Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher Announced for Nintendo Switch

The Monster Rancher video game franchise is back with a truly new installment set to release later this year on the Nintendo Switch from Bandai Namco and developer Koei Tecmo. This time, however, there’s a bit of a twist as Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher combines the monstrous creatures of the Ultraman franchise with Monster Rancher’s… well, ranching of monsters.

“Between Ultraman‘s impressive roster of Ultra Kaiju and Monster Rancher‘s expertise in simulating how to raise monsters, bridging both franchises is a natural fit to create a fantastic and fun monster breeding simulation,” said Kentaro Matano, Producer at Bandai Namco, as part of the announcement. “Fans of these beloved franchises as well as those who enjoy monster breeding games will get a thrill from discovering, raising, and befriending their very own Kaiju and creating epic battles in ULTRA KAIJU MONSTER RANCHER!”

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Players can train, breed, and befriend various Ultra Kaiju in Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher. There are over 200 different kaiju from the Ultraman series to collect via Song Search in classic-but-modern Monster Rancher fashion or through NFC-enabled devices and items. Additionally, various combinations of kaiju can be created by synthesizing different monsters together as well.

“We learned a lot about the series from this revival title, and made some discoveries along the way as well,” said Koei Tecmo’s Monster Rancher Series Executive Producer Kazumi Fujita in an interview late last year about Monster Rancher 1 & 2 DX and what the future could hold for the franchise. “With 2022 marking the 25th anniversary for the Monster Rancher series, the team and I are putting in a lot of effort to meet the expectations of all of our fans.”

As noted above, Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher is set to release for the Nintendo Switch in 2022. No specific release date has been announced as of yet. You can check out all of our previous coverage of the Monster Rancher franchise in general right here.

What do you think about what we have seen of Ultra Kaiju Monster Rancher so far? Are you excited to learn more about the video game in the near future? Let us know in the comments, or feel free to reach out and hit me up directly over on Twitter at @rollinbishop in order to talk about all things anime and gaming!