History YMMV / MonsterWorldIV

* DisappointingLastLevel: Most of the game is defined by its platforming, puzzles, and exploration. The Underground Fort lacks all of these, instead simply being a series of corridors filled with enemies and minibosses from previous levels. No new enemies aside from the FinalBoss and [[WolfpackBoss his elite guards]] appear. It's also fairly underwhelming from an aesthetic standpoint; the level itself is just a vaguely organic-looking cave (the remake, for its part, manages to make the area look more evil with the objects receiving a strong SicklyGreenGlow) while the music is just standard Arabic-style music that isn't especially climactic-sounding. To top it off, multiple gold bars can be found throughout the level, but there's no way to go back to Rapadagna City and spend them without having to do the whole thing over again.

* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments: [[spoiler: Pepelogoo's return after the Sky Castle. Now that he's fully-sized, he sings the Cradle Song of Pepelogoo which acts as a WorldHealingWave, undoing the queen's corruption and returning the other Pepelogoos to normal. In the remake, Asha embraces Pepelogoo and is heard giggling with delight upon seeing her beloved friend BackFromTheDead.]]

* DisappointingLastLevel: Most of the game is defined by its platforming, puzzles, and exploration. The Underground Fort lacks all of these, instead simply being a series of corridors filled with enemies and minibosses from previous levels. No new enemies aside from the FinalBoss appear. It's also fairly underwhelming from an aesthetic standpoint; the level itself is just a vaguely organic-looking cave (the remake, for its part, manages to make the area look more evil with the objects receiving a strong SicklyGreenGlow) while the music is just standard Arabic-style music that isn't especially climactic-sounding. To top it off, multiple gold bars can be found throughout the level, but there's no way to go back to Rapadagna City and spend them without having to do the whole thing over again.

** [[spoiler:Biomeka can petrify you with his gaze, which always allows you free hits. Good thing Pepe stops this attack in the middle of the fight.]]

** [[spoiler:Biomeka can petrify you with his gaze. Good thing Pepe stops this attack in the middle of the fight.]]

** The Sky Castle. The animated background can be very disorienting, Asha needs to avoid being crushed by large moving objects, and the moving platforms double as conveyer belts, where slipping off of it will likely end in Asha falling into a bunch of spikes.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** ''Monster World IV'' was to include a gender option, with the male character having [[https://www.facebook.com/MWFan2012/photos/482498251765245/ artwork]] and [[https://twitter.com/maki_ohzora/status/807131879941906432 sprites]] by Maki Ohzora, and a working name ("Eusha", similar to Asha and meaning brave man). Due to cartridge constraints, he was canned in favor of giving the female lead the spotlight, but his design did get repurposed as an NPC. This idea would later be implemented in the remake of ''The Dragon's Trap''.
** Jin Watanabe [[https://www.facebook.com/MWFan2012/photos/a.482498248431912/488236051191465/ composed music]] expecting a tropical stage, but as an ocean stage did not return in this game, it ended up getting scrapped as well.

* GameBreaker: The Secret Merchant sells the most powerful weapons and armor in the game, and gives you so much money every time you talk to him that you can buy all of it. The only catch is that he can only be found towards the beginning of the game in a hidden area, and in the remake, only after you've beaten the game, but buy everything he sells and the rest of the game is a pure breeze.

* TaintedByThePreview: The Gamescom 2020 trailer for the remake drew less-than-positive reception, with criticisms going towards the game's 2.5D graphics, stiff animations, and stuttering framerate, not helped by ''VideoGame/MonsterBoyAndTheCursedKingdom'' and the remake of ''[[VideoGame/WonderBoyIIITheDragonsTrap The Dragon's Trap]]'' having more appealing hand-drawn art styles. Fortunately, the graphics and framerate would be substantially cleaned up in time for its release in 2021 (aside from some roughness on the Switch due to its lower power), though some ''Wonder Boy'' fans still wish it could've gotten the hand-drawn treatment as well.

** The Sky Castle. The animated background can be very disorienting, Asha needs to avoid being crushed by large moving objects, and the moving platforms double as conveyer belts, where slipping off of it will likely end in Asha falling into a bunch of spikes.

* AwesomeMusic: Not just one, but three soundtracks are available for the game. The first, and most common, is the original Mega Drive soundtrack, which can be unlocked in the remake through a Cheat Code. The second is the arranged soundtrack for the remake. The third, is referred to as the "Original Sound Source," which comprises of the Midi files that were programmed for playback on the Mega Drive, including two tracks that were cut from the game and revealing that a few tracks were once composed as multiple parts of one track.

* FriendlyFandoms: With the ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}'' series, which also stars a cute young heroine with [[ArabianNightsDays Arabic]] influences. A lot of fanart depicts Asha and Shantae working together or fighting against each other, and there even exists a fan-made {{Crossover}} game starring them both. Some fans even suspected that Shantae was inspired by Asha, although Shantae's creators insist the similarities are a coincidence. In addition, Ryuichi Nishizawa himself was made aware to Shantae through ''Risky's Revenge'' when it was ported to [=iPhone=], but did note the similarities between ''Shantae'' and ''[=MWIV=]'', lauding it and Creator/WayForward for its quality.
* HeartwarmingMoments: [[spoiler: Pepelogoo's return after the Sky Castle. Now that he's fully-sized, he sings the Cradle Song of Pepelogoo which acts as a WorldHealingWave, undoing the queen's corruption and returning the other Pepelogoos to normal. In the remake, Asha embraces Pepelogoo and is heard giggling with delight upon seeing her beloved friend BackFromTheDead.]]

