#digital monster ver. wonderswan

[kerbrobro]

The WonderSwan can produce mind-boggling effects.

[otakween]

Digital Monster Ver. WonderSwan - Final Thoughts

This was the shortest game yet! Only took me 4-5ish hours to beat. Of course, it's another glorified v-pet with barely any story, so I'm not saying that's impressive or anything lol. It kinda cracks me up that this game is in black and white. Like, I know that was common for handheld games of this era, but it makes me picture like a 1960s version of Digimon on an old timey TV. Ye olde Digimon.

This was easy but completely luck based, so not super engaging or rewarding. I did my usual emulator cheating (saving before battles and loading my save state if I lost). Actually though this game has a built in speed-up feature that would make it pretty playable on the original system. Very nice quality of life stuff that I haven't seen in other games yet.

I feel like expressing my thoughts in a pro/con list this time around.

Pros:

Cute UI. Not as fun as the Sega Saturn game, but sleek with nice animations. The battle/training animations were especially cute. Navigating from digimon-to-digimon while taking care of them was intuitive and felt good.

Not a ton of need for grinding. Training didn't seem to do much and you don't need a lot of money because most items are free (food and medicine). Plus, if you set the clock speed super low then your digimon stay happy for a very long time.

Younger digimon aren't useless, you can battle with them and win (this is kind of a pro and a con).

So many quality-of-life features! From the main menu you can jump ahead in time, slow down and speed up the clock, and you can freeze a digimon if you need a break taking care of them or you need another digimon to catch up to them. That would have SO come in handy in some of the other games I've played.

Since I used an emulator I couldn't take advantage of it, but the linking abilities with other Wonderswan and with the v-pet digivice seem really cool and would add a lot to this game. I don't need to spend an arm and a leg to experience that, so I'll just appreciate it from afar.

Cons:

Jumping into the game was very confusing. Instead of starting you off with a digiegg you're just supposed to know that you have to go to the shop and buy one. Then, I couldn't figure out how to actually check on my digimon. "Lab" wasn't immediately obvious to me and I thought "Mail" would be more like the email feature in the Sega Saturn game. Using a mail icon for when your digimon needs you doesn't make a ton of sense to me.

Battles and training in this game are bizarre. Training doesn't appear to increase stats (digimon just have default stats) and battles might as well be totally random. A champion level can be defeated by a baby digimon in this game. I ended up figuring out that just throwing as many digimon into the arena as possible seemed to do the trick.

You can't do anything during battles. You literally just watch them fight. Guessing that was how they worked for the v-pet, but if you're going to make it a video game then maybe give me a button to press or something lol.

Items were confusing. It wasn't clear to me what some of them did and some of them I couldn't even figure out how I was supposed to use them. (If I can't use it in a battle then when can I?)

I wish this game kept a log of which digimon you've raised, otherwise there's not a whole lot of incentive to tame them all.

Another cute little Wonderswan game. Not a favorite or anything, but it felt good to tick another game off my list so quickly. I give it like a 5 out of 10.

[digi-lov]

how do u even start getting into Digimon?? there so much stuff, i dont even know where to begin. like, there is like a hundred shows??? do i start with the first one that came out??

Idk man it just happened??

No, but seriously, don't worry about it! There aren't even that many shows if you ask me. I'll put a list below the cut! I'll list all movies too, so it'll look like more than it really is. Also the dates are the japanese air dates.

Obviously starting with the first season, Digimon Adventure is an easy pick, it also has the most sequels and movies.

But aside from the Adventure related media, all other Digimon Seasons are completely self-contained, and you can just go and watch any! They also all explore "Digimon" and the Digital World in different ways. I personally loved them all.

For the anime I also highly recommend watching the Japanese original. I'm sorry for anyone who grew up with it, but I can barely stand watching the English Dub at all. If you know German though, the German Dub is really good. I still prefer the Japanese original, but the German Dub is at least a translation and not a fan fiction.

