Digimon Adventure: Anode Cathode Tamer

Digimon Adventure: Anode Tamer and Digimon Adventure: Cathode Tamer are a pair of counterpart games based on the Digimon franchise, released exclusively on the Bandai Wonder Swan in 1999. They later received a Compilation Rerelease in 2001 for the Wonder Swan Color, Digimon Anode/Cathode Tamer: Veedramon Version, which received an English translation in Hong Kong.

The games collectively are the first instalment in a series of Digimon games following the transdimensional adventures of Ryo Akiyama, who would later make several cameo appearances in Digimon Adventure 02 and become a main character of Digimon Tamers. On New Years' Eve 1999, Ryo is playing on his new laptop when he is interrupted by a blackout, and taken into the Digital World by Taichi Yagami's Agumon. After a brief skirmish with a wild Digimon, Agumon and Gennai explain that the rise of a powerful new enemy, Millenniummon, has resulted in the imprisonment of all the Chosen Children and the revival of many dangerous enemies, and that it's now up to Ryo to amass an army of Digimon and lead them to victory against Millenniummon.

The games are a simplified take on the Turn-Based Strategy genre, with some of the maintenance elements of the Digimon virtual pets thrown into the mix. Both the player and the enemy control three Mons each with limited offensive commands available. The player can charge and use energy from Taichi's borrowed Digivice to capture and "purify" an enemy Digimon and convince it to join Ryo's army.

The games were followed up with Digimon Adventure 02: Tag Tamers, continuing Ryo's adventures and tying into the backstory of Ken Ichijouji.


 * All There in the Manual: This game is one of the many unexported manuals about exactly who the hell that Ryo guy is and why he's such a good Tamer.
 * Com Mons: It's difficult to not end up getting a lot of Veedramon from Gennai. It stands out in that you'll end up with a hell of a lot of them even though you can't find and purify them in dungeons.
 * Compilation Rerelease: Veedramon Version.
 * Department of Redundancy Department: You have to wonder why they bothered compiling both versions together given they're virtually identical.
 * Harmful to Minors: Ryo not only realises by the first encounter with a Digimon (Kuwagamon, again) that he can get killed easily, he faces every villain alone, and each of them promises to give him a painful, gruesome death.
 * No Export for You: The games are the only instalment of its series to come even vaguely close to averting this - an English translation does exist of Veedramon Version (and by extension all versions), but was released solely in Hong Kong where there actually was an English-speaking Wonder Swan market.
 * One Game for the Price of Three