Micalun & Devitan

In 1998, Bandai released a keychain game around the idea of an angel and a devil telling your daily fortune. This game is regularly associated with Bandai's Tamagotchi line for having a similar design, and for Bandai pushing out plenty of Tamagotchi titles from 1996 to 1998. This webpage is meant to document what Micalun & Devitan is, how it is not a virtual pet game like the Tamagotchi, and give context on whether or not it is worth the regularly very high price.

Packaging and Advertising

The game comes packaged in the same type of "full card" blister packaging that the Japanese Tamagotchi games are released in, aiding in their comparison. The front of the package features the various angels and devils in full art, while the back shows their sprites as they appear in the game, as wel as some samples of what happens in the game, as shown bellow. If you're interested in the official manual, here are links to scans of the manual front and back.

The only advertisement that can be found online is from an early summer 1998 magazine.

Gameplay

The main gameplay of Micalun & Devitan is based on the game being a fortune-telling portal. When starting the game, you are asked to enter your name, birthday, blood type, gender, and current date and time to build a profile. This information is, presumably, used to determine your daily fortunes. If you choose not answer a part of the profile and let about a minute pass, unanswered variables will be given the first available option. The main screen will show the characters Micalun and Devitan floating across the screen, stopping in the middle to look at you, and then continuing on their way. Between 9pm and 9am the two will sleep next to each other.

Controls

The game's shell has four buttons, which will be referred to as A, B, C, and D. The two buttons to the left, A and B, are directional buttons and move highlighted menu option or a specific page's selection option. The two buttons to the right, C and D, are confirm and cancel, respectively. When a menu item isn't selected, the C button will open the clock, which will show the current time. In the clock menu, the A button can toggle to show the date and back, and the B button will disable sound from the game, with the C button closing the clock/date. Pressing A and D together will pause the game, but the game may unpause itself without warning.

Fortune

The first menu option, in the top left corner, is where you will find your fortunes. The fortunes available, in order, are: Health Fortune, Social Fortune, Romantic Fortune, and Economic Fortune. Each day, Micalun or Devitan will present this fortune to you via text. Micalun & Devitan does not have hiragana, so all messages are written in katakana. Whether Micalun or Devitan delivers the message determines the tone of the message, with Micalun bringing good fortunes and Devitan bringing bad fortunes.

Slot Machine

The other options on the top menu, from left to right, are Angel Collection, Devil Collection, and Slot Machine. From the Slot Machine option you can choose to play a one-pull slot machine. Any wins on the slot machine will make Micalun or Devitan happier, and add to a counter that eventually reveals an angel or devil character. These characters are collected in a list of up to 12 in the Angel Collection or Devil Collection options. Sometimes when pressing the C button on these characters, they will give you special messages. Whether or not they speak to you may be determined by your profile, but this is not confirmed.

* A common misconception is that these other angels and devils can be selected to scroll the main screen! This appears to be untrue, as no such function seems to exist!

The slot machine's resutls will have the following effects:

It is currently untested if any specific number of cheers reflect a score that counts toward revealing, but certain wins on the slot machine change who they benefit from day to day.

Connection

The last menu option is to connect with another player's Micalun & Devitan and test your compatability. It uses a three prong connection with a spring controlled shield. The compatability score is presented as a precentage, and seems less based on actual profile details and more on the amount of pressure applied to the two units. It is unclear how the seemingly rubberized prongs actually interact, but the same connection is used on Bandai's Yokaizer from the same year, though the positioning is flipped.

Fighting

There is one element of maintenance to the game where Micalun and Devitan will fight each other. The player is normally alerted by the shell creating an alarm sound. The screen will show the two of them fighting, and one of them may win the fight if left unattended. Winning a fight, though, results in a bandage counter in the bottom right corner. The game will collect up to three of these counters. The fights can result in the loss of an angel or devil character, and any bandage counters will only clear after winning at the slot machine. This is the only pet-like element of the game.

Animations


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