Monster Rancher: Let the Games Begin

Bearing a darn near plagiaristic resemblance to Pokémon, this animated TV series, based on the Sony PlayStation Monster Rancher games, introduces Genki, a young video game wizard who is sucked--à la Tron--into his monitor while playing the titular game and transported into the Monster Rancher world. Teaming up with Holly and Mocchi (a cute little monster that could be Pikachu's kid brother), Genki and his pals travel around searching for "mystery disks" to "unlock," thereby freeing monsters from the evil influence of Moo (not a cow, but the head villain). Each mind-numbingly similar episode includes a mind-numbingly repetitive tune, whose refrain "how many have you unlocked?" can be roughly translated thus: "How many overpriced tie-in characters have you forced your parents into buying?" While it's sure to be popular, one utter consumer rip-off (Pokémon) with no greater aim than to hoover parents' wallets and pocketbooks is plenty enough, thank you. Not recommended. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)