Tag: Monster Rancher

Christmas Media Review: Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX

Written by TheChoujinVirus
Note: The following review may contain spoilers to the games

Merry Christmas everyone, it’s ya boy Choujin with a Christmas gift for you all to enjoy.
I remembered not too long ago, I did a review of the Monster Rancher Anime not too long ago, and I brought up the Monster Rancher anime (I’ll be redoing that in the future as I felt reviewing whole seasons wouldn’t be a good idea.) In that review, I mentioned the game series. You had the original released in 1997 and the 2nd game released in 1999. Through December 9th, 2021, came the release of a game that Koei-Tecmo made before. That is Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX, a game port released for Smartphones, Nintendo Switch and Steam. How does this game stack up? Here’s my review of Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX

Summary of the Story

Monster Rancher 1 and 2 have different settings and locations. Still, they all have one story in common: You are a rookie Monster Breeder that is hired by FIMBA(Monster Rancher 1) or IMa(Monster Rancher 2) to raise monsters and become a Master Breeder of monsters.
You usually have two choices of how to get your monsters: a choice of three starter monsters (Eg. Dino, Tiger, and Suezo in MR1; Arrowhead, Zuun, and Mochi in MR2) or using CDs to unlock other monsters. The remake solves the gimmick by providing music/game data that gives you some monsters and some (since modern items do not have access to CD disc drives).
Once you acquired your monster, you now have to do the following to get them ready to fight in battles, like doing jobs or drills to power up your monster or acquire money. Feed your monster to ensure they have the nutrients for training, jobs, and battles. You also make money from side things like jobs and expeditions, though the money you’ll be making will be through the game’s tournaments you’re participating.
Monster Rancher 1 and 2 usually use a Round Robin style tournament (though Monster Rancher 2 gives us Elimination). Winning the matches will usually provide you with money, sometimes a prize like Disc Chips, medicine, and even rare items like a Dragon’s Horn. The Official Tournaments will raise your monster rank, which helps you unlock new monsters, upgrade your ranch, and allow your monster to fight the next grade. Starting at E Rank, you must work your way up to S Rank, then win the Big Four Tournaments to beat the game (MR2 lets you have a new one called the Legend Cup, which immortalizes your monster in the Hall of Fame.) However, it’s not as easy as just doing jobs and going into tournaments. You have to manage everything about your new monster. You have to manage their diet, training routines, when to rest, and lifespan. That’s right, monsters can grow old and die due to many things like giving them too much medicine, forcing them to run ragged, or them getting hurt in tournaments. Luckily you can freeze old monsters and fuse them in the future to make stronger monsters for your progress. You also have Expeditions, which are minigames that allow you to use your monster to explore around a map to search for rare items and stuff to sell or help raise your monsters once acquired. Battles are unique as you manually move your monster between several distances (Far, Mid-Far, Med, and Close). Each range has access to an attack that your monster can use by spending energy known as “Will.” Some attacks will inflict something called Withering, which not only damages but reduces Will on the target. The fight lasts for 60 seconds, and the objective is to either KO your opponent or have more Life than your opponent. Just remember to ensure your monster isn’t KO’d with Low Will as that can badly injure your monster or, worse..kill them in the arena.

Best in Show: What the game excels in

1 & 2 DX solved a lot of the gimmick problem of the old with the music data. You don’t need any third-party device as the whole thing is on the cartridge/game itself; thus, you can play offline without needing a connection. It’s also an innovative way of providing access to monsters that would have been lost due to the modernity of technology. Another is that the monsters themselves look fantastic. Each monster species is unique through various means such as stat growth, moves, playstyles, and even lifespans. Monster Rancher 2 takes the age by adding multiple types of lifespan growths. Some can have normal development, others burn out like a bright candle, and some just are late bloomers. There’s no definite raising method for some monsters. Lastly, the game itself introduces a form of online PvP, which is your monster vs. an AI-controlled opponent of other players (or you can have an AI vs. AI fight.) This has not only brought some ways of battling other players but even brings on competitive tournaments online

