I'm having a lot of trouble writing this review, so instead of going full-detail like I was trying to, I'll keep it as concise as I can.

This game is a massive improvement over its predecessor in every aspect. Every single thing Monster World III did wrong, Monster World IV fixes to the point where it's really hard to believe both of these games are in the same franchise.

The visuals are simply stunning, featuring some of the most impressive spritework of its generation. From the beautiful, detailed backgrounds to Asha herself, she's so full of life! The number of unique animations she has gives her so much more personality than the previous MC.

The level design of the temples is also a huge improvement, varying from okay to really good. My only complaint is that the ice piramid goes on for a bit longer than needed, but both the Water and Cloud temples completely blew me away.

Your companion is super useful this time! He will accompany you for most of the game, and he's the key to solving a vast variety of puzzles. Seeing him try his hardest to help you out made me fall in love with him really fast.

So yeah, play the hell out of Monster World IV! It's a fantastic game and easily on my Top 10 list of Mega Drive games.

If you like Shantae and cute retro platformers, this game is a must. It won't take you very long to beat and the level design is really solid.

Gameplay: A
Level design: A
Visuals: S
Difficulty: Medium

Monster World 4 is one of those “hidden gems” that aren’t actually very hidden. It’s a fairly popular Genesis game, and one of the more famous entries in the convoluted mess that is the “Monster World” (...and "Wonder Boy") series. While I don’t think MW4 is the perfect gem it gets propped up to be, it’s a charming little game that’s hard to not like.

As this game was part of my search to find more “RPG Platformers” akin to Zelda 2, I do have to say: it definitely delivered on that aspect. The way Asha (the protagonist) controls is excellent– she truly fits the action-platfomer mold. While most mechanics are fairly simple, the game design shines with the introduction of your blue, furry, cat-bird (?) looking friend, the Pepelogoo. This thing is the bread and butter behind pretty much the entire game. Double jumping and gliding with him feels great, giving both platforming and combat a much appreciated boost, and using the ‘lil guy to solve puzzles makes the dungeon design rather good. The meaty and full feeling of the first dungeon genuinely impressed me– I wasn’t expecting the game to capture that feeling so flawlessly.

Other parts of the typical “RPG” experience are intact in this platformer rendition of the formula, too. The whole game revolves around a singular town, Rapadanga, and seeing the residents be quirky when you first arrive and get even quirkier when the plot progresses is delightful. I love the townspeople so much. And in general, the overall story in MW4 is better than you’d might expect. If Battle Mania Daiginjou is an OVA, then Monster World 4 feels like a renaissance Disney film or some other similar kids movie. The accompanying Pepelogoo plushie would sell millions.

But… as many praises I can sing for the game, there’s a big underlying issue behind it all. The second half of the game. Pretty much every good thing about the gameplay completely vanishes the moment you get to the Ice Pyramid dungeon, and it never fully recovers from there. It’s a tedious, time-wasting and terribly boring part of the game. I struggled to want to play more past it after completing it. Nothing is quite that bad after— some of the best moments in the story happen right after that, in fact. But the very end of the game is rough, too. The final dungeon isn’t Ice Pyramid bad, but it sucks and doesn’t really even feel like a “final dungeon.” So much so that when the game does end, it doesn’t feel climactic or satisfying whatsoever. I think I actually said “that’s it?” out loud when I beat the final boss.

Still, Monster World 4 is such an infectiously likable game. It could have consistently bad gameplay and I’m not sure if I’d dislike it. Give it a try, especially if you like cute and digestible RPG stories opposed to long epics. Maybe one day Asha will get to star in another story…

This game definitely has an incredible amount of charm to it, visually the spritework is fantastic and the graphical tricks they use are both impressive and plentiful. The charm alone definitely warrants giving the game a play imo. However, especially compared to the previous monster world games, this game is a bit of a downgrade in the gameplay department. The second half of the game has a few questionable level designs, the combat can be a little clunky and annoying, and the game is significantly more linear than the rest of the monster world series, with areas not even being able to be backtracked to grab all the collectables in. I'd still say give it a shot, but it's a rather cautious rec compared to the rest of the series, which is a tad bit disappointing considering the sheer charm in the game.

