PixlBit

Ever wanted to raise a monster and train it to win big in monster tournaments? Monster Ranch 2 lets yo do just that!

I remember watching the Monster Rancher cartoon on TV when I was just a kid in the late '90s. I don't remember much other than the fact that the main kid liked to rollerblade around everywhere. The popularity of the show spawned some games. The first MR game was released in 1997, but MR2 really improved on the overall formula of the game. You see, it's not a monster action game, it's a monster raising/breeding sim (how many of those are out there?). The second game in the series was released for the Playstation in 1999, and was developed and published by Tecmo.

You start out by choosing one of three monsters. This monster can be one of many that you raise, or you could devote all your focus to it; the choice is completely up to you. You are in the role of a monster trainer, and right away you're introduced to Colt, a young girl who will be your assistant trainer. Colt will give you information on your monster; for example, she will inform you if the monster is well or if it is tired, or stressed. She will be helpful in keeping you informed about everything you need to know as the game progresses.

There's a lot to do in MR2! The locations include the market, the shrine, the lab, and the ranch; and let's not forget monster tournaments, the most exciting part of the game (which I'll talk about in a moment). All of these places offer unique monster raising opportunities. At the market, you can get new monsters; they vary depending on the season. At the shrine, you can do one of two reproductions: disc stone or slate. The disc stone is a big factor of this game; you can put in any CD into the playstation and the game will produce a monster from it! Yes, ANY CD! Of course, it's mostly just random, but the idea is still pretty cool. At the lab, you can combine, freeze, revive, or delete your monsters. Freezing monsters will store them for you, and combining two monsters is to crossbreed them, which is really neat! For example, combining a lizard monster with a hare will produce a scaled hare. There's a lot to mess with here!

The ranch is where you'll spend a lot of your time. Here you can train and raise your monster. For training, you have ten drills that your monster can perform; these drills are short scenes that you can watch which you have no control over. Sometimes the monster will succeed, and sometimes it will fail. If it succeeds, its stats will increase (stamina, speed, defense, etc.). You also get the option to praise your monster if it succeeds, or scold it if it fails. You can also give specific food items to your monster, but the game does not tell you how the food affects the monster so it seemed a little pointless to me.

Besides drills, you can also choose "Errantry," which allows your monster to travel to a location and perform a set of challenges in order to acquire new techniques. This is risky because you have to pay a large sum of money and your monster may fail and learn nothing at all. However, any new techniques it learns could be very valuable. Is it worth it? The choice is completely up to you. If nothing else, it's fun to watch your monster go through the different challenges; one challenge had my lizard fighting off sharks! He punched them right in the nose!

The most exciting part of MR2 is the tournaments. Colt will hint about the fact that a tournament is at the end of the month, and when the date rolls around, you have to choose "Battle" on the menu and enter one of the tournaments. The tournaments are ranked from A to E; choosing a higher up tournament right away is pretty risky as your monster will not be prepared. It's best to start at the bottom and work your way up. Tournament stats with wins and losses appear on a large grid. As for the actual fighting, you can choose to give your monster advice, or just watch. If you choose to give it advice, you are semi-controlling it, but not completely.

Don't think that the battles happen like a fighting game; they're more strategy-based than anything. Here's how it works: at the bottom of the screen below your monster a point moves along a grid of commands (different attacks and moves); press the button at the right time to have your monster perform that attack. These attacks also depend on the range; if your monster is too far away from the opponent, you won't be able to do anything, but once it's in range, you can attack. Sometimes your monster will not do what you tell it to do; this is called "Foolery," and it speaks of the immaturity of the monster. Also, there is no dodge command; your monster will dodge attacks on his own.

If you want, you can choose to watch your monster fight on its own. This is what I did most the time, and I really enjoyed cheering my monster on. The battles can be very exciting at times! If your monster keeps losing, then that means you simply need to do more training, or perhaps you should start over with a different monster. There's a lot of options here and plenty to do. The goal of the game is to raise the strongest monster and win in tournaments. I don't know the actual number, but the game brags that there are hundreds of monsters in the game. Hundreds! That's very impressive, even better than Pokemon (at the time).

MR2 also has a two player mode, which is a bonus. This mode allows both players to fight using only the monsters you've raised thus far. This is a shame. It would be awesome to choose any of the monsters the game has to offer, but I suppose they want you to raise more and more monsters so you can use them in 2 player mode. The game also has great music; it's energetic, fun, and enjoyable to listen to.

Final Verdict--4 Stars: Recommended

MR2 offers a lot of customization and great replay value. There is no limit to how many monsters you could raise (if you had the time). Training, feeding, raising, breeding, fighting, it's all here at your disposal. The variety of monsters is quite incredible, but with the crossbreeding option, there's no telling how many different types of monsters there are! This is truly a unique game, even among sim games. Whether you're a monster fan or a strategy gamer, there's something for everyone to enjoy in Monster Rancher 2.

Join me every Saturday as we take a look back at all kinds of retro games, good and bad.