Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX

[MetManMas]

These are straight PSone ports with a few new QOL features (the biggest being a digital CD database) and no effort put into touching up the typo-laden original localizations. And I am thrilled that these are even a thing at all.

From this week's Digital Down-Low:

Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX is a compilation of two games that are near and dear to my heart. Many, many games saw Pokémon's success in Japan and wanted to cash in on that. And Monster Rancher was one of 'em!

But it took a different approach, going more of a monster-raising simulation route (ala the Digimon digital pets), but as a console game it fleshed out with stuff like jobs and expeditions and battle leagues.

And the thing that really sold me on the game was the OPM demo, which while it had no battle or sim gameplay on display, showed off the game's other big gimmick: Turning your entire collection of music CDs, game discs, and throwaway rubbish AOL discs into monsters!

How does this work on modern digital-based platforms? Well now there's a digital database for that sorta thing where you search for what you want so you're not SOL if you can't find a copy of Tecmo's Deception or whatever.

Anyway, if it wasn't obvious from the multiple photos, this compilation is the thing I'm most excited about this week. Maybe if we're good Koei Tecmo will bless us with a modern game.

Feel free to discuss the Monster Rancher compilation here, and share suggestions for CD database searches and whatnot.

I leave you with Monster Rancher 1's amazing opening video...

and a brief preview of the new database feature as I put in a suggested "disc".

https://twitter.com/x/status/1468931364921643011

 

[Sprite]

I adored these games but wonder if they’d be worth coming back to. Even back in the day they felt kind of jank. I do love how they’re basically a cross between Pokémon and Princess Maker.

I also like the idea of just giving you a giant list of fake CDs. I’m not sure if I’d want to look something up or randomize it completely to see what happens.

 

[FelixSH]

I always wanted to play the second game, as it's the one people seem to consider the best of the series. But I had never had enough CDs to make this worthwile, and even if I had, never had the game. So, this is pretty cool. I did play through the GBA one (were there two? If so, it was the first). Had fun with it, and would like to play another MR game.

 

[Octopus Prime]

One of my favorite Monster Rancher memories was one of my friends coming over for a sleepover and playing Monster Rancher all night; grinding an unbelievably powerful creature in order to stomp the one I’d been raising… only to have it die of old age before he could save.

I also tore open a collectible CD my mother had in order to see what Monster was inside it, but to be fair, I didn’t think that Candle in the Wind was ever really going to appreciate in value

 

[gogglebob]

I've said it elsewhere, but Monster Rancher was a singular experience in my life wherein A. I had just enough free time to enjoy a complicated sim from scratch (and not pregaming an entire strategy based on a FAQ and/or strategy guide), B. I could be mystified and amazed by all the possible monsters (that, upon adult review, may have just been 7,000 recolors), and C. I had access to so many CDs across different mediums that could all house monsters. There were Playstation 1 games! There was my own album collection (as I had just started buying "my" music)! There was my dad's prodigious music collection! There were a surprisingly high number of AOL discs! And I even bought a pair of CDs exclusively because they produced unique monsters. Somebody look up Madonna's Like a Virgin in the new list!

Anyway, I am 100% confident this rerelease will not capture my attention like the original, but I am downloading it this evening all the same, as, damn, I feel like I owe you one, buddy.

 

[Octopus Prime]

As I recall, 3 and 4 looked VASTLY nicer, but they weren’t a fraction of as approachable

 

[Torzelbaum]

I also tore open a collectible CD my mother had in order to see what Monster was inside it, but to be fair, I didn’t think that Candle in the Wind was ever really going to appreciate in value

Do you remember what monster you did get from that CD?

 

[gogglebob]

Was it the single? Because I LITERALLY REMEMBER THE EXACT MONSTER THAT DISC GIVES YOU because I HAVE BRAIN PROBLEMS.

If memory serves, it is Angel, which I always remember thinking was appropriate.

 

[Octopus Prime]

I’m almost certain that was intentional