Worst Breeder: What the game lacks

One of the most significant issues of the games is that there’s no explanation for the mechanics themselves. First-time players will not know side things like stress management, the lifespan of monsters, percentage, even knowing about the spoil/fear mechanic. Also, not knowing that some drugs and battles will cut lifespans short. Monster Rancher 2 is just as complex as some fans of the game made an advanced third-party viewer needed to better understand the hidden mechanics behind them. It can become annoying with expeditions as you may need 3-4 stats to boost for an expedition monster (Life, Pow, Skill, and Int) and that Int is the factor that can determine your monster’s success (and ensure they don’t get somehow lost in an open field.)
Another problem is the monster unlock mechanics to get some monsters. For starters, to get the Hengar monster in MR1, you have to go to Reno, dig through the ruins for four limbs, then you have to win an A-Rank invitational to win the Doll head to get the Hengar. Then you go back to Reno again when the expedition begins and have your monster (who has 500+ Int). Have it read the tablet to be used, or in Monster Rancher 2, to unlock the Beaclon, you need to feed a Worm 30 Jelly Cups, must be at least four years old in the game, the loyalty of 80 or more, and be C rank or lower and have low to none fatigue and stress.
This makes some monsters unavailable and hard to get when you accidentally unlock a mighty monster from a disc. Lastly, the entire game is more or less an IOS port, which means that Steam and Switch versions are the same and makes things harder to do as you don’t have button modules for controllers (or stuff not known.) This makes playing games a pain to do in some situations.

Should you get it?

Monster Rancher 1 and 2 DX is a game that will give folks a taste of the old games for a generation where the tech made it difficult to emulate. Hopefully, this game can bring a revival of this franchise.

  • Koei-Tecmo
  • Nintendo
  • Steam

Thursday Media Review: Monster Rancher Anime Part 2 (Ep. 16-30)

Review by TheChoujinVirus
Note: This is part 2 of a review on the Monster Rancher anime, to see part 1, please click here. As before, there are spoilers, so you’ve been warned

Hello, it’s ya boy Choujin

Welcome to part two of my review of the Monster Rancher anime. This time we’ll be focusing on episodes 16-30. If you want a recap of the last events and a brief explanation of the Monster Rancher series, I would suggest you click on the link here to catch up. Other than that, let’s continue our adventure.

To recap from the last episode, our heroes have enlisted the help of Captain Horn and his crew of Rockies to help them cross the sea in order to find the Phoenix before Moo can find his body. Suezo complains about why the group has to do work as passengers on Horn’s ship. Horn reassures them that he’s an honorable pirate (despite Suezo’s hatred for the pirate captain.) Meanwhile, below the sea, Gali orders his troop of whale monsters called Zillas and their leader Gooji. The blue whale monster is ecstatic to fight his old foe, Captain Horn, again.Back on Horn’s ship, Horn finds that Golem is shirking his work, despite Golem’s pleas that he hates the water. The pirate crew decides that in order to “face his fears,” they throw him overboard. However, they realize that Golem is afraid of water not because he’s afraid of water, but because he’s a giant rock monster and thus cannot swim. With Genki’s help, they get Golem back aboard Horn’s ship. During Dinner, Holly visits Golem and discusses how much has changed since they all started their adventure. Holly doubts herself in thinking they may never be able to find the Phoenix as the land they’re visiting is entirely new to her and that there are rumors that Moo’s influence is greater there. Golem reassures Holly that as long as they work as a team, they’ll be able to find the Phoenix. However, just as the peaceful night was going so smoothly, the group is ambushed by Gooji and his Zilla troops. The group managed to repel Gooji’s Zillas, which angers the monstrous Gooji as he decides to take care of our heroes himself.  Gooji captures Holly and threatens the rest of them, which causes Golem to snap out of his fear of water in order to repel the giant whale. Horn orders his Rockies to tie up Gooji and dispose of him in a giant whirlpool for good. Gooji tries to take our heroes down with him, but again, Golem intervenes and knocks the whale into the depths once and for all (Though not without Golem returning back to his post upon realizing he’s still near open water).  Horn delivers our group of heroes to the new land. The Group thanks Horn for helping, and Horn returns the thanks by giving them a map of the new land.

