"There's only one thing that holds this back from being one of the best games ever."

Recently, the Nintendogs series has been getting tons and tons of hype, ever since it's been a craze in Japan. In the game, you raise up to 8 virtual puppies, whom you feed, play, walk, and enter them in competitions. Now to the review.

Sound: 10/10

This is probably the best feature in Nintendogs. It has one of the most unique uses for a microphone in gaming history. You can record things on a record, call your puppy's name, talk to your puppy, teach your puppy voice-activated tricks, blow up a balloon, whistle for your dog, among other things. I cannot stress enough how amazing this is.

Graphics: 9/10

The graphics are really good for a DS game. But that's not what I gave it a 9/10 for. It's for the work they put into it. You can see the fleas jumping off of the dogs, if they get fleas, the soap turns black when you wash them if they're really dirty. It's the intricate things that make most of the score for this. It's no PSP game, of course, but it's still very nice.

Story: 0/10

There isn't a story, you walk your dog, you get items, you play with the dog. That's it.

Gameplay: 10/10

Wow. Where do I start? Okay. First of all, you take your dog on walks, where you can find presents, which can span from a couple of cents worth, to hundreds of dollars. There are so many items and accessories, it will make your head explode. They're all fun to see how your dog reacts to them, too. You can also play and pet your dog. Each dog will have its share of favorite toys, and toys they're scared of. This adds even more uniqueness to the game. You can also pet them with the stylus. This works as praise. There are also the essentials, walking, bathing, and feeding. These are all equally fun, even though they're not in real life. (You should know if you have a real dog of your own.) There's also, what I think is the most fun part. Training and competing with your pets. There are 3 different competitions. Disc, agility, and obedience. Disc is a basic game of frisbee fetch with your dog, but trying to get him to catch it as far as he can to rack up points and hopefully win. Agility is an obstacle course that you have to do in a small amount of time, without getting a fault. Third is my favorite, obedience. You can teach your dogs all kinds of tricks, and then compete in competitions with them. You're given what tricks to perform, and if you do them right, you get a higher score. This is sometimes frustrating, as if you're not doing it perfectly, it will either not do it, or interpret it as another trick.

But now, what brings it down..

Replay value: 3/10

This games gets old. Fast. If you don't play it for a couple minutes a day, it will expire easily on you. Do not try to rush through the game and try to get all the items and buy as many puppies as you can. I did this, and it ruined the game for me, now I only play when I'm really bored, or when I have to feed them.

The Good and the Bad:

+Amazing microphone innovations
+Tons of items
+Intricacy in the graphics
+Unbelievably cute.
+Contests
--------Replay value is very low.

Rent? Buy? Skip?

Buy it, but be careful to not spoil it for you.

Overall, this is really good for the casual gamer, who can pull out the DS for 10 minutes or so, when they're waiting for the bus and such. It's a very good game, but very hard not to spoil. It's innovative, fun, and cute.

8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/13/05