Finding every CD in our house and my parents’ cars and squirreling them away into my room was an average Saturday activity for me as a kid. It pained my mum to no end to drive halfway to the supermarket before realising that her precious Celine Dion album was once again missing. It wasn’t because I loved music that I stole these discs though — I was using the CDs to create new monsters.
Maybe I should explain. When Monster Rancher launched in 2000, I was obsessed with it. You raised, trained, and battled with your monsters, all with the aim of increasing your rank to become a certified IMa trainer. But the real hook was that the game allowed you to pop your PS1 disc drive open, put in a CD, and summon new monsters via the in-game Shrine. Pretty cool, right?
Naturally, I was ecstatic to hear the recent news that the first two Monster Rancher games are being ported to Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android later this year. Of course, there’s no room to ram mum’s Celine Dion album into your Nintendo Switch — at least, not without shattering it, but that’s probably the best thing for a Celine Dion CD anyway. This experience is so universal that our own Andrea Shearon, TheGamer’s other Monster Rancher stan, had the exact same thought and made the exact same joke. That’s why Koei Tecmo introduced a digital CD catalogue allowing you to summon new monsters by selecting CDs from an online database.
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It’s only fitting that we get reacquainted with the games in time for 2022, which marks the 25th anniversary of the Monster Rancher series. My hope is that the series will celebrate this milestone with a brand new game for the Nintendo Switch, but if I’m really pushing the boat out, I want Amiibo compatibility too.
I’m not talking about Amiibo figures — though I would definitely buy those if they existed. I mean Amiibo cards. Realistically, the game would be better suited to a collection of Amiibo cards rather than figures — there are simply far too many monsters. Animal Crossing features a select few Amiibo figures but, with so many villagers, mainly uses cards. That’s why Monster Rancher taking inspiration from Animal Crossing’s Amiibo would be perfect for a new game in the series.
The cards could depict each type of monster, or instead, show mysterious disc stone images, so you wouldn’t know which monster any given card contained until you scanned it. Either way, you’d still have the excitement of opening a pack with no idea of what could be inside, although the latter idea could potentially incorporate Disc Chips too — broken tablets used when combining monsters.
In fact, Monster Rancher could take a leaf out of Animal Crossing’s book in more ways than just Amiibo functionality. It would be great to see more life-sim elements introduced into Monster Rancher — after all, you already have your own farm, so why not have the possibility of decorating it and expanding it? Considering that you have to feed your monsters, tasks like fishing or gardening could allow you to prepare your own meals and interact with the world in a more meaningful way, just as you do with your island in Animal Crossing.
Crafting would be a helpful addition too, especially if decorating became a thing. Being able to make monster-themed furnishings by using Disc Chips seems like a no-brainer. For example, imagine a Suezo-shaped TV in your home, where the screen is in place of the eye. This idea isn’t too far-fetched either. Spin-off title Monster Farm Travel, only available in Japan, allows monsters to bring back items from their expeditions, which you can then place in their rooms as decoration.
Being able to visit your friends’ ranches, checking out what they’ve done with the place, and taking part in monster battles would be an excellent addition to the series. The new ports will feature local co-op, allowing you to battle your pals on the couch, but being able to visit each other in a similar vein to Animal Crossing would be even better.
There have been countless times where a port or remaster results in a surge in popularity, eventually paving the way for a new addition to the series. I can only hope that Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX has the same effect – not only so more people can enjoy this amazing series, but so I can perhaps see my Monster Rancher Amiibo card dream come true.
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