Difference between revisions of "Monster World IV"
From Sega Retro
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==Gameplay== | ==Gameplay== | ||
| − | ''Monster World IV'' is a departure from previous games, | + | ''Monster World IV'' is a somewhat of a departure from previous games, which isn't surprising considering the large gap of time from the previous game. |
| − | + | This game is likely not called "Wonder Boy" as the main character is a young girl named Asha, instead of "Wonder Boy" or Shion from ''[[Wonder Boy in Monster World]]''. Asha is more acrobatic than previous protagonists in that she has extra sword moves, and has the ability to run by double-tapping {{left}} or {{right}}. Throughout the game, she will gain assistance from an amorphous blue creature known as a Pepelogoo, who Asha can use like a parachute when jumping, gain a second jump or to throw at distant switches or obstacles to solve puzzles. Life Drops can be collected throughout the game, increasing the player's life by one heart for every 10 collected. | |
| − | The game is only tangentially related to previous games in the series, specifically '' | + | Progression is similar to previous games, though the player doesn't have quite the freedom of ''Monster World II'' or ''III''. The player advances through levels in a stage-by-stage type of progression with the Kingdom of Rapadagna serving as a hub. A big change is the player cannot revisit any previous area once it has been cleared, so any items missed will become permanently inaccessible for the rest of the game. This almost puts ''Monster World IV'' in arcade game territory like the original ''Monster World''. |
| + | |||
| + | In terms of plot and setting, the game is only tangentially related to previous games in the series, specifically ''Monster World III'' - the game takes place in Monster World several centuries after, the helper characters from the last game appear as spirits, and a book in a library references Shion's adventure. It features no references to the events of the other ''Monster World'' games. | ||
===Areas=== | ===Areas=== | ||
Revision as of 03:08, 14 March 2019
| Monster World IV | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| System(s): Sega Mega Drive, Virtual Console, PlayStation 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Publisher: Sega | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Developer: Westone | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sound driver: Westone sound driver | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Genre: Action | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number of players: 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Monster World IV (モンスターワールドIV) is an action game in the Wonder Boy franchise, and was released for the Sega Mega Drive exclusively in Japan in 1994. Technically speaking, it's the sixth Wonder Boy title.
For many years, this was the last game in the franchise until a remake of Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap and a brand-new title, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom, were eventually announced and released in 2017 and 2018 respectively. However, Monster World IV is definitely the last Westone game.
Contents
Gameplay
Monster World IV is a somewhat of a departure from previous games, which isn't surprising considering the large gap of time from the previous game.
This game is likely not called "Wonder Boy" as the main character is a young girl named Asha, instead of "Wonder Boy" or Shion from Wonder Boy in Monster World. Asha is more acrobatic than previous protagonists in that she has extra sword moves, and has the ability to run by double-tapping 
or 
. Throughout the game, she will gain assistance from an amorphous blue creature known as a Pepelogoo, who Asha can use like a parachute when jumping, gain a second jump or to throw at distant switches or obstacles to solve puzzles. Life Drops can be collected throughout the game, increasing the player's life by one heart for every 10 collected.
Progression is similar to previous games, though the player doesn't have quite the freedom of Monster World II or III. The player advances through levels in a stage-by-stage type of progression with the Kingdom of Rapadagna serving as a hub. A big change is the player cannot revisit any previous area once it has been cleared, so any items missed will become permanently inaccessible for the rest of the game. This almost puts Monster World IV in arcade game territory like the original Monster World.
In terms of plot and setting, the game is only tangentially related to previous games in the series, specifically Monster World III - the game takes place in Monster World several centuries after, the helper characters from the last game appear as spirits, and a book in a library references Shion's adventure. It features no references to the events of the other Monster World games.
Areas
| Estafan Village | |
|---|---|
| Asha's home village and the starting point of her adventure. Be sure you talk to her family for supplies and the Courage Crystal before you leave. | |
| Tower of Silence | |
| A tall tower summoned by the Courage Crystal, and the first major challenge of Asha's journey. Enter rooms and defeat enemies in order to open the way forward.
An oomukade guards the top of the tower, and she only has one attack. Stab her enough times to defeat her and claim the Magic Lamp to prove Asha's worth as a hero, then summon the Genie of the Lamp for a ride to the Kingdom of Rapadagna. | |
| Kingdom of Rapadagna | |
| The Kingdom of Rapadagna serves as the hub for all of the areas in the game, and is filled with all kinds of buildings that offer services such as equipment shops and a rich woman who will buy Gold Bars off Asha for prices that increase the further the player is into the game. A Pepelogoo pet craze appears to be taking the city by storm when Asha arrives, which begin to cause some unsavoury changes later on.
