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Monster Rancher 3 is a pivotal entertainment title.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 41 / 45
Date: October 27, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I ordered this game simply because I couldn't find anything better. It sounded way too childish for my takes; sort of like a bad Pokémon clone. How wrong I was.

Monster Rancher 3 is, without a doubt, one of the funnest games I've ever played. Whereas Pokémon encourages players to frantically collect as many different types of monsters as possible, Monster Rancher 3 puts you on more of a one-on-one relationship with a particular monster. This, of course, can lead to a bit of sorrow when your minion eventually dies. Such is life.

You start by picking a monster. In order to do this, you take any CD-ROM or DVD and place it in your Playstation 2 to 'generate' a monster. The way this is done is each monster has an ID assigned to it, and when the Playstation 2 reads a CD you've inserted, it looks at the first few lines of code and compares it with it's database of monsters. Whichever matches most closely is what it generates. Be warned, however, PC games don't work too well, nor do CD-RW's.

Some discs have special monsters assigned to them; I'll let you discover them on your own, but needless to say, the monster generated matches the CD/DVD's theme.

You then must raise your prodigy. You can feed it, rest it, buy accessories for it, and of course, battle it. Each monster has traits and abilities that make it unique in battle from another. While, say, the Golem may be immensely strong, it is rather slow. The battle music can be a tad repetetive, but no game is perfect.

After your monster dies, it leaves behind a Heart Stone. This Heart Stone can then be given to another monster and will pass on the deceased monster's traits and abilities to the new monster. This allows for generations of monsters, and odd combinations (how about a dragon that loves the water?).

All in all, Monster Rancher 3 is a wonderful title. Now, when are they going to release Monster Rancher 4?

A good game and an improvement on the series

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 31 / 32
Date: November 13, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Monster Rancher 3 is a very solid game. The third in the series it has improved graphics, slightly more difficult fighting, and much less repetitive game play. This game is a winner for anyone who enjoys a more character driven strategy type game - although at first glance it appears to be a kids game, I think that it is challenging enough to interest people of all ages.

The graphics although a bit Disney are very good. The monsters are more detailed and the ability to personalize them is fun (especially when the accessory used can change their character traits). The ability to move to any of 5 different training grounds breaks up some of the monotony of seeing the same background all the time.

This game is more strategy then fighting, but the battles are one of the game's highlights. The number of monsters that can be generated from a CD or DVD seem much bigger and they appear the have much more detailed personalities, skills, and quirks.

The game play is much less repetitive then previous games in the series. It is obvious that the game designers went to a great deal of trouble to come up with a variety of subplots, side characters, new areas to explore. The number of people who come to talk and fight with you is much bigger and having rivals in battle ads a touch of excitement to the game. The new areas are also fun to explore.

All in all this game is a winner for anyone who liked the other Monster Rancher Games. Although the inability to combine monsters will be a disappointment to some, I personally like the fact that upon the death of my current monster my next monster can inherit abilities and skills. The ability to skip through some of the repetitive training and feeding scenes is also a huge plus.

This is a good game to buy because it has a high replay level. When your monster dies, you have to start over with a new one with its own quirks and abilities. Plus the temptation to find and raise some of the stranger monsters is irresistible. If you haven't enjoyed or tried this type of game before, I would rent it first though, as this is a type of game that people either love or hate.

Monster Rancher, clearly one of the best games

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 16 / 16
Date: January 25, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game was so amazing I couldnt put it down for a second.With all the different types of monsters in this game you will never get board.This game is worth buying. If you are a monster rancher fan you will get hooked on this game for certain. The best thing I like about this game is that you get to train your monsters and give them moves. You can keep five monsters at a time. The bad thing about this game is that your monsters die around the age of four. But that wont stop this game if your monster dies it gives a heart. And you can give it to another monster of your choosing and the heart will boost up its stats. So if your monster dies unlock another one and give it the heart. You will never regret buyin this game. I hope this review was helpful to you. I hope you have a good time with this game.

Appeasingly Beautiful

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 15 / 16
Date: May 17, 2002
Author: Amazon User

I eagerly anticipated buying this game because I absolutely loved the first two Monster Rancher games. I had always loved the ability to spawn my own monsters from my compact discs, and I knew that the newest addition, that of DVD spawning would bring another entertaining aspect to the game. Also, I had been impressed by the momentous jump in-between the first and the second in gameplay and graphics, and just knew that it would continue to get even better. Well, I was right, and the Monster Ranching just keeps on improving! There are oceans of new items to obtain, more new monsters to add to the ranks, different areas to train you monsters in (and a new setup to help you along with your acquisition of moves), some nice diversions in the main storyline that introduce a variety of odd characters and their lights, plus an interesting feature that lets you take the "heart" of your deceased monsters and combine them (and some of those hard-to-obtain skills) into your latest fighter.
Its a title that kids can enjoy, plus something that is utterly addictive to everyone else in-between. Those cute little killers are well worth your time.

Slick gameplay, addictive fun...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 13 / 14
Date: July 03, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Monster Rancher 3 is quirky, great looking, and a ton of fun. The premise is simple enough- you select a monster to take through training exercises, building various attributes like speed and strength, and then enter them into tournaments wear they duke it out with other monsters. Several aspects of gameplay add depth to the basics.

