"A decent pet owning sim, with some good touch screen features."

Nintendogs is most probably one of the reasons the DS sold so well. So many girls got into Nintendogs, with their pink DS's, and soon got addicted, as if they were gamers all along. Whilst girl gamers are certainly rare, the DS seems to be a good platform for any one. First off, Nintendogs is a game where you must look after your dog, by feeding it, taking it walkies and entering competitions to earn cash from them. It's a basic premise, and the control system helps it be a bit more in-depth and better.

First off, there are three versions of this game, each titled after a different dog breed. Each version offers a different starting selection of dogs to use, although you can unlock every dog type through out each game. There are also items and such exclusive to each version, which have to be traded on Bark Mode (the multiplayer). Once you start the game, you must choose your first little puppy. Once you take it home, you have to name it, by speaking it's name into the speaker. The game then records your voice, and every time you say what you recorded, in a almost similar voice, your dog will come running to you! After that, it's time to teach it some tricks. You can only teach three tricks to a dog in one day, and they can only learn up to 15 tricks at once. After this, you might take it for a walk, feed it, clean it, maybe enter a competition, if you feel ready for it. Then you might play with it, then save and turn off. Now here is a problem. You find yourself doing that day after day after day.

OK, so let's talk about the games features more in-depth. First off, you can take your dog a walk. Once every half an hour. When you take your dog a walk, you plan the route around your town, when you take them for a walk, their walking distance gets greater, meaning you can go for longer walks. Around the town are ? symbols, meaning there might be a present there, or another dog for your dog to play with. The majority of stuff you will find will be from presents. Different amounts of Trainer Score (basically, looking after your dog well makes this go up, not looking after them makes it go down, the higher your trainer score, your more unlockable items, and breeds you get) will allow you to get the more better toys from walks, and more better accessories for your dog (like a Mario hat). You can also buy additional items at the shop, but there are barely any available at the start, and getting more trainer points doesn't really add much over time. The main thing you will save money for is to buy new room decorations. Basically, it they just change what your room looks like, but they are pretty high priced, so if you want one, you better get saving!

So what do you do at home with your dog? The first thing you might want to do is to feed your dog. When you get more trainer points, you can eventually buy more better, healthier food for your dogs. Fortunately, the items in the game are priced right. Just because it's a game, it doesn't mean the food costs £100 or something. It's pretty cheap, meaning you will constantly have high amounts of money. You can also play with your dog, there are many toys to play with, from Mario Karts, to Rockets, or you can even take them to the park for some frisbee action. You can also wash your dog, depending on their hair length (short or long), you use different shampoo, to maxinum effect. You then rub them all over with the stuff, then shower it off, all with the touch screen. Then you can brush them (again, with the appropriate brush, depending on their hair length) to bag more trainer points, and to make your dogs look better. Calling a certain dog will make them come over to you, and you can touch them, and no, not like what you're possibly thinking. You can stroke them, and moving the stylus in different directions will make them do different tricks (after a while, it's trick combinations). For example, sliding the stylus down will make them sit, or telling them to lie down, then jump, can possibly, make them do a back flip. Again, the trick system is pretty cool, and you need to make sure they're up to date on their tricks, you have to tell them to them every day for them to do them instantly. The trick competition is a tough one, and if they don't know their tricks, you're going to lose, and lose badly. Apart from all that, there isn't that much to do with your dogs at home, apart from use your toys with them.

The competitions are you main source of money. You can only enter three a day with one dog, but if you get eight dogs, train them all so you can win the agility contest (the highest level one) then do that, as many times as possible, you win £1000. That's a lot of money in the end of it all. The competitions are a frisbee one, where you throw a frisbee as far as you can, and your dog chases after it, the further it goes, the more points you get, provided your dog catches it. Next is agility, where you must get your dog to go through a variety of obstacles, tunnels, see-saws and the like. You can train them by stopping by when your out on a walk. Next is the Trick contest (I can't remember the proper name), where you get told what tricks to tell your dog to do, and the faster he does them, the more points you get. The contests are fun, but again, they get pretty boring after a while, like the rest of the game. There is kind of a lack of things to do, and after a couple of months of play, you may never look back.

PROS:

A high amount of breeds on offer.
Fun for the first couple of weeks.
Good touch screen and microphone use.
Good graphics.

CONS:

Annoying competition announcers.
Can get boring after a while.
Not that much to do.

THE RATINGS:
Graphics: 9.0/10
Audio: 8.0/10
Story: N/A
Game Play: 8.5/10
Life Span: 8.8/10
Difficulty: 5.0/10
Multiplayer: 7.0/10
Overall: 8.3/10

My Two Pence:

Overall, Nintendogs is a fun little game to pass the hours away. Almost every girl is going to love it too, the idea of owning their very own dog with out all the hassle should appeal to them, plus, with all the cute dogs, surely they can't resist? The game is fun at first, but it does drag on a bit, and gets boring after a lot of weeks, or the first couple of months at least. I doubt you will get 50,000 trainer points, instead, something around 25,000 before you stop playing. Either way, this is still a great DS game with good use of the touch screen and microphone, so if you're looking for a pet sim, this is the one to get!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 02/09/07