It's ironic this is considered the de-facto Master System game - and it is! It's an iconic and unique classic, and for some, the pinnacle of the Wonder Boy series.

The problem is it's best played elsewhere. The Charisma system makes this Master System original a drag. It's removed from both the later Game Gear port and the DotEmu remake. Play either of those instead. (no idea how the PC-Engine version handles this)

I would've finished a full run of this but I kept re-doing the same Dragon Mail subquest over and over - first cause I locked my charisma out of purchasing it, and then again because the password I generated to get enough charisma to buy it locked me out of my mouse transformation. I don't have the motivation to give it another go rn, so I think I'm gonna focus on other RPG's for the meantime.