Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX

Many players like to feel a little bit of ownership over their experience with a game, and there are few better ways to give them that than to give them the opportunity for personalisation. Some players spend hours obsessing over their created character’s clothing, others proudly share their painstakingly created stages. Any way to reflect your own personality can theoretically create attachment, and back in 1997 Monster Rancher allowed PlayStation owners to apply that concept to the life simulation genre.

Originally released as in Japan, the first game in the series introduced the core concepts of raising monsters, battling rivals and eventually breeding new hybrids. This game later made its way to North America as , and its success ensured the production of a sequel and an anime adaptation. Two years later arrived, and since this was the first game in the series to be released in Europe, it was released simply as . The sequel expanded the range of monsters considerably over the original and was similarly well-received and popular, so various further sequels and spin-offs appeared on the PS2, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance. However, the series eventually petered out, with   being the last console release for many years.