Growing up I had played a few of the Pokémon and Digimon games, training up my allies and taking on the big bosses that barred my path forward. Over the course of these journeys, I felt a connection with these adorable creatures of code and pixel and would become emotionally invested in their triumphs and failings. Before playing this game, I thought I knew what I was getting into when it came to the monster raising genre, however I was quickly told otherwise by a friend of mine who had grown up playing Monster Rancher 2 that they were in no way monster raising games, not proper ones, at any rate.
Talking with him, I got an idea of the main differences and when it finally came time to sit down with Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX, it hit me quickly just how much more there was to these games in comparison to my earlier experiences, but just how much was there? Let’s dive into these classics and see how they hold up on the Switch.
What’s new?
Before we dive into each game, we should talk about what these rereleases bring to the table. As part of the popular classics, the first of which making its debut in Europe and the UK, a number of new features have been added to help improve the overall experience. Firstly, and most importantly, is a new High-speed mode.
This, for the most part, is a good addition as it helps the game progress that much quicker, but it also affects the battles too which makes them near impossible to do as you find the enemies attacking you far quicker than you can react, so keep that in mind when going in and out of battles.
Another important feature many fusion enthusiasts will be a fan of is the increase in Freeze slots across both games, doubling the original number of 10. Other new features across both games include a training record and a random battle mode.
The additions certainly help improve the experience, but with the High-speed one you’ll want to keep an eye on when you use it if you actually want to control your monsters in battle.
Monster Rancher
Starting off with where it all began back in 1997, Monster Rancher 1 is, in my opinion, a game that, with the exception of the graphics, holds up as an enjoyable yet challenging experience that wears the guise of an adorable aesthetic that will unveil a guillotine for your emotions.
In the world of Monster Rancher, disaster strikes. In its wake, new life forms that would come to be known as “Monsters” are brought into the world and found in mysterious disc stones. Years pass and Monsters and humans live together, with many Breeders working to raise the best monsters and compete to be the best.
You are one such aspiring Breeder and will have to work hard to rise through the ranks, best all in your way and raise the best possible monsters.
Not Much of a Story
The overall story of Monster Rancher is, effectively, non-existent. The game has no overarching story, save the one you live with your monsters. For this humble writer, mine was The Legend of Chunk. Chunk was my Golem that carried me through almost all the ranks of the base game.
I summoned him from a random disc stone – an option if you lack a massive selection of CDs to input into the game – and we tore our way through the ranks. For years, Chunk was on top and I, his loving, if sometimes harsh, Breeder, felt a swell of pride every time he won; anger and frustration when he lost; sadness when I had to be harsh towards him and absolute heartbreak when he died in battle.
Monster Rancher made me feel a wide array of emotions so intense that, when Chunk died, I struggled to pick it back up and if any game can make you feel so strongly for blocky bits of code, then it’s certainly something worth your time.
Streamlined Simplicity
Monster Rancher‘s gameplay is incredibly simple. Acquire monsters via the market, shrine or via fusion in the lab; raise and train them effectively; climb through the ranks by participating in battle. When you get into the nitty-gritty, however, it becomes much more complex and demanding.
Each type of monster will specialise in a different stat and what choose to raise will inform your choice of activity. While the simple mantra of “big numbers, big success” rings true here, how you raise your monster will either expedite or hinder your results. At the start of each month, you can give your monster treats of varying quality that will alter its behaviour. A Monster’s behaviour can influence its growth and willingness to do what it’s told, making it important to balance how you treat your partner.
Pamper and spoil them too much and they’ll become laidback and lazy. Berate and scold them too much and they’ll turn hostile and aggressive towards you. This delicate balance is one of the challenges of raising your monster.
Or, alternatively, you could just run them through boot camp, abusing the various training regimens and jobs available to your monster to boost their stats as you see fit. These are all viable choices and the fact that there is no right way to do it is something that will bring you back to this game time and again.
