Late last month, Portable Pixels unveiled their latest project, a sequel to their popular 2012 virtual pet game Hatchi, and as of this morning Hatchi 2 – The Virtual Pet Breeding Game (Free) is now available in the App Store for 99¢. The original Hatchi was unabashedly retro, featuring a blocky faux LCD experience that closely mimicked the physical Tamagotchi and Digimon toys of the ’90s. Hatchi 2 kicks things up a notch with full color visuals, but not too far, as it’s still decidedly pixely and retro.

As with the original Hatchi, you’ll bathe your little pet, feed him/her, put them to sleep when they need rest, and play a selection of mini-games to keep them entertained. The mini-games in Hatchi 2 are a step up from previous games, and feature a lot of genres that are already popular on mobile. There’s a match-3, a “fall down" game, a Doodle Jump‘er, a brick breaker and more. Some of the mini-games are stronger than others, but they’re all at least a little bit fun. As you play mini-games and care for your pet you’ll earn gems which can go towards evolving your pet as well as some minor cosmetic customisations.

The big new feature in Hatchi 2 is breeding, and once you’ve evolved from being a baby Hatchi, you can breed with the other Hatchis that you own or you can breed with friends’ Hatchis through Facebook. Unfortunately, the multiplayer breeding seems to only work with Facebook, not Game Center, so I’m sure that will exclude some from using it. I’m not sure how I’d feel about sending “breeding requests" to my personal friends and family, but since I have a gaming only Facebook account I don’t really have a problem with it.

I really enjoyed the original Hatchi, and I think this sequel seems like a step up in all regards. If you’re craving a new virtual pet for your iPhone, then check out Hatchi 2 for a buck, and let us know what you think about it in our forums.