Tamagotchis Make A Comeback With Larger, Full-Color Version

• The tamagotchi, a virtual pet that first became popular in the late 1990s, is getting re-released with a full-color screen.
• The original version became known for its all-consuming time demands and propensity to die suddenly.
• More than 82 million tamagotchis have been sold in the toy's lifetime.

Hold the nostalgia: Tamagotchis, the original cyberpet that was all the rage in 1997, are getting a remake with 2019 technology. The egg-shaped electronic toy is being re-released as the Tamagotchi On, a full-color version with a larger screen that interacts with other tamagotchi devices.

The original black-and-white tamagotchi was introduced in 1996 and quickly swept elementary schools and boardrooms, selling one toy every 15 minutes at the peak of its popularity. The virtual critters mimicked eating, pooping, playing and dying, but they became notorious mostly for dying -- when they weren't hogging their owners' time and infuriating teachers.

The fad led some schools to ban them outright. And a Massachusetts company in 1998 started a tamagotchi "day care" service to mind cyberpets of its employees' kids.

The Tamagotchi On lets users "breed" two characters to create an offspring with unique traits, said Bandai, the manufacturer. It can also connect to other tamagotchi devices via Bluetooth, allowing characters to travel, play or even marry each other and create new characters. It includes has a virtual "day care" feature that lets owners pause play without risking sudden death.

The classic tamagotchi never went away -- it remains popular in Japan and got a 20th-anniversary relaunch in the States two years ago. But many American fans are excited for the more full-featured version. Jose Placeres, a 29-year-old graphic designer and animator who fell in love with the original toy at age 8, compared Tamagotchi On to a "less intrusive" version of Pokemon Go.