Nintendogs – Review

For those of you out of the loop, Nintendogs is Nintendo taking the virtual pet ball, and running with it in true Ninty style. Users can choose from initially five dogs with ultimately sixteen available including a hidden breed. The game is available in three versions “Chihuahua and Friends”, “Dachshund and Friends”, and “Shiba and Friends” – I’ve been playing the Dachshund and Shiba versions and although at first only a selection are available the rest are unlocked over time and all versions contain the same breeds.

Gameplay
Your first choice will be which dog to buy, choosing your breed, then selecting either male or female and then picking one with the personality which best suits the pet you’re looking for (there are around a dozen personality traits in all). I chose to begin with a female; friendly; English Sheepdog. Your first job is to name your dog, at the time, not realising that mine was a female I christened her “Buckley” so now you’ve got to teach your pint size pup its first trick: “sit”, this is done by using the stylus to order the dog to sit and then recording your voice giving the direction, repeat this process an almost, but not quite, frustrating number of times, followed by a reward and the real game begins.

The basic aim in Nintendogs is to teach your cuddly canine as many tricks as you can whilst keeping them as happy as Larry by feeding, walking and playing with them as often as you can afford. Lets talk about cash, you have limited resources in Nintendogs, just like in the real world and by training your dog well, you will be able to enter competitions in Frisbee throwing, obedience and general all round good-dogginess. This cash is needed as you earn more rewards and buy more toys for your miniature mutt, as well as being necessary to buy food and bottled water (oh for the life of a dog); and for doing up your pad into a luxury villa and a regular puppy paradise.

At times the voice commands can be irritating; when your dog refuses to understand your dulcet tones for the umpteenth time you may feel like smashing your DS into the wall, however when you shout “PAW” for that last time and she offers you her little hand and cocks her head to the side it all seems worth it.

Graphics
Nintendogs looks great, the dogs are all well animated and have their own cute eccentricities as they roll around the floor and bounce around chasing a Ninty mushroom. At times it can appear a little grainy and rough around the edges, but that’s to be expected of the DS, especially in a detailed title such as this.

Sound
Sound is pretty inconsequential, since it’s really only barks and yelps you’ll be hearing anyway, there is music but it’s all quite samey and really just fades away. There is little or no speaking, save your own so it’s well suited to those with hearing difficulties and what sounds it does make are really quite unimportant

Female Gamer Angle
The truth is it would be easy to be patronizing here and say that because Nintendogs is a cute cyber-pet game that female gamers will swoon over it and make high pitch noises as they tap away with their selected dinky dog. But unfortunately that isn’t the case since I’m not a female gamer and I did exactly the same. This game really does have universal appeal, save for those without hearts anybody I’ve shown it to, no matter how skeptical has been swayed by it’s cutesy charm and depth of play. One to add to the purchase list.

Review by Pete