Makes an actual game out of the first virtual pets that were really passive, simple machines. Adds more stats, double the Tamagotchis (than were in a single device), adds more activities, and it also has some amazing sprite work! Sprites that add more than just a few extra bits to these Tamas and it makes them look so cute and lively. This game is worth it to try just to see all of the sprites of the adults, in my opinion. Can definitely imagine kids hanging out playing these together and keeping their Game Boys on until the batteries go. Only problem is the localization is so bad. In the main menu, the ‘Exit’ option goes to the main menu and the ‘Home’ option SENDS YOUR TAMAGOTCHI BACK TO THEIR HOME PLANET!!! Definitely would recommend getting a ROM for this if you can’t or don’t want to spend money on the newer devices. The "tournaments" aren't crazy deep, and the 'study' and 'sports' games are really simple, and the 'sports' game is a lot more random and frustrating than the other. Also, the deaths in this game are extremely violent (FLASHING LIGHTS WARNING, for one thing), which just makes losing a buddy a real grief-inducing event, lol. So, as much as I can imagine kids hanging out and playing this together, I can also imagine one having their first panic attack as the game violently beeps and flashes as their little friend sits there, flatlined, X's in their eyes, until the turn into an angel and go to heaven.

Anyways, they’re really wasting opportunities to do Digimon-style RPGs or adventure games with these little guys. They also only have one game on smartphones and it’s maybe the ugliest Tamagotchi game I could conjure up in the dark conclaves of my mind.

Pros: Super charming, a more animated and chock-full of gameplay version of the classic digital pet keychains that were all over the place in the mid to late 90s. Seeing the little monster dudes hoppin around their room, reacting with more clarity and personality to the things you're giving them, is really compelling, and makes me love my little pet dude. Also of course fun to try and get each new stage of your Tamagotchi, took a lot of experimentation to get the type you want, and took a lot of death too... Either way, you're sendin your friend to outer space at the end, so don't get too attached. Also, I must note, playing on Super Game Boy has great features, the border is a randomized version of the keychain eggs, which is pretty neat, and the menus and rooms are full of color, more color than you'd typically see in a Super Game Boy game. Recommended playing on there if you can.

Cons: It's, y'know, not really much of a video game, it is a virtual pet, and being a virtual pet, you want it with you all the time, just like the keychain, only, on Game Boy, you have to have the system powered on, and that's just far less feasible. Still, it works well enough, just not as ideal as the keychains in terms of emulating a pet you have to care for in real time.

What it means to me: I never actually owned a keychain Tamagotchi as a kid, but tons of my classmates had them, then one day, heh, I showed up with THIS (yeah, I brought my Game Boy to school in 2nd or 3rd grade, the teachers weren't happy, hah!), but I felt so cool with the superior Tamagotchi experience... I was such a nerd.

Also, one day, my bro accidentally hit a bunch of buttons on the menu while the lights were off in the room, so we couldn't see what was happening... and then, once we turned on the lights, we had Bill Clinton as a Tamagotchi. It was one of the biggest mind blowing experiences of our childhoods, lemme tell ya.