I've seen Monster World IV pop up in a lot in Genesis retrospectives, and depending on who you ask it's the Genesis hidden gem. The best game we never got, so on and so forth. I've heard it all before, there's plenty of 16-bit titles treated with the same level of reverence both on the Genesis and SNES, and often a lot of that adoration is undue, or at the very least overblown. And yet, Monster World IV's charming art style, earworm of a theme, and excellent cover art have been occupying my mind for a few years now, practically begging me to fall for the hype. I recently found a reproduction cart with an English patch applied and took the 50$ plunge, hoping the game could live up to my lofty expectations and justify spending entirely too much on something that could've been easily emulated.

Ultimately, I'd say it was. Monster World IV sucked me in almost immediately with its deceptively easy difficulty and satisfyingly simple gameplay loop. There's a very specific rhythm you fall into early on which maintains itself for much of the rest of the game: Locate a dungeon key in town, explore the outlying area, the dungeon itself, then warp back to town to stock up on new gear. Rinse and repeat. During the month of November and through December I like to play games with very mellow vibes, and which aren't too mechanically overbearing. Monster World IV fits that bill, though I was surprised to find the difficulty aggressively ramping up towards the end game. This is one area where it falters, the curve is uneven to say the least, and it mostly kicks in during the Ice Pyramid dungeon. Enemies and hazards chew through your health here, and it's not helped by the fact that the dungeon is broken up into three different labyrinths with many similar looking hallways, making it incredibly easy to get lost without a guide. The second of these mini-dungeons utilizes invisible doors, which adds a layer of trial and error that is far more annoying than it is engaging.

The game recovers from this, though the overall difficulty continues to spike tremendously every step of the way thereafter. It wasn't enough to make me bounce off the game, however, and while I do find the second half overall less enjoyable than the first, I can't bring myself to dock it more than a single star. It's really the only element holding this game back from being pure perfection.

Another element of Monster World IV I want to spotlight is its soundtrack, composed by Jin Watanabe, who has surprisingly few credits to their name. That theme I previously linked is rather short, though it's used as a leitmotif through much of the game, popping up in damn near every song. It effectively acts as Asha's hero theme, and while I worried I might initially find it grating the longer I played, each song has a strong enough identity that it never did wear on me. If anything, I really liked hearing how they iterated upon it, and thematically it's a nice way to work in Asha's will and resolve into moments where she's called upon to fight. The soundtrack is very good, give Jin Watanabe more work!

Man, Monster World IV is a damn good game. It's exactly the kind of game I needed to play right now.

Monster World IV FINISHED! 10/10 one of the best 2D platform and action-adventure games I've ever played, it's a rare gem from the Mega Drive, the game was exclusive to Japan, but received an official translation on the Wii Virtual Console, and yes, I had to use alternative means to play the game, its producer is called Westone Bit was responsible for producing the game but unfortunately the studio went bankrupt in 2014 and the one who currently has the rights to the series is Sega since the game belongs to the Wonder Boy franchise, I hope this game comes in the future for the Nintendo Switch Online service it cannot be missed!

In Monster World IV you control Asha she is a girl with green hair she ends up hearing the spirits whispering in the wind begging for help coming from the Monster World, so Asha embarks on a journey to find and help them. In the adventure our heroine gets an egg that becomes her friend Blue Pepelogoo, a race that was exterminated and many people destroyed it for fear of its special powers, even though they are peaceful, the gameplay of the game changes with each dungeon as your Pepelogoo grows and gameplay is changing due to this, the fights are fun but not impossible or complicated to the point of frustration, since the save points are limited if the game is over you come back from the last save point, and the biggest challenge is just for you to survive the whole the dangerous dungeon path full of traps and enemies.

The pixel art in this game is very beautiful! They are great, something that many Mega Drive games have always highlighted, Asha's facial expressions and movements are very visible! It was a fun adventure, as I love chasing obscure and old games, it was a pleasant experience and I honestly highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good 2D platform game like me. Regarding the playing time, it was about 9:10 hours of gameplay.

This is exactly the kind of game I'd point to when saying that journalists really need to use a little caution when using the term "hidden gem".

Does this game deliver on providing an adorable protagonist, a somewhat progressive story for 1994 standards and a colorful world that is brimming with charm on both the artistic and dialogue fronts? Absolutely.

