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Nintendogs - EdenMaster - 8th November 2005
Nintendogs
Who can resist a cute little puppy running around, yipping, and chasing it's tail? Nobody, that's who. Not everyone can have that puppy experience though, be it for allergies, living space, or otherwise. They can be destructive and expensive. Furthermore, a large percentage of puppies have the annoying tendency to grow up and, eventually, die. Well, leave it to Nintendo to remove all the negative aspects of dog ownership and leave you with a perfect, albeit imaginary, puppy. This is Nintendogs!
GAMEPLAY
Calling Nintendogs a "game" in the conventional sense is a bit of a stretch. Nintendogs has no goals, no missions, not much of anything that typically makes a game what it is. Simulation would be a more apt description, and at that, it is an amazing sim. For simplicity's sake, I'm going to continue referring to it as a game, though. There are three different versions of the game, each with six dogs, which adds up to (pay attention, math scholars) 18 total breeds. Though each version has only six dogs, any version can unlock all 18 breeds through different means, which I'll discuss later.
You start your journey into dog ownership by taking a trip to the kennel and picking out your very first dog. You'll be stuck with him or her for a while while scraping together enough dough for more dogs, though this will ensure that you will indeed bond with your little furball. Odd as it sounds, it's easy to find yourself talking in a funny voice while rubbing your dogs stomach with the stylus or otherwise treating them like you would a real dog. Once you adopt your dog, then you need to name it. Nintendogs makes great use of the DS microphone, as you call your dog's name and teach it tricks with your voice. Though they don't always like to listen (the realism continues!), the dogs usually respond quite well, except to commands that sound similar (I had trouble with them mixing up "Sit" and "Shake"). Once you start bringing in some money, you'll hardly be able to keep yourself from buying just as many dogs as the game allows, and I should know. Although I started with my Golden Retriever Penny (still my pride and joy), it wasn't long at all before my canine family ballooned to include Otis, Rascal, Geno, Fortune, Rudy, Flare, and Vincent. I'm giving you their names because I'll be mentioning them as examples through the rest of the review. Your peppy little pooch will provide endless entertainment for you as you watch him romp through your living room. You can take him for walks around the neighborhood to shop for supplies, play in the park, talk to other (NPC) dog owners, relieve himself/herself, and maybe even some presents for your puppy to find. I your puppy getting fleas? Then you can use the stylus in the shower to scrub them up with shampoo, and them rinse them off to make their coats shine. MAke sure to brush them afterwards to keep that sheen going long after the shower is done.
Soon, though, money will run low, and it's time to get some more. The answer: dog shows and competitions! There are three championships, all with five levels of difficulty, ranging from Beginner to Championship. If your dog finishes in the top three, he moves up a level, otherwise, he moves down. Except for the incredibly dumb (and, regrettably, unskippable) pre- and post-tournament banter from the two mentally challenged announcers, the tournaments are a fun experience that your dogs can enter up to three times per day. The three tournaments include Disc, Agility, and Obedience. Disc Competitions give you 60 seconds to throw a Frisbee, have your dog catch it, and bring it back as many times as possible. The farther you throw it, the more points you get, and you get bonus points for jumping catches. Agility Competitions require good teamwork between dog and trainer (you). Though they get progressively more difficult, the Agility trials simply consist of combinations of 4 different obstacles (Tunnel, Jump Bar, See-Saw, and Slalom) that your dog must clear as quickly as possible. Incorrectly clearing obstacles cause point deductions, and the higher up you get, the less margin for error is given. Finally, Obedience Trials test how well your dog performs the tricks it has learned. It includes two rounds of performing specific tricks, two rounds where the must hold a poistion for a set amount of time, and finally a round of free performance, where you can freely show off the best stuff your mutt can do. These can be tricky, as some dogs will simply refuse to listen when the spotlight is on.
Also, some dogs, no matter how much you train them, will simply not do well in some tournaments. My Pug Otis is a fantastic Frisbee catcher, able to jump and catch no matter how far or fast I throw almost every time, and brings it back to me with equal haste. Rascal and Fortune do okay in Frisbee, though they do not run as fast, and have a tendency to hesitate a moment before returning the frisbee to me. I've trained Rascal in the park extensively, though he never seems to improve. Otis picked it up in a snap. My Yorkie Rudy can clear Agility trials with amazing speed (and he's so tiny!) and, for the most part, fairly accurately. Geno and Vincent seem to walk more liesurely through the course, and seem scared of the see-saws when they drop. My Golden Retriever Penny and German Shepherd Flare both do very well in Obedience trials, though they too have their days when they just...won't...LISTEN!! Such little quirks exist in every dog, and no two are quite alike. For every little thing you do for your dogs, but mostly for competitions, you get "Trainer Points". Every time you get 2000 points, you unlock a new breed of dog, and for every 6000 points, you unlock a new interior design for your house.
GRAPHICS
I still, months later, find myself amazed at how the dogs look and move. Though the game gives them no actual fur, the textures used on their bodies give the impression all the same. The way they move, react, play, everything they do is amazingly lifelike. I own a Beagle in real life, and the Beagle in Nintendogs looks just like my dog did when he was a puppy. Facial structure, ears, tail, legs, torso, and even the coloring of their fur is spot-on perfect. The developers must have spent a lot of time with these dog breeds to get them just right. The houses you reside in are not terribly fancy (although the pricey Beachside Resort my dogs lavish in is quite awesome), consisting usually of a single empty room with decorations and furniture around the walls. Who plays this game for the background though? I sure didn't. Walking around the neighborhood is also not necessarily noteworthy, but again, that's not the focus of the game.
Dogs also have lots of accessory choices that they can wear. A wide variety of collars, flowers, hats, glasses, and tons of other cheesy items abound in this game. Fortune wears a rose behind her ear, while Penny looks cool in her Platinum-studded collar. Vincent wears a camouflage collar, but Rudy keeps it simple with a traditional orange leather collar.
SOUND
There isn't much in the way of sounds to talk about. There isn't much music to speak of, and what is there isn't exactly mind-blowing, but not bad either. Every dog breed has a distinctive bark, and different toys can make different sounds and squeaks, but other than that, there isn't much really to hear from the game.
MULTIPLAYER
Well, multiplayer is kind of a misnomer. Wireless connectivity is more like it. Nintendogs features a Wifi mode called Bark Mode. If you have your DS in Bark Mode, and come within range of another DS in Bark Mode, your dogs will "meet" in each others DS. They'll play for a while, leave, and when you get home, you'll unlock the breed of dog you met, if you haven't already. You'll also get any items the other person may have opted to give to their wireless partner when you get home.
REPLAYABILITY
I guarantee that for the first couple of months or so you have your new friends, you won't be able to resist checking in on them every chance you get. Even if it's only for ten minutes to feed them and walk one or two, you'll be compelled. After that, you may not check in on them as often, but they never grow up and never die, so they'll always be ready to play with you no matter how long you leave them alone.
All in all, Nitendogs is a fantastic game that anyone can relate to and enjoy. From kids to adults, girls and boys, men and women, and even dogs themselves (my Beagle still occasionally perks his ears up whenever he hears one of my digital dogs bark), there is something for everyone to enjoy with Nintendogs. At the very least, you must give credit to Nintendo for taking such an unusual game idea and turning it into something amazing. Pure Nintendo. I rate Nintendogs a 9.0 and highly recommend it to anyone with a DS. Even if you think you won't like it, trust me, you will...