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Monster Collections Plus (怪獸總動員 加強版), or Pokémon - Pocket Monsters Action on the English version's cart label, is an undumped Pokémon-themed virtual board game released by SKOB for the Game Boy Color. Unlike SKOB's more well known Game Boy Color games (i.e., Final Fantasy X: Fantasy War, Pocket Monsters Crystal), which were likely developed by BBD, this game is clearly developed by a different development team and uses originally composed music. It is an enhanced version of Guai Shou Zong Dong Yuan (怪獸總動員), which is only known to have been released in Chinese as of writing. Monster Collections Plus is currently the only known Game Boy Color SKOB game not developed by BBD to be released in English.
Both the Chinese and English versions are currently undumped. Contributing to that is the strong copy protection used in copies of the game and most of SKOB's other Game Boy Color games that makes them non-functional in emulators and flashcarts. Fortunately, a substantial amount of gameplay footage from the English version is currently available online.
Overview[]
Character select screen.
The game is a board game that directly clones gameplay mechanics from the video game series Culdcept, which is essentially a hybrid of a board game and collectible card game. When starting a new game, you can choose to play as the three main characters from the original Pokémon anime. In both the Chinese and English versions, all of the characters ages are listed and they are given different names in English: "San" (Misty), who is 16 years old; "Hunter" (Brock), who is 18 years old; and "Stone" (Ash Ketchum), who is 14 years old. You are then provided the option to give your selected character a different name, with their name on the character select screen being set by default. Both the Chinese and English versions exclusively present an English alphanumeric keyboard for this action. The character selection and the ability to rename the selected character are also present in the original non-enhanced Guai Shou Zong Dong Yuan version.
"Archenemy" screen, featuring "Nicholas".
Once the name for your character is confirmed, the game shows a map screen that shows where the game is about to start. On a new game, the first location selected is Farm Land. After confirming the location, the game will show you the opponent, or as it is said in the English version, "archenemy", you are about to play against. At the very least, the first two opponents, "Nicholas" and "Prescott", are the characters Takaishi Takeru (T.K.) and Izumi Kōshirō (Izzy) from the Digimon Adventure anime respectively. You have the option to manage your card deck before each battle starts.
The final opponent you face off against is James from Team Rocket, or "Jesbi" as he is called in the English version of the game, in Devil Land. Once all opponents are defeated and the game is saved, if you choose to not let the game "shut down" the system, the game will play an ending and credits sequence.
Credits[]
The credits shown in the game's ending are directly unaltered from Guai Shou Zong Dong Yuan. Taken from the English version of the game:
STAFF
Screenplay: BINJAN
Program: BINJAN
Graphics: JS, PHENIX SHIEH, BINJAN
Music/Sound: BINJAN
Tools: JS
Test: PHENIX SHIEH
Special Thanks: LUCKY, CHARLIE, GBDK
Presented by SKOB
© 2000
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- The original Guai Shou Zong Dong Yuan version of this game appears to be similar in gameplay, but instead of battling against Digimon and Pokémon trainers, the player battles against various horror-esque creatures. Pokémon are still used in battle, however.
- The English version of Monster Collections Plus is known to have been circulated in Southeast Asia. In general, though, this version of the game is very uncommon to find.
- The GBDK credit in the special thanks section of the credits sequence may be referring to the GBDK homebrew software development kit for the Game Boy (specifically, the original version from before it got rebooted in 2020).
External links[]
- Gameplay video of the first two levels in the English version of the game
- Video of the final level and ending of the game (English version)