Top 10 Lists : The Top 10 Dogs In Videogames

This game was very fun, and I played the heck out of it when it first came out. I even found it at a pawn shop for like ten bucks later, and re-bought it, because I had such fond memories of playing it with my brother.

Basically, the story is that you are special forces, and are sent it to kill nazis and gestapo, gather intel, and hopefully put an end to this infernal war.

There is eventually a level you get to, where you are exploring some underground caverns. In these levels, the nazis use dogs, german shepards I believe, to sniff you out. They usually get you as you're coming up to a corner, bound up from out of nowhere, and munch on you. This can be annoying. My personal favorite way to dispatch them, is the trusty shotgun.

This game was ahead of it's time, and there were some great entries to come in the series later. Sadly, it has fallen off a bit lately though.

Sorry for the generic thumbnail. I couldn't find any pics of the dogs.

Wild Arms XF is a strategy game. Sadly, it didn't do very well, like the rest of this awesome series, and so they stopped making them.

The story centers around a girl named Clarissa, and her bodyguard Fenius. It starts out with you chasing your nemesis across the ocean to another kingdom, because he stole your dead mothers sword. When you get there, you end up entangled in the affairs of a kindgom in turmoil. The king is sick, and the throne is being usurped. They are protecting your mark, so why not take care of two birds with one stone.

As you progress in the story, you meet a girl on the run, and her trusty dog Tony. Tony is cool at first, because he fills out your party nicely, giving you more muscle when you need it. The main issue with Tony is that he doesn't have the move set of the other characters, he can't change class like everybody else, and he's pretty slow to get his turn. All these things coupled together makes you want to use other characters more, so he kind of falls by the wayside.

This game is very underrated. It is very good, and if you're looking to play a new strategy game, I highly suggest picking this up. You get all the elements of a normal strategy game, with a Wild Arms twist. Plus it's cheap...did I mention it's cheap?

This game was a bit different than what Squaresoft usually made. It says it's an RPG, but it really is kind of a survival horror game.

The game starts out in an opera house with a bunch of people watching a show. All of a sudden, people start bursting into flame. Before you know it, everybody is dead, except an actress in the opera, and a blonde woman in the audience. The lady on stage runs away, and the blonde lady, who you now find out is a cop named Aya Brea, goes after her in hot pursuit.

Later in the game, while exploring a police station, (day 3 or 4) you'll be sent to find a young boy named Ben who ran after a dog named Sheeva that ran off. You'll find the boy hugging the dog who is whimpering for some reason...you'll soon find out why. Shoving the boy to safety just in time, Aya and her friends see the dog mutate into a hulking three-headed monster nearly as big as the room, and it must die.

When fighting Sheeva, you must watch out for a lunging bite, a laser beam that covers the length of the room, and and earthquake-type move that is basically impossible to dodge, and easily takes off half your hit points with every hit. This fight can be tough, but there's no doubt that it looks freakin' cool.

This game was crazy and disturbing to say the least, and way out of Squaresoft's normal gaming zone. The combat system is a bit odd, (think Vagrant Story) but is fun, and you'll get used to it. The story turns out to be pretty good, and the music is hauntingly beautiful. It's definitely worth a playthrough, and the memorable battle with Sheeva, among others, nets it a spot on my list.

Thanks goes to Yo_D_oY for this entry. To my shame I forgot all about this, and I'd have looked pretty stupid leaving it off a list like this.

The story of this game is deep. Shoot the ducks. Yep, that's it. Shoot as many as you can and reap the rewards. Points. You can never have too many points.

Anyway, this dog is a menace. He's supposed to be man's best friend, but all he does is bring your self-esteem down. If you miss a duck, he laughs at you. Yep. No encouragement, no "you'll do better next time buddy, hang in there," nothing. He just points and laughs. This dog is so annoying you want to kill him so much. He's one of my earliest, most iconic video game memories, and for these reasons, he gets a spot.

This game is beloved by everybody, and Is quite possibly the best on the cube...though I bet Zelda fans will have something to say about that.

You start out in school of all places. You are Lloyd, and the teacher rudely interrupts your nap to ask you a question about the chosen one. You find out the chosen one is to meet the oracle soon, so she can go on a journey to regenerate the land. A few minutes later there is a bright flash. The teacher says that that is the sign to go meet the oracle, but she'll check it out first to make sure it's safe. Lloyd is told to stay put, but there wouldn't be a game if he did.

As you explore towns in the game, you may come across a dog. If Collette (the chosen one) is with you, and placed as the on screen character, she'll interact with it. She'll say how cute it is, and give it a name. If you find every dog in every town and name them all, Collette will gain a title. (Titles, when equipped in the status menu, will give you bonuses to certain stats at level up.)

Even though later entries improved upon graphics and combat, (by adding free run) this game has remained one of the favorites (if not best) in the series. From its good story and great characters, to its skits and great music, this game truly is a masterpiece. This unique game long side quest, and the fact that it's Collette doing it (I love her as a character) earns it a spot on my list.

Sorry for the generic thumbnail. There were no pics of this side quest in the screenshots section.

Mega Man is one of the most popular side-scrollers in history, and part two is probably the one you'll find on most lists. Greatest robots, greatest side-scrollers, greatest on a nintendo console, etc.

The story is simple: Dr. Wiley is back, he's turned some robots maverick and is trying to take over, so Mega Man is sent in to foil his plans. In this game, Mega Man needs help though, and that help comes in the form of Rush.