The same basically goes for the games. You can just pick any of them up! Also, all Digimon games kind of do their own thing in terms of gameplay and mechanics. There's similarities too, but usually each have their own vibe. A lot of the DS titles do work very similar though!

Anime:

Adventure: Digimon Adventure (Movie) (1999) • Digimon Adventure (Season 1) (1999-2000) Digimon Adventure: Our War Game (Movie) (2000) • Digimon Adventure 02 (Season 2) (2000-2001) Digimon Adventure 02: Hurricane Touchdown!! Supreme Evolution!! The Golden Digimentals (Movie) (2000) Digimon Adventure 02: Diaboromon Strikes Back (Movie) (2001) • Digimon Adventure tri. (6 Movies or 24 Episodes) (2015-2018) Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna (Movie) (2020) Digimon Adventure 02: The Beginning (Movie) (2023) [Digimon Adventure: (Reboot) (2020)]

Tamers: • Digimon Tamers (Season 3) (2001-2002) Digimon Tamers: The Adventures' Battle (Movie) (2001) Digimon Tamers: The Runaway Digimon Express (Movie) (2002)

Frontier: • Digimon Frontier (Season 4) (2002-2003) Digimon Frontier: Revival of the Ancient Digimon (Movie) (2002)

Savers/Data Squad: • Digimon Savers / Data Squad (Season 5) (2006-2007) Digimon Savers The Movie: Ultimate Power! Activate Burst Mode!! (Movie) (2006)

Xros Wars/Fusion: • Digimon Xros Wars / Fusion (2010-2012)

Appmon: • Digimon Universe Appli Monsters (2016-2017)

Ghost Game: • Digimon Ghost Game (2021-2023)

Games: Generally known Games in bold, more obscure or never released in the West in small I also left out most Phone and Smart Phone games since they're shut down

· Digital Monster Ver. S: Digimon Tamers (1998) (Sega Saturn) • Digimon World (1999) (PS1) · Digital Monster Ver. WonderSwan (1999) (WonderSwan) · Digimon World: Digital Card Battle (1999) (PS1) · Digimon Adventure: Anode Tamer & Cathode Tamer (1999/2000) (WonderSwan) · Digimon Adventure 02: Digital Partner (2000) (WonderSwan) · Pocket Digimon World (2000) (PS1) > Pocket Digimon World: Wind Battle Disc (2000) (PS1) > Pocket Digimon World: Cool & Nature Battle Disc (2001) (PS1) • Digimon World 2 (2000) (PS1) · Digimon Adventure 02: Tag Tamers (2000) (WonderSwan) · Digimon Adventure 02: D1 Tamers (2000) (WonderSwan Color) · Digimon World: Digital Card Arena (2000) (PS1) · Digimon Tamers: Digimon Medley (2001) (WonderSwan Color) • Digimon Tamers: Battle Spirit (2001) (WonderSwan Color / GBA) > Digimon Tamers: Battle Spirit Ver. 1.5 (2002) (WonderSwan Color) > Digimon Frontier: Battle Spirit / Battle Spirit 2 (2002) (WonderSwan Color / GBA) • Digimon Tamers: Battle Evolution / Rumble Arena (2001) (PS1) · Digimon Tamers: Brave Tamer (2001) (WonderSwan Color) • Digimon World 3 / 2003 (2002) (PS1) · Digimon Racing (2004) (GBA) • Digimon Battle Chronicle / Rumble Arena 2 (2004) (PS2 / GCN) • Digimon World X / World 4 (2005) (PS2 / GCN) • Digimon Story / Digimon World DS (2006) (DS) · Digimon Savers: Another Mission / Digimon World Data Squad (2006) (PS2) • Digimon Story: Sunburst & Moonlight / Digimon World Dawn & Dusk (2007) (DS) · Digimon Championship / Digimon World Championship (2008) (DS) · Digimon Masters (2009) (PC) [Korea only] · Digimon Story: Lost Evolution (2010) (DS) [Japan only; Fan Translation exists] · Digimon Story: Super Xros Wars Blue & Red (2011) (DS) • Digimon World Re:Digitize (2012) (PSP) > Digimon World Re:Digitize Decode (2013) (3DS) [Japan only; Fan translation exists] · Digimon Adventure (2013) (PSP) [Japan only; Fan translation exists] • Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth (2015) (PSV, PS4, Switch, PC) • Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth Hacker's Memory (2015) (PSV, PS4, Switch, PC) • Digimon World -next 0rder- (2016) (PSV, PS4, Switch, PC) · Digimon Universe Appli Monsters (2016) (3DS) · Digimon New Century (2021) (Smart Phone) [China only] • Digimon Survive (2022) (PS4, Switch, PC, XBO)

