Monster World IV

About Monster World IV

Monster World IV (1994) is Westone's final Sega-published Wonder Boy game, a Japan-only Mega Drive adventure in which the young warrior Asha and her flying pet Pepelogoo free the elemental spirits.

Monster World IV in Depth

Asha, a green-haired girl in Arabian-influenced nomadic dress, is sensitive to spirits and hears the Elemental Spirits of Monster World pleading for help on the wind. She sets out to free them, becoming the master of a genie and adopting Pepelogoo, a small, round monster that flies by flapping its ears. The game mixes action-adventure, platforming and RPG elements across a 2D world of monsters and characters to talk to. Asha can swing her sword upward, downward and forward in mid-air depending on the direction pressed, and raise her shield by holding down.

Pepelogoo can be summoned to reach places Asha cannot: holding him slows her fall or gives a double jump, and he can shield her from falling rocks, serve as a platform over lava geysers and blow out fires blocking her path. Armour, bought in the hub town, extends her heart meter; shields raise defence and resist elements like fire and ice; and swords raise attack with special critical effects. Some items must be found in temples and caverns, including medicine that heals or, with Pepelogoo, revives her, and gold bars traded with a rich lady for money. 150 hidden life drops add a blue heart for every ten. Items can be missed for good, as each area becomes inaccessible once its boss is beaten.

Making Monster World IV

Westone developed it and Sega released it for the Mega Drive in Japan in April 1994 as the sixth Wonder Boy game and the fourth Monster World game. It stayed in Japan for years, appearing on PlayStation 2 in 2007 and the Japanese Wii Virtual Console in 2008, before an English version finally reached the Virtual Console in North America and Europe in May 2012, followed by Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. A full remake by Artdink followed in 2021.