Monster Rancher Hop-A-Bout
MR Hop-a-bout is a 3-D Platform jumping game.
You have a start line and a finish line, and a stretch of suspended platform with tiles that have various effects to help or hinder your progress.
The perspective of play is slightly above and behind your character, 3rd person perspective style.
You can move forward, left, and right. You can speed up or slow down but you cannot stop. To get to the end you must literately "hop" through this flat obstacle course. You are suspended in the sky so staying on the course is important. On the course are holes and edges in which to fall off of, as well as Tiles to land on for Power Ups (and downs) to help you Jump Higher, Go Faster, add more Time, Propel you in certain directions etc.
Left Jump: When landing on this tile, your jump is forced to the left.
Forward Jump: When landing on this tile, your jump is forced forward.
Back Jump: When landing on this tile, your jump is forced backward.
Right Jump: When landing on this tile, your jump is forced to the right.
Big Jump: When landing on this tile, your jump is forced forward by a large amount.
Reverse Jump: Whatever direction you were going when landing on this tile, your jump is forced in the opposite direction.
Random Jump: When landing on this tile, your next jump direction is randomly forward, backward, left or right.
Higher Jump: Increases the time in the air between jumps.
Lower Jump: Decreases the time in the air between jumps.
Add Time: Adds time to the clock.
Lose Time: Subtracts time from the clock.
Speed Up: Increases your travel speed.
Speed Down: Decreases your travel speed.
Gain Life: Adds 1 life/attempt.
Lose Life: Removes 1 life/attempt.
Cracks: This one-time use tile can be jumped from, but is shattered when landing on it, and it is removed from the course.
Hover: Landing on this tile will create a temporary hovering platform/vehicle that you can control for a short durationThe game is called "Monster Rancher" hop-a-bout, but this is really a Spin-Off title. It has little to do with Monster Rancher aside from the fact that 4 MR characters are in the game as the "Hoppers/Racers" that have different speeds, jumping height & acceleration, and a cameo of a Pixie. The game also has Items to acquire for bragging rights, as you have to beat 4 levels in a row without running out of life to get 1 item.
The physical game is a special "Pandora Disk" for the MR3 game, But there are no "in game" unlockables in HAB, nor does the game have any real hidden secrets other than unlocking the "???" option in the menu which is simply a random level selector (no secret characters to race with after all your efforts). You can race the clock by yourself or against another in 2 player mode as well. There is, however, a mode where you can Create your own obstacle courses and play them, or give to others with save sharing.
Over all it is a fun game with a small learning curve so anyone can get in on the fun. This is a party game everyone can enjoy, old & young alike. It can be picked up on easily, with a low learning curve but several very difficult levels to master.