The best Giga Pet from the 1990s?

[wolfoutlaw]

Back in the '90s, as a child/teen I only ever had one virtual pet, this that I'm asking about here as for what exactly it was so I could find it again. I'm pretty sure it was some sort of actual tamagotchi, and certainly not a Giga Pet.

I liked it well enough but I wish I had bought a Giga Pet instead back then as they seemed more challenging and somehow more fun as I watched my friend play with a Giga Pet kitty...
But being a kid I of course didn't have enough money to buy another one, I blew all my savings on the one I had. And I was not that good in saving up so...I think even that money was mostly from some birthday or something.

But now I've finally bought a Giga Pet baby t-rex from Jurassic Park, the one I probably would've bought back then if I could've...And this turned out to be loads of fun. it's sometimes surprisingly fun to chase the mouse...I mean, after all it's just smashing one button as fast as you can and there's plenty of time to reach the mouse unless accidentally starting to run the wrong direction...
I saw a poll asking how long have people managed to have their Giga Pet live and most picked 5 days or so...Yet the instructions claim it's designed to last for 2 weeks!? Yeah, I also read that these are very hard to keep healthy...and I've already noticed it withing the first couple of days...The dino craps all the time all over the place and its happiness and hunger score goes almost all the way down after just a few hours of sleep!
Hopefully it's just the baby stage and it gets easier as it grows up...

Anyway...What do you consider the best Giga from the late '90s originals?
Are there how many/what kind of differences between the animals, as in is there any sense in buying more than one if not for simple collection purposes?

 

[SonicBlades]

My favorite Giga Pet was probably the Floppy Frog. I liked that it actually had different "forms" since it began as a tadpole. I admit I might have favored it more than the others just because it's green and that's my favorite color, plus I've always liked frogs.

The Baby T-Rex was actually the Giga Pet I always wanted as a kid but the stores were always sold out. It must have been one of the more popular ones. I'm glad to hear you're enjoying yours!

 

[Midorime]

Ugh, while I love Jurassic Park, the Baby T-Rex I think is the most demanding of all the Gigas, no joke. So I have a love/hate relationship with it.

My fave is the 101 Dalmatians. Very easy to care for, and you can throw the puppy parties and each reset gives you a different looking puppy. I also liked Salem the cat.

 

[wolfoutlaw]

Oh? The 101 Dalmatians is that complex? Cool. Must see a review of it and see if I can get it for a reasonable price somewhere.
I was lucky with my baby T-Rex, got it in used but good working condition for only some 19 euros + postages resulting in some 25e.
I mean, any other rex I looked at asked for double or triple that much, even used ones. Of course this one didn't come with the instructions or original packaging but all I really wanted was the pet itsef.

And yes, this one is ridiculously demanding. Seriously, it wants something almost all the time!
Good thing though that at least by night it actually sleeps somewhat all through the night.

I wish they'd programmed some tricks for thsi too like the other Giga Pets have.
I understand that it's kind of hard to imagine a T-Rex doing tricks but it's not like the other pets' tricks are anything fancy either.

 

[Midorime]

The Dalmatians is the most relaxed one there is, not the most complex.

Seems dino pets are always the most demanding; the Nano Dino is just as bad, if not worse.

 

[wolfoutlaw]

Nnoooo! I was so glad that my t-rex turned 3 years old, it celebrated itself with a cake ...and I was looking forward to the 4th birthday but some time during the night it died. I woke him up just now and it was an angel.
How the hell are you supposed to keep these things alive for the programmed 2 weeks??

When I turned off the lights last night I saw to that its happiness, hunger and discipline were all high points. It's health however was only 40-something but it wouldn't take a shower, didn't have a mess, and wouldn't go to a doctor. So nothing I could do about that.
I guess I should've checked on it in the middle of the night then? This is crap! I'm not gonna wake up in the middle of the night for some beeping game like a virtual pet. I think I should check out those health tips I saw on some Giga Pet web site...So next time it might survive a night. I wonder what went wrong as it obviouslty made through the first three nights...!?

By the way...What does it mean when you have it go for a nap and as it does it makes this beeping noise? It doesn't always do so in that situation so does it then mean that it doesn't want to?
But the thing is, at those times I've already seen to everything else - all scores are high - and nothing's made the distress icon to shut down! Actually not even the napping does.

I'm starting to see why Giga Pets may not be everyone's candy...But I'm still enjoying the challenge...For now anyway.

 

[SonicBlades]

Maybe you had it's hunger value too high and it died from being overweight? I haven't played with a Giga Pet for about 20 years so my memories of them are kinda fuzzy, but that's the only explanation I can think of off the top of my head.

 

[Midorime]

Old page, but informative: https://www.virtualpet.com/vp/farm/gigapet/gphealth/gphealth.htm

 

[wolfoutlaw]

Yeah, thanks, that's the site I refered to.
And oh, yeah, it's possible that I've over-fed it - though I don't think all that much...But then I have no idea how little it takes to be fatal.
It was, like...3 years and 3 pounds.

