Tamagotchi

"Ode to the virtual pet."

There are some weird things to have come from Japan. To say the least, when Tamagotchi found its way over to the states in the form of keychain virtual pets, they could certainly be written into the weird side of things. It seemed that in 1997, the things just appeared suddenly, then in a month, EVERYONE had them. The constant beeping of these keychain pets (which couldn't be turned off and had a bad habit of dying when ignored) would drive school teachers insane, preparing them for the cell phone explosion still in effect today. So, it's only logical (at least as far as logic goes with such an odd commodity) that it would soon find its way to a handheld system. While I won't to comment on other people's reviews, I should tell you to give this game a chance before panning it. You might just (God forbid) enjoy it.

One of the biggest problems of this game is trying to get started. The people in charge of translating this game did a poor job, and while most of the commands are self-explanatory (light bulb turns the light on and off, rubber ducky takes the pet to the bathroom, etc.), the overall mission of the game is a bit confusing. Basically, alien babies crash-landed on your planet, and being the kind-hearted individual you are, you decide to take care of them. However, this is harder than it seems, and requires constant supervision on your part. (Of course, the major advantage this game had over its keychain cohorts is that you could turn the damned thing off.) Do good, and your pet will gradually begin to grow up before your eyes. Do poorly, and... well, you know what happens when you don't take care of your pets.

Each pet you choose has its own little nuances that you soon become familiar with. For instance, while some pets enjoy nothing but bread and cake to eat, others enjoy meat or ice cream. If your pet gets sick, you have to choose whether an injection or a pill would be better to heal him. Sometimes you just get a dud of a pet, that doesn't listen to you, and is no fun to raise. No problem, just hit the ''Home'' command to set him on a rocket and blast him back to outer space. You can also raise up to three pets at a time.

The look of this game is very sketchy, but on some strange level it works (likely because of the subject matter). Your pet begins as a little blob that hatches from an egg of your choosing. As it ages it will grow larger and gradually take an adult form. Don't expect this game to wow you visually, but you shouldn't have too much trouble seeing everything.

This is not, however, to state that this game is perfect. As I stated before, sometime this game can get downright confusing, and with the poor translation, the Tamagotchi professor (who is in charge of the tutorial) is little help at all. Also, the pace of this game is a bit slow for my liking. You can set the speed of the game to ''high,'' but often the most you're doing for a lot of the game is making sure he doesn't get sick, cleaning up after it, and making sure its Life and Fun meters stay full. But this IS a virtual pet, and just like real pets, sometimes it gets a bit boring. There are approximately five songs on Tamagotchi (give or take), and all of them get repetitive pretty quickly. However, if you find a handy button known as ''Select,'' you can switch the music off, while still listening for any warning beeps that might occur. That was nice of them.

Regardless, I can sum it up by saying that if you're the type of gamer who can't sit still for awhile without an explosion or huge plot development occurring every 5 minutes, this game is definitely NOT for you. However, if you like a decent reward for patience rather than pulse-pounding tactics, you might just give Tamagotchi a shot. You might be pleasantly surprised.

(Scores based on a 1-10 scale)
Concept: Bring keychain virtual pets to a portable system with an ''off'' switch.
7
Graphics: Extremely cute, with a childish motif to it.
8
Sound: You know what a Game Boy game sounds like.
5
Playability: Once you learn what does what, you'll have no problem doing it.
8
Entertainment: Not for everybody, but a decent distraction from your school or office.
7
Replay Value: Moderate. Try it out before committing yourself to it.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/26/02, Updated 05/26/02