Monster Rancher To Celebrate Its 25th Anniversary With Rerelease Of First Two Games

The Monster Rancher series is coming up on its 25th anniversary, and to celebrate Koei Tecmo will be rereleasing updated versions of the first two games in the series in one package.

Called Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX, the games in this bundle will be mostly the same as the original versions that were first released on the PlayStation, but with a few updates to the monster-breeding and battling titles. Online features will allow players to take their monsters online and battle players around the globe, while various monsters will also be receiving balance changes. Both games have already been rereleased in Japan in recent years under their Japanese title, Monster Farm.

Monster Rancher series executive producer Kazumi Fujita says in the bundle's announcement video that the company heard messages from fans around the world asking for a rerelease of the two games outside of Japan. Fujita recounts how he visited the United States around the time of the game's original release to promote the game, as well as the Monster Rancher anime series.

"It has been a long time, but I want you all to remember how exciting it was to play the original titles and enjoy battling with friends," Fujita says. "We are preparing features to allow you to play with players in Japan as well. We are also re-balancing the monsters. This will allow both Japan and the rest of the world to play a new version of Monster Rancher 1 and Monster Rancher 2 together."

The bundle will be coming to PC and Nintendo Switch, and will go on sale December 9. For those who can't get enough games with "Rancher" in the title, Slime Rancher recently released on Nintendo Switch, with a Slime Rancher 2 set to release in 2022.