However

The level design is quite a step back from Dragon's Trap, and the dungeon quality ranges from fun and interesting (the first two as well as the sky temple) to "what were they thinking" (the ice pyramid). Honestly, I would've gladly given this game four stars if the ice pyramid just didn't exist. It's not challenging, but it's incredibly tedious and I can't believe somebody thought it needed to have three entire sections. At least the Sky Temple following it is by far the most interesting and challenging of the lot, but the way this dungeon kills the pacing can't be understated.

Bosses also aren't terribly interesting. It just boils down to figuring out where to stab them and avoiding getting juggled...since that's still a thing carried over from Dragon's Trap.

I decided to marathon this game on a day off and while I'm happy I went through it once...I don't see myself coming back when the wonder boy series has far better games to revisit.

I've loved the Wonder Boy games since I was a kid, starting with the Sega Master System, but never got a chance to play this final entry until the Genesis Mini due to it never officially releasing in the US. MW IV is a delightful evolution in a series that was in a constant state of change from game to game, and features incredibly charming art and a catchy soundtrack. The OST uses a central theme and repurposes it into different styles to suit the various settings, which lends the game a cohesive feeling.

More linear than say, Wonder Boy III, with re-exploration focused on the town between levels, each stage has its own set of unique challenges, and Asha's companion Pepelogoo if often the key to navigating them. The steadily evolving relationship between Asha and Pepelogoo keeps the gameplay interesting stage to stage, and becomes incredibly endearing by the end of the story. And Pepelogoo is simply adorable.

I thought the game became less compelling toward the end for reasons that would constitute spoilers, and one late stage is a bit of a slog. And there's one level where the designers were clearly inspired by Sonic, and the pairing is not a great fit for how Asha moves. But those issues aside, this is a terrific action/platformer and a wonderful (not sorry) conclusion to the OG Wonder Boy/Monster World series.

Played on Genesis Mini.

Monster World IV es (según nos aclaran sus créditos finales) el último juego de la saga Wonder Boy, fue lanzado en 1994 para Sega Mega Drive / Sega Genesis.
Monster World IV nos presenta a Asha, una joven que quiere convertirse en guerrera y acaba siendo la heroína de Monsterland. Según la recopilación por el aniversario, la protagonista femenina es la razón por la que desaparecen las palabras “Wonder Boy” del título.
Este juego tiene un planteamiento más simple que el anterior, sobre todo porque ya apenas hay ni backtracking ni secciones largas de travesía entre mazmorras. Una vez que llegamos a la ciudad de Rapadagna, podemos acceder directamente a los 4 templos desde ahí, siguiendo un orden predeterminado. A cambio de la pérdida de exploración, este juego nos da mazmorras mucho más largas de lo acostumbrado para la saga, cada una de ellas con alguna mecánica especial que nos ayudará a superar nuestro “pequeño” compañero. Según lleguemos a la ciudad de Rapadagna, nos encontraremos con un huevo del que nacerá un pepelogoo azul. Este pequeñín nos acompañará en la aventura y podremos cogerlo para planear con él o lanzarlo para que nos asista con distintas tareas dentro de las mazmorras. A pesar de su apariencia adorable, pepelogoo es resistente a la lava, al fuego y otros peligros del entorno. Según vayamos avanzando en la historia, podremos darle frutas del árbol pepe. Nuestro compañero irá creciendo y cambiará la manera de interactuar con él en el gameplay. Al final creo que ha sido uno de los compañeros más útiles de toda la saga.
Respecto a las mazmorras, personalmente me ha gustado mucho las segunda y cuarta mazmorras (agua y cielo), pero no demasiado la tercera (pirámides de hielo). Esta tercera mazmorra es en sí tres mazmorras en uno y se hace demasiado largo. Respecto a la ciudad principal, esta es bastante grande con algunos NPC que (a pesar de ser la mayoría tenderos) irán cambiado la conversación según vayamos avanzando en la historia. Si juntamos esto con el diseño de los personajes y NPCs, no puedo evitar acordarme de los juegos de Shantae.
Asha usará un escudo y una espada para atacar, nada más, pero se controla muy bien y las animaciones son bastante expresivas. A pesar de tener menos movimientos que en el juego anterior, no los he echado en falta. Lo que sí que he echado en falta es que, al mejorar el equipamiento, eso no se refleje en el Sprite de Asha. Por lo demás Asha me parece un personaje más original y memorable que casi todos los anteriores Wonder Boy.
El apartado sonoro diría que es bastante bueno, pero poco variado. Los temas no tardan en empezar a repetirse en bucle cosa que puede hacer un poco aburridas las primeras horas de juego.
Técnicamente no tengo quejas, el estilo artístico me gusta mucho (se nota que Shantae se ha inspirado en este estilo en algunos de sus juegos), el tamaño de sprites es correcto, son muy coloridos y apenas no bajones (solo cuando salen muchas monedas a la vez de un cofre y tardas en recogerlas). Mención especial a los 3 primeros jefes del juego, que usan varios sprites al estilo “vectorman” para simular unas animaciones en 3D super fluidas e impresionantes.
Monster World IV, a pesar de simplificar aún más la fórmula general, potencia las mazmorras y estas pasan a formar la parte central del juego. En general el juego hace muchas cosas bien, es un agradable y bastante redondo en muchos sentidos. Creo que la aventura de Asha es buena forma de cerrar la saga, ya que a mí por lo menos me ha dejado buenos recuerdos que destacan dentro de la saga.

