The unit i am reviewing is a Tamagotchi P1 or, as most know it, the "original" Tamagotchi. This was the very first virtual pet to gain popularity world wide. I purchased my unit second hand from Ebay, as a lot of two with a P2, unboxed. this is by far the cheapest way to collect, you'll often find the older unboxed (and sometimes if you are very, very lucky boxed) virtual pets at garage sales and Op shops.
Name: Tamagotchi P1
Manufacturer: Bandai
Produced:1997
Country of origin:Japan
Aesthetics:
This unit is a clear, light blue egg shaped shell with a "cracked" design. This shell was common throughout this version, however many different colours and decals were available. The buttons are yellow and make a good contrast to the blue plastic shell, Again button colour varied from design to design. Different designs were released in different regions (japan, US, Europe and Oceania) the design of this unit was rather non specific as it was release with wave one P1's in several areas.This particular version has a ball chain loop at the top to be attached to keys.
*Creatures*
As far as originality goes, these characters cant be beaten, as they are the "original" characters. The characters have 10 different designs ranging from very basic "blob" type characters, to cute little aliens, to a human face with little legs.
The designs for the time are detailed but, due to the larger LCD pixels than are used in newer units, the detail was limited. The screen can be difficult so see at times as the contrast causes the screen to appear entirely black from some angles.
*Icons*
The icons for the menu are clear and very understandable pictogram's each representing the an action to care for the pet. The only Icon not immediately recognisable as an action it a picture of a duck, which upon reading the instruction manual, indicates a potty. This activates the cleaning function, and was changed from a toilet in the Japanese P1 when released to the western market.
*Sound and Sound quality*
The beeps this makes are musical and not monotonous across the different reasons for beeping, Many V-pets have the downfall of having a harsh tone in the sounds, with this pet the tone is not horrible.
The sound isn't terribly loud, but Will easily alert you if the pet is kept in a pocket or backpack and has the option of being turned off.
Game-play:
The basic game play of the P1 centres around the care of small alien type pet. This care includes, feeding, cleaning,playing with,discipline, medical care control of sleep patten.
* Life stages*
The pet has 3 life stages baby stages, adolescent stage and adult stage. depending on the kind of care you provide, the pet has a potential to become one of six adults.Which adult you get then influences the lifespan and general health of the pet.
The pet begins after hatching from an egg into a baby stage. In the first stage of life the toy is quite demanding, requiring food and play regularly, as well as one short cycle of sleep and one incident of illness. This I found to be a good way of initially introducing each concept,before moving on to the main game.
In this stage, playing with the Pet is difficult, as the game is a where you must push the button in relations to what direction the pet is facing, in the first baby stage it is near impossible to tell which direction it is facing and becomes guess work, this is similar for the second baby stage, however the clues let you be a little more accurate. The game play changes very little throughout the life stages and continues through till the pet dies.
*Buttons* The unit is designed with 3 buttons, the first being menu, the second being confirm and the third being cancel. the first and third buttons double as directional buttons in the direction game.
One problem I have found with the P1 is the sensitivity of the buttons, as they have to be pressed quite hard, and do not respond as fast as I would like, often resulting in double presses and having to re-cycle thought the menu. I'm not sure if this is due to the age of my unit of due to a design issue.
*Resilience*
From what I've found, the tamagotchi unit is reasonably hard to kill, And as side from the baby stage, is only moderately demanding. In the first baby stage it is impossible to kill, but without care any of the other stages die in a matter of hours, some faster than others depending on the adult stage.
Additional features:
Clock-Yes
Connectability-No
Sound on/off-Yes
Pause-No
Overall this V-pet is a good quality pet, it is both easy to care for and only moderately demanding. Sound can be turned on and off so that the pet can still be cared for in quiet situations. I found the pet fun to care for and easy enough that a 5 year old wound be able to care for it.
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Lovely post, I am really delighted to see your post and just ordered this Tamagotchi digital pet at PIJ. I am excited, hope this will get in a week. Thanks for your excellent review.
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