These were also known as “Ani-bip” in some places, there are several iterations of these, so you’ll often see “Ani-bip 2,” “Ani-bip 3,” and “Ani-bip 4.” There are a number of different animals, all in separate toys, and in order to marry and have a baby, they needed to connect with another anipal. The one you mate with doesn’t need to be the same species either: you can create hybrids that will have mommy’s head and daddy’s body, or vice versa. While the hybrids are a nice novelty, I think needing another pet frustrated some when they first came out–just know you should pick up two or more if you’re getting into them today. The animations are said to be pretty simple and not super engaging.
These were sold in several countries, but there is almost no text in the ROM and they are not region-locked. A French Anip-bip can connect to an American PowerPalz without issues. It seems the language differences are only present on the cases.
There is also a “Mega store” version, which allows you to connect and buy different items. I’m not sure if the store has a pet on it itself, but it can connect to other Power Palz and they will immediately use the items you choose to buy. Each of these items changes their stats in some way, and there are a ton of them. The instructions sheets have several pages of tables that go over these and what they affect, and there are even a few mystery items as well. You should note thought that since the pets don’t have any inventory functionality, they will be used immediately when you buy them, so make sure you want to use it before you press the button.
Overall these seem kind of neat and have some unique features, but you absolutely need several before you’re really going to be able to have fun with them. Because of this, I wouldn’t pay much for them unless you’re an absolute completionist looking for that last one in your collection.