* FriendlyFandoms: With the ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}'' series, which also stars a cute young heroine with [[ArabianNightsDays Arabic]] influences. A lot of fanart depicts Asha and Shantae working together or fighting against each other, and there even exists a fan-made {{Crossover}} game starring them both. Some fans even suspected that Shantae was inspired by Asha, although Shantae's creators insist the similarities are a coincidence.

* FriendlyFandoms: With the ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}'' series, which also stars a cute young heroine with [[ArabianNightsDays Arabic]] influences. A lot of fanart depict Asha and Shantae working together or fighting against each other, and there even exists a fan-made {{Crossover}} game starring them both. Some fans even suspected that Shantae was inspired by Asha, although Shantae's creators insist the similarities are a coincidence.

* FriendlyFandoms: With the ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}'' series, which also stars a cute young heroine with [[ArabianNightsDays Arabic]] influences. A lot of fanart depicts Asha and Shantae working together or fighting against each other, and there even exists a fan-made {{Crossover}} game starring them both. Some fans even suspected that Shantae was inspired by Asha, although Shantae's creators insist the similarities are a coincidence.

* FriendlyFandoms: With the ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}'' series, which also stars a cute young heroine inspired by [[ArabianNightsDays Arabic]] elements. A lot of fanart depicts Asha and Shantae working together or fighting against each other, and there even exists a fan-made {{Crossover}} game starring them both. Some fans even suspected that Shantae was inspired by Asha, although Shantae's creators insist the similarities are a coincidence.

* FriendlyFandoms: With the ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}'' series, as they both star cute young heroines whose designs were inspired by [[ArabianNightsDays Arabic]] elements. A lot of fanart depict the two either working together or fighting against each other, and there even exists a fan-made {{Crossover}} game starring them both and featuring several others. Some fans even suspected that Shantae's character was inspired by Asha, although Shantae's creators insist the similarities were a coincidence.

* FriendlyFandoms: With the ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}'' series, as they both star young heroines whose designs were inspired by [[ArabianNightsDays Arabic]] elements. A lot of fanart depict the two either working together or fighting against each other, and there even exists a fan-made {{Crossover}} game starring them both and featuring several others.

* FriendlyFandoms: With the ''VideoGame/{{Shantae}}'' series, as they both star young heroines whose designs were inspired by [[ArabianNightsDays Arabic]] elements. A lot of fanart depicts the two have been working together or fighting against each other, and there even exists a fan-made {{Crossover}} game starring them both and featuring several others.

* ThatOneLevel: The Ice Pyramid. It's a maze with icy floors, hidden doors, spear traps and [[GoddamnedBats annoying enemies]] all over the place. InventoryManagementPuzzle also comes into play as you need to reserve at least five spaces in your inventory for the statues, serving as an additional problem if you like to hoard gold bars and herbs.

* PlayerPunch: The game pulls one off on you after the Ice Pyramid. [[spoiler:The corrupted queen's Pepelogoo fires a missile at you, and then your Pepelogoo [[TakingTheBullet takes the missile]], putting him out of action for the rest of the game, complete with Asha crying over the loss of her companion.]]

* TaintedByThePreview: The Gamescom 2020 trailer for the remake drew...less-than-positive reception, with criticisms going towards the game's 2.5D graphics, stiff animations, and stuttering framerate, not helped by ''VideoGame/MonsterBoyAndTheCursedKingdom'' and the remake of ''[[VideoGame/WonderBoyIIITheDragonsTrap The Dragon's Trap]]'' having more appealing hand-drawn art styles.

* TaintedByThePreview: The Gamescom 2020 trailer for the remake drew...less-than-positive reception, with criticisms going towards the game's 2.5D graphics, stiff animations and stuttering framerate, not helped by ''VideoGame/MonsterBoyAndTheCursedKingdom'' and the remake of ''[[VideoGame/WonderBoyIIITheDragonsTrap The Dragon's Trap]]'' having more appealing hand-drawn art styles.

* TaintedByThePreview: The Gamescom 2020 trailer for the remake drew...less than positive reception, with criticisms going towards the game's 2.5D graphics and stiff animations, not helped by ''VideoGame/MonsterBoyAndTheCursedKingdom'' and the remake of ''[[VideoGame/WonderBoyIIITheDragonsTrap The Dragon's Trap]]'' having more appealing hand-drawn art styles.

* ThatOneLevel: The Ice Pyramid. It's a maze with icy floors, hidden doors, spear traps and [[GoddamnedBats annoying enemies]] all over the place. InventoryManagementPuzzle also comes into play as you need to reserve at least five spaces in your inventory for the statues, serving as a problem if you like to hoard gold bars and herbs.

* PlayerPunch: The game pulls one off on you after the Ice Pyramid. [[spoiler:The corrupted queen's Pepelogoo fires a missile at you, and then your Pepelogoo [[HeroicSacrifice takes the missile]], putting him out of action for the rest of the game, complete with Asha crying over the loss of her companion.]]
* ThatOneAchievement: Every Last Drop in the [=PS3=] and 360 ports of the game. This requires collecting every Life Drop in the game, with the problem being that a number of them are very well-hidden throughout the game and easily [[PermanentlyMissableContent lost]] if you don't get them before clearing each stage.
* ThatOneLevel: The Ice Pyramid. It's a maze with ice physics, hidden doors, spear traps and [[GoddamnedBats annoying enemies]] all over the place. InventoryManagementPuzzle also comes into play as you need to reserve at least five spaces in your inventory for the statues.

* ThatOneAchievement: Every Last Drop in the [=PS3=] and 360 ports of the game. This requires collecting every Life Drop in the game, with the problem being that a number of them are very well-hidden throughout the game and easily LostForever if you don't get them before clearing each stage.