetised, and the player-character is easily exhaustible. People are calling it Lynchian, but it's not that tonally askew.

Truckful | October 10

Here's a neat 'n' quiet driving game starring a big red truck and a world full of oddballs. As you navigate your lil' Tonka through a colourful and pastoral landscape you'll pick up deliveries to make to the next town, which will fund upgrades to your carriage's carrying capacity. Don't write Truckful off as yet more cosy whimsy: there are mysterious, possibly malevolent forces at play in some pockets of the world.

Buitopia DVD | October 10

As the name kinda implies, Buitopia DVD takes place entirely in the menus of a DVD. And not only that, it was actually built for DVD: you can download the files, burn it to a disc, and experience it in its authentic environment. But what is it? "A game about nostalgia, escapism and what lurks inside 'dead' physical media," reads the Steam description. It has some arrestingly bizarre pixel art.