Mônica no Castelo do Dragão

***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.

## 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

* 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.

## Gallery

*Mônica no Castelo do Dragão*Front and rear of *Mônica no Castelo do Dragão*
## Videos

The Making of Wonder Boy in Monster Land - The Making of Monica no Castelo do DragaoThe Making of Mônica no Castelo do Dragão
## References

1. 1. *Mônica no Castelo do Dragão* instruction manual. Tectoy. 1991
	2. Mônica no Castelo do Dragão – A primeira aventura da dentucinha no Master System!. Tectoy. November 6, 2016. Consulted on June 24, 2022
	3. Interview with João Manoel Quadros Barros. From the magazine *Jogos 80* #14. 2014. p. 10. Consulted on June 24, 2022
	4. ↑ "Mônica contra o terrível exército do Capitão Feio". *Mônica*, nº 64. Editora Globo, abril de 1992

1. ↑ The Cutting Room Floor: *Mônica no Castelo do Dragão*