[tobiasdrake]

On Dokugamon's debut: It was used in the videogames before its anime debut, in the wonderswan version of the V-Pet. So did the Snimon that will appear in a few episodes, and Chimeramon, Golemon and Musyamon from 02 (as well as Asuramon, but that one won't appear in the anime until Frontier). The Digital Monster Ver. Wonderswan and Digital Monster Ver. S (for the Sega Saturn) are among the first videogames from the franchise, and, like Digimon World, predate the anime and are adaptions of the V-Pets, although Digimon World is the one that has a gameplay loop beyond being a fancy V-Pet. A few 'mons from the Adventures, if not in the V-Pet or Pendulum, will most likely have debuted in those!

Ooh, good to know. Thank you.

[rayoftruth]

I finally found my SwanCrystal and the Digimon adapter.

Time for Digital Monster Ver. WonderSwan.

[envyplays]

[Wonderswan] Digital Monster Ver. WonderSwan Instruction Booklet

[v-mundi]

Speaking of Mushamon and Zanbamon...here’s Asuramon! Like Mushamon, Asuramon made its v-pet debut in Digimon ver Wonderswan. Since it was in Egg 3, it replaced Andromon and evolved from Mushamon (who replaced Ogremon). Ogremon was the “Devimon” slot of that digital monster version, so not the strongest Stage 4 for the “strong” Stage 3, but it is the strongest for the weak Stage 3. Okay that’s probably confusing and way off track. Anyway, Asuramon is the “Metalgreymon” of that version. Basically, the weakest Stage 5. Oh you don’t believe me? Battle your Metalgreymon from your original Digital Monster versus any of the other two a dozen times and...okay off track again.

Asuramon is another tough model to pose. The texture wasn’t as artifacted as others from DMO (Digmon Masters Online) but the rig was really basic. No offense to Guiltronprime—I adore that person’s work and needless to say Digimon Battle Evolution would look awful without their huge rig library. Part of the problem is what I call the “Toei problem”, where all Digimon models are based on short, stubby limbed, Toei animation drawings which suck. Poses with that proportion and anatomy are really janky.

Through some trial-and-error, I was able to get some of the JoJo-looking pose down from one of the reference arts. He has a very Dio Brando type of hip thrust and back-bend, coupled with being able to hover, emit fire, and each of the 4 arms can produce a different emotion. One arm is doing something from the spiritual practice of Yoga—not surprising since Asura-deva are also present in Hinduism, Buddhism, and many other shared-heritage religions. In some stories, they’re the underdogs who fight the concept of “Heaven”—who are basically the bastard ruling-class. I think One Piece is going for that lore too. In some stories, they’re evil rage demons. I tend to prefer a mix of them all. Especially Asuramon who appears to be multi-spirited, and so would have many emotions (per its faces: happiness, anger, sadness). The other arms are supposed to be in a karate-like pose with the fists upside down and near the waist. Unfortunately, due to the way the model rig weights work, you can’t make an upturned fist without it being glitchy so I hid that with perspective and did a related karate junbi (jp. 準備 prepared) pose. I tried to make each head in charge of an arm (anger is front-facing so it gets the remaining arm for continuity). Sad-head gets yoga hand, Happy-head gets the grabby hand, and Angry-head gets the prepared fists. I tried to tie an emotion to each hand that complimented but didn’t match the faces, so as to create new emotions. So instead of happy, sad, angry; I get introspective, playful, and determined. Pairing each emotion with an action to synthesize new emotions felt pretty cool and I think added an extra layer to the mode, just as researching some of this spirituality beforehand might have.

