"Bow WOW Blues"

Whoever said “A dog is a man's best friend” must not have met some of the canines my family has owned over the past couple of years. Sure, we have had our sunny spots, true dogs that would sit by your side and give you a lick once and awhile. But then again we had more than our fair share of ferocious mongrels that would either pee on the carpets out of spite or bite our fingers off. One even had the tenacity to knock me down and drag me around for a bit. That day I made first contact with a sprained shoulder.

So that leaves me with a question. Are dogs really worth it? To some they are, and I give their owners credit for the unyielding love that they give to their dogs. To some they aren't, though, and that leaves the kids in a bit of a predicament. What's a life without man's best friend? Over the years, companies have tried to capitalize on that question, putting products out on the market to try to make a quick buck off the poor children. Some have succeeded as half-decent pet sims, but few have achieved the quality necessary to rank with games of other genres. Fast-forward a couple of years, and here we are with Nintendo once again taking a crack at innovative fame with Nintendogs.

In Nintendogs the player is given the opportunity to pick a pup and raise it to the dog of their dreams. Along the way, you'll be given the opportunity to do a multitude of things, but with a twist. Unlike other pet sims that make you flick around your control pad or press a certain button to teach the dog a trick, Nintendogs uses the brilliant innovation that only the DS could provide by way of the touch screen. Bowwow style. Using the stylus, the player has the opportunity to do every task that you'd see a normal pet owner do with their dog. You could almost say it's a virtual hand. Want to pet your pooch? Do a slow swipe with the stylus across its back. Want to teach your dog a trick? Say the trick's name through the mic on the DS and direct your dog through the motion.

Things like that only cover a bit of what the game offers, and you'd be surprised to see the sheer variety of what else you can do. After getting accustomed to your virtual pup, the title gives you the ability to do several things, most prominently teaching your dog tricks and allowing them to compete in contests. In contests, the player has the opportunity to let their dog compete in several challenges. How well you do depends on how well you've trained your dog. Challenges vary by what you enter, such as an appeal or a stamina based event. If you win, you'll come away with a bit of cash and the ability to brag your head off.

Contests and trick mastery can only last so long, though, and Nintendogs makes sure to keep the doggy dream alive with an assortment of other tasks. Just like in real life, your dog probably won't want to be cooped up in a house all day. They want to roam free, pee on a couple of fire hydrants, possibly chase the local post guy who's obviously overweight. Through taking walks with your dog, you can accomplish that (well, something similar, I added that post man fat guy part). At first you won't be able to make it far – your puppy is still young – but as it grows up a matures you'll be able to explore the lay of the land, possibly finding a couple of accessories to trick out your dog with.

Although it isn't as big of a feature as it could have been, the game still allows the player to play with or to customize his or her dog with a ton of accessories. Some of them are simple, such as a pair of glasses or a lucky collar, but others, such as a chew toy or frisbee, allow you to interact with your dog on a new level. You can find some of these toys while you're taking the aforementioned walks, but the bulk of them will come from the game's shops. If you want to buy them, you'll have to compete in the game's contests. Nice revolving circle, eh?

To complete the real dog set-up that was used in the game, Nintendo managed to do one heck of a job in the graphics and music, with the following scene truly illustrating it. Sitting in the bottom screen is your puppy, all alive and exuberant. The glistening hair on its back is clearly visible, waving around almost as if a breeze is in the air. The house you're sitting in is colorful, the chairs each have a visible hue to them. Your puppy runs around, spinning on it all in full color vibrancy. To top it all off, the scene is completed by a smooth pixilated frame. Sitting in the background is a calm musical tempo, almost as if it is there to compliment the scene. Your puppy suddenly lets out a yelp, telling you to go in a certain direction. The game lets out a whimsical tune, allowing you to take the moment in. Scenes like that in the graphics and music really do exist, and Nintendo did a fabulous job of incorporating a wonderfully colorful, nice tempo theme.

So it all comes down to this: if you're a pet fan, then you'll love Nintendogs. The game makes gigantic strides to appease even the most die-hard of pet fans, and the realism present is matched by very few, if any other games at all on the market. If you're not a pet fan, then you probably will become bored thanks to the game's lack of serious replay value (sure, you can take multiple breeds, but let's face it, if you're not really into pets, then you'll probably keel on the sheer lack of things to do as time goes by). For everyone else, get ready to get those bow-wow blues on.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/24/07