Monster World IV

I always wanted to play Monster World IV but I never had the chance. I also, for some reason, don’t like to play on PC emulators so whenever I start a game, I almost never bother in getting very far. Last week I loaded the Mega Drive emulator on my Wii and started the game. I managed to finish it 3 days later and I have to say that I was pretty impressed by it. I know that hardcore fans of the Wonder Boy series are questioning its more linear perspective and the less emphasis on RPG elements. But I think that Monster World IV shouldn’t be judged for what it’s not, but for what it actually is.

Monster World IV could easily be a spin off in the series or, even better, an entirely new franchise. Comparing it directly to the classic Wonder Boy games is a mistake, so, I won’t bother getting into it. Personally, I liked the Platform/Adventure philosophy of the game. The set pieces where very good, the platforming was great and I found the whole Pepelogoo gimmick, even with its unused potential, very well implemented. Yes, I’d like a few more Adventure elements and a little bit of customization, but, in the end, I enjoyed it so much that I don’t really care.

What is your opinion about the game and where do you think it stands, in terms of quality, compared to the rest Mega Drive library?

I've played and beaten this game English patched on my flash cart on my Mega Drive twice. I like it a lot, but it should have been longer and more RPG-esque :P.

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Originally Posted by Loggo

What is your opinion about the game and where do you think it stands, in terms of quality, compared to the rest Mega Drive library?

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I think its one of the best games on the console, a high quality game in both the graphics and sound department.
the gameplay is also top notch but indeed misses the rpg aspect that made the previous game so fun to play.
especially with the gorgeous graphics its a shame you don't get to travel back and forth.

And from a storyline standpoint I had hoped they had gone more in depth about the previous game,
who is this evil creature from space? and what happened to Shion the guy from the previous game?
(a book in a library says that one day he just disappeared from his house)

was he kidnapped? why did the creature come back?

little things that could have greatly improved an already excellent game.

and the reason we see these faults is because the game is just that good,
and we wish there were more to do and read.

Not releasing this into the west has to be one of the top 10 mistakes that Sega made during the Genesis years.

I have this game and its one of the best on the MD w/ nice graphics and music, wish it was longer though.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Monster-World-IV...item3cab009880

is this a bad price? I'm looking at picking up a copy... I've always wanted to play it.

Yes, the game should be a bit longer. Having 2-3 more areas would really be great.

What I really wanted though, was a little bit more customization and an RPG-esque - Action/Adventurish inventory with the ability to choose between weapons and armors. A didn’t really care about the lack of backtracking, a game that focuses on platforming doesn’t need it anyway, but I’d be nice to have the freedom to visit the previous areas.

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Originally Posted by promking

http://cgi.ebay.com/Monster-World-IV...item3cab009880

is this a bad price? I'm looking at picking up a copy... I've always wanted to play it.

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That's not a bad price overall, given that the manual looks to be the only part showing some wear on it (the dog-eared corners). $50 for an import game that popular, in that shape, is fair. Not a great price, but not price gouging either (that would be the $80 one).

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Originally Posted by promking

http://cgi.ebay.com/Monster-World-IV...item3cab009880

is this a bad price? I'm looking at picking up a copy... I've always wanted to play it.

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thats a pretty fair price

That's good to hear, I've heard great things about this game.

MW4 is one of my most favorite games :cool:

i dont think its too short, but maybe coulda used one more door.

its a shame the MW series ended here... the best game of the series :(

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Originally Posted by promking

I'm looking at picking up a copy... I've always wanted to play it.

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You do know you won't get far unless you speak Japanese right?
so I'd only get this if you're into collecting and just want to look at it sitting
on your games shelf while you play the translated rom with a flashcard.

actually theres a few good guides on the net for this game if your using the original Jap MD game.

I don't see why you'd want to experience the game that way though.

you make a good point, this is why I own a Translated Repro, the original Jap game came w/ my Jap MD

I want to like this game for the gameplay elements, but I really can't get over the aesthetic/art style. It's just too cutsey anime cheese for my taste. I like a lot of anime and manga and all, but this game just seems to be perpetually stuck in chibi mode, and that's a little much for me...

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Originally Posted by djshok

but this game just seems to be perpetually stuck in chibi mode

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Thats.. sadly true, though it doesn't bother me at all i too have noticed that
the game seems to be more cutesy looking then Wonderboy in Monster World.

Wonderboy in Monster World had its fair share of cuteness but MW4 just threw it up a notch.

but again, it doesn't bother me at all, though i have noticed it.

Been playing this game again on the fantastic Monster World Collection, M2 put out a few years back on the 360. Absolutely wonderful game. Total shame this never saw an official Western release back in the day.

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to Vector again.

That was an amazing video. Thanks Vector. :)

That Monster World IV video was so good that I subscribed after watching. Love this series!

Agreed, great production video, glad you watched. This game seems to use all 64 colors on screen at once or more, but I could be wrong. Would like to see another guy and his great production videos tackle that question, but I guess people here can just use a program while using Kega to figure it out.

MWIV definitely doesn't use "all" 64 colors at once, if it surpasses 60 colors then it's just doing shadow/highlight effects, like every other game that pushes more color than the hardware can do normally. In a normal game environment, it's just a transparency effect and doesn't increase detail or improve color. It could be used to increase detail/color in a digicomic or RPG, but I don't think it was ever used that way.

MWIV has genuine graphic quality: quantity and variety of gorgeous artwork, great pixel art and effective yet balanced use of color. It's at least as good looking as anything for SNES

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Originally Posted by Black_Tiger

MWIV definitely doesn't use "all" 64 colors at once, if it surpasses 60 colors then it's just doing shadow/highlight effects, like every other game that pushes more color than the hardware can do normally. In a normal game environment, it's just a transparency effect and doesn't increase detail or improve color. It could be used to increase detail/color in a digicomic or RPG, but I don't think it was ever used that way.

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That's why I said "seems" and "I could be wrong".

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MWIV has genuine graphic quality: quantity and variety of gorgeous artwork, great pixel art and effective yet balanced use of color. It's at least as good looking as anything for SNES

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Yeah it kind of reminded me of Super Mario World that's why I brought up colors.