Rush was specifically created as a support unit, and that's exactly what he does. If you need to reach a high ledge, Rush has a spring on his back for you to jump on. If you need to go farther than you can jump, Rush turns into a platform you can use that moves (see thumbnail). Rush is just an all around helpful guy...er, dog...er, robot...argh, I'm confused.

In later games, he can turn into a motorcycle, drill, and more. Mega man 3 is a great game, Rush is a great sidekick, and is definitely deserving enough to be here.

Lets all give a round of applause to the umbrella corporation. They've given us many great products, are upstanding in the community, and are the single cause of the end of the world. *golf clap*

This game was simply swallowed up by gamers back in the day and is still going strong (though I stopped playing when it became a shooter).

This story surrounds a group of special forces soldiers dispatched to a creepy mansion. Inside they find...nothing...at first. As they explore deeper into the goings on, they uncover flesh eating zombies, creepy experiments, corruption, betrayal, and dogs.

These dogs aren't your run of the mill guard dogs either. They've been infected by a nasty little thing called the T-virus. (I'm here to talk about dogs, so I'll leave the virus explanation to the experts.)

As you explore the mansion, these things will jump out at you from nowhere making you jump out of your skin. If you're walking down an unoccupied hallway with windows, watch out; you're either getting birds or dogs.

When you fight them, they grab onto your leg and munch away. Shoot them quickly, or run away.

These dogs made the list because, when I think RE, they are the first thing to pop into my head even over the zombies. They're creepy and, if this was real life, I'd be more scared of them than anything else.

Dead to Rights is one of those Max Payne-ish games that goes into slow motion when you shoot sometimes. I wasn't a fan of that feature, but I guess this game is pretty good.

The story follows Jack Slate (noir cop name if I ever heard one) and his dog Shadow to a construction site one day, only to have him find his dad's dead. As he hunts the killer, he is eventually framed for murder by a corrupt cop. A few years later he busts out of prison, and so begins his journey of revenge and justice.

Shadow is Jacks partner. He's a husky I believe, looks very wolf-ish, and the markings on his face are pretty cool. He mainly attacks enemies and brings you back their guns but, on occasion, you can actually control him to solve puzzles. In later entries in the series, Shadow can go on stealth missions all by himself. I wouldn't want to be a criminal on his watch. He'll sneak up on you, give your arm a jerk just enough to get you low enough for him to tear out your windpipe. vicious.

If you've never played this, I suggest you give it a go. It's pretty fun and well worth a playthrough. Shadow is a stealth assassin, very intelligent, and there aren't many dogs in games cooler than him. For all that, he belongs right here on this list.

This game is a blast to play and, because of it, has high replay value. My one gripe about it is that it's too easy. This is my fourth list this series has been on out of five, so either I'm a fanboy, it's just that good, or both.

This game takes place over many Disney and original worlds. You travel to them with your buddies Donald and Goofy, by way of a gummi ship, looking for your friends, while killing heartless and nobodies (heart thieves and world destroyers and the empty shells left behind). One such world is the Olympus Coliseum and Hades.

While there and helping out Hercules and Meg, you'll run into Hades' cute and cuddly little pet by the name of Cerberus. Cerberus is a hulking three-headed dog much like Sheeva. He has three heads full of razor sharp teeth, sharp claws, and he loves to play with his food.

To subdue him, you need to be fleet of foot, quick with the keyblade, and use reaction commands. By pressing triangle at the right time, you can unleash a powerful series of actions, (as slightly seen in the thumbnail) that end up knocking him unconsious for a time so you can have your way with him.

Cerberus didn't just make it this high on the list for this series alone. He's been in books, mythology, movies, Final Fantasy 8, and many more. For all these reasons, he belongs right where he is.

This game was pretty good though, for me, kind of left something to be desired. In my opinion, the dog was this games saving grace

It starts out with you and your sister as homeless children living in a hovel in the back alley of a city...but with a great view of the castle. They are going around town doing odd jobs to buy a "magical" music box, that's supposed to grant any wish, from a traveling salesman. After they get it and make their wish, they are noticed by somebody and taken to the castle. As young kids are easily amused, they don't realize something is wrong until it's too late. Trapped on some sort of device, the recluse that lives there eventually kills our sister, and we barely escape with our lives. we are taken in and trained by a nice old lady. As we grow up, bent on revenge, the game begins for real.

During our galavanting as children, we meet a mutt living on the street as well and take him in. He sticks with us as we grow older, and soon becomes our only friend and family. He helps us in combat, find treasures, and even pick up girls. Now that's a wingman.

You can buy or find dog training, combat, and treasure hunting books, and use them on the dog. Treasure hunting books will increase his treasure hunting rank, allowing for detection of better and farther away treasures. The combat books allow it to do more damage to enemies, and training books teach him tricks to impress nobles, love interests, or demon doors.

He can dig, play fetch, dance, chase his tail, rip the throat out of a fallen enemy, and much more. He gets the number one slot on my list for being the best dog in gaming. He proves why dogs are man's (and woman's) best friend.

I am a massive dog lover and had a chihuahua named Chico myself. He was the best and smartest dog ever, (but everybody would say that about their dog) and thinking about him made this list a joy to write.

I didn't use Okami because it specifically says it's a wolf. Related to dog? yes. Actual dog? No.

I hope you all enjoyed it.

List by wheresatari (01/26/2012)

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