Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher is a very interesting intersection between two things that I really love. The two are likely to be considered niche loves, but I support them. This particular game merges Monster Rancher, the classic series of monster farming video games, with the Tokusatsu Ultraman franchise.
It has over 200 Kaiju from the various Ultraman series, and that’s pretty impressive. It feels like a title inspired by a bizarre manga from the mid-2000s. While not a perfect game, it’s beautiful, fun, and offers just the right amount of challenge for me.
Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher combines two classic franchises into one
While these two franchises don’t really have much in common, I’m a big fan of goofy, over-the-top choices like this. It’s something a lot of people might overlook, but if you’re even remotely a fan of classic Monster Rancher games, you should definitely check out what Bandai Namco has to offer here.
I have quite a few friends who are also classic Ultraman fans, so they were just as excited as I was. Even if you’ve never watched Ultraseven, Ultraman Mebius, Ultraman Ginga, or one of the other series, there’s something to like here. You don’t need to know either series to dive in and start raising Kaiju – giant monsters.
The gameplay loop is quite simple but still manages to offer a significant challenge to players. In Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher, you summon and raise a number of powerful, giant Kaiju, and put them into friendly and competitive battles with other ranchers. Your monster will do chores, train with others, and compete in tournaments.
How to recruit and train your Ultra Kaiju
Before you can do anything, you must summon a Kaiju. You will very quickly receive your first monster, for which you will of course have to choose a name. In the city area of the game, you can head to the altar, where you will find your monsters in Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher.
If you choose Use memory card, you can use anything related to NFC to scan your controller. This will give you a Kaiju, depending on what you use. Unfortunately, and this is my biggest complaint, you can’t use your Amiibos. I don’t know why it wasn’t considered.
Enter a keyword replaces the classic Monster Rancher tradition of using CDs. Back then, we could put our music CDs in the PlayStation and receive monsters accordingly. Now you will need to enter the main keywords and sub-keywords. Depending on what you decide, this will also give you a variety of Kaiju.
However, another kind of frustrating thing is that there are “locked” monster species. Even if you have the right keywords to unlock them, you won’t get them until specific requirements are met. Fortunately, LegendCup has a database that is populated by community members. You can go there to search for keywords and see what the results will be, provided someone has already submitted it.
There will also likely be special events or giveaways that will result in the codes being offered. In this case you will use Enter code to receive your Kaiju. Finally, you can simply receive a Seasonal Kaiju for free. The selection will change periodically, so go check back regularly to see if it’s a monster you’re missing.
If you summon a Kaiju and decide you don’t like it, you can leave it with the field guide and come back for it later. Or never, if you’re a heartless monster. However, you can only train one Kaiju at a time, so choose wisely.
Back to Ranch, your Kaiju can undertake a series of Drills in different terrains. Each raises and lowers certain stats, and each Kaiju also seems to prefer drills. Either way, it almost always seems to increase my “Anger” stat. If your monster’s anger meter fills up, it will go on a rampage. Chances are an Ultraman will show up to stop them.
If your Kaiju damages the property, you’ll have to pay for it, but luckily money doesn’t seem to be an issue in this game. I never seemed to run out of money, thanks to dominating tournaments.
By defeating other opponents and encountering characters, you will unlock the power to continue Wanderings. These are month-long excursions where your Kaiju can learn new skills, grow in power, and develop friendly rivalries. They are expensive though, so be careful.
Also, at the beginning of each month, you will choose a food item to feed your monster. Be aware that in Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher they are often picky. They also won’t appreciate being fed the same food every month, so mix it up with different spices and things of that nature.
As you increase your stats and gain new powers, you’ll want to be prepared to head into the Arena and start participating in tournaments.
Competition is easy but tough in Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher
In Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher, each round lasts a week. There will be periodic tournaments, which you can see in the schedule, by simply heading to the arena. They all have their own requirements, be it monster rank or class.
They start at rank “E” in Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher, but they can also participate in battles to increase this rank. You can only level up to “C” rank without a breeder license; this is where the game really starts to ramp up the difficulty.
This battle only happens twice a year, so you need to plan and prepare for it, and also have a monster strong enough to win the fight. But how does combat actually work? In fights, your Kaiju builds up a Guts meter for the duration of the fight.
You’ll see a series of icons at the bottom of the screen, each representing a particular distance from the other monster. If you are at the wrong distance, these abilities are marked. They also have a guts cost and a visible chance to hit.
Battles are short, so you really have to consider everything you’re doing – how hard you can hit and how fast your Guts recharges, in particular. Not all monsters are fast either. Fortunately, you can rush. You move back and forth with the L/R buttons, and this will put you in range for your various attacks.
If time runs out, whoever has the most HP will win, but you can also claim an easy victory by knockout. You also have many types of movements. Beam attacks, status ailments, knockdowns and more.
I love the fight, and even in the defeat I wasn’t too upset. I could easily see how strong or weak I was compared to other monsters, but the success rate was still incredibly low. I rarely had more than a 50% chance to hit.
That said, the combat is a lot of fun and very tactical. Simply spamming any attack you have is not going to be a smart strategy for success. All monsters feel like they have something that makes them useful, and I love that.
Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher is fun, but very grumpy
Each Kaiju in Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher has a competitive lifespan, usually a few years. So you’ll want to get the most out of it before you take out a Kaiju and offer it to fuse with another monster. That’s right, you can merge them too! I didn’t do much though. Frankly, none of my attempts resulted in anything great.
However, the game is incredibly cranky and you will spend a lot of time doing tedious, mindless work and preparing to compete in tournaments. I don’t mind, but it may annoy some people. Most Monster Rancher fans know what they’re getting into, and that’s certainly true for classic games.
Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher also looks quite pretty, but has framerate issues
I love the bright colors and visuals of Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher. It’s a beautiful little game, and each of the Kaiju feels represented and accurately reproduced for the purposes of this game. The music is also appropriate and I love hearing the different monster roars and cries!
Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher really took me back to when I was a kid. However, I did notice stutters and frame rate drops. They were infrequent, but just enough to mention. This happened to me most often in combat. The Kaiju are poorly animated, but I feel like that was on purpose. In this way, they meander and meander like on TV.
In conclusion
Although yes, it is a slow and cranky game that can make it feel like it takes forever, which is what I expect from Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher. It was a joy to play, and I loved putting in CD names to see what kind of monsters I was going to get, just like I did when I was a kid.
Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher is a bizarre monster farming simulator, like the classic Monster Rancher games, but with a Tokusatsu twist. Would I rather have seen something like Kamen Rider or Super Sentai? Absolutely. That said, I love what it did, but that said, it’s still really fair for a subset of players. If you’re a Monster Rancher and/or an Ultraman fan, you’ll enjoy it too.
These Kaiju, even though they look creepy, are somehow still lovable and a joy to raise. The challenge is to figure out the right way to breed each monster, what skills work best for them, and how to defeat your opponents in battle.
Ultra Kaiju Monster Breeder