First off, you can 'find' different monsters on any CD or DVD. The game reads certain information from each disk you place in the PS2 and unlocks a corresponding monster for you to train. In other words, all of your music, movies and games unlock different monsters- some of which are very rare. It's also great fun when a disk you use unlocks a monster that seems to be associated with whatever the disk is- try using a Godzilla DVD or Parappa the Rapper or Tenchu: Stealth Assassins game for the PS One, for example. You'll get some amusing and rare monsters to train.

You can customize each of your charges as well. In addition to being able to buy the accessories like armor, you select which attributes they should focus on in their training and which they should let atrophy. You can also set which techniques they'll be able to use in combat.

Combat is fast and furious. The tactics you'll find the most success with are dependent on your monsters. Big, lumbering monsters are better played defensively, waiting for that one slip up before they strike, while speed demons can do well playing aggressively. You'll fight in either round robin or elimination tournaments for prizes, more cash for training and feeding your monster, or certification to fight at the next highest tier. The game is not terribly difficult once you know what you are doing, but it still tends to be fun.

MR3 has good replay value since there are so many monsters to discover and train, each with a unique personality and tactics. It can get a little stale from time to time, since the routine changes only slightly. The multiplayer aspect of the game is also somewhat limited as it requires each player to spend time in the single player game training up a stable of monsters to compete against othe players.

All in all, a very good game that will capture your interest, even if only for a little while.

Good game, depending on tastes.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 11
Date: October 11, 2001
Author: Amazon User

OK, to start this off, I personally love the Monster Rancher series. This game really is a love it or leave it kind of game. If you've played, and enjoyed the previous games you owe it to yourself to pick this one up. The graphical style is quite different than the previous efforts with the new cel-shaded monsters, and the ability to personalize them with equipment. Personally I find this as a welcome change as most of the monsters are well animated. The battle system is still simple and quick, involving the various zones from which you can do different attacks. One big difference in this game from previous efforts is the lack of your monster ranch, now you simply raise them in the open. The bulk of the game is still raising your monster, making them work, exploring new areas, sending them on training to build stats, and of course the battles. One thing some die-hard fans may not like is the exclusion of the monster combining, but with all the different things that can be done without it, I didn't really mind it's absence, plus you can now use DVD's as well as CD's to create your monsters. All in all I'd say this is a great game for people that enjoy the series, and if anyone wants to try something new they should give this game a shot. It's almost like having a whole bunch of pets, and yes you may become attached to certain ones, which makes you mourn their death.

Life after monster rancher

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: January 08, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Monster Rancher 3 is a monster raising simulation unlike any other on the market. You "create" monsters by using cds, dvds, and PSX and PS2 games, and raise them to compete in battles in the game.
There are 5 different raising locales: A desert, a forest, a jungle, underwater, and artic. Each locale has its own unique drills that are used to raise your monster's attributes (power, intelligence, speed, defense, and life) and grow stronger to fight in harder battles. This is a very basic summary of Monster Rancher 3.
Overall i found it to be enjoyable, but very brief and hardly challenging. There is very little to do in the game after you beat the final boss, unlike the other games in the monster rancher series.
However, an online community of Monster Ranchers has sprung up and supports Monster Rancher 3 in their own way: The hold online monster rancher tournaments. How? By using an Interact Sharkport to send the save files to a host, and broadcasting the fights live in a chatroom, the online community has found a way to extend the replay value of Monster Rancher 3. And that is exactly the area in which MR3 lacks. So if you have the game, or are thinking about buying it, look up monster rancher metropolis and legendcup on the web for more information.

Better than the originals!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: October 15, 2001
Author: Amazon User

The new Moster Rancher game is a must have. It may not be fact paced, but for anyone who liked the previous Monster Rancher games or other games like Havest Moon, you'll love this. Basically, the whole game you spend raising and battling mosters. Plus, an aspect I find really cool in all Moster Rancher games is that you can put cds or dvds in the drive and actually extract monsters that are on the cds or dvds. Some may not like this game, but those who enjoy a game of this sort will really enjoy this one.

Great for your kids, great for your parents

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: April 30, 2002
Author: Amazon User

First thing I have to say, I thought this game was pretty lame when my 6 year old bought it. However, when I sat down with it, I got up three hours later and had to admit that it was a great game.
I've heard some people say that the graphics are [bad]. When 300 different monsters, with 5 or six different subspecies have to animated with cel shading, i tend to sympathize with the developers. Also, the music can be grating, but it sets the mood of the particular world nicely and let's face it folks, this is a game based on an anime tv show. The gameplay, though simple, is severly addicting and gives you more and more ways to evolve and train your monster. this game is well made and well played. Chalk one up for Temco!

This game is cool.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: June 14, 2006
Author: Amazon User

This game has a lot of monsters. You can really get into the game, so you might even be sad when your monster dies (like my goat ocean hengar). The battles aren't just rock paper sissors style, and the psrollers are SO cute. The Tamarak lord is AWESOME and you get new skills. Both girls and boys can enjoy it, because there are the cutesy-wootsy monsters, and for boys there is the awesome dragons and robots and knights and more stuff to. AND YOU GET TO WEAR COOL STUFF! You choose the food for your monster, and you don't need to (thogh it is cool) use other disks because it comes with 3 monsters alredy in your encyclopida.

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