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Monster World IV is an adventure platform game, released exclusively in Japan for the Sega Mega Drive in April 1994. It is the sixth and final game in the Wonder Boy/Monster World series.

The story involves a young girl named Arsha, who upon hearing spirits whisper on the wind pleading for help, embarks on a journey to find and aid them. Along the way she becomes master of a genie and adopts a small monster she names Pepe'. Gameplay revolves around walking along a 2D landscape fighting a variety of monsters, as well as interacting with various people. Playing the game also requires Arsha to utilize Pepe's abilities; such as clogging a lava geyser with his flame resistant body.

Whilst this was viewed as another sequel to the Wonder Boy series, as it was only released in Japan, it remains solely as part of the Monster World series, although some games from both series overlap, therefore allowing for some continuity, such as a book in the Royal Rapadagnan Library, that mentions the disappearance of Shion, the playable character from the last game, stating that a large hole appeared next to his house and he was never seen from again. There is also a book entitled The Magic of Eleanora, the Fairy Queen of Alsedo from the last game.

An English fan translation was released in 2002 by longtime translation groups Demiforce and DeJap. Afterward a bug fix patch of the English translation was released by Michele Di Somma. North Americans can play Monster World IV through Gametap, although it is left untranslated.

On December 28, 2007, Nintendo announced on its official Japanese website that a port of the original Mega Drive game would be released in January 2008 on the Japanese Virtual Console. At the moment, Nintendo hasn't announced plans to release the game outside of the original region's Virtual Console, although some games in a similar situation, such as Sin & Punishment, have already been distributed in other region's respective services.

Characters

• Arsha is a young, green-haired girl dressed in Arabian-influenced nomadic gear. Sensitive to the presence of spirits, Arsha is able to hear the pleas of the Elemental Spirits coming from Monster World, and ultimately endeavors to free them.

• Pepe' is a pepelougoo, which are a race of small, spherical-shaped monsters, who flap their ears to fly. While most of the peperogus in Monster World are yellow, Pepe' is blue. He is seen as more than just a curiosity to several people in Monster World; as in ancient days, the blue ones had been all but wiped out by people fearful of their magical abilities.

• Purapril XIII, descendant of Purapril from the previous Monster World games, and ruler of the kingdom.

• Save Master is an elderly man who travels across Monster World, popping up in unexpected places, and recording people's memories. Game mechanic-wise, by talking to him, the player can save their progress thus far.

• Genie of the Lamp is a sarcastic spirit being who resides in an old oil lamp. He becomes Arsha's companion and servant on her quest, which he treats as just another hum-drum activity he will do before he is (as with several classical genie stories) lost for another 1000 years. He is the one who transports Arsha to and from Monster World.

• Elemental Spirits, the four Companions from the previous game:
  • Priscilla, a Fairy Sprite originally hailing from Alsedo, the Fairy Village.
  • Hotta, the dwarf child, whose background is rooted in the swampy area of Lilypad, the Dwarf Village.
  • Shabo, a Grim Reaper-esque wraith who offered aid in the frozen wasteland of Childam, the Darkworld Village.
  • Rotto, The Elder-Dragon's Grandson, a young fire-breathing dragon who provided much-needed assistance in-and-around Begonia, the Dragon Village.

Notes

Yujin released a gashapon figure of Arsha & Pepe' (written Arsha & Peperogu) as part of the "Sega Gals" collection.

External links

• Monster World IV at MobyGames
• Monster World IV guide at StrategyWiki

From StrategyWiki, the free strategy guide and walkthrough wiki

Monster World IV
Developer(s)	Westone/Sega
Publisher(s)	Sega
Release date(s)	January 4, 1994
Genre(s)	Platform, action-adventure
System(s)	Sega Genesis, GameTap, Wii Virtual Console
Players	1
Rating(s)	GameTap: 6+ CERO: All ages
Preceded by	Wonder Boy in Monster World
Series	Wonder Boy

Monster World IV (often referred to as Wonder Boy VI, although it was never localized) is widely held by English-speaking fans as one of the Sega Genesis' finest titles, despite the language barrier. As a late entry in the Genesis' lineup it really shows the power of the system: brightly-colored visuals, multiple simultaneous layers of parallax, tight controls and quality sound effects all illustrate the Genesis' true potential.

In 2001 DeJap Translations and Neo Demiforce released a translation patch for use with emulators and copiers. Afterward a bugfix patch of the english translation was released by Michele Di Somma. This guide assumes you are playing using the translation, but parts where knowing Japanese is almost mandatory (such as the pyramid color puzzles) will be covered in full.

The game is currently available via GameTap (although in Japanese). It is also due to appear on the PlayStation 2 in Japan as part of SEGA AGES 2500 Vol. 29: Monster World Complete Collection.

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