(AfroGamers.com) Pokeclones are a favorite subgenre of mine and Koei Tecmo’s Monster Rancher is one of my favorites. It dropped at a time of others such as Medabots, Robopon, Dragon Quest Monsters and an adjacent title such as Digimon. Not too long after Monster Rancher landed on PSX we’d see Mega Man Battle Network and different titles in the Shin Megami Tensei series.
The collecting, battling, and evolving monster games pool was a bit crowded and roughly half of those titles made into the 2010s and 2020s. What set Monster Rancher apart from other games in its early entries was the ability to pull monsters physical CDs. Some CDs in your CD binder or shelf could feature a powerful monster that you couldn’t train yet.
That leads us to what really makes this my favorite of the Pokeclones: the life-sim aspect.
Monster Rancher Went Further with Monster Training
There was a lot going on with Monster Rancher mechanics-wise that I love. Most of it would be pretty applicable to Pokémon if the in-game time was treated differently from real time or “Earth time” as Final Fantasy XIV calls it. See, Pokémon always felt like the longest summer ever because you could catch monsters, train them, collect gym badges, and spank the Elite 4 in pretty short order.
You’re not going to spend months going through a Pokémon title doing the core game even if you have other things to do. That isn’t the case in a Rancher game, either. Depending on the game, you could go through the ranks quickly. The main difference is that the monster you’re raising and the way you’re raising it might not get you to the top.
Time Was Everything
That’s because of the life simulation gameplay in the series. Players have to feed their monster, let them get rest, give them treats, encourage them for great results, choose their training regime throughout the month, breed them other monsters, watch their weight, and enroll them in battles and tournaments (some which determine the monster’s ranking).
All of this is managed by a very simple in-game calendar. Matches and tournaments are scheduled and if the monster’s rank is high enough, they’re able to enter that competition. In the games on GameBoy Advance, the calendar featured Official tournaments hosted by the organization in the game that allow for rank promotion to the winner.
Tying all of this together is that each monster has a lifespan. The crushing part in a Monster Rancher title is that sometimes when a player thinks their monster can advance in rank, it can kick the bucket. So, the game gets some longevity and replayability by requiring the player to summon and raise another monster.
Then again, if a player wants to avoid dealing with a dying monster they can retire the monster, get them registered as a trainer, and have them on the ranch training the next potential champion.
What Happened with Monster Rancher?
The franchise is still around and as of 2022, Koei Tecmo has released a game for Nintendo Switch in a crossover with the Ultraman franchise. The method of summoning or generating monsters has even been modernized since CDs aren’t used much now.
On that note, the game’s success is pretty easy to determine since it didn’t get much buzz after being released and the franchise’s peak in the West was between 1999-2000 when the animated series was on broadcast television.
Monster Rancher is the pokeclone that has simply always been around. The games maintained a consistent level of quality but never garnered buzz with the newer releases like Dragon Quest Monsters would with the Joker series and Devil Summoner games on Nintendo DS.
If you played the Monster Rancher games, which were your favorites and monsters? I was never a fan of Suezo and always preferred Tiger of the Wind or Zan. Also, what were your thoughts on the short-lived animated series?
Share your thoughts below!
Staff Writer; M. Swift
This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.