Dinokun overview

It's time to write about what I think is possibly the absolute worst vintage v-pet ever made. And I feel that its programming is kind of glitched too. At least in the baby stage. Why? because there's no way a sane human being would make a v-pet this annoying!

So let's introduce another obscure v-pet: Dinokun, or at least that's how the package I have calls it.

It's another dinosaur pet that I like to collect (because dinosaurs are cooler than puppies). What is quite different from the plethora of other v-pets I have played is that this lil' guy can switch between Bad and Good forms and that depends on how full the discipline meter is. This doesn't change much during the playthrough tho, besides having slightly different sprites and getting a grave with a ghost if the pet dies as Bad. The baby and teen have two forms (G//B), while the adult has four (G/semiG//semiB/B). I couldn't be bothered to record it all though, as the baby stage wore me out enough...

Let's tackle the elephant in the room. The baby stage. What is absolutely the worst about this device is that it screams like every 10 seconds, all the time, during this stage. What I discovered is that whenever one single unit from the hunger/happy meter drops, the pet will call for attention. That's a terrible idea, as usually v-pets call you only when a meter gets wholly empty: thanks to that you have some time to breathe and relax. This device however turns into a non-stop screaming alarm in your pocket, and it will scream even if the dino is still moderately full and happy!

Once I learned this I tried a different approach. I'd ignore all the calls until I'd assume the meters are empty enough to react. Unfortunately, because of all this weirdness, it's really difficult to track the discipline - and the form changing is the biggest feature of this pet for me. So, here's another tip from me - if the dino calls, just give it some food. If it refuses to eat, check if it's full. If not - use the discipline.

Once the dino grows up, it gets easier as the pet stops being as demanding. You just have to survive through the initial phase to enjoy a more "normal" playthrough, where you have a little more control over it (or over your life...). Assuming you are not fed up with it at this point.

There's not much else to add besides perhaps expressing how... unappealing the sprites are (you are greeted with a floating skull and end up with a weird sad-looking turtledog-like creature). The Good/Bad forms aren't really that significant either as they mostly add some cosmetic changes over existing Good sprites. Still, I think it's an interesting idea. And lastly, the device sound has... just one channel? It's monotone. Not sure how to describe it so: since it cannot play any pitches (melody is not possible here) it communicates in a sequence of (a bit annoying) beeps, almost like a morse code. I have never seen something like that in v-pets and I think it's worth mentioning it.

Now let's end this by describing available functions:

• Food - which gives you a rice bowl or a candy to choose from. PS. mine interface is Japanese but some versions have images of the food instead.
• Lightbulb - you can turn the lights off whenever your pet goes to sleep. The baby stage likes to go to sleep once in a while (and then you are blessed with 30 minutes of silence). One cool detail here is that even if you turn the light off - it gets dark only when it's evening/night in the pet's world. I find that immersing.
• Game - it's just rock/paper/scissors and you should lose to your pet to make it happier. Either way, it doesn't matter much as far as I remember - any finished game raises its happy meter (correct me if I'm wrong tho!). I find it charming that the pet plays with you using its own body. The sprites are confusing as heck at first, but the lil guy tries their best ok?
• Syringe - it injects the cure straight to the pet's head. Kinda horrifying.
• Broom - cleans up the poop!
• Stats - 1st screen shows age and weight, 2nd screen shows hungriness, 3rd shows happiness, finally 4th is the discipline.
• Screaming guy - that's your discipline! Use it when the dino calls you without any reason. Missing such a call empties the discipline meter (and turns the pet into Bad form eventually).
• Call - it will light up when the pet wants your attention.

Obligatory but rudimentary spritesheet at the end