Battles Uber Alles
One of the most important aspects of Monster Rancher is its battles. Competing in tournaments will raise rank and unlock not only greater challenges, but more monsters you can summon, training courses you can undertake and items you can purchase, all to further help your monsters grow and your rank increase.
However, as mentioned earlier, the battles can be a bit finnicky. This is, in part, due to the High-speed mode the DX version comes with. However, the controls for the battles were also a bit awkward. Moving back and forth whilst selecting whatever skill you needed and trying to do it before the enemy got their strike in was difficult and led to many frustrating fights. While exhilarating to watch, it is by no means perfect and still a dated system.
In terms of graphics and audio there isn’t anything to write home about. The games are decent looking, but it is to be expected from such an old game. The soundtrack has no memorable tracks, which is ironic since the monsters are summoned from memorable music albums.
Overall, the localisation of Monster Rancher is a good one. Everything that was in the original has come across with some additional features that make the game more bearable, even if some of its more challenging features haven’t been addressed as they should have.
Monster Rancher 2
Not looking to be outdone, the more familiar Monster Rancher 2 is back. The first game from the series to be released worldwide, the sequel is every bit what fans will remember and is perhaps even more charming with its predecessor alongside it. However, this still doesn’t stop the game from tugging your heartstrings all over the place.
Much like the previous game, there is little in the way of a defined story but that is still not a negative point as you will not be pouring hours upon hours into this game for any semblance of story. As before, the gameplay is the driving force of Monster Rancher 2 and having played the original, it gave me an appreciation for the newer features.
Starting off incredibly familiar, you are an aspiring Breeder who has just signed up. Soon meeting your companion, you’re quickly given the freedom to acquire your first monster (which should, ideally, be from the market, despite your seemingly flush beginnings) and jump into the action. Immediately, the Monsters look much better than in the previous entry and are much more emotionally animated. Feeding monsters will trigger more unique animations that serve to bring them to life even more.
Right Attitude
The attitude system has also been improved. Depending on how you treat them, your monsters will respond with gifts or with scorn, incentivising better treatment overall. However, you still have the freedom to treat them how you wish. Speaking of Monsters, Monster Rancher 2 comes with 27 new monsters, including old Japanese exclusives, which opens up the combination potential even more.
A feature this sequel brought was Errantries. In the previous game, you could send your Monster on expeditions and have them explore to both increase stats and learn new techniques, combining aspects of the original expeditions feature and training feature from the sequel into one, more effective, method.
Battles are still mostly the same. You can still take control of the monster yourself or let it fight by itself. However, due to it being the same system from the first one, it also suffers from the same problems of the High-speed system. Without this, the battles are still enjoyable, albeit with slightly awkward controls, and you’ll find that you either love or hate this battle system.
An Audiovisual Refresh
The graphics and sound of Monster Rancher 2 are what you’d come to expect from this type of game. Not too enthralling, but charming enough for this experience. With the graphics, they are much upgraded from the previous entry with some newer, weirder looking designs coming into play. The cute ones are still present, of course, and help make the experience as memorable as it is.
The soundtrack is fairly average, but that works to its advantage. Simplistic tunes to have on while you spend hours repeating the various training processes will help you relax and not be too distracted as you progress.
The monster audio is all adorable and charming, bringing more life to the adorable critters, right before they end up dying and you can’t bring yourself to pick up the game anymore.
Monster Madness: Worth it?
The experiences of Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX have helped me develop an appreciation and understanding of a genre I thought I knew plenty about. Having played it and found myself feeling happy, sad, frustrated and more, I can see why fans were happy to hear of this announcement.
Not only that but being able to play it on the Switch is a true blessing that makes raising your Monsters not only much easier, but much more gripping too as you can engage while you travel.
I can safely say that this was a re-release much needed for the genre and hopefully can re-ignite the love for these games, so that we may see more of them in the future.