There comes a time in every Pokémon fan’s life when they have to ask themselves “is Pokémon the only available outlet for return-based catch-and-battle epic RPG adventures?” By ‘every Pokémon fan’ I of course mean me, since it is unlikely that devotees to the pocket monsters franchise have ever felt the need for an Pokémon substitute, and if they did, they would probably consider themselves defectors and equate their decision to turning their back on their beloved games to Anakin Skywalker’s decision to turn to the dark side. For those with more open minds, or indeed for those who have become a little disillusioned with the Pokémon franchise over the years (die-hard traditionalists/Pokémon purists do exist; I call them the original 151-ers), Mighty Monsters has got you covered. A brilliantly constructed RPG adventure title for the mobile gaming market, Mighty Monsters takes the turn-based battling mechanic of Pokémon and gives it a whole new (and copyright-sound) context, and a whole lot of unique creatures while they’re at it.
Snatch ‘em All
I do hate to describe games in terms of ones that they are most similar to, but since the concept, gameplay and general ideas of both Pokémon and Mighty Monsters are so intrinsically linked (and in many ways, virtually identical), it’s going to prove very difficult to refrain from drawing comparisons between the two. Playing Mighty Monsters feels akin to how Pokémon may have developed somewhere else in another parallel universe where actual Pikachu is red and Pokéballs are oval in shape: the basic idea is that you roam around a variety of discrete regions set out for you by the game with the intention of capturing the creatures that roam wild within them. The beginning of your adventure is marked by the choosing of a starter Pokémon that belongs to one of the three elements of Fire, Water, or Grass, with your quest then taking the shape of travelling across a variety of territories while building your collection of monsters, strengthening them through battle (both wild and against other trainers), and pursuing the vague goal of becoming the best trainer out there
Like Pokemon Yet Different
The capture, training, battling and levelling up of your creatures is what makes the game so ridiculously addictive, and it’s no coincidence that this is the same sentiment that the Pokémon is based on. The investment of time into nurturing and developing your Pokémon throughout their evolutionary cycle is alone enough of an incentive to play for hours, and Mighty Monsters capitalises on this very incentive to bring you an experience that considering the limitations of the hardware it is designed for, is remarkably impressive and capable of standing toe to toe with Pokémon’s main series of games.
Pokémore
Take on other trainers
The gameplay of Mighty Monsters is highly similar in nature to Pokémon: the capturing, battling, evolving and repeating of the process forms the basis of the action, with each island you travel to involving sets of tasks of increasing difficulty for you to complete. The tasks involve simply meeting certain parameters like catching a certain number of monsters and defeating trainers in certain areas; completion of these tasks allows you to move onto the next difficulty and furnishes you with the opportunity to catch some brand new monsters in the process.
Compete in the worldwide arena
The turn-based battle system of course bases itself on the Pokémon equivalent, and the element/type categories of the monsters had me shed a nostalgic tear for simpler times of Pokémon past. Wiping the metaphorical tear away with the figurative tissue of Mighty Monsters, however, allowed me to see that this game is highly aware of how snugly it fits into the footsteps of its peer, and it boldly does away with the mythology that Pokémon is based on. I violently applaud the get-up-and-go nature of the game and the no-nonsense brushing over of any complex storyline elements; there’s no time for any of that here, so the game just lets you get struck straight in to the fun stuff.
Comprehensive menus and all the functions of Pokémon
The battles are remarkably fun, with the types being the main factor in your likelihood of success: water drowns fire, fire scorches grass, grass drains water and so on. The game is very open and up-front about the different advantages and weaknesses of the monsters, assigning them categories such as ‘common’, ‘rare’, ‘ultra’ and ‘Legendary’. The evolutionary forms of the monsters are also displayed so that you can physically see what you’re working towards. Items also play a part in the battles, with potions allowing you to heal your creatures and different ‘taming gems’ allowing you to catch wild Pokémon with varying levels of success.
Pokéless
Where Mighty Monsters stumbles in the race to greatness is also its biggest attraction, since the suddenly immersive gameplay that focuses on the cycle of capturing, training, and battling can soon become repetitive due to the lack of storyline and background information to underpin it the action. The inter-battle tasks aren’t exactly engaging either, since it mainly involved opening treasure chests and circumnavigating the physical environment to find more of said treasure chests and new Pokémon. The limitation of your character’s ever-depleting stamina is also a concern, since you occasionally have to wait for it to be replenished before you continue.
The ever-present limitation of the game requiring an internet connection is also a bit of a pain, and is a problem for those without a 3G connection or for those that don’t spend all of their time at home. The game is also excessively glitch, possessing a lovely selection of random bugs that occasionally take the opportunity to crash the game.
Almost
Might Monsters’ gameplay has enough going on to entertain box-tickers out there that love to perform tasks, develop their assets (monsters) and battle repeatedly. It will likely satisfy anyone young enough not to have been caught up in the Pokémon craze at the point of its meteoric rise all those years ago, but true Pokémon fans out there will laugh at the shallow nature of the gameplay, particularly its lack of storyline and distinct absence of between-battle entertainment. The frequent glitches also serve to annoy and the in-game currency’s freemium basis is essentially a shake-down of your wallet in the guise of some adorable pocket-sized monsters. Uken Games have come up with a fun one here, but it has its limits.
70/100
Reviewed by Craig Sherratt
Windows Phone Version?
There has been no anouncement as of yet with regards to a Windows Phone version of Mighty Monsters Game. As soon as we here anything we will update Windows users here.
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