Though their new journey is not without new perils besides Gooji and his Zilla troops, Gali dispatches his deadly illusionist Joker to ambush the heroes. Our heroes now have to find a way to get over a massive cliff, which leads to Tiger and Hare arguing. Moochi discovers a cave buried behind rubble, and our group now has a practical way through the cave. However, the darkness also hides Gali’s Joker. A cave in and some bats later cause them to return back to their new area. However, they discover some new paths that the cave in created. Tiger takes this chance to accuse Hare of trying to find a quick lazy fix that hurts everyone and outright accuses him of caring more about money than friendships. Hare snaps and accuses Tiger of being a hypocrite (as he brings up Tiger’s past about being a Bandit). The group then falls into Joker’s trap as they’re now searching for Hare, who promptly ran into the caves after his fight. Joker makes his move and gives Genki and his friends a run for their money with his ability to create illusions. This causes them to succumb to illusions like fighting Moo, peaceful fields, open water, falling daggers, and chains. Though just before Joker can deliver the killing blow, Hare returns and saves the group from Joker. During the fight, Hare learns a new move known as Dragon Kick. With that, he dispatches Joker, and the group escapes the cave.

Along the journey, they managed to run into a new face as they explore the ruins of an abandoned city. This guy’s name is Hengar and was one of the monsters referenced in Monol’s story. He aids them from other Hengars that viewed the heroes as a threat to the ancient city that they maintained for so long. It’s humorous as the group (save for Genki and Hare) is puzzled over some of the technology used (such as a vending machine). Though with Hengar’s help, they managed to not only survive the ordeal but managed to reacquire the Magic Stone that was dropped when they fled the other Hengar. It’s a pretty sad ordeal as Hengar learned that the Ancient’s war was over, and as he tried to explain to his other brethren, they replied by blasting him to pieces. They also learn of the Hengar’s boss known as Techno Dragon and how he controls all the Hengars (save for our companion’s Hengar).

  After leaving the city and saying good-bye to Hengar, the group finds themselves pursued by Gali’s Dokoos. Throughout this battle, Hare calls out that Suezo has no actual talents of combat (despite Suezo’s protest that he can fight.) The group has to deal with not just the rubbery monsters, but Suezo’s existential crisis on how he couldn’t defeat them. Genki tries to help Suezo discover this journey, but it takes one major crisis for Suezo to discover his Teleport ability.
Along their journey, Genki and company run into Pixie and Big Blue again, this time now an enemy of Moo and fighting on the side of good. When she and Genki are separated from the group, they are able to work together and defeat the Scaled Jells attacking them, all while learning that Moo has started an excavation in the north of the continent, hinting that he found his old body.

With Gali defeated, Moo’s Big Bad Four is now down to only two: Grey Wolf and Naga. Grey Wolf gets news of Gali’s defeat from a Cabalos. Grey Wolf views this as a worthy hunt, as he gives orders to his Black Worm troops to attack the group. The group gets ambushed by one of them, and by capturing one of them, they learn that Grey Wolf is one of the remaining Big Bad Four (which shocks Tiger). Though in the ambush, Holly is poisoned by one of the Black Worms. Tiger goes and finds the antidote while defeating the Black Worm’s Captain. They are able to save Holly and continue on.
The group later runs into Mocks and their leader Ebony as they are captured. Though Mocchi escapes and runs into a strange monster named Ducken, who guides Mocchi out of his home as he’s afraid they’ll find him. Mocchi, with some pressuring on Ducken, heads to the Mock’s camp to rescue his friends as he disguises himself as a Mock. Though the operation is a bust, Mocchi runs back to Ducken and finds a bright idea of using Ducken’s tunnels to fight. It’s in this argument that Ducken was too scared to fight against the Mocks and Ebony. Mocchi reassures him, and Ducken agrees to let Mocchi use the tunnels, and with his help, Mocchi is able to defeat the Mocks and rescue his friends. Also, Ducken learns the importance of friendship.

