Saturday, March 18, 2017

TamaOtch

This is an interesting one, pretty unique for the vintage Tamagotchi models.

The TamaOtch was released in Japan in 1998. It was based off of the comedian and actress Tamao Nakamura. It even has a character based on her appearance.

The goal of this one is to raise it to be a good performer. It's got a motion and sound sensor like some of the other vintage models, but it's a little more sensitive. It's possible to activate it even by making loud noises near the toy.

At the start, you get to choose between three different styles of eggs. This might have some effect on the character your pet grows into, but I'm not entirely sure about this.

The Status screen now has an extra bar besides just the one for discipline, now it has one for its acting training as well. This gets filled up as it successfully completes the training mini games.

There's an extra option under the food menu, one for giving your Tamagotchi fan-letters when it's feeling sad. This can help cheer it up.

The game is a slot machine. You press the left button to stop the left reel, and so on. I find this really hard to win, and the acting games lower its weight, so I find it easier just to feed it snacks to make it happy.

The last option at the top is the acting mini-game menu. There are three different things your Tamagotchi can practice here. The first is ad-lib, the second is dancing, and the third is acting. They all contribute to filling up the acting meter, and all play the same, so it really seems to just depend on which animations you like the best.

Each one has three rounds. You press the left or middle buttons to make your Tamagotchi to perform a move. You do this three times a round, and then it tries to copy the moves you told it to do. It always gets the first two right, it's the third you really need to look for. When it gets them right, tap the side of the toy or make a loud noise near it to praise it. When it gets it wrong, press the left button to let it know. It has to correctly complete at least two of the three rounds to win.

The toilet icon can be used to flush the screen even if your Tamagotchi has gone to sleep. This is pretty helpful.

The growth pattern on this one is a little odd. Some characters are shared between growth stages. One one, you may end up with a certain character during the toddler stage, and running it a second time, you may end up with the same character as a teen instead.

It greets you with a message flashing on the screen when it wakes up. Sometimes it seems to get stuck flashing this over and over though, which means constant beeping. I find it's easiest just to keep the sound off with this one.

Sometimes forgets who you are and greets you with a different message. You can tap the side of the toy to help remind it of who you are. You can also tap it when you have to give it medicine which seems to make it happier.

The TamaOtch is an interesting Tamagotchi. It's a little bit needy, but not too bad. If you have the time to check on it a couple times throughout the day, it should be fine. I don't find the characters super-interesting until it hits the adult stage. They aren't super-animated, and a lot of them repeat through the different growth stages. It's a little more rare than some of the other vintage models, but if you're able to find one and have time to experiment with the different eggs and training, it could be a really fun one to play with.

4 comments:

  1. I had no idea so many Tamagotchi existed. Are you like a Tamagotchi Otaku?

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    1. Yeah, there's really a huge variety!
      I prefer to think of myself as a Tamagotchi connoisseur, I'd like to think it sounds more dignified. ;D

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  2. Tama based on a comedian? That's pretty neat. They need Hentai themed Tamagotchi, when they gonna make that?

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    1. Closest I can think of would be the Osutchi/Mesutchi pairs, the original mating Tamagotchi. They linked together at the top to mate as adults, kind of like how the original Digivice toys linked to battle... Apparently it upset people at the time.
      There are plenty of comics, too, but I'll leave you to find those on your own, lol. ;)

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