Monster Rancher 1&2 DX is an enjoyable collection of two monster-raising games that never seemed to get their due. They’re a bit dated and clunky at times, and can be a tad repetitive, but the unique experience of raising your own monsters and fighting your way to the top is just as fun today as it ever was.
Monster Rancher 1&2 DX
Developer: Koei Tecmo
Price: $30
Platforms: Nintendo Switch (reviewed) and PC
MonsterVine was provided with a Switch code for review
My time with Monster Rancher prior to playing this collection for review was limited to the first few episodes of the anime, and the recent addition of Suezo (the iconic eyeball monster) to Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania. I was excited to finally dive into these cult-classic titles and see what I was missing out on, and while I don’t think they’ve aged exceptionally well, the concept is unique for a monster-collecting sort of game. There’s a certain charm to Monster Rancher that is exclusive to these titles, though whether that can make up for somewhat repetitive gameplay is up to you.
In both Monster Rancher titles, you play as a young monster breeder who is setting out to make a name for themselves. You get a pleasant assistant to help you out, and you summon your first monster to raise. You train your monster by giving it jobs to do or sending it to advanced schools to increase specific stats, but you can also explore around the world at times with it to find new items. For the most part, though, your focus is to raise your monsters’ stats and pit them against other monsters in tournaments, where you fight increasingly difficult foes as you climb your way through the ranks.
The main gimmick of Monster Rancher was originally that you would summon monsters by putting different CDs in your PS1. Each CD would make a different monster, which you would raise and battle with. Since the Switch has no disc drive (and people don’t really have CDs anymore,) this has been replaced with a digital CD database. You can search through it by using keywords and artist names, and there seems to be a good deal of modern songs present (Gorillaz were there, with fairly recent tracks appearing.) I think this is a suitable substitution for the CD mechanic, as they had to change it somehow, and this way still keeps the goofy spirit of the idea alive.
“I’d recommend raising a monster or two in the first game, then moving on to the second, as it just feels better all-around.“
The first Monster Rancher is pretty simple, and thus, a bit dull if played for too long at once. You’re just putting your monster through training and jobs again and again, then trying your best at tournaments, with the occasional event or exploration thrown in. Battles are intriguing in that your attacks depend on your distance from the enemy, making maneuvering important to both your accuracy and deciding as to which attack you’ll be throwing out.
There’s a sense of pride (in both games) that is felt when your monster wins a tournament or learns a new move, which you rarely feel in other games like Pokémon. Because you have such a personal hand in raising your monster, you feel like a proud parent, which makes their eventual death of old age even sadder. Sure, you can freeze them to combine them, but seeing them get old and weak is always sad. This bittersweet mix of good and bad times took me off-guard in Monster Rancher, as it’s wholly unique to this franchise.
It’s certainly enjoyable, but the almost mobile nature of the games (accomplishments are small and plentiful) makes the game suited to short bursts of playtime. The same sentiment somewhat applies to Monster Rancher 2, though the mechanics are polished a bit and the story is more prevalent. Jumping between training and battles can be a blast, I’d recommend raising a monster or two in the first game, then moving on to the second, as it just feels better all-around.
There are new features in this collection, like the ability to freeze more monsters when they’re close to dying, and a fast forward option, which proves to be very handy for training and easier battles. I can’t compare these features to the original games, since I never played them, but they sure do make the games feel more smooth and accessible than I imagine they would without them.
Visually, you can’t expect too much from this remastered collection. These are PS1 games originally, and the models and backgrounds look fine when you keep that origin in mind. They’re pretty blocky and robotic in how they move, but I find that classic look appealing. I had no performance issues, and the upscaling is fine given what’s being upscaled. The monster designs are great all-around, though the first game has a fair few palette swaps.
The Final Word
I’m glad that Monster Rancher 1&2 DX came out because it gives curious players and myself a chance to check out a cult-classic monster series. It’s not the most polished or well-aged series, but it’s quite novel and fun in bursts. I could see people who love monster-rearing getting obsessed with training and fusing, so if that sounds like you, I say check the games out. Otherwise, it’s essentially a nice but repetitive break from the other monster-collecting franchises.
MonsterVine Rating: 3 out of 5 – Average