On her first visit to Rapadagna, Asha must make an appointment with Queen Purapril XIII in the palace and earn her title as a knight, then check the treasury for the Sun Medallion to take to the cathedral, and the Pepelogoo Egg to hatch her own Pepelogoo. On repeat visits, she will need to check a building occupied by suspicious-looking men to find more Medallions to open new areas, and feed her Pepelogoo with Pepe Fruit from the tree near the palace. | |
| Handera Volcano | |
| An active volcano in the southwestern region of the map that is occupied by flaming ghosts, rocky golems and a fire-breathing harpy. Asha can throw Pepelogoo at the lava spouts and geysers to serve as a platform to give her a boost, and she can also carry him above her head for protection against falling fireballs thanks to Pepelogoos having fireproof fur.
At the bottom of the volcano's tunnels is the Flame Wizard, who is holding the Earth Spirit hostage. Defeat him and set the Earth Spirit free. | |
| Stream Sanctuary | |
| In the southeastern corner of the map is a temple submerged in water and crawling with electric jellyfish. As Asha ventures through the sanctuary and rides the flowing water currents, she will find a bucket that she can fill with water to extinguish bonfires with. Asha cannot swim in large pools of water, so she'll need to call Pepelogoo to fish her out if she falls in.
After solving an Honest Axe-type of riddle with the bucket, Asha will confront the Water Wizard. Defeat him to liberate the Moon Spirit. | |
| Ice Pyramid | |
| This northeastern area used to be a hot desert, but after the Sun Spirit was captured by the Ice Wizard, the desert transformed into a freezing wasteland with slippery ground that's difficult to traverse. Asha will venture through a large pyramid that's split into three sections, each with their own set of riddles and a puzzle that involves collecting statues and placing them in specific orders to fight the boss of each section. In keeping with Wonder Boy series tradition, before she can enter the final section, the Sphinx will give her a pop quiz in which she must answer 10 true-or-false questions to proceed. Get a question wrong and she must wash her face in the nearby spring to try again.
At the end of the final section awaits the Ice Wizard. By defeating him will the sun be able to rise on the desert again. | |
| Sky Castle | |
| In order to save her Pepelogoo after being attacked by the corrupted Queen, Asha must ride a magic carpet to this floating castle in the sky. Without Pepelogoo around to help, she'll be in for a dangerous time as the castle is filled with conveyor belts, strong fans and giant moving blocks that will crush her. The castle's civilians have been shrunk by a magical door that will also shrink Asha once she goes in, and by finding another door will they be able to return to normal.
After braving the dangers of the Sky Castle, Asha must defeat the Cloud Wizard to rescue the Wind Spirit and set the castle free from evil. | |
| Underground Fort | |
| After Pepelogoo comes back to cleanse Monster World of corruption with a song, a deep hole opens up within Rapadagna Palace, leading to the final stronghold of evil. Here, Asha must fight every enemy and mini-boss she has fought in previous areas as she makes her way down to slay the final boss and save Monster World. |
History
The large amount of text may suggest why the game was not released outside of Japan, however a fan translation by translation groups Demiforce and DeJap surfaced in 2002. Monster World IV was also playable via the GameTap service (which was available in the west), though the game was not translated.
Monster World IV has also been released as part of the Wii's Virtual Console service and as part of Sega Vintage Collection: Monster World for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 with an official English translation by M2, which marks the game's first English release. Its copyright notations in the game's Operations Manual indicates that it was to be released a year prior to its 2012 release.
Production credits
- Director: R.Nishizawa
- Program: H.Tohyama
- Art Director: M.Ohzora
- Music: Jin W.
- CG Design: K.Kohyama, M.Morioka, T.Sekiyama, K.Saitoh
- Special Thanks: Mie, YUI
- Manual Writer: Y.Hirata
- Modeler: H.Nakajima
- Photographer: N.Suzuki
- Supervisor: M.Ishizuka
- Produced by: Sega
Magazine articles
- Main article: Monster World IV/Magazine articles.
