Monster Rancher

Platform: Playstation

Release Date: 1999

Game: Monster Rancher

Producers: Tecmo

Genre: RPG

The Good: Lots of variety, good replay value.

The Bad: A bit glitchy. Some slightly awkward translation.

Reviewed by: Jethren

Jethren:

Tecmo has really done a nice job on this one! ;)

I first expected this to be some sort of Pokémon or monster raising clone, but I was soon proven wrong. What makes this game totally unique, is that rather than having to go out and catch monsters, you take a CD - any CD - and insert it into your Playstation. After reading the data, you re-insert your Monster Rancher CD, and it will make a monster out of the Data from the CD you inserted. There's a monster in EVERY CD that you own. And with over 200 different monsters, there's room for lots of variety!

The monsters each have two types: a main and a sub-type. So let's say you take a Naga (a snake-type monster) and a Worm (a worm!). If you combine them (yes, you can combine monsters), you have the possibility to get either a Naga/Worm or a Worm/Naga. Each monster is good at different things... some may be better at physical attacks, some may have more hit points, etc. The fact that there are so many monsters is nice enough!

Well, no you don't simply raise monsters. You fight them too! Every few weeks, you can send your monster (which you've hopefully buffed up through work!) to tournaments, to both raise your and your monster's rank, as well as win money and prizes. By sending your monster to Training Camp, they can learn new attacks (the most I've gotten is 25) to use in combat. If you do it right, you can make a powerhouse.

Oh yeah. You can fight your friends, too. ;) Awesome game!

Controls: 4.5

Graphics: 4

Fun Factor: 5

Originality: 4

Overall: 4