The Inside Scoop on Gaming

I've noticed a number of reviews for both "Monster island" by Firefly Games, and "Giant Monster Rampage" by Mystic Eye Games turning up on various sites. The interesting thing is, like the giant monsters these games simulate, most reviews seem determined to put these games head to head, and declare a winner.

As a long time giant monster fan, I'm very glad to see both of these products on the shelves, and I think there's still room for a third game that could take some of the good points of each, and become the "Ultimate" giant monster game. Monster Hero-clix, anyone?

Anyway, I only own "Monster Island" right now, so that will be the thrust of this review.

As most of you probably know by now, MI uses a point based system, similar to GURPS and HERO, to buy values in four statistics, and various monster powers. The stats cover the basics of your creature: Strength, Reflexes, Mind, and Health. These values are then used to calculate several derived stats, including Movement, Life (ie: Hit Points), and Toughness (a kind of armor rating that reduces damage) One thing I liked about the system was that all four stats have game effects for your creature. Mind is added to your initiative roll, Strength determines damage, etc. All the stats are important in one way or another, and this forces you to really think about where you spend your points.

The powers are very simple, and basicly all fall into attack and movement categories: Blast, flight, tunneling, etc. Most powers cost one or two points per level of effect.

I can't count how many times I've read on the back of a game book "easy character generation in five minutes or less!" Well, in MI's case, this is actually true! My first monster took me ten minutes to make. Subesquent ones took five or less. The drawback to this simple system though, is that with such a small number of stats and points, a lot of monsters turn out very similar. Looking at the pregenerated monsters in the book, I'd say 90% of them put 20 points into stats, and 10 points into powers. Most of them have a 5d6 Blast power of some kind, and a movement power of some kind. It's hard to avoid a little repetition.

MI's combat system is also simple and streamlined. Roll 3d6, ,add your reflexes, and compare it to your target's Evade score (a derived attribute). If your total is higher, you hit. Can't get any easier than that! There are a few modifiers, such as surprise, range, etc. Most are plus or minus 2, so they rarely make or break an attack. One nice feature are the rules for intimidation. If your monster spends a turn roaring and jumping around, threatening another creature, you get a plus 2 to your next attack roll.

Little touchs like this, and other features such as the pile driver special manauver, and a rule for victory dances when your creature wins, help this simple and generic combat system integrate more naturally with the monster movies it tries to evoke. Along these lines, the rules are peppered with qoutes from Japanese and American monster movies, and this really adds to the game's flavor. It's a subtle little touch that makes reading the rules book fun and effortless. It also shows the creators really care about the genre they are writing in.

In the end, I think the battle between "Monster Island" and "Giant Monster Rampage" comes down to a classic systems battle that most gamers are familiar with: Specific vs. Generic. A generic system, like Hero or Gurps, can handle any effect you can dream up. You can have any blast you want, but the game effects are the same. On the other hand, a specific system can make each power unique and fleshed out, but if you want to change it, or trade off on power levels, you're out of luck.

For now, I'm happy with Monster Island. One advantage of a simple, generic system is that it's easy to expand on. I think MI has a lot of potential, and I look forward to the first supplement, "Escape From Monster Island." I could easily see this game taking off and becoming the next "Car Wars". Besides, you can't beat a game that gives you an excuse to go out and buy loads of toy monsters!

Monster Island
Monster Island Capsule Review by Andrew Warren on 23/10/02 Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 3 (Average) A fun, fast, and east game of giant monster combat. Product: Monster Island Author: Andrew Warren Category: Miniature Company/Publisher: Firefly Games Line: Cost: $9.95 Page count: 32 Year published: 2002 ISBN: SKU: Comp copy?: no Capsule Review by Andrew Warren on 23/10/02 Genre tags: Fantasy Science Fiction Modern day Horror Asian/Far East Other	I've noticed a number of reviews for both "Monster island" by Firefly Games, and "Giant Monster Rampage" by Mystic Eye Games turning up on various sites. The interesting thing is, like the giant monsters these games simulate, most reviews seem determined to put these games head to head, and declare a winner. As a long time giant monster fan, I'm very glad to see both of these products on the shelves, and I think there's still room for a third game that could take some of the good points of each, and become the "Ultimate" giant monster game. Monster Hero-clix, anyone? Anyway, I only own "Monster Island" right now, so that will be the thrust of this review. As most of you probably know by now, MI uses a point based system, similar to GURPS and HERO, to buy values in four statistics, and various monster powers. The stats cover the basics of your creature: Strength, Reflexes, Mind, and Health. These values are then used to calculate several derived stats, including Movement, Life (ie: Hit Points), and Toughness (a kind of armor rating that reduces damage) One thing I liked about the system was that all four stats have game effects for your creature. Mind is added to your initiative roll, Strength determines damage, etc. All the stats are important in one way or another, and this forces you to really think about where you spend your points. The powers are very simple, and basicly all fall into attack and movement categories: Blast, flight, tunneling, etc. Most powers cost one or two points per level of effect. I can't count how many times I've read on the back of a game book "easy character generation in five minutes or less!" Well, in MI's case, this is actually true! My first monster took me ten minutes to make. Subesquent ones took five or less. The drawback to this simple system though, is that with such a small number of stats and points, a lot of monsters turn out very similar. Looking at the pregenerated monsters in the book, I'd say 90% of them put 20 points into stats, and 10 points into powers. Most of them have a 5d6 Blast power of some kind, and a movement power of some kind. It's hard to avoid a little repetition. MI's combat system is also simple and streamlined. Roll 3d6, ,add your reflexes, and compare it to your target's Evade score (a derived attribute). If your total is higher, you hit. Can't get any easier than that! There are a few modifiers, such as surprise, range, etc. Most are plus or minus 2, so they rarely make or break an attack. One nice feature are the rules for intimidation. If your monster spends a turn roaring and jumping around, threatening another creature, you get a plus 2 to your next attack roll. Little touchs like this, and other features such as the pile driver special manauver, and a rule for victory dances when your creature wins, help this simple and generic combat system integrate more naturally with the monster movies it tries to evoke. Along these lines, the rules are peppered with qoutes from Japanese and American monster movies, and this really adds to the game's flavor. It's a subtle little touch that makes reading the rules book fun and effortless. It also shows the creators really care about the genre they are writing in. In the end, I think the battle between "Monster Island" and "Giant Monster Rampage" comes down to a classic systems battle that most gamers are familiar with: Specific vs. Generic. A generic system, like Hero or Gurps, can handle any effect you can dream up. You can have any blast you want, but the game effects are the same. On the other hand, a specific system can make each power unique and fleshed out, but if you want to change it, or trade off on power levels, you're out of luck. For now, I'm happy with Monster Island. One advantage of a simple, generic system is that it's easy to expand on. I think MI has a lot of potential, and I look forward to the first supplement, "Escape From Monster Island." I could easily see this game taking off and becoming the next "Car Wars". Besides, you can't beat a game that gives you an excuse to go out and buy loads of toy monsters!