Monster Rancher

"This is what Pokemon Stadium will be like"

Gameplay 8/10: Monster Rancher is like Pokemon, you raise the Monster to a stage and it gets stronger. Monster Rancher is a pretty fun game if you have patience and enough time to play it. It requires a lot of time to play and reach your goal. The main idea is to reach the highest ranking for your Monster, which is very hard. You can fight special challenges and go on some cool expeditions. Also, you get to raise your monster with training at camps, and keep your monster healthy with specific items. All these things are fun to do in the game and it can get more challenging after hours of play. The coolest part of the game is when you get to battle. You choose moves and the monster fights. Awesome huh? Oh yeah, and you can create new monsters from inserting any CD in the playstatiion or combine monsters. You can create a lot of different monsters, and it is almost impossible to get every monster.

Graphics 9/10: Pretty good, I like the 3-D animation of the monsters. The battle animation is also alright, but it isn't the best 3-D animation I've seen. The environment of the monster's home is realistic, especially how the weather makes how your monster's home area change. There isn't much I can say about this game's animation.

Sound 9/10: There is battle music that makes you nervous. The music in this game can sometimes shock you. You'll know when a tragedy happens just from the music. It gets all scary. The music normally is happy. Sometimes, you won't pay attention to the music and sometimes you will. The battle sounds are sort of simple. But the sound effects usually fit the attack sound.

Overall 9/10: I don't really know the price of this game right now, but since Monster Rancer 2 came out, maybe this game is a little more cheaper. It was really expensive before, and this game is worth its price. Good gameplay, graphics, sound, and an interesting time setting. If you play the game, the time setting is kind of weird. Pretty ancient huh? I like this game, and only buy this game if you are willing to play it 30 min-1 hr a day.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/29/00, Updated 02/29/00