Later on, they learn that some monsters aren’t naturally evil and either learned the error of their ways. Such monsters such as Undine, a mermaid monster Golem, falls in love and, in her chaos, kills herself when she realized that Golem believes that she’s still good regardless of her affinity.  The others happen to be three monsters Centaur, Celios, and Dragoon. Three Monsters who work for Grey Wolf but have a code of honor who at first want to capture the group and later aid them when a group of Salamanders tries to steal their thunder. Lastly, they run into an abandoned factory where they must deal with a robotic insect called Melcarba, who, just like Hengar was created long ago and created with a purpose that was wasted.

Throughout the ordeal, they eventually take the fight to Grey Wolf. For Tiger, this makes it extremely hard as this Baddie is his own brother. Before the battle, Tiger has a dream when he taught his brother how to be strong. By the next morning, after the Pendant is found, they are greeted by one of Grey Wolf’s Cabalos, declaring that his boss demands Tiger to fight him in a one and one fight. Tiger departs to fight his brother while Genki and the rest follow behind him, fearing that their friend may be walking into a trap. Tiger gets flashbacks of the event that led to Grey Wolf being captured by Moo until he arrives at the dueling ground. The two of them exchange quips as Grey Wolf calls Tiger a coward while Tiger tells his brother that he’s been lied to. They both fight as Grey Wolf gives Tiger an ultimatum: Join Moo’s forces. Tiger turns it down, which led Grey Wolf to cheat with his Cabalos soldiers. Genki and his friends intervene, leaving Tiger and Grey Wolf in a one and one battle. The two wolves equally matched until Grey Wolf uses his tail to blind Tiger (a trick Tiger taught his brother). However, Tiger managed to pull one last trick against Grey Wolf. He used his horns to gore his brother though his Crest. Grey Wolf learns that his brother Tiger still loved him. His last words were that he wished they could go back when they were little. Unfortunately, Grey Wolf dies of his injuries as Tiger howls in mourning. Though they defeated the third of Moo’s Big Bad Four, Tiger lost a brother.

While back at the excavation site, Moo’s forces have discovered their master’s original body.
 With news of Grey Wolf’s demise, Naga of the Big Bad Four remains, and our group must continue their travel to find the Phoenix. Throughout their journey they must deal with Naga’s forces. The first one being Stone Dragon. However, they managed to get help from the odd caterpillar named Color Pandora. It’s revealed that Stone Dragon’s been kidnapping the Color Pandora’s children, hence why they resorted to using traps. Another ally they meet is a Ferry Captain named Jim and his companion Eared Mew. They help him deal with Naga’s dangerous Arrowheads. Both of these allies help Genki and company defeat Naga’s threats.
Interestingly, they had one incident where they had to lend aid to two warring monsters. Two tribes of Ape and Rock Ape both started waging war when our heroes awaken a baby monster named Bossy. The group managed to find a solution to where both tribes work together and end their squabbling. Though, as the group is unaware, Moo is marveling over his newly discovered ancient body. Pixie finds this news and heads out to warn Genki and his friends.