I realize people may not know how much effort I put into every detail in the game, especially since some of the art is ah, how should I say...expedient. Let’s go with that :P But yes, when I have time and skill, I put an immense amount of thought into details of Digimon Battle Evolution. Whether that be part of the art or the effect, nodes in the evolution network, matchups, exact numbers, yep everything. So researching various belief systems to emote poses is just the tip of the “deep lore” iceberg lol.

In the final, post-processed, color-graded render, I kept going until Asuramon and its actually 3D fire aura had a look that would make masculine-attracted people say “Daddy! 😍”. Hopefully I succeeded and you masc-lovers are happy. I’m a fem-lover, so I wouldn’t know. Overall, I’m very satisfied with the final result and when I see it now, it makes me want to WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

[otakween]

Digital Monsters Card Game Ver. WonderSwan Color

Another stupidly named Digimon game. This one was so fun!! I technically started it exactly a month ago, but there was also a week break in there, so it took me around 3 weeks to finish.

Difficulty-wise this game was kind of strange. I feel like it was like 40% strategy and 60% luck. I guess a lot of card games are like that. I will admit, I did use some save state trickery to get through a few battles, but only because each one took like 20 minutes (real time) to beat and having to start from scratch because of one stupid move was devastating at times. In the end though, I got pretty darn good at the game and could hold my own without relying too much on emulator tricks.

Notes:

I'm totally not a TCG person IRL, so it's such a pleasant surprise to me that I'm loving these card-based video games! Of course they're not going to win in terms of things like story or visuals, but the gameplay is so satisfying! Most games let me zone out, but these really require focus and brain power.

Not a lot of people are talking about this game, but the gamefaqs are still really good, so kudos to the people on there. I also watched a bit of a German let's play lol

Not gonna lie, this game has a VERY steep learning curve at the start. It was my first vertical Wonderswan game so just figuring out the controls was tricky. I then had to learn a whole new TCG system because this Digimon game is different from past digimon games. I think I was most confused with what to do with the cards that assist in digivolving, even now I don't fully get them. I basically lost a lot at first while I was figuring things out. No perfect score for me!

You get a decent starter deck at the start of the game and you can auto-build decks which helps things be less overwhelming. I chose Terriermon because I love him. He served me well.

The UI for this game was really nice once I got the hang of things. I felt that decks were a lot easier to edit than past games and the cards were organized very nicely. I loved being able to pull up the card art which perfectly fit the vertical Wonderswan and the holo-cards were also a nice touch.

I never ended up beating Impmon...oops. This game has a lot of "optional" battles. There's one you can only beat after you've beat 80 battles but like...I have a life, so no thanks (I left the game at 25 battles).

Takeru was randomly the hardest opponent in the game and he was like...very early in the game. He was the one I had to use save states on the most I think. Tricky bastard.

You can obtain cards via passwords found on the actual IRL cards themselves and I think that's pretty genius. Of course, I just pulled the cards up online lol.

The option cards in this game allowed for a lot of interesting strategies. I liked that I could beat an ultimate at champion level by playing my cards right. It was also satisfying that if you beat a digimon of a higher level, their "loss points" would go down faster.

I think I'm done with the Wonderswan games, woohoo!! It will be interesting to see what other card games are out there on more modern systems. I give this one (not typing that name out again lol) a 7 out of 10!

[otakween]

Digital Monster ver. S - Final Thoughts

Wow, another game that took me exactly a week to beat, how punctual of me! So that's another 10-15 hours in the bucket, not bad at all. This game is ~special~ because it's the first digimon game to ever be released (not including v-pets). It came out in 1998 for the Sega Saturn and was never translated. As such, it's really not that popular and I couldn't find a ton of guidance on how to beat it. To make matters worse, Sega Saturn games do not emulate well. If you look closely, you'll see that all of my screenshots have ugly lines on them. The sound was also hit-or-miss, sometimes cutting out or making terrible screechy noises. None of that was disruptive enough for me to give up though. I persevered and ended up having a lot of fun!

