Monster Rancher Battle Cards: Episode II (PlayStation)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 2.5 stars OK
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 5.9 (2.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Gerald Villoria
• Reviewed on: 02/28/2001
• Updated on: 02/25/2004
• Released on: 07/31/2000
• Originally published on GameSpot: Monster Rancher Battle Cards: Episode II (PlayStation) Review

The Monster Rancher series started up on the PlayStation back in 1997, and it has since grown into multiple sequels as well as a cartoon. The hook for the game is that magical monsters can be unlocked from everyday music and game CDs, which the game terms mystery discs. Essentially, the game samples a bit of data from any CD you enter and uses that digital data to create various monsters. In the Monster Rancher world, children who aren't quite old or experienced enough to ranch their own monsters and train them to fight are instead trained in the game of battle cards. The competition can get pretty fierce, as players are encouraged, or rather, forced, to wager valuable cards on the outcomes of their matches.

The storyline sends you, as friend to fellow card player Cue, on a quest to recover her complete set of Monster Rancher cards, which has mysteriously vanished. In order to complete the set, you will have to win in several tournaments and personal competitions. Like in the games before it, Monster Rancher Battle Card: Episode II's years are split up into months of four weeks apiece, with a new competition or action taking place every week. Some weeks you can challenge an opponent, while others you will choose to spend in the laboratory making cards of your own. Tecmo's franchise calling card, the ability to create game elements using data gleaned from the everyday music and game CDs you already own, is present and accounted for. While any CD can be used to create cards, CDs from artists like Dido, *NSYNC, and Britney Spears, as well as other Tecmo game CDs, can be used to generate rare monster cards and techniques. Even more obscure CDs--like The Smiths' most recent album, Singles--result in a special card, offering a small insight into either the listening tastes of the developers or the odd happenstances of random number theory.

The mechanics of the Monster Rancher Battle Card system are relatively simple. Using a deck of 50 cards to accompany your three chosen monsters, you and an opponent take turns drawing five-card hands and discarding cards in order to generate points called GUTS, which power other cards. Discarding your entire hand will generate five GUTS, but it will leave you defenseless. Monster Rancher Battle Card: Episode II includes a complete roster of Monster Rancher favorites, and each monster has its own set of techniques. Like the Magic the Gathering and Pokémon collectible card games, creating a balanced team, a fast team, a powerhouse team, or a gimmick team are all viable strategies. The AI's harder difficulties will be happy to show you some rather interesting deck types. For example, one of the opponents you will face at the battle card tournaments will employ a stalling strategy, in which her monsters will sit back and block, generating little or no GUTS, forcing you to waste GUTS trying to overcome her inexpensive defenses and regenerative capabilities. The game is not as complex as some of the more mainstream collectible card games, and it's not entirely novel enough to convert fans of the Pokémon card games.

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Monster Rancher Battle Cards: Episode II (PlayStation): $19.99 - $20.95

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