The series is impressive and gets a bit dark, especially with the battle between Tiger and Grey Wolf. What I also like about it is that the series does reference past episodes and not forget certain things (Golem’s Aquaphobia and how some episodes have Suezo referencing his attempt at trying to master Teleport). Another thing that I like is how some episodes do hit hard in certain parts. Undine’s Lake actually made you feel sorry for the villainous Undine and how she commits suicide upon realizing Golem’s kindness regardless of if she was on the villain’s side. Another good episode was Tiger’s Battle with Destiny as we get to see a fight between brothers. Some characters also have unusual quirks that make them cute or interesting. Some of them being Hengar, Eared Mew, Captain Jim, and Ducken have some important reasons for their goals (good or bad).
 As mentioned in my last review, the Japanese version has some alterations and changes. Though some are an exciting twist (Ducken in the Japanese version is actually female while the dub made him a male.) while others are typical (Changing Gali’s attacks that reference God to his name such as Gali Finale) and some changes are just really odd (Removing a scene that had mud on Pixie’s face). One that gets me scratching my head is how the “Unlock Your Disk” segment refers to Gooji as Zilla Kong.
Another thing that changed was the aforementioned Tiger’s Battle With Destiny. The episode was not aired when the show was on FOX due to a scene involving Tiger impaling Grey Wolf. It’s odd as Undine’s Lake is broadcast as it involves the monster committing suicide. Then again, the episode is still aired, so at least it’s not like Pokemon where some episodes are outright ignored.

With that, that’s part two of my review of Monster Rancher. Wow, already 30 episodes, and we still got plenty of other episodes soon. So see you next time for the next installment.

References

Thursday Media Review: Monster Rancher Anime Part 1(episodes 1-15)

Review done by TheChoujinVirus
Note: this review may have spoilers to the franchise, so if this is your first time with this, I’d advise you to watch before reading this

With the talks of a new game on Steam called TemTem, it got me thinking and remembering the various monster collecting genres that existed. We all know of Pokemon, the franchise that more or less is king in the genre, and we are all familiar with those digital monsters we call Digimon and the oddly gimmicky Yo-kai Watch series. Some might not have forgotten about an odd series that was introduced by Tecmo and introduced on the Playstation in 1997. This franchise is known as Monster Rancher (or Monster Farm in Japan). However, we won’t be talking about the games (that’ll be for another time), but we’ll be discussing the 1999 anime that was released. For this, we’ll start out with our review of the first fifteen episodes and explain the events that transpire but don’t worry. I’ll be doing reviews of the rest of them soon enough. Another note is that I might make a comparison between the US version and the Japanese versions at the end (or added in an explanation with parenthesis). Without further or due, let us get started with our review of the Monster Rancher anime.

Our story begins with an introduction to our protagonist Genki, a child who is obsessed with Monster Rancher and champion at a major Monster Rancher tournament. One day, as part of his prize, he receives a copy of a new Monster Rancher game and heads home to play it. Little does Genki know is that the game he’s playing is tied to the Monster Rancher world and is pulled into it after witnessing two beings being chased by Black Dinos: Holly and her friend Suezo. After being pulled into the area, Genki learns from Holly that she and Suezo are on a quest to find the mythical Phoenix. They need this monster because of another evil being called Moo, who has the power of turning good monsters evil and that the Phoenix can not only stop Moo but make evil monsters good again. Genki thinks the game disc that brought him here may contain the Phoenix, but when they awaken it, it turns out it’s not. It’s revealed that the monster is a pink, squishy armadillo creature called Mochii. Though it’s not the fabled creature, the group continues on their journey as they’re guided by Holly’s magical pendant on a quest that points her to the Phoenix. Along the way, they gain allies for their adventures, such as Golem, a giant and friendly rock monster who was guarding a graveyard of dead monsters. Then they’re followed by Tiger of the Wind, a horned blue wolf monster who wants revenge on Moo for kidnapping his brother Grey Wolf and Hare the trickster who starts out joining under not so noble intentions and interested in money.

