Dragon Warrior Monsters 2: Tara's Adventure - Game Boy Color

Each monster has its own complex set of characteristics, and can be matched with any monster of the opposite gender to produce a new member of Tara's monster menagerie (don't worry: the actual breeding takes place offscreen). The results of monster breeding can be surprising, and allow for nearly endless experimentation. Of course, your responsibilities don't end with breeding: you must also take your monsters out on missions to give them experience and keep them sharp. Let your monsters languish for too long on the farm and they'll get lazy and disobedient.

The monster breeding by itself wouldn't be much fun if it weren't for the game's imaginative settings and strong characters. Despite the Game Boy's modest graphics and sound capabilities, the game evokes distinctive atmospheres and personalities through an inventive use of textures and dialogue boxes. The multiple menus necessary for successful navigation of this world at first appear dauntingly complex, but the interface does a good job of leading you along until you get the hang of things.

Dragon Warrior: Monsters 2, Tara's Adventure stresses creativity and constructive behavior over conflict. While it's true that you can hardly take three steps without your monsters getting into another fight, the violence itself is not at all graphic, and outcomes rely as much on strategy and relationships as on brute force. The world of the game is a gentle and whimsical one where nothing too bad ever happens. Even if one of your monsters has the misfortune of getting killed, it follows you around in a cute little coffin until you can arrange for a resurrection.

The one disappointment with Dragon Warrior: Monsters 2, Tara's Adventure is not so much with the title itself as with its much-hyped interaction with its companion title, Dragon Warrior: Monsters 2, Cobi's Journey. Linking with another Game Boy Color running either the same cartridge or its companion title enables, among other things, monster swapping and multiplayer adventuring, but the layouts, plots, characters, and dialogue are virtually identical in Tara's Adventures and Cobi's Journey. The addition of a few extra monster types and spells hardly justifies the expense of a second game cartridge.

But never mind. Dragon Warrior: Monsters 2, Tara's Adventure provides more than enough fun missions, engaging characters, and imaginative settings to rate as a smashing success as a standalone. --David Stoesz

Pros: Minimal violence Battery save feature lets you bookmark your progress without using passwords Cons: Virtually identical to Dragon Warrior: Monsters 2, Cobi's Journey Missions can lead to aimless wandering

Amazon.com Product Description
Tara and Cobi, sister and brother, move to the island of GreatLog to take up monster farming. Soon after, the island starts to sink into the ocean, forcing the siblings to find, capture, breed, and train an army of Dragon Warrior monsters to save their beloved GreatLog. Dragon Warrior: Monsters 2, Tara's Adventure features the daring Tara, while her brave brother Cobi is featured in the linkable companion title Dragon Warrior: Monsters 2, Cobi's Journey.

Combined, these releases let you collect more than 300 engaging monsters from up to 11 monster families as you explore strange and mysterious worlds. Each version offers exclusive monsters and items. While these games play fine by themselves, you'll need to link up or purchase both to collect all the items and creatures. Each title has different hidden quests accessible only with secret keys. Trade keys to uncover the mysteries contained in both titles. Best of all, it's up to you to breed the most powerful monster by customizing it with magic abilities and inherited skills. Link to another system to fight your friend's monsters or join up to fight as a team!