GigaPets Explorer (2006) is an English language plug & play virtual pet adventure video game consisting of a controller for the TV pet and a variety of handheld Minipets that you can plug in to the controller as well as take on-the-go.
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It is an excellent beginner video game for younger audiences with an easy-to-use controller and slow gameplay; though an adult may need to be present to help read the text for quests. It is a fun family game for young players with virtual pet-loving parents, and you can trade the controller between hands to either play or watch the game. This game also helped my child build early reading skills.
The main drawback for adults is the slow walking speed of the TV pet, and younger players may have trouble with the few timed quests that come up occassionally. Adults should have no trouble completing the timed quests with a couple minutes to spare. Zapping in Minipets is a fun gimmick unique to this game. You can easily zap between all seven Minipets on the controller, but you will likely not have time to care for all of them on-the-go. So some Minipets will fall sick, but this doesn't prevent you from zapping them to the TV and enjoying them there. You may find it beneficial to choose one or two Minipets per TV pet. With its faults in mind I still found this game entertaining as an adult collector of virtual pets, and I played it both with my child and on my own time.
In the controller portion of the game you select a TV Pet and explore a map and complete fetch quests for various animals. You have two goals: the first is to collect the King's 12 missing items for his treasure room; the second goal is to find 12 rare flowers for the garden located on the beach. After completing the goals you can continue playing the game and complete fetch quests to earn money and items indefinitely.
You can have three save files on a controller, and there are three houses in Gigaville. One house for each of your pets to move into. You can only play one pet at a time, but you can visit each one at their home and share items. The houses have preset colors, but you can choose from several colors of pets. You can choose one of each pet or have multiple of the same pet in different colors. I recommend one of each pet for the full experience, because each pet learns unique tricks for their animal type. As you explore you gain wallpaper, flooring, windows and items to decorate the inside of your house with. You can eat, heal and bathe as you explore, and your home and various houses and hotels around the map are used for eating, sleeping, sharing items with the Minipet and to save/quit the game.
As you explore and complete fetch quests you will pass blue flowers which you can dig up to find items such as bucks (money) or experience. There are four sections of experience points to collect: good (halo icon), evil (horns icon), looks (happy face icon) and smart (lightbulb icon). If you have a Minipet connected, they will gain experience points along with your TV pet. You will want to choose to only collect either good or evil experience points for your pet, as they will only be able to become friends with either good or evil animals found around the map. When you befriend an animal you collect a friendship token. I suggest running a first save with a good pet and a second save with an evil pet. If you accidentally accept an experience point you do not want there are foods that can raise or lower the status.
[Map Pic]
The Minipets are black and white virtual pets that connect to the controller through a port in the top similar to a game cartridge, and you can "zap" them into the game. While zapped to the TV you can see them in color. They follow you around, and each one makes unique sounds when you find items. A Minipet is required to visit Mystery Island, otherwise you can play the game without a Minipet connected. You can give items collected by the TV pet to the Minipet when inside your house. Be sure to zap them out of the game before you exit to make sure the items get transferred properly.
[Minipet Lineup Pic]
Unlike the controller game, there is no main quest line on the Minipet. The Minipets are more like classic virtual pets; however there is no baby stage, growth or marriage. You feed and care for them with the goal to keep them happy and the game is to explore the map, learn tricks and gain experience points to access secret areas (good, evil, looks, smart). The Minipets can connect to each other, and, just like the TV Pet animal friends, if one has more good status and one has more evil status they will not like each other and not become friends. Minipets that do become friends may start to feel sad and miss each other. Connecting friendly Minipets can help raise happiness. Just like the TV Pet there are foods that can help raise or lower unwanted experience points. When you connect two Minipets you can play a game or share items and bucks. Connecting and sharing items is a slow process. You can only share one item at a time and must reconnect for each item. It is preferred to share items to Minipets through the TV game.
The map is the same on on all Minipets, but the background design is specific to each animal habitat. The Minipets cannot die, but they can get very sick and unhealthy. They have a similar playstyle as the TV Pet in that you explore the landscape and dig to find items such as food and bucks; however there is no blue flower signalling where to dig you just choose randomly. There are four areas you can unlock (good, evil, looks, smart) which contain many helpful items. There are two ways to unlock these areas: through paying the wishing well or by gaining (100+?) experience points in those areas. You will see a message on the screen telling you which area is currently open. The area will remain open for 1 hour at a time. If you leave the area before 1 hour the door may lock behind you.
Click image to enlarge. Map is incomplete and in progress. Currently missing the Look Area which I believe is the leftmost door in the General Store. The area labeled good area near the wishing well is incorrect, and the area labeled look area near the fortune teller is incorrect.