Nintendogs: Dachshund and Friends

"Good game at first, but..."

Rundown

The idea of the game is that you get to pick form an assortment of different breeds of dogs, train them, walk them, play with them, bathe them, and take them to compete in three different dog competitions. The first choice is a Frisbee disk competition. The objective is to have your dog score the most points by catching the Frisbee. The way you train your dog is by taking them for walks and training them at the park. The next competition is the Agility competition. In order to do well at the Agility competitions it is best to train your dog at the training gym. The final competition is the Obedience competition. The idea is to train your dog to do tricks. In the beginning you have to train your dog the basics, like “sit” or “lie down”, ect…, later in the game you can teach him/her more complex tricks, like “stand”, or even a couple of dancing tricks.

Money

You start the game with 1,000.00. With this money you buy your dog and all the supplies needed to care for him/her. Now, you may think “How do you make money?” Well the way you make money is by competing in the said competitions. In the starter competitions you make some money. As you work your way up the ranks you will earn more and more money. The amount of money you make depends on the place you take in the competition. Naturally if you place last, you earn the least amount of money, and on the same token, if you place first you will earn the most amount of money.

Game

The game is like having a virtual dog. The game is real time. If you leave the dog for 48 hours the dog will be upset at you, will be hungry/thirsty, and may even abandon you. Seeing as how Nintendo made this game, and made the DS, it makes great use of the touch screen. You use the screen to walk, play, pet and helps train your dog. They also make use of the microphone. You teach you dog their name, the name of the tricks you teach him/her and to get their attention. The graphics are what you expect from a DS game. The dogs look almost real. The sounds are what you would hear in the suburbs. You hear some cars passing, other dogs barking, birds chirping, and you hear all the sounds a real dog would make. On a technical stand point this is a great game.

My Thoughts

Okay, now that you have read the general idea of the game and some other things, it is time for my thoughts. Like I said the game is great on a technical point of view, but to people who don't care about that won't get anything form the first part of this review. For me the game started out great. I finally got to own the dog that I love, a Husky. It was an awesome feeling. I couldn't put the game down. I trained him, walked him, fed him and bathed him every chance I could. I felt great bathing a dog that wouldn't have a heart attack at the word “bath”. I did great in all the competitions I entered. After I did all this, I felt like I was getting a little bored with the game. I'm thinking “Maybe the game will become more fun if I get another dog.” I eventually earned enough money to buy another dog. I go through the basics of teaching him his name and training him. It made things better for a short time, and then it got boring again. Now, I find myself only playing the game to unlock some of the harder things to unlock. I still have my two dogs and I just don't feel the same connection I did when I first got this game. I feel the game has little to no plot, and get really boring really fast. Eventually I got annoyed with the constant barking and the repeating music and turned the volume off, which is something I rarely do. Yes, at first, it sounds real, but like all things too much of a good thing can be bad.

Final

Like I said, this is a great game, but some may get tired of the lack of things to do. The graphics are great for a handheld, and the game is like your own dog that can do anywhere with you at any time. I feel that if you already own a dog, then you don't really need to get this game. On the other side, this is a great game for you if you have allergies, or can't get a dog. This game has very little difference than a real dog. The only difference is that you can turn the dogs off when you get tiered of hearing them. The game is good for any age.

Graphics: 9
Plot: 1
Replay: 3
Control: 9
Sound: 6
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Total: 5.8~6

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 09/06/05