One of the first games I've ever played was Wonder Boy in Monster World, but for some reason it took me ~2 decades to play its follow-up and the rest of the series.

This is a very charming game, there are many little animation quirks that add personality to Asha and her Pepelogoo and make her more interesting than previous playable characters in the series, and the art and soundtrack are both amazing.

But the gameplay becomes increasingly frustrating as it goes along, with levels that are severely too long, and later enemies with movesets that prove to be infuriating for Asha and her very short sword. It also returns to the level-based structure from the first games unlike the open map in Wonder Boy V where you can always return to places you visited, and do new things in them with new tools (what you'd call now a ~metroidvania~), which was a shame.

despite having the most polished gameplay, this manages to be just as polarizing as other monster world games. it may play the best, but what does that mean when it has some of the most annoying level design in the series and other annoyances such as the armor vendor just disappearing in the last third of the game whether you have the best armor or not, or its unexplained "magic" stat
perhaps the remake fixes things, but as it is, this game is a mixed bag. if you want a sidescrolling jump-n-slash rpg, i can't say i dont recommend this game, because for all its flaws its still fun, but just know going in that its not without its problems

Man, all I want to do is hang out, listen to the nice music, do the relatively easy puzzles, and have good a time platforming with my pepelogoo. Why do I have to fight stuff with the world's shortest sword, too? Why, when I upgrade my sword, does it not get longer? This thing is so fucking short. I basically have to get halfway up a monster's ass to kill it, and my own hitbox is massive--superb design!

These idiots are always jumping around, and I'm just like, get the fuck over here so I can murder you, and then I get hit ten times in a row and die.

Some of that music, though? Real nice.

Thanks to the beautiful presentation & soundtrack, some of the best sprite-work i've seen & simple yet charming cast of characters MWIV sucked me in immediately, seeing town & the town folk actually being affected as the game went on was neat too, unfortunately i found the level design to be really inconsistent.

usually the enemies were fine but i found some to be more infuriating than fun (especially the wizard bosses) and sometimes requiring too much brute forcing for my liking which is also the case with some of the puzzles, i enjoyed bits of every level but overall i only really liked Stream Sanctuary & Tower of Silence, Earth temple was cool at the start but got annoying by the end, Ice pyramid was just awful and had me resort to using a guide by the 2nd labyrinth & Sky Castle just felt more tedious than challenging.

Despite all of its shortcomings though its hard not to love this game (while simultaneously hating it), it is very unfortunate the game-play falls flat because you can tell there was alot of love put into in every aspect of this game.

Absolutely the best monster world and it's not up for debate. In a radical departure from the previous entries in the series, it not only controls competently and has clear hitboxes, it's actually fun to play, with a greatly expanded moveset and a flying blue pikachu sidekick who's also fun to work with. It also has an ornate Middle Eastern-inspired world in a neat change of pace from the medieval-cartoon setting of the others in the series, and fun story where everyone keeps telling the hero she's pretty good for a girl before she shocks them into just being pretty good for anyone.

The very best monster world of all, so of course, OF COURSE it never gets an official American release. Why would we as a corrupt and declining nation ever deserve the best of what a game can do