"Expeditions!?"

An anime had started it all, soon, games with the same title were released. Just like the animations, the games were big hits. Now, the game is back in your Game Boy Advance.

GAMEPLAY: 10/10

It is the best part of the game, for all of you who have played the Monster Rancher game before, the gameplay won't be new to you after all. The game is all about raising your monsters and turning them into weapons of mass destruction. No, really, it is about winning tournaments and making it to the top. The game is comprised of two major factors: breeding and battling. In order to get your own monster, you must proceed to the Shrine. In here, you will input any words, phrase, numbers, or any alphanumeric combinations you like, and for every input you make, generates you a unique monster. After getting the monster of your favor, you must proceed to the Ranch. In here, you will raise your monsters to overcome his opponents.

With the new title, are new features. The "countering" feature has been added wherein you may counter your opponent with 25% success rate. Also, the previous title has only four new breeds to unlock. In this game, there are a lot of new breeds, including Hare and the legendary Phoenix. Another giant improvement is the addition of "expeditions." For the players of the PSX Monster Rancher 2, this is no new thing. This involves visiting ruins and discovering new items, possibly resulting to the discoveries of new breeds of monsters. Another change is the contract with the coaches. The contract with the coaches only lasts for two years, and renewing it will cost you money. With the rebirth of the method of handling coaches, comes "supercoaches." These are basically coaches with stats far superior than any other coaches. So far the gameplay of this game is far superb than any other games.

STORY: 4/10

The game's story is very dull. It is actually about you aspiring to be the best monster breeder in AGIMA. The game will start by introducing you to the chairman of AGIMA. Then, you'll meet Holly, who was a great trainer in FIMBA. She will be your assistant and she will be your support in standing through the game's difficulty. After some time, many people will challenge you and help you in getting stronger. That's the main foundation of the story.

GRAPHICS & SOUNDS: 8/10

The game's graphics is excellent. The monster sprites are very well drawn. The background is very detailed. Even the swimming fishes, walking hens, and jumping frogs are comprehensive. The main drawback here is the character drawings. The drawings are of poor quality and shows minimal expressions. An example is Bolzoi, saying, "What a cool monster!" but his facial gestures shows astonishment. Also the battle can be improved. The graphics shown in the middle of the screen is irritating. But still, every attack was drawn very carefully.

As for the sounds, it is good compared to other game. But it still lacks the best sounds, character sounds. If it has the character voices saying their own speeches, this would have been the game with the greatest sounds. But still, the sounds are of above average quality.

GAME TIME & REPLAYABILITY: 10/10

A perfect score, what else. If you would try to raise each and every monster, you may be needing over thousand hours of gameplay. As for the game time, it is quite short allowing us to finish it quickly. But it's replayability is at its maximum, tying the replayability of Pokemon.

OVERALL: 8/10

The game has great gameplay and replayabilty. If they had only bothered adding storyline in the game, this might be a huge title in the industry.

FINAL RECOMMENDATION: BUY!!!

All of you, Monster Rancher fans, this is a great addition to your collections. As for the non- fans, this may be the start of your addiction to the title, Monster Rancher!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/02/05