Monster Rancher Battle Card
- August 01, 2000 00:00 AM PST
It's been a while since those Pokemon-play-alikes last saw the light of day, and now Tecmo brings them back in a game that, while not frighteningly original, does manage to stack the deck with fun.
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Oh Mocchi, You're So Marketable!
Monster Rancher and Pokemon have enjoyed a controversial relationship. Monster Rancher hit the Playstation before Pokemon took the Game Boy by storm, so many consider 'Rancher to be the original monster-breeding game. Still, one can't help but wonder when one sees Monster Rancher Battle Card, a game which owes a lot to the form and design of the Pokemon collectable card game.
The Monster Rancher series has always been about simple graphics, happy music, and no-brainer gameplay, and the Battle Card seed doesn't fall too far from the tree. The highlight here is the card game itself, which manages to be fairly deep, even if it doesn't have the labyrinthine rules that bog down Wizards of the Coast's Pokemon Card Battle. You have three monsters, your opponent has three of his own, and you alternate turns making attacks and playing Skill Cards. That's it. Selecting cards and making plays in MRBC is extremely easy, though you'll have to bang through a handful of unnecessary dialog boxes in-between matches.
Suezo Crazy
Fans of the Monster Rancher cartoon series and PlayStation owners dying for a video card game would do well to pick up Battle Card. It's a harmless, fun card battle that requires strategy, quick thinking, and an inexhaustible appetite for cute gladiators doing what they do best - kicking ass..
