Tamagotchi is back: Virtual pet phenomenon returning for 20th anniversary

Remember all the Tamagotchis you killed 20 years ago? Well later this year you'll be able to neglect a whole new batch of the virtual pets when Bandai brings the beloved 90s phenomenon back to celebrate its 20th anniversary.

Going on sale in the US in November, the new set of Tamagotchi toys are smaller than the originals – they've shrunk in size by about 60% – but otherwise look and operate much like people in their late 20s and early 30s will remember.

There are six different designs inspired by the original run from Japan, and the packaging is the same too. Players will also find the same group of pixelated pets to raise as well.

"They have different lives," Bandai America Marketing Director Tara Badie told IGN, speaking of the first generation of players to play with Tamagotchis. "It's not just homework and sports now. It's your full time jobs, and families and activities.

"So we wanted to make sure you could have that core play without feeling overwhelmed.

"Those late 20, early 30-year-olds, they loved the product the first time. They're going to see it, they're going to take it, and they're going to have kids [and] siblings...that then they'll show it off to that younger generation."

That's the hope anyway.

The experience has been streamlined in some way, with the three buttons intended to make hatching, feeding and cleaning up after a Tamagotchi easier, without having to navigate menus to get things done.

The new line of Tamagotchis will go on sale in limited quantities for $14.99 in the US, with no information yet regarding possible releases around the world.

Back in the late 90s, Tamagotchis were immensely popular the world over. It's no coincidence that their rise came around the same time as the original Pokémon titles, with both satisfying a consumer itch for virtual pets and complimenting each other well.

As of 2010 more than 76 million Tamagotchis had been sold worldwide.