Thanks to the range of different kinds of shops, the game rarely gets monotonous; each store has its own style of gameplay. The dialogue is adorable and the graphics are just as cute as we remember the handheld Tamagotchi being. When it comes to the music, Bandai has really outdone themselves. It's real recorded music, complete with guitar, piano/keyboard, drums, and even a ukulele. The addition of the well-done music really caps the cute tone of the game and gives it a freshness one might not expect from a game about little animated aliens. Speaking of animated, I would have liked to see my Tamagotchi move more, instead of the same little hops as the original mini handheld. Different mouth changes while speaking, and non-Tamagotchi animation are the extent of movement in this game.


You don't have to worry about cleaning up Tamagotchi poop or making sure they don't eat. There aren't any meters for hunger or happiness, but your Tamagotchi likes change, so make sure you rearrange the look of the house from time to time and feed them all different kinds of food. If you let them get bored, they'll get mad at you. There are also 2-player options that you can access from your house. You can send presents to your friends that have the game. You can also play with friends that don't have the game through DS download play.

With the new DS game comes a revamp of the mini egg-shaped handhelds as well. These still function the same as the old ones, with a whole lot of small updates; they still get hungry, grow up, and poop a lot, but this time around you can put them in sleep mode. The handhelds also have infrared capabilities that allow you to use the same present-trading option that the DS game has.

I definitely recommend this game to fans of the old handhelds, as well as fans of cuter games (Katamari Damacy, Animal Crossing) who like that special Japanese touch of unique gameplay and characters you can warm right up to. Those of you looking for a challenge, or for something that will last you longer than the time it takes all of your friends to get tired of playing it, will want to pick another game to dig into.


Due to the simplistic gameplay and the childlike atmosphere, you should be able to get by in the shops after more than a few trials and errors. Some of the games are intuitive due to the pictures they use to show what the Tamagotchi want, but all of the menus, instructions and dialogue are in Japanese; there's only one word of English in the entire game. If you pay attention to what menu leads you where, and you spend the extra time figuring out how to work each shop, you should be able to play the game.

• Lower learning curve for those who don't speak Japanese
  
• Innovative gameplay
  
• More substance than the "feeding a poop-machine" feeling of the original Tamagotchi
  
• Surprisingly wonderful music
  
• Over 80 different aliens

• Not a virtual pet game anymore
  
• Some of the shop upgrades can be overly easy to complete
  
• Little replay value after game completion, unless your friends own it as well
  
• Running a shop for a long time can get monotonous