Just when things were going great with Tom-Tom and his girlfriend Tanya, some thug of a woodland king had to kidnap her and hide her away, and Tom-Tom doesn't have a clue where. That's why he has to explore deep dark forests, cross endless oceans, climb treacherous slopes, survive endless volcanoes, and even walk through clouds. But Tom-Tom will never be totally alone. You see, when he goes through the exotic locations, he has to come face to face with its inhabitants, like bees, spiders, snakes, coal-kids, frogs, bats, snails, coyotes, and octopuses, to name a few. The hatchet is Tom-Tom's only line of defense against these menaces.
The Wonder Boy game has different versions on various platforms, but the Commodore 64 version follows a similar storyline. In this adventure game, you control Tom-Tom as he explores through eight areas, each containing four rounds. Your goal is to rescue Tanya from the woodland king's clutches.
The gameplay involves exploring different environments, collecting items and power-ups, and avoiding enemies. You can break open eggs to find items like hatchets, skateboards, and health-restoring food. Riding a skateboard allows you to progress through each round without losing vitality, but be careful not to collide with enemies. If you collect all the required items in an area, you'll unlock a special warp gate that takes you to the next area.
As you progress through the game, your character's vitality will decrease, and you'll need to eat food or drink from special items to restore it. There are also enemies with fireballs or lightning bolts that will attack you if you get too close. The goal is to collect as many hearts as possible without falling off the screen or getting hit by an enemy.