The Digimon Pendulum Color is the latest generation of virtual pet toys that bring new features while paying homage to its roots. Just like Tamagochis that were all the craze back in our school days, the Digimon Pendulum Color has all the features of its predecessors, but now in full color, native English language support, and cross compatibility with the Digimon Color which even newcomers can easily pick up and enjoy.

These toys can be charged through a USB-C port and have exceptionally fast charge times. Its battery life is also worth mentioning as it can last up to more than a week before needing to be recharged.

For our review, we tried out the Nature Spirits and Deep Savers editions of the toys, which make up 2 of the currently available 3 versions in the market. The external design and look evoke great similarities to the original Digimon Pendulum lineup in terms of both build and external colors. Both units sport the same palm-sized rectangular unit with 3 buttons and a keychain, allowing you to take your Digimon with you wherever you go.

A New Light

It goes without saying that the Digimon Pendulum Color’s most prominent feature is its brand new display that now shows all your Digimons in full color, with significant features of some Digimons now visible in full color.

For example, we can now clearly distinguish between Angelmon’s hair and wings or HerculesKabuterimon’s true colors. The screen also allows for more vibrant colors to be displayed compared to the Digimon Color, which is always a welcome touch.

Collection Made Simpler

Naturally, a new Digimon generation also means more new Digimon, and in this regard, the Pendulum Color continues to deliver in spades. The Pendulum Color builds off the original Digimon Pendulum’s evolution charts and adds a whole new stage of Super Ultimate Digimons to strive for as well as new unique evolution lines such as the Diarbbitmon line which can only be evolved from a specific lineage of Digimons.

For those worried about the difficulty of collecting all the Digimons, The Digimon Pendulum Color has greatly reduced the complexity of evolution requirements, now only performing checks for Condition and Effort. The Pendulum Color also comes with an in-game library, so players can easily track their progress.

Jogress

For those with access to multiple Pendulum Colors, Jogressing additionally unlocks more possible combinations as certain Digimons can only be obtained by Jogressing between different versions of the Pendulum Color. For example, Mastemon, a Super Ultimate Digimon, requires a Jogress between Angewomon from Nature Spirits and Lady Devimon from Nightmare Soldiers. Jogressing can also be conducted with Digimon Color units with similar results.

Another feature of the Pendulum color is the ability to raise up to 2 Digimons at the same time. Besides your main Digimon, you can also raise a backup Digimon on the same device. This does not mean that you will now have to juggle the needs of two creatures at the same time though, as the backup will be considered “fridged” and will not grow or deteriorate until you take it out.

With 2 Digimons, even players who are unable to find another Digimon device will not be locked out of Jogressing as you can Jogress within the same unit. Keep in mind that using this method to Jogress will consume one of your Digimons in the process, so you might need to raise multiple Digimons from scratch to achieve later evolution stages.

Shaker-Based Battle

True to its name, the Digimon Pendulum Color comes with a pendulum shaker hidden inside the device. Shaking the toy rapidly from side to side will produce a loud clacking sound reminiscent of a solid rod being hit from its short ends. Of course, it might make it awkward to use in public, so make sure you’re not disturbing anyone around you before picking a fight.

This shaker is now the main element of the battles in the Pendulum Color, both in quests and PvP fights. Shaking the device a specific number of times enables the Digimon to launch a super attack of up to 5 projectiles in a single turn, greatly increasing the player’s control over the battle. The number of shakes required varies depending on the specific Digimon, but the easiest way to pull off the super attack is to take note of the screen color before the battle begins and shake the device until the screen matches the initial color.

Battles have also been enhanced thanks to the new color screen. Projectiles on the Pendulum Color are now more defined and colorful compared to the same projectiles on the Digimon Color.

Unlike older generations of Digimon, the Pendulum Color makes Digimon attributes a surprisingly important factor in battle. Combat now involves a rock-paper-scissors type of system based on the 4 possible Digimon attributes. Virus is weak to Vaccine, Vaccine is weak to Data, Data is weak to Virus and Free has no particular strengths or weaknesses. These advantages affect the Digimon’s hit rate against its opponents, with advantageous type matchups having a higher chance to successfully land hits.

Shake for Stronger Pets

Interestingly, there is a way in the Digimon Pendulum Color to make strong Digimons stronger. However, it does take quite a bit in time and effort to see the results.

Unlike the Digimon Color, eggs do not hatch immediately, but instead take about a minute. The player is intended to shake the device vigorously during this period as performing at least 100 times before it hatches will grant a permanent +10 bonus to its Power.

Hardcore players can also rejoice because if a Digimon dies under specific conditions, it will leave behind a Traited Egg as a parting gift. Hatching the traited egg can give further boosts to the Digimon that hatches from it that also stacks with the power boost received by shaking.

Lineup

As mentioned earlier, the Digimon Pendulum Color currently comes in 3 versions based on the Digimon Color, the land themed Nature Spirits, the aquatic themed Deep Savers, and the fantasy themed Nightmare Soldiers. However, Bandai has already announced the second wave of Pendulum Color versions, with Wind Guardians, Metal Empire and Virus Busters on the way. Pre-orders began on 26 April 2024 and will end on 27 May 2024, so interested players and fans can get them as soon as possible from the official website.

There are quite a number of familiar Digimons making their virtual pet debut with the Pendulum Color, such as Cthyllamon from Digimon Ghost Game, NoblePumpkinmon from Digimon ReArise, and even MetalSeadramon and Piedmon of the 4 Dark Masters.

Free attribute Digimon that do not fit in the usual 3 archetypes also make a return, but are still extremely rare, with the only Free Digimons outside the first 2 stages being Vikemon from Deep Savers and GranKuwagamon from Nature Spirits.

Impression

Overall, the Digimon Pendulum Color is looking up to be a new generation of Digimon toys for fans both old and new. While invoking a strong sense of nostalgia for the height of the virtual pet trend and the original Digimon Pendulum, it also brings a respectable lineup of new Digimons and a more controllable battle system.

The main criticism we have for this toy is that while the number of possible evolutions have gone up, it came at a hefty cost of extremely reduced requirements. The process of growing the library of Digimons gets boring after a while as less attention is required to look after them compared to previous Digimon devices. We believe that the process of evolving from Champion to Ultimate, and Ultimate to Super Ultimate should have more complexity and have more checks than just battle counts and win rate.

Evolution options are restricted if you play alone because of the inability to battle other players or Jogress across versions. As we mentioned earlier, there are some Digimons that require multiple versions of the Pendulum Color to obtain, which makes them outright impossible if you’re alone.

Despite these shortcomings, the Pendulum Color is still a significant upgrade from both the Digimon Pendulum and the Digimon Color, which makes it our top recommendation for any Digimon fan. At a retail price of RM320 (approximately $67.50 USD), it’s a good deal for the vast amount of content it brings.