Nintendogs: Dachshund and Friends

"A light-hearted game suitable for all ages and gamer types."

Nintendogs: Dachshund and Friends is one of three games bearing the Nintendog label. Although more popular than the Labrador and Chihuahua versions, all three versions only differ in the starting dog breeds and certain items. The differences are not drastic at all and don't require trading unless you just HAVE to have that Peach Kart. This review can apply to all three versions of the game.

Upon first entering the Nintendogs universe, you arrive at the kennel and choose a god. Depending on your version of the game, the 6 available breeds to choose from will differ. After picking your dog, you arrive at your home where you must use the DS's microphone to name your dog. Depending on the clarity of your voice, the name recognition process may be long and annoying, as long as you don't freak out the first time you speak into the microphone. If you mess up, you might as well reset the game, because I don't think it is possible to "re-name" your dog.

After the naming process, the game guides you through teaching your dog to sit on command. After this, you are free to play with your dog how you want. The game lets you play with your dog(s), take them on walks every thirty minutes, shop, enter competitions, and the works. As you train your dogs, they will get better at competitions. You can teach your dog tricks for the Obedience Trial at home, or go to the park or gymnasium on a walk to train for the Discus and Agility trials. Your dog can only learn 3 tricks every day and take a walk every thirty minutes. This encourages you to "give your puppy a break", a euphemism for limiting the amount of time you play the game. This game is not suited for long, drawn-out sessions, but designed for short bursts of play. Thirty minutes to an a hour is probably a target length for each session of play. Hardcore gamers will need to adjust (or just switch games every once in a while), and the casual or busy gamer will find this a blessing.

Your dog will stay a puppy forever, and will never die. If you mistreat or ignore your dog, it will run away, but will eventually come back, so it's okay to go on vacation. Dog lovers will find this game easy but relaxing as there is little to no stress involved with this game. The light atmosphere adds to the game's cuteness, implying that this game isn't a hardcore objective-based game that you will spend hours at a time on, and it's probably for the better.

The dogs look very realistic for the DS's slightly subpar graphics capabilities, and I mean really realistic. The dogs look correct, behave correctly, and respond to your actions correctly. The dogs interact with each other and the animations are realistic and definitely dog-like. The game combines both light tones and very realistic graphics to emulate the real-life stress relieving experience of owning a dog, eliminating the annoying aspects such as death, age and illness. All in all, this game is a great choice when you're taking a break from Counter-Strike or on lunch break. Take this game in small doses and it will likely remain in your DS library for some time.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/23/05