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After much deliberation, the Monster Rancher franchise has made its return on the mobile platform now that it is available for the Android and iOS platforms. Instead of being a new game or a spinoff, we are getting the good old original release but on a much smaller screen.
To recap, the port will have all the contents from the original PlayStation game including breeding and battling monsters. Instead of using CDs like the Playstation game, there will be PVP and you will be able to select names and artists from a database online to generate monsters. In the original game, it used to be CD playback to generate monsters. Certainly a feature that would be missed, but with physical media being a relic of the past, this seems like a much better mechanic.
If you are interested Monster Rancher can be be gotten off the App Store, Google Play and Nintendo Switch. There is no announcement on the localisation yet as of time of publication. The possibility seems low however, but that would really depend on the reception of the port first, so never say never. With the game not having particularly lots of text, it should be easy enough for Koei Tecmo to do its thing should it decide to let the rest of the world have a go at a classic title.
Regardless it is definitely a nice thing to see Monster Rancher make its return in some form or another, although this is possibly the best outcome as well. While it never quite achieved the popularity that Digimon and Pokemon were able to attain even back in the day, Monster Rancher was a rather interesting take on the monster breeder genre that was gaining traction in the day. In any case, while you are at it, pop by to their official website as well!
