Digimon Celebrates 20th Anniversary With Upgraded Original Digivice Virtual Pet

Some time ago, Bandai Japan updated the official Digimon: Digital Monsters website to feature a countdown timer alongside an interesting graphic sporting both series mainstay Tyrannomon accompanied by the original V-Pet, released in 1997. The timer was obviously counting down to the re-release of the V-Pets we came to know and love in our youth. Not only was it the images that gave it away, but the long line of re-makes and re-releases that Bandai have been rolling out over the past year. Well today that timer finally hit zero, and with it came the reveal of what is indeed a pair of very exciting re-makes.

Now, I have spent a great deal of my day attempting to translate the onslaught of information that came with the announcement, but that is not the hardest feat I have attempted to accomplish today…it is this; relaying it to you all in an understandable and concise manner. Considering I do not read, write, or understand Japanese, I have had to use a series of translation applications to discover what is now in this article, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me!

Bandai will be releasing these items in two colours which will also represent two different versions: Brown, the version that will feature Agumon and it’s evolutionary chain, and Grey, the version that will feature Gabumon and it’s evolutionary chain. Both devices will allow Tamers (that’s you!) to raise Digimon from across all five of the originally-released V-Pet versions, with Agumon and Gabumon being the only exclusives.

The 20th anniversary Digital Monster device will feature Digimon from its first five versions. That means it’ll feature the likes of MetalGreymon, SkullGreymon, Andromon, Megadramon, and MetalTyrannomon.

After a Digimon passes on to the next life another Digi-Egg will appear, with every new generation of Digimon coming from a different type of egg. The style of egg will directly correlate with the Digimon that will be raisable. Example: A version one egg will produce Digimon from the version one release of the V-Pet. Simple.

Bandai have stated that there will be five special eggs that will be made available only after certain conditions are met. Of the five eggs, two have been revealed to contain the evolutionary lines of Hackmon and Dracomon respectively. Dracomon, as you may know, was released as a part of the franchise’s tenth anniversary, and Hackmon as a part of it’s fifteenth, so it only makes sense as to why they’d appear.

A third egg/Digimon was also greatly detailed, but I bet you’ve never heard of this one ever before: It’s name is Zubamon, and it has been created specifically to celebrate Digimon’s twentieth anniversary. It is a Rookie Digimon with the ability to transform into a weapon titled the Legend-Arms. This apocalyptic weapon could act as the key to the Digital World’s salvation…or it’s demise, and it is locked within the small frame of the newly-introduced Zubamon. Zubamon does indeed have it’s own evolutionary chain, but that is to be revealed in due time. As of right now, Bandai are choosing to keep it very much under lock and key.

Tamers can now raise two Digimon at once, with a new mechanic introduced that allows two Digimon to not only live together but to battle and, possibly, fuse with one another depending on the circumstances. Battles can now be fought, between friends or between yourself and the CPU, in one of two ways; single or double battle.

These double battles have been labelled “Tag Battles” and, as mentioned, if done enough times your two resident partner Digimon may indeed fuse to become one. Breakdramon, Slayerdramon, and Examon are just a few of the many fusion Digimon that can be unlocked thanks to this updated mechanic. Speaking of which; those with opposing versions of the V-Pet, meaning one with Agumon and the other with Gabumon, once at the stage of Mega can fuse to create Omnimon; arguably the most devastatingly powerful Digimon to exist.

Raising Digimon is now far easier and far quicker than the originals. When the V-Pet was first released it took one hour for a Baby to turn into an In-Training, two days to become a Rookie, four days to become a Champion and six days to become an Ultimate, with the Mega Digivolution not being made available at the time. With the re-makes it will take ten minutes for a Baby to become an In-Training, six hours to become a Rookie, twenty-four hours to become a Champion, thirty-six hours to become an Ultimate, and two days to become a Mega.

The Digimon of your friends can now be registered to your own Digivice to be battled against later. As well as this, you can register your own Digimon online to compete in the D-1 Gran Prix which. This, however, hasn’t been detailed too heavily by Bandai themselves so we should know more about this as we grow closer to the official release.

The 20th Anniversary Digimon V-Pet is now up for pre-order through the Bandai Premium webstore, click here, and will be shipped out on the 23rd of March. They are currently selling for 3,780 yen, and quantities are limited so if you’re living outside of Japan you has better jump on to your favourite proxy buyer now before all units are spoken for.

For more images and information, if you care to translate further yourself, can be obtained by going to the official Digimon website, which you can get to by Clicking Here.