"Monster Rancher 1" for Beginners Quiz

Answer: Dino Jell

Dinos all look a bit like small Tyrannosaurus Rex dinosaurs. Slash is of the sub-type Jell and has soft skin and an amorphous blob of jelly instead of a brain. It attacks by slashing with the claws on its forelimbs.

The unique feature of the "Monster Rancher" games was that monsters could be unlocked by inserting music CDs and game disks into the game system. Later versions accepted DVDs too. The game program would read the CD data and use it to produce a random monster. Some monsters were designed to be unlocked if certain best-selling CDs were used. For example, Slash could be obtained by inserting a CD of the Beastie Boys album "Paul's Boutique".

Answer: Golem Suezo

All monsters of the Golem species are made up of rocks or stones (the species name being inspired by the Golem of Jewish legend, which was a creature made of clay and brought to life by magic). Titan is a large yellow sub-species of Golem which apparently loves to eat curry.

If you wanted to get a Titan in the "Monster Rancher 1" game, you needed to use a CD of the Nine Inch Nails EP "Further Down the Spiral".

Answer: Tiger Monol

The "Tiger" species actually look more like wolves, but with horns on their heads and lion-like manes. Velvet was originally named in tribute to its soft velvety fur, although in later versions its name was changed to Terror Dog and then Liquorice.

In "Monster Rancher 1", Velvet could be unlocked using the Counting Crows CD "August and Everything After".

Answer: Pixie Pixie

All Pixies are human-like creatures with horns on their heads, bat-like wings, and a tail. Different sub-species had either different coloured skin, or wore different coloured outfits: for example, Dixie was a green-skinned Pixie Dino in a green bikini, while Angel was a pale-skinned Pixie Gali wearing white and sporting a halo. Pixie the Pixie Pixie (sic) has pale skin and red hair as well as a purple bikini and matching leggings. Very chic.

Various disks could be used to obtain Pixie, one of which was the Windows 95 CD "The World Book Encyclopaedia (1996)".

Answer: Worm Plant

Most Worms actually look more like caterpillars, as they have stumpy legs and a recognisable head. They also have tusks and a stinger in their tail. Rainbow, as the name suggests, is a colourful Worm of the Plant sub-species. In "Monster Rancher 2" it was renamed "Flower Worm". Other sub-species include Red Worm, which is a Worm Pixie, and Tubby, a Worm Jell.

Fans of the band Guns N Roses could easily unlock Rainbow by sticking their CD of "Appetite for Destruction" into the game.

Answer: Plant Golem

Monsters of the Plant species look a bit like bulbs with leaves and flower heads, and root-like feet meaning they are able to move around. Rock Bush, being of the Golem sub-species, is made of stone, although in other ways it resembles other Plant variations. Other varieties include Shrub (Plant Dino), Spinner (Plant Hare), and Bad Seed (Plant Naga).

A Rock Bush could be obtained by using your CD of the album "Above" by Mad Season.

Answer: Dragon Golem

In "Monster Rancher 1", you could only obtain a Dragon by winning certain special tournaments. They looked much as you would expect: large fire-breathing lizards with wings and tails. Jihad, being a Golem sub-type, was made of stone.

After "Monster Rancher 1", its name was changed to either Rock Dragon or Stone Dragon, perhaps to avoid offending Muslims ("Jihad" being specifically an Islamic term for a "holy war").

Answer: Hare Tiger

Monsters of the Hare species look pretty much like a real-life hare, with long ears and a rabbit-like face. They are particularly good with their fists - a reference to the fact that during the mating season male and female hares will get up on their hind legs and "box" at each other with their front legs.

Pulsar is a blue-and-white hare with a single horn in the middle of its forehead (a reference to its tiger sub-species). In later versions of "Monster Rancher" it became known as Blue Hare or Pulscorn.

It could be unlocked via the disk for the PS1 game "Alien Trilogy".

Answer: Ape Hare

George looks a bit like a gibbon but has long ears like a hare. He is apparently quite tricky to train. In "Monster Rancher 2" his name was changed to Gibberer. He could be obtained in the game by combining a standard hare with an ape.

Other apes in "Monster Rancher 1" include Pepe, an Ape Plant which wears balaclava-like headgear shaped like a flower, and Great Ape, an Ape Gali with white fur and a gold head.

Answer: Suezo Suezo

The Suezo is a species which recurs in most of the later "Monster Rancher" games. Most Suezo creatures are variations on the "large eye on a stalk" concept. These include "Toothy" (a Suezo Jell) and Pink Eye (a Suezo Pixie). The original Suezo is, as you might guess, a Suezo species, of the sub-type Suezo.

To get hold of one in "Monster Rancher 1", you can use one of various PS1 game disks, such "Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back" and "Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped".