Monster World IV leads next Sega retro wave

Few companies have derived as much from their back catalogs as Sega. The publisher has been regularly mining its Master System, Genesis, and arcade roots since the days of the Dreamcast, and it's showing no signs of changing that any time soon. Today, Sega announced the next wave of its "Vintage Collection" for the PlayStation Network and Wii Virtual Console, a selection of five older titles set for rerelease later this year and early next.

Spearheading the assortment is Monster World IV, a 2D platformer originally released for the Mega Drive in Japan in 1994. Never before released in the West, Monster World IV is the last installment in the joint Wonder Boy-Monster World series. Two more installments in the series will also be added to the PlayStation Network catalog, specifically the arcade game Wonder Boy in Monster Land and Genesis title Wonder Boy in Monster World. Both of those games are already available on the Virtual Console.

Two more non-Monster World titles will be making their PSN downloadable debuts. First off is the Sega Master System staple Alex Kidd in Miracle World (built in to many versions of the hardware itself), which landed on the Virtual Console in 2008. Finally, Revenge of Shinobi will be making its debut on the PlayStation Network as part of this wave. The first installment in the side-scrolling ninja action series to appear on the Genesis, Revenge of Shinobi has been available on the Virtual Console since 2009.