The monster breeding and raising series comes to PS2, and fans will love it.
Monster Rancher was one of the most inventive and unique series on the PS One; not only was it likely an influence for what would eventually become Nintendo’s phenomenally successful Pokemon franchise on the Game Boy, but it incorporated the use of the gamer’s own CDs to generate random monsters to control. Since then, Monster Rancher has become one of Tecmo’s key franchises, and anticipation has been riding high for the the company’s third installment, which has a radically changed cel-shaded look, and has now landed on the PlayStation 2. Monster Rancher 3 is not a far off departure for the series, but it didn’t need to be, and it certainly should live up to fan expectations.
As the PlayStation 2 has the ability to read DVDs, Tecmo has taken advantage of this feature for Monster Rancher 3. In addition to popping in any imaginable CD, any movie, music or game DVD and even Dreamcast GD-ROMs can be popped in and create a whole slew of new monsters. Continuing the tradition of previous Monster Rancher titles, the developers haven’t made everything completely random, as certain CDs and DVDs were tailored to extract a certain monster (inserting Tecmo’s own Unison: Rebels of Rhythm and Dance elicits a specifically designed class B monster, for example), and already some are compiling a list of what CDs and DVDs will bring out what monsters (check out GameFaqs for more), in case you don’t want to spend your own time - but it is more fun to keep the surprise aspect in there.
Unfortunately, Sega’s Jet Set Radio started a worldwide cel-shading graphical trend that has spread like a bad virus. Too many developers are implementing it into their titles simply to make their games “stylish” and “trendy.” Monster Rancher 3, however, is such a sweet, cutesy game with imaginative, laugh-out-loud character designs that such a visual style is very appropriate. The cel-shading isn’t perfect; with S-Video it is possible to point out aliasing lines the characters and the game’s environments, but most of the time, it is so miniscule that gamers should be too enwrapped to notice. Well, unless you’re one of the many members of Gaming Age’s forums, in which case you’ll proceed to rip apart the aliasing till Tecmo’s development team starts crying.
Training and battling are what suck up the most time in Monster Rancher 3. There are a number of ways to train your monster, each allowing you to improve a different aspect of its abilities, giving players the chance to shape their creature to be very powerful but slow, weak in strength but can take loads of damage or a perfect balance in all areas. Training activities might range from memorizing a light sequence to increase intelligence, pulling up a mushroom for strength or dodging an enemy for defense. Monsters only have so much energy, though, making it necessary to allow them week resting periods, or else they’ll develop a bad attitude toward you. At the end of each season, a special item called Ran Ran can be purchased, and the Ran Ran allows monsters to see special items hidden in the environment that can increase skill strength, earn new skills or increase other statistics. Eventually, gamers can even move to different locations for training, with each having their own specialties.
Not much has changed when it comes to battling monsters; anyone familiar with the series will have no trouble jumping right in. Any type of offensive attack uses up a certain amount of “Guts,” which are steadily built up during a battle. Plenty of guts are available at the start, but being conservative with their use is crucial. It does not take long to take your eye off the Guts bar for a moment, and find that it’s down to five or six when the enemy is ready to pummel you. Using attack after attack in the hopes that one will connect isn’t a very good strategy, and only striking when necessary will not only save guts, but probably some frustration, too.
If for nothing else, the Monster Rancher series has consistently been known for the inventive monster creations. The monsters come from over 300 possible, ranging from the oddball yellow Suezo who bobs around with a singular, enormous eyeball to an absolutely hilarious elf/chipmunk creature who carries around a microphone with him, busting out a song when he does well. Even stranger, there is a hulking beast of a monster who looks like a hunched over version of Clifford the Dog. There are plenty of returning friends from the first two Monster Ranchers that gamers will encounter, but plenty of fresh, new faces that will keep players popping in a stack of CDs each time the opportunity to summon a new monster appears.
Any fan of Monster Rancher will be in absolute heaven with this new entry, and its more kid-friendly graphics are sure to attract more of the younger crowed to its decidedly simple, incredibly addictive gameplay. It doesn’t bring too much new to the table (save for unique ideas such as Picture Paradise, allowing gamers to slap their face on their monsters), but what it does, it has refined to a sharp point.
