Published by Bandai Namco Entertainment and developed by Koei Tecmo Games comes the most ambitious crossover – Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher, having monsters from the respected Ultraman franchise and here’s our review on the game.

The objective of Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher is simple, we play as a Kaiju trainer set in the island of Istur to take care and grow our Kaijus so that they can be as strong as they can be. And of course, the game also have some of the Kaijus from the Ultraman franchise like Zetton and Gomora.

Gameplay

Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher is a simulation Role-playing game where we can obtain our own Kaijus in various of ways. One of the ways is through using a memory board or a device that supports NFC. The second methods is through using keywords and sub-keywords, though this isn’t as accurate as what I typed in so keep that in mind. And the last method would be through the code that I got through pre-ordering the game.

Once you’re satisfied with the Kaiju you created, you’ll then get sent to the ranch to care for them. There you can train, feed, talk and have the Kaijus rest. Although, you can’t raise a single Kaiju for a long time as they age in the game and will eventually stop fighting and retire after three to four years, needing me to obtain another memory board to raise a new Kaiju in their place. The game only allows you to raise one Kaiju at a time but you can have up to 15 Kaijus in total.

You have your own helper at the ranch who can understand what your Kaiju want and need as well as aiding in managing your Kaiju. A Kaiju’s stats includes Life, Power, Intelligence, Skill, Speed and Defense, which you can train to improve their stats to your preference. Though if you feel too overwhelmed with the decisions, you can always fall back with going for an all-rounder build by distributing the stats evenly.

Holly’s Declassified Kaiju Raising Guide

One of the many things you can do in Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher is to train up your Kaiju by sending them out to perform “drills” or training around Latour. These drills can include menial tasks such as moving trees or even cooking food. The more you would train your Kaiju in a specific area of Latour, the more likely they are to claim that area as their own.

You can even bring in your Kaiju to enter tournaments with, and if you win enough tournaments, you’d be promoted to a higher breeder rank which allows you to enter higher but harder competitions. The tournaments are essentially just another feature of the franchise and will help you acquire Kaiju fame.

Pacific Ranch

During combat, you can move your Kaiju to the left or the right by using the respective L/R button on the joycons. The more space the Kaiju has between them and the monster, the more fighting techniques your Kaiju can use.

Take caution though, there are times where your Kaiju can become confused when using a technique, or that your enemies would just dodge your strikes. You can push your enemies with the B button to create a gap which would potentially stun our enemies in the process.

Verdict

I personally enjoy the bright colours and visuals in Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher. It’s a nice little game where each of the Kaijus feel accurately represented and reproduced for the purpose of this game. The music choice in the game also fits in the overall theme, I especially love hearing the various roars and cries of the monsters.

As a fan of the Ultraman franchise, Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher is a great game where I get to learn the responsibilities of being a parent, where I had to train and raise my own Kaiju. Though my one gripe with the game is that it can get a bit grindy and slow at times.

Regardless of that, it was still fun to play and I enjoyed typing in random names to guess what kind of monsters I’d get with the keyword features. The Kaijus despite having a strange appearance, are adorable and fun to watch them grow.

As much as I would recommend others to pick the game up, I feel that it would only appeal to only a small fraction of players, and those would be the ones who grew up Ultraman or any Tokusatsu shows.

Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher is reviewed on the Nintendo Switch