Monster World IV

Monster World IV (モンスターワールドIV, Monsutā Wārudo Fō) is an action-adventure platform game, developed by Westone and released exclusively in Japan by Sega for the Mega Drive in April 1994. It is the sixth and final game in the Wonder Boy/Monster World series. It was later released for the PlayStation 2 as part of the Sega Ages 2500 series under the name Sega Ages 2500 Series Vol. 29: Monster World Complete Collection (セガエイジス2500シリーズ Vol.29 モンスターワールド コンプリートコレクション, Sega Eijisu Nisengohyaku Shirīzu Boryūmu Nijūkyū: Monsutā Wārudo Konpurīto Korekushon). It was released on the Wii's Virtual Console service in Japan on January 15, 2008. An English-language version was released in North America and Europe for Virtual Console on May 10, 2012, with a release on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network to follow on May 22, 2012.

Gameplay

Monster World IV is a mix of action-adventure, platforming and RPG genres, in which the player traverses a 2D landscape fighting a variety of monsters as well as interacting with non-playable characters.

Wonder Boy

Wonder Boy (ワンダーボーイ, Wandā Bōi) and the later Monster World (モンスターワールド, Monsutā Wārudo) make up a series of video games published by Sega and developed by Westone Bit Entertainment (formerly Escape).

The series itself consists of the main Wonder Boy series, and the Monster World sub-series. Games may be part of one, the other, or both. This has resulted in a sometimes confusing naming structure resulting in titles like "Wonder Boy V: Monster World III". North America and Europe received every game that was under the Wonder Boy brand, but Japan received one exclusive title that is exclusively part of Monster World.

To further complicate matters, Westone had a unique licensing arrangement with Sega whereby Sega retained the rights to the names "Wonder Boy" and "Monster Land", but Westone retained the rights to everything else. Westone, in turn, had a licensing arrangement with Hudson Soft, who created new characters and titles and ported these games to non-Sega platforms. The most well known of these is Adventure Island, which was more commercially successful than Wonder Boy was.

Wonder Boy in Monster World

Wonder Boy in Monster World, known in Japan as Wonder Boy V: Monster World III, is a side-scrolling action RPG originally developed by Westone and published by Sega for the Mega Drive/Genesis in 1991. It is the fifth game in the Wonder Boy series and the third game in the Monster World sub-series, following Wonder Boy in Monster Land (Super Wonder Boy: Monster World on the Japanese Sega Mark III) and Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap (Monster World II: Dragon no Wana on the Japanese Game Gear). It was also the last Wonder Boy game that was given an official English release, until the Wii Virtual Console release of Monster World IV in 2012.

Versions for other platforms were also made. In 1993, Sega released a Master System version of the game specifically for the European market, while in 1994, Hudson Soft remade the game for the TurboDuo under the title of The Dynastic Hero (超英雄伝説ダイナスティックヒーロー, Chō Eiyū Densetsu Dainasutikku Hīrō), featuring an all-new theme and cast of characters. In 2007, the Turbo Duo and Mega Drive versions were re-released on the Wii Virtual Console download service.

Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap

Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap is a platforming and action-adventure video game developed by Westone. It was published by Sega and released for the Sega Master System in 1989 and for the Game Gear in 1992 under the title Monster World II: The Dragon's Trap (モンスターワールドＩＩ　ドラゴンの罠, Monsutā Wārudo Tsū: Doragon no Wana). It was ported by Hudson Soft in 1991 and was released for the PC Engine in Japan under the title Adventure Island (アドベンチャーアイランド, Adobenchā Airando) and for the TurboGrafx-16 in North America under the title Dragon's Curse. It was also ported in 1993 by Brazilian company Tec Toy under the title Turma da Mônica em o Resgate, with the game retooled to include characters from Brazilian comic book series Monica's Gang (Turma da Mônica). The game takes place immediately after the events of Wonder Boy in Monster Land, which Wonder Boy has been cursed by the Mecha Dragon and must locate the Salamander Cross to lift it. The game is nonlinear and features varying landscapes in which players must navigate. Players find items and clues needed to access different parts of Monster Land, and they can transform into other forms and gain different abilities.