Fans of side-scrolling action RPGs will be pleased to hear that three of Sega's beloved Wonder Boy games- including the previously-Japan-only Mega Drive title Monster World IV- are being re-released as a downloable collection for the Xbox 360.
Sega fans have known for some time that Monster World IV was getting a full English translation for both XBLA and PSN, but until now it was assumed that it'd just be Monster World IV- a Japan-only release, albeit one with an English ROM patch available- on its own. However, details on the game's Xbox Marketplace page reveal that this new downloadable collection (officially called Sega Vintage Classics: Monster World) will also include the 1987 arcade game Wonder Boy in Monster Land (in an Astro City cab, no less) and the 1991/1992 Mega Drive game Wonder Boy in Monster World. More importantly, the page says that these ports are being handled by M2, the emulation specialists behind many highly-revered ports, including the 360 version of Cave's Mushihimesama Futari, several of Konami's PSP collections, and many titles in the Sega Ages 2500 line for the PS2, including, fittingly enough, Monster World Collection. Their collections are usually incredibly accurate and often have some great extras and options- one of the screenshots even shows off a music player- so it's bound to impress. All three of these games are classic side-scrolling action RPGs with that unmistakable Sega charm, with Monster World IV in particular being one of the nicest-looking games for the system, so it's great to see these games reach a wider audience... And, unlike that aforementioned Sega Ages 2500 collection, they're in English this time.
Gameplay Footage (Monster World IV)
Sega Vintage Collection: Monster World is due for release on the 25th of April on Xbox Live. We should expect the PSN version to appear at about the same time, although only the XBLA version is currently set-in-stone.
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Comments
having played Monsterworld IV, on and off on emulation and having stared myself blind at "the only copy I've seen" (of course in Japanese, but still) - I can't but help being skeptical to these games getting a re-release on PS3/360
the controllers of these two consoles are nowhere as comfortable playing these kinds of games with and they should instead have been remade for the Wii intended to play with the Classic Controller
on one hand I'm thrilled to see them being emulated "properly", hence (hopefully) sparking some life in this old (personal favorite) franchise
on the other hand, I think their aiming at the wrong audience here and letting "hardcore console-gamers" (the 360/PS3 crowd) handle these kinds of rarities is a huge mistake