Digimon World

Digimon World (デジモンワールド) is a video game by Bandai on the PlayStation, released in 1999, about the Digimon virtual pets. It was followed by various sequels released for the PlayStation and other platforms.

The storyline focuses on a human brought to File City on File Island by Jijimon to save the island. Digimon have been losing their memories and becoming feral and the city has fallen into disarray. The goal of the player, who is represented by a young boy whose name is given as "Hiro/Hero" (this is a common Japanese naming convention for RPG protagonists), is to save the island by helping Digimon recover their memory and return to the city.

The PAL region's variant cover art features the seven initial chosen Digimon from Digimon Adventure. The group includes Gomamon, who is otherwise completely absent from this game.

Gameplay
The gameplay revolves around raising a single Digimon from its Digitama form, hatching into a Fresh, up through In-Training, Rookie, Champion, and with work, Ultimate. A Digimon partner will die with age, and return to an egg eventually, so the player has to raise it again. To raise a Digimon partner, the player must train it, feed it, let it rest and take it to a bathroom.

The other main part of gameplay is battle. The player's partner Digimon fight the Digimon that have become aggressive due to a crisis on File Island. Partner Digimon begin the game with a few basic skills, but acquire more as they progress in levels through the game.

The more Digimon who you gain in your city will make training and various other aspects of the game much easier. Many will open shops and even sell items, some which will open mini-games you can play to gain rewards and items.

Plot
The game revolves around a young boy named Hiro (the player can name the protagonist in the beginning of the game), the protagonist, who is drawn into the Digital World through his V-Pet device. Jijimon greets and asks him a few questions, the answers to which determine whether he begins with an Agumon or Gabumon. His goal is to travel around File Island, locating all of the resident Digimon of File City who have turned feral and bring them back, raising Digimon partners in the process. He must train his Digimon and battle his way through all of Digimon World until the once sparsely populated city is flourishing with different Digimon from all of Digimon World. He must eventually go to Mount Infinity (the final location) to confront the antagonist, Analogman, and the mega Machinedramon, and save the Digital World from destruction.

Development
Developer and publisher Bandai (now Namco Bandai Games) used an extensive marketing campaign to compete with Nintendo's Pokémon media franchise, specifically the video games Pokémon Red and Blue. A promotional Digimon trading card was offered to the first 100,000 North American customers to purchase the game. The game was officially announced in conjunction with Digimon World 2 in May 2000, before either's release.

Reception
GameSpot's Miguel Lopez gave the game a 5.1 out of 10, criticizing the uninteractive nature of most of the game and concluding that "Digimon World isn't for everyone – only dedicated Digimon fans or fans of the monster-raising genre need apply." IGN's David Zdyrko offered a similar opinion, additionally praising the graphics and sound. By February 2000, the game had sold approximately 250,000 copies in Japan.