DESCRIPTION

Epitomizing the construction set spirit of Golden Age Electronic Arts games, the cover of Mail Order Monsters, in which a made-to-order fighting creature bursts out of a package, suggests a little more excitement than there is in this game. Once you boot up the program, you find the creatures aren't actually shipped by airmail, but grown in a vat. A screen in which you design and upgrade monsters is the most enjoyable part of this game, as you choose from wasp, humanoid, and several other forms for your beast, then arm it with fire breath, claws and even handheld weapons. An imaginative interface shows your creature's appearance changing as you alter its strength, speed, smarts and abilities.

After this, what you can do with the monsters seems short of what could have been. The simplistic combat borrows the run-and-recharge system from Archon, and scenarios mostly find the monsters chasing each other across uninteresting terrain. Yet Mail Order Monsters as a total package is saved by its good-natured charm. ~ John Gorenfeld, All Game Guide