Best Virtual Pet sim you know of?

[skagskagskag]

I've been thinking about tamagotchi a bit lately and I'm curious if there are many retro games with a similar feel. Only older pet sims I've played were like nintendogs or maybe monster rancher if you count that

 

[RETRO-VETRO RETRO-VETRO]

Nintendogs!

 

[trickybus]

I don't know if "favorite" accurately describes my relationship with Rare's Viva Pinata but it's a pet sim that's stuck with me and I think it's primarily due to Rare's injection of their on-brand absurdity and straight-up trolling

I only ever played this game as a adult and I found myself wondering, on multiple occasions, if this game was the culmination of Rare's contempt for children, who this was clearly marketed to. When I say this game trolls you, I mean it.

That aside, the only truly retro pet sim I can think of off the top is Jade Cocoon (1998) for the Playstation. It's a short-ish RPG where you raise mostly bug monsters but the breeding and merging mechanics are fairly complex.

Also, Katsuya Kondō, the character designer for Kiki's Delivery Service, helped develop it.

 

[Bakuma1997]

Pure Pet Sim i can't tell you, but i tended to play a nice game that is basically Sonic Mixed With Pokemon called Monster Racer, that had a Raising Sim component that set it apart on my book from Pokemon and Even Most Digimon games

 

[skagskagskag]

Jade Cocoon (1998) for the Playstation

oooh that seems pretty up my alley. love me some lil bug freaks. also i never realized what kinda game viva pinata was! gotta check it out

 

[Anoobis]

Seaman for the Dreamcast is the closest I can think of to a pure Tamagotchi-style pet sim.

 

[Guinea]

Sonic Adventure 1 and 2 Chao Gardens if they count.

 

[Bomberman]

Digimon World!

 

[hazys]

Princess Maker is a "daughter-raising sim." I went into it pretty sceptical but after playing Princess Maker 2 Regeneration I've gotta say it was really fun. It was made by Gainax!