Oddballz

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Oddballz: Your Wacky Computer Petz
Oddballz Coverart.png
Italian box art
Developer(s) PF Magic
Publisher(s) PF Magic
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, [1] Mac OS 7 [2]
ReleaseWindows: 1996
Genre(s) Virtual pets
Mode(s) Single Player

Oddballz: Your Wacky Computer Petz is a virtual pet game developed by PF Magic, as part of the Petz series, released in 1996. It follows, and uses many of the systems as, PF Magic's previous Catz and Dogz.

Contents

Gameplay

Oddballz follows much of format of Catz and Dogz, with the player being able to adopt a selection of pets, and to play or punish them affecting their mood. [3] However, unlike its predecessors it focuses on fantasy and Chimeric animals—such as a "cross between a walrus and a rabbit" or "half duck, half bear". [4] [5] Also unlike those games, Oddballz includes more than the starting 6 animals, allowing the user to unlock and collect them. [5] New "toys"—items used to interact with your petz—include ray guns, magnets and fire extinguishers. [6] Creatures could also be further "mutated" and traded online with other players, further enhancing the collectability aspect. [7]

A pet interacting with the user and with its surroundings. Oddballz (game).png
A pet interacting with the user and with its surroundings.

The game had the ability to get extra content—either from the official website, or on CD-ROM. [2] [8]

Reception

Alex Garland, in The Daily Telegraph , thought while boring to adults, the collectability aspect would make it appealing to children. [5] Similarly, while Robert Wright found nothing compelling for him, he recounts that his three children—aged 10, 8 and 4—had "been playing it endlessly". [6]

Trevor Covert, of MacNN, while praising the software's intuitive interface, criticized the lack of Mac support for the CD-ROM expansions. [2]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Enderland, Ron. "First Dogz, Then Catz, Now This?". WorldVillage. Archived from the original on 5 June 2001. Retrieved 26 May 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Covert, Trevor. "Review: Oddballz". MacNN. Archived from the original on 21 October 2006. Retrieved 26 May 2025.
  3. ↑ Scott, John (6 December 1996). "Oddballz, your Wacky Computer Petz (PC only, Published by P.F. Magic)". What's On. Hull Daily Mail . Hull, Humberside. p. 2. Retrieved 26 May 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ Boxer, Steve (31 December 1996). "Family pet Loses its fur". Connected. The Daily Telegraph . London. p. 14. Retrieved 26 May 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  5. 1 2 3 Garland, Alex (23 November 1996). "Mini-monsters in the machine". arts & books. The Daily Telegraph . London. p. A9. Retrieved 26 May 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  6. 1 2 Wright, Robert (20 February 1997). "A video phone for the masses". Fast Forward. The Toronto Star. Toronto, Ontario. p. K2. Retrieved 26 May 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Dispatches". PC Zone . No. 45. Dennis Publishing. December 1996. p. 24 – via Archive.org.
  8. ↑ Mendonça, Cristiane (August 1997). "Oddballz". Macmania (in Brazilian Portuguese). No. 39. p. 42. Retrieved 26 May 2025– via Archive.org.
  9. ↑ Tresca, Michael. "Oddballz: Your Collectable Computer Petz - Review". AllGame . Archived from the original on 14 November 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2025.
  10. ↑ Fried, John J. (30 January 1997). "Software that combines search engines to effectively navigate Net". tech.life@inquirer. The Philadelphia Inquirer . p. F3. Retrieved 26 May 2025– via Newspapers.com.
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