The best guide for this game (as far as I know) is in Japanese. Google translate + some Japanese knowledge are recommended to fully benefit from it.

Notes:

-This gave me some Digimon World 1 flashbacks. I ended up with Numemon as my first champion and for awhile there it felt like I would never get a good digimon. The way to the success in this game (just like in DW1) ended up being gym upgrades which made digimon rearing a LOT less painful. Unfortunately, I didn't really stick around to get the coolest digimon. My best efforts yielded me: Vademon, Birdramon, Leomon, and a Devimon at the end there.

-The main objective in this game, earning 5 medals from the different arenas, ended up being pretty easy. You can definitely get by with a champion level, which is what I did for 3 out of 5 medals. Of course I also did some save scumming, because this is another RNG-rather-than-skill based game. If you don't cheat a lil, you're just meaninglessly prolonging the game imo. Sometimes I ended up winning against big bosses without even needing save states, so yeah. Not super challenging.

-The "bonus" objective, I guess, would be to tame all possible digimon in the game (70 in total) which involves some jogress-ing too? I ain't doing that for multiple reasons. Number 1: I already did it in Digimon World and it took a million years WITH a guide. Number 2: I couldn't find a guide on how to trigger certain digivolutions for this one. I know it follows the v-pet logic, but I'm really not sure how the care mistakes/training rules work. Number 3: It doesn't seem like it would be very rewarding. There's really not much going on post-final boss in this one. Same as with Anode/Cathode, why should I care that I have these cool digimon if there's nothing I can do with them?

-The best part of this game was definitely the UI! So nostalgic, so 90s, so immersive! I especially loved the "Net" portion with email and the little Botamon mini-game. I love email replying mechanics. Very Dot Hack. Also, the Japanese was very easy to understand which is a plus.

-The digimon are so cute in this game. The little squeaky noise they make when they're happy, their different sleep animations (the plant digimon go underground or sleep in pots!), the joy when you give them their favorite food. So many great little touches. I guess the one thing that would be nice about taming them all would be seeing all the different animations. Maybe I'll just look those up lol.

-Definitely some frustration with digimon dying abruptly and digimon not digivolving as I expected. I worked hard getting my Leomon to 15 battles (the requirement for Ultimate level) and he still died! I honestly have no idea why and feel cheated out of a Megadramon.

-The final boss was legitimately a LadyDevimon named "Nice Body" and my reward for defeating her was a "sexy" wallpaper (displayed in one of the screenshots above). Lol

-The internet and shopping tracks were very nice. The internet one almost sounds like lofi

-I can see how this game would seem amazing if you're coming from the v-pet. You can raise 4 digimon at once, which feels super efficient, even compared to DW1. Between this and the Wonderswan ver. I'm feeling less motivated to buy a v-pet because it's basically the same thing but lower quality. (Although that might be kinda fun).

-I felt bad about abandoning my remaining digis (like my Neopets and my Nintendogs lol), but I left them with robots to take care of them, so at least there's that.

Honestly with the context of this game being so old and having the goal of being an enhanced v-pet, I think it achieved that mission very nicely. I'm wavering between a 6 and a 7, so I'll give this a 6.5 out of 10.

[envyplays]

[Wonderswan Color] Digital Monster Card Game Ver. WonderSwan Color Instruction Booklet

[envyplays]

Digimon Digital Monster Ver. Wonderswan (Wonderswan)

New Digimon first appearing on the Wonderswan arrive! The Digital World grows more and more!

Raise up to 8 Digimon at once, and battle with up to 10 Digimon on the field, a new form of battle debuts!

[envyplays]

Digimon: Digital Monster Card Game Ver. Wonderswan Color (Wonderswan Color)

That 'Digimon Card Game' has become an ultimate Card Game Adventure!

Play by the common rules!

Battle against those special Tamers!