Promotional material
Physical scans
| Sega Retro Average | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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|
 |
76 |
|---|---|
| Based on 13 reviews | |
| Mega Drive, JP |
|---|
 Cover
|
  Cart  Manual |
Technical information
ROM dump status
| System | Hash | Size | Build Date | Source | Comments | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
2MB | 1994-04 | Cartridge (JP) | ||||||||||
|
|
2MB | 2011-07-25 | Virtual Console WAD file |
External links
- Sega of Japan Virtual Console pages: Mega Drive
- Nintendo catalogue pages: US, UK
- Monster World IV on PlayStation.com: JP, US, KR
- Monster World IV on PlayStation Store: JP, US, UK, AU, KR, TW
References
- ↑ https://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/vc/software/06.html (Wayback Machine: 2018-03-05 22:42)
- ↑ http://vc.sega.jp:80/vc_mw4/ (Wayback Machine: 2008-01-16 16:03)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://www.nintendo.com:80/games/detail/gsmvneZxvTfVVnbyPsOMhGTMKoWxdkAF (Wayback Machine: 2012-05-13 10:49)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 http://www.nintendolife.com/games/megadrive/monster_world_iv (Wayback Machine: 2017-07-05 02:07)
- ↑ https://archive.is/w52g6
- ↑ https://archive.is/GtZnl
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 http://www.jp.playstation.com:80/software/title/jp0177npjb00092_00mnstrwrld4psnjp1.html (Wayback Machine: 2012-09-15 02:33)
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 http://blogs.sega.com/2012/05/18/vintage-collection-3-on-the-way-to-xbla-and-psn/ (Wayback Machine: 2017-06-29 13:39)
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 PlayStation Store (ko-kr; HP0177-NPHB00254_00-MNSTRWRLD4PSNAS1) (Wayback Machine: 2018-03-31 16:28)
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 PlayStation Store (fr-fr; EP0177-NPEB00416_00-MNSTRWRLD4PSNEU1) (Wayback Machine: 2018-03-31 16:33)
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 PlayStation Store (de-de; EP0177-NPEB00416_00-MNSTRWRLD4PSNEU1) (Wayback Machine: 2018-12-04 01:04)
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 PlayStation Store (en-gb; EP0177-NPEB00416_00-MNSTRWRLD4PSNEU1) (Wayback Machine: 2018-03-31 16:29)
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 PlayStation Store (en-au; EP0177-NPEB00416_00-MNSTRWRLD4PSNEU1) (Wayback Machine: 2018-03-31 16:30)
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 PlayStation Store (en-tw; HP0177-NPHB00254_00-MNSTRWRLD4PSNAS1) (Wayback Machine: 2018-03-31 16:29)
- ↑ File:BeepMD_JP_1994-04.pdf, page 21
- ↑ File:SSM_JP_19950901_1995-09.pdf, page 84
- ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 186
- ↑ 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 340
- ↑ Beep! MegaDrive, "April 1994" (JP; 1994-03-08), page 21
- ↑ Entsiklopediya luchshikh igr Sega. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 1999-xx-xx), page 105
- ↑ GameFan, "Volume 2, Issue 7: June 1994" (US; 1994-xx-xx), page 26
- ↑ Hippon Super, "May 1994" (JP; 1994-04-03), page 51
- ↑ Igry Sega Luchshiye iz luchshikh. Vypusk 1, "" (RU; 2000-12-07), page 140
- ↑ Joypad, "Septembre 1994" (FR; 1994-0x-xx), page 36
- ↑ MAN!AC, "07/94" (DE; 1994-06-08), page 40
- ↑ Mega Force, "Septembre 1994" (FR; 1994-0x-xx), page 90
- ↑ Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 84
- ↑ Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 225
- ↑ Video Games, "6/94" (DE; 1994-05-25), page 99
| Monster World IV | |
|---|---|
|
Main page | Comparisons | Maps | Achievements | Credits | Hidden content | Bugs | Magazine articles | Reception | Region coding | Technical information | |
| Games in the Wonder Boy series | |
|---|---|
| Wonder Boy (1986) | Wonder Boy in Monster Land (1987) | Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair (1988) | Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap (1989) | Wonder Boy in Monster World (1991) | Monster World IV (1994) | Monster World Complete Collection (2007) | Sega Vintage Collection: Monster World (2012) | Arcade Archives Wonder Boy (2014) | Wonder Boy Returns (2016) | Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap (2017) | Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom (2018) | Wonder Boy Returns Remix (2019) | Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World (2021) | Wonder Boy Collection (2022) | Wonder Boy Anniversary Collection (2022) | |
| Wonder Boy related media | |
 |
Monster World Complete Collection Original Sound Track (2007) | Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap Original Soundtrack Sampler (2018) | Wonder Boy Collection - Best Of Soundtrack (2023) |
 |
Wonder Boy V Monster World III Koushiki Guide Book (1991) |
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