 

[wolfoutlaw]

Hmm...I can't edit my previous post anymore.
Recently it's died within 1-2 days, damnit.

So, when everything else seems fine but it bothers me I assume it needs a nap.
But when I turn out the lights, nothing happens. The distress icon is still lit up.
How do I anyway know if it's actually napping and not just dancing there in the dark??

(Yeah, I think it's walking and dancing, it looks like it. And it was funny to watch it while Michael Jackson's Billie Jean played on the background because it seemed like it was dancing to it...with its own moves of course. )

Speaking of napping, it's annoying when sometimes it takes a crap and then immediately falls asleep in the middle of the day before I can do anything about it. And it seems the only way to be able to do anything is to wake it up and the only way to do that is to yell at him!? And I don't want to do that as it bites off a chunk of its health percent! And I didn't know it could fall asleep on its own in the middle of the day anyway. I mean, it doesn't seem to be sick as it refuses to go to the doctor.

This game is impossible.

 

[Midorime]

I think when it beeps like that it's asking for a snack.

 

[wolfoutlaw]

Oh, didn't know it would do specifically that too. Thanks, I'll try that then.

 

[violetvioletchi]

I don't own any giga pets yet (little mermaid one coming in the mail) but the ones I really want to buy are the Salem, Babe, and Giga Pets Circus editions. They seem awesome.

 

[Carol_tama]

The truth about Giga Pets is that they all are quite the same, just animals to raise are different.
When it comes to classic Giga Pets, I recommend getting a 101 Dalmatians, Compu Kitty or Digital Doggie. They are cute and seeing the progress in their health and growth is very satisfying. I also have a Salem the Cat and a Komputer Koala ones, but the problem with Salem is that he does not evolve at all and since I like seeing how the pet changes with time, it's not really my thing. Nice to have in collection though. As for the Komputer Koala, it is cute and it has a wave 2 loud speaker, which means it makes real sounds instead of beeps, but that can become annoying after some time.

When it comes to "bigger" Giga Pets, like Giga Farm or Giga Pound, I do not own any of them, but I have seen a video on a Giga Farm and I must say these look super fun. They even have a light option, so you can play with them at night. They are a bit more complicated than the ones I mentioned earlier, but I think they are truly worth getting and I myself am after a Giga Pound.

And the last 'brand' of Giga Pets are the new ones, released in 2006. I own one of them, a Tomcat version. They are pretty much like Littlest Pet Shop pets, but they are more needy than LPS and you actually have to take care of them. There are nice animations, lots of locations to discover, shops, etc. They are nice to run along with something more demanding.


Well, if I were to choose my favourite one, I guess it would be the 101 Dalmatians one. <3
In fact, I started it an hour ago!

 

[Eternal Mametchi Fan]

I think the Giga Pets Compu Kitty is the best; I don't own any Giga Pets but I have seen videos of them. I might be biased since I love cats, but the Compu Kitty seems the most enjoyable~

 

[wolfoutlaw]

Wooh! My t-rex, Nemo II, lived for 9,5 days!!! Then I forgot to check on him this morning and he died. dang.
The first Nemo lived for the 3 days.

It was quite amazing that usually I couldn't get his health higher than the 80 it rises up to each time it's been to a vet, and the first time it did get higher it was 85 for a little while. But then, the other night as he slept, I checked on it and his helath was 99 for some crazy unknown reason. I'd started to believe it's not even possible to get it that high.

I don't know why I expected the game to get easier as it grows older...Of course a grown up t-rex needs more attention than a baby...it eats more and everything. Seriously, this one wanted pizza at every turn! Lol. Pizza. The game programmers sure had some sense of hunour.

But must say I'm a bit disappointed as the package (which I don't have but I've seen it) claims this has multiple development stages so that one can actually see the pet grow. But even at 9 days/years of age it hadn't changed at all or if it had it was very minimal growth in width and perhaps his tail was a bit longer. I expected really noticable changes like the body propotyions clearly changing somehow but...oh, well. I don't remember how real tyrannosauruses are speculated to have developed so I guess I shouldn't complain.

But this is fun still. Gotta try again, I don't know why I just have to beat the game as in have it live for the couple of weeks it's supposed to...becuase I'm sure there won't be any big finish but it will just die the same way it always does...but I just have to try. Or at least until I get bored or super annoyed by its ridiculous demanding...ness and take the batteries out.

I really think I'll try that 101 Dalmatians some day when I have enough money and find it for a reasonable price.

 

[TamaGirl444]

My favourite was the alien giga pet, mine lived for 21 days but I went and lost it, did find it again on ebay, shipping from US but seller wants nearly £100 for it which I'm not willing to pay.

I also have the baby t-rex one and I agree with another member, its VERY demanding, mine always dies before he/she reaches age 5 I have the compu kitty as well as the microchimp.

 

[magicboa]

I have a CompuKitty, a Rugrats Reptar, and a Taz Gigapet. They're okay, but I do like Tamas better. I haven't run them for a very long time. I got the Compu Kitty from KFC back in the day (1998). I think I got Reptar and Taz on clearance at TRU or Walmart, can't remember.