Nintendogs: Dachshund and Friends

"Who's a good puppy? Who's a good puppy? YOU ARE!!!! >_>"

Introduction:

Nintendogs is (obviously) Nintendo's much anticipated pet simulation. Very original title there, m i rite? Anyways, first off, let me just say that if you're disgusted by cute things, then you shouldn't even touch this game, because from the minute you turn it on, you're gonna be going "awwwwww" and "oojoojooboojoo!" This is actually one of my first games for the DS, so I don't have too many other DS standards to compare this game to, but it's still pretty amazing.

Story: N/A

What story? It's a pet simulation. You start off with $1000.00 and you go to the kennel, where you browse for a puppy. Once you choose your puppy, you move into your house and start your new life with your dog. That's about it! Not like there's an evil K-9 Warlord trying to take over the town or something >_>...

Graphics and Sound: 9/10

The graphics here are pretty amazing. The dogs look very realistic; they move realisticaly, they react to various stimuli realistically, they sound realistic, and I'm pretty pleased with the realism (as you can tell). Although, I've never had a dog myself, I'm pretty sure this is as close to real as you can get through a pet sim. For example, you can find/buy items, and there's a separate category for records, and in one of them (the Surprise Symphony by Haydn or something), the dog freaks out when the song hits a rather loud "surprise" chord. Pretty funny stuff. This game is excessively cute, which isn't a bad thing. The various dog breeds look very much like their real-life counterparts, and they come in various colors, each with their own personalities, etc.

Gameplay: 10/10

This game excell\s in gameplay, as most good DS games seem to be doing lately. The biggest thing here is that the game utilizes the DS' much overlooked mic hole. You know that little hole to the bottom left of the screen that says mic? In case you didn't know, that thing picks up sound and stuff. You can teach your dog various tricks and assign whatever voice command you want to it. I mean, the dogs even learn their names, so if you call their names out, the dog looks at you and walks over. The dogs don't die, and neither do they grow. They're your perpetual puppy pals (lawl @ alliteration). You can pet the dog with the stylus and the touch screen, as well as many other things. The main source of income are the dog competitions, which are the disc competition, agility competition, and obedience competition. You can also sell items you find on walks if you don't want them. Speaking of walks, you take your dog on walks around town, and the more you walk it, the farther you go. You find random items and other pups on walks too. Good stuff. I believe you can have up to 7 pups with you at one time (3 with you, 5 in the puppy hotel). You can unlock new breeds with the trainer points you accumulate as you go along. And although they never die, you are entitled to feeding them, or else they may start to search the house for scraps of food and even run away. There's also a wireless multiplayer factor, where you can have your puppy play with someone else's puppy with 300 feet. I personally haven't had the chance to try this out, but apparently you can give items to each other, play with each other, and all sorts of stuff. Sounds good!

Replay: 9/10

This game has a pretty high replay factor. I mean, it doesn't really end. Although I can see myself eventually tiring of this game, it shouldn't happen anytime soon. The dogs have different personalities, so dealing with each one is a different experience. Even if you teach your dogs all the tricks, collect all the items, win all the competitions, and do pretty much everything, they're still cute little puppies just waiting for you to come and play with them. How can you turn that down?

RENT OR BUY?

If you're a dog fan, then you should definitely buy this game. If you're even thinking about buying this game, then you probably should. The only people I think aren't right for this game are people who really hate cutesy stuff, and possibly those kids who are just hitting puberty...you don't wanna teach your dog it's name while you've still got a high pitched voice, then end up having it not respond to you anymore, eh? I highly recommend this game, so you should stop reading these reviews, get up, go to the store, and pick up a copy right now. There are three versions of the game, but the only differences are the STARTER breeds, and a couple game-specific items and house types. It's possible to unlock every breed EVENTUALLY, so don't worry about that.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 08/30/05