Dragon Warrior Monsters 2 is the second game in the Dragon Quest spin-off series, which is a monster-collecting, training, breeding and combat style game in the tradition of Pokémon. It was developed by TOSE Co., Ltd. and was published exclusively for the Game Boy Color by Enix (Eidos in North America and Europe) in 2001.

The game was released as two separate companion titles – Cobi’s Journey and Tara’s Adventure – in true Pokémon style, and is a big improvement over Dragon Warrior Monsters [one].

The story begins with brother and sister – Cobi and Tara – arriving to live on the tree island of GreatLog with their parents. After settling into their new life on a Monster Farm the two kids encounter the mischievous Prince Kameha and his elemental monster sidekick, Warubou. The two miscreants steal Cobi and Tara’s nut pie and run away down a nearby well. Giving chase, Cobi and Tara follow them and confront them underground. A scuffle ensues, resulting in the GreatLog’s navel being dislodged, threatening to sink the entire island. Warubou the elemental jumps into the navel to plug the hole, but he knows this temporary fix won’t last, so he asks Cobi and Tara to find something permanent to fill the hole and save the island. He then gives you a magical key that opens a door to another world, and sends you off to find a plug to save the island…

The basic gameplay of Dragon Warrior Monsters 2 is similar to the first game, with random encounters, turn-based combat, and capturing, training and breeding monsters, except that it’s all much more refined in this sequel. You still feed meat to wild monsters to tame them, and to entice them to join you, and you still have up to three monsters in your party and keep those in reserve back at the Monster Farm.

Monsters now have five letters in their names, which might sound trivial, but it greatly expands what you can call them, and you can now equip a single item on them to either boost their defence or give them some kind of special ability. The map now has two zoom levels; your party move around faster; the Monster Worlds you visit and explore are much more interesting than in the first game (they now have landmarks, villages and proper characters and quests inside them, which are all welcome new additions), and the story in Dragon Warrior Monsters 2 is better, and the humour is funnier. It is also a longer, more complex and a much more challenging game than the first DWM.

The overall presentation and gameplay in this are much better than in the first game, and the combat is quicker and slicker, which makes it more absorbing and enjoyable.

Dragon Warrior Monsters 2 is an excellent game and should appeal to anyone who likes old school JRPGs – particularly handheld ones with cute, colourful graphics and jolly tunes. I really enjoyed playing this game and highly recommend it.

More: Dragon Warrior Monsters 2 on Wikipedia