Pawly Pets: My Pet Hotel

"Worst Job in the World"

Mrs. Scone is in a bit of a jam (haha). An important meeting has just come up and she'll need to leave her pet turtle behind in her absence from home. There are many more people out there in similar dire situations, so who are they going to call when the pets need a temporary home and lots and lots of TLC? You, that's who.

Visuals - 1
Sound & Music - 2
Gameplay - 1
Controls - C
Longevity - B
Replayability - C
Difficulty - Easy

Fun Factor - 0
VERDICT - 1.0

In My Pet Hotel your job is to ‘pet-sit' for all the adults who have more important things to do in their lives. They come to your residence, drop of their dog, cat, horse, rabbit, parrot or turtle, and then give you a few words of advice followed by a quick vamoose. Each animal has its own individual needs, from a strict diet of coleslaw to constant physical activity. The better you make the animal feel, the more money you'll earn when their caretaker finally returns. Feed them gourmet food and they'll fill up nicely, but neglect them and their vital statistics like hygiene and movement will hit rock bottom and not only will the owner be unhappy, but you won't get any cash back guaranteed.

The main aim is simple: to manage the best pet hotel this side of the world. However there are no defined goals to drive you forward making My Pet Hotel a simulator which is as easy to drop and stop playing as much as it is to pick up in the first place. It tries to be a low budget version of The Sims albeit with a focus purely on pet management, but there isn't enough going on to make it last as long. Owners come in and leave their pets in your care, you do your daily rounds to make sure that they are happy, you earn your dividends. Rinse and repeat ad infinitum.

We know that the DS hardware is capable of some respectable 2D graphics, but you wouldn't know it from here. My Pet Hotel features some of the tiniest figures in a videogame and it can be hard to make out what it is exactly you're looking at sometimes. The screenshots provided on the back of the box show some lovely CG renders, but these are limited to a few scenes when you feed or play with a pet, and they look quite grainy when in motion too. The production values here aren't of the same standard as the other games in the Petz range.

Do you dream of becoming a veterinary? This game may give you an insight into the lifestyle of one, but it's no simulation of the real thing. It is a relatively easy game to play, and the touch controls let you flick through all the many menus with ease. If you are thinking of getting only 1 Petz game, this may be one to pass on for now, but budding Sims enthusiasts may want to take a look nevertheless.

Pros:
- Touch-screen interface is accurate enough
Cons:
- No defined goals
- Tiny sprites, and yet it still all looks very blurry and washed out

1.0/10 - This is a promotional review.....

My Score System – a score of 7 from me denotes a good, solid game. Excellence earns a higher grade, whilst 4-6 reflects a below average product; glitchy, unplayable games deserve less.

18/04/07 - Adapted from my original work featured in NZ GameConsole magazine May '07

Reviewer's Score: 1/10, Originally Posted: 04/27/07