Throughout their quest, they also meet some strange allies and enemies along the path. Some who are redeemed like Allan and his Worm and others lend aid like Ed, a prisoner who helps the travelers across a canyon. The crew also has to deal with Moo’s forces known as the Baddies, and having to deal with his most dangerous generals known as the Big Bad Four. Composed of four monsters: Gali, Naga, Pixie, and Tiger’s brother Silverfang. Each of them is loyal to Moo and aid in enslaving both monsters and humans. Genki and company are successful in defeating the first of the Big Bad Four, Pixie, and thus were able to deliver a blow against Moo. It an episode prior to this, Holly remembers events of her village as she remembered her father being banished and a few years later, invaded by Moo’s forces as she escaped with Suezo, thus starting their journey. The group also later awakens a monster named Monol and learn about the ancient race that created the monsters and how rampant war gave birth to Moo and his nemesis, The Phoenix.

 Eventually, the group finds themselves face to face with Moo himself and kidnaps Holly as he needs her pendant. He reveals that though he is Moo, he’s only a spirit possessing a vessel until he can find his true body: the dragon body that he lost in the great war. Moo reveals (akin to a Star Wars twist) that he’s Holly’s father. When Holly’s father was banished from the town due to a failed election, he stumbled upon the mystery disc containing Moo’s soul, and as a result, he has become Moo himself. Holly’s pendant is used by the villainous Moo, and he’s able to find the location of his body. The gang staged a rescue and managed to help Holly escape from Moo’s palace with the help of a group of monsters called Pirate Dragons. They also gain the aid of Pixie, who now has switched sides against Moo.  Once Holly is rescued, the group managed to make their escape and thanked the Dragons for saving Holly, the group began to ponder that if Moo could use the magic pendant to find his body, perhaps they can do the same to find the Phoenix. Holly then uses the magic stone, and it guides them toward a direction across the ocean. Everyone is excited, save for Golem, who is revealed to have aquaphobia due to being a rock monster.

Though as the group is admiring the sea, Gali of one of Moo’s Big Bad Four has dispatched his troop of raptor-like Zuums to attack the group when they arrive at a nearby port town. However, they’re rescued by a blue Suezo with a horn named Captain Horn and his white Suezo Rockies. The group then explains to Horn that they need to cross the ocean to find the Phoenix. Horn agrees to this deal but wants to put a wager through a game of Old Maid. Should the group win, he’ll sail them across the sea, but should he win, he’ll sail off with Holly instead. Suezo and Horn are mono y mono in their game of old maid to the point that both resort to cheating and sneaky tactics in order to win. Though just as the game will turn into a brawl, the Zuums arrive to attack the group and Horn’s crew. They now take their chance to set sail while Golem holds off the Zuums, though he manages to get aboard and briefly ignores his fear of water until he’s aboard the ship. The group now ready to search for the Phoenix’s body.

Now with the summary of the first 15 episodes of Monster Rancher done, let’s get to some of the good and the bad of the series. Now, for those who may have watched the American dub of Monster Rancher, you’d like how you have some decent voice acting for the dub and had some like Scott McNeil voicing the roles of Suezo and some of the monsters and villains like Gali or the Black Dino captain. Even having major voice actors like Sam Vincent (Ed, Edd, and Eddy fame) as the voice of Hare, and you have a young Andrew Francis voicing the protagonist Genki.

However, though as the anime in the US had its pros, there were some cons in the series that might get some people upset in this day and age is that some of the stuff in the series may have censored some moments such as removing references of Hare’s gas attack (an attack where Hare farts on his foe. In the US version, it’s changed to a rabbit punch). Other changes were mostly stuff such as removing the Tecmo logo, and altering scenes of violence where it’s not so dragged out or extremely painful. This is nothing new as anime in the 90s to early 2000s had this level of typical censorship, and some of it doesn’t seem to be that bad. I could list more of the changes, but that would take away from this review. Another happens to be the “Unlock Your Disk” song, a song that is played in the first break that feels great with it’s rap-like tone. However, it feels like a knock-off of the Poke-Rap. The beat’s good though, but again..doesn’t feel orginal.
With that done, that’s my review of the Monster Rancher Anime. For those who are asking, there are more episodes, fear not, I’ll be doing future reviews of the later episodes soon. So don’t worry, we’ll see what happens to Genki and his friends soon enough.

References