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.
While this was viewed as another sequel to the Wonder Boy series, it remains solely as part of the Monster World series, as it was only released in Japan. Still, some games from both series overlap, therefore allowing for some continuity; one example is 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 and 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 one thousand years. He is the one who transports Arsha to and from Monster World.
* Elemental Spirits, the four Companions from the previous game:
o Priscilla, a Fairy Sprite originally hailing from Alsedo, the Fairy Village.
o Hotta, the dwarf child, whose background is rooted in the swampy area of Lilypad, the Dwarf Village.
o Shabo, a Grim Reaper-esque wraith who offered aid in the frozen wasteland of Childam, the Darkworld Village.
o 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.
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