Monster Rancher DS sneaks past the Ninja Gaiden hype

by JC Fletcher { Mar 30th 2007 at 7:30PM }

With the whole gaming press freaking out about the new Ninja Gaiden game, another Tecmo franchise announcement has gone virtually ignored. And, like Ninja Gaiden, it uses the DS's unique features in surprising and possibly inappropriate ways.

Monster Rancher DS goes back to the Playstation-era art style of Ranchers 1 and 2. Like other games in the series, it makes use of data on other media to generate creatures. However, instead of random CDs like in the previous version, this one makes use of the GBA slot. Shapes drawn with the stylus also figure into the gameplay in ... some way.

We've rounded up some screens after the break. Get it-- "rounded up" because it's a "ranch" game, and... we're sorry.

Tags: ds, gba, japanese, monster, monsterrancher, nintendo, nintendo ds, nintendods, rancher, tecmo

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

hvnlysoldr @ Mar 30th 2007 7:56PM

First one of the series I might pick up.

CJC @ Mar 30th 2007 10:28PM

This is one of those series I always forget exists until the next game comes around, which is a bit unfortunate, they're usually pretty good.

Alisha Karabinus @ Mar 30th 2007 10:41PM

Oh, man. This has the potential to ruin my life. I played the first two Monster Ranchers like crazy... maybe more than any other game ever. And this one LOOKS like the early games, instead of the later ones.... wow! Can't wait!

Nushio @ Mar 31st 2007 1:44AM

I knew it, I knew they'd make one based off the GBA cartridges.

The GBA versions, which were pretty bad IMO, used random letters.

This one has the potential to ruin my wallet, so I'll probably pick Pokemon over it :P

Alisha Karabinus @ Mar 31st 2007 1:59AM

I avoided the GBA versions, and after hearing you say that, I'm glad. This one, though... man, it looks just like the old ones. Now I need to go look it up and see what my pixie-in-a-box was called, 'cause she was cool as hell. I loved the first games.