Monster Rancher Hop-A-Bout is a really weird game that I've never heard anyone else mention in my life. I have to believe I am the only one to have ever played it.
It was a game for the PS1 released in 2000 and is a spin-off of the Monster Rancher series, a Japanese video game series about raising monsters to fight them (kind like Pokemon but with a distinct weirdness).
Hop-A-Bout takes the Monster Rancher setting and is a level-clearing puzzle type game that features the main monsters on pogo sticks hopping across a floating landscape of tiles (this sounds insane now that I write it out). You have to avoid falling into holes and gaps, and some of the tiles are special, causing certain changes or breaking on contact, for example.
There are tiles that push you forward, or make you jump backwards. There's one that transports you forward in the level a little bit. There are heart and skull tiles to affect your healthbar.
There are a couple main characters you can choose, and they all have different stats like speed and turning ability. I always played as Hare, who is an anthropomorphic rabbit character (did this lead to my affinity for jackrabbits later?). My favorite character in the series was Tiger, who was weirdly a wolf-like blue character, but he isn't playable in this! I guess you can't get a 4-legged character on a pogo-stick.
The overall goal is to get to the end of the level. There was also a multi-player mode to race your friends, and surprisingly a level-building mode where you can place your own tiles and make your own level. I'm surprised now that it had that level of customizability. I remember there was one tile made out of glass and with an exclamation mark on it- it makes a very satisfying glass-breaking noise when you land on it, and of course the tile is gone after the first hit.
I remember it being pretty solid and even a little difficult. No specific issues that I remember. I can't believe this game got made though, like what a weird concept. I get that racing spinoffs are a thing now, but pogo stick racing? Pogo stick platforming? How is this even related to Monster Rancher?
I was really into Monster Rancher at the time, because I played the mainline games (and all the other spinoffs) and the cartoon was airing on US television at the time. I also collected the figures (RIP KB Toys). So I remember really enjoying this at the time, and I didn't even question the weirdness of the game. It's funny how that works.
The main Monster Rancher games are now available on Steam, so anyone can enjoy them. I keep meaning to go back and play them again.
Have you played this game? Let me know so I know this isn't just a fever dream.
lucky instar 