Nintendogs Review - DS

8

Gameplay: 7
Graphics: 9
Audio: 6
Multiplayer: 8
Innovation: 10

Lets get a few things straight here. Ever since i saw this game demonstrated many moons ago it has fascinated me. Many people see Nintendogs as an overblown tamagotchi for Nintendo DS but in many ways this could be not further from the truth. If there was any doubt that Miyamoto deserves his place in the Hall of Fame and is a genuis, there is none now. Nintendogs IS one of the most mainstream titles ever, and Nintendogs IS one of the most innovative games I have ever played.

Gameplay

For those who have missed the craze sweeping the world, Nintendogs lets you take home a little puppy (or three) on your DS. Sounds tamagotchi doesn't it, but it's how the dog interacts with you that makes this an almost suitable replacement for a real dog. Until you can feel affection and be licked by a DS, nothing will beat a real dog however this comes closer then the AIBO thats for sure. The process of getting a dog couldn't be easier. When you first load the game, you visit the Doggy Hotel and buy a dog. Each cartridge has different dogs (although eventually all are unlocked), so that's really the only difference between the three. Nintendo has avoided going down the 'gotta catch em all' path.

Once you get the dog home it's time to start playing with it and more importantly teaching it tricks and things to do. You have to look after the dog as well. If you don't feed it for three or four real days, it will be very angry when you switch the DS on as well as famished and dehydrated. To fix this you buy food and water as well as give them a bath. Once they are all cleaned up and fed they will once again be your best friend, memory of a goldfish. Should you leave them a very long time without playing with them they will run away, but enough calling will bring them back home. The game is trying to teach you a lesson when this happens.

One of the coolest parts of this game is training the dog. How you train and interact with the dog completely changes it's personality and how it reacts to various things. To train the dog is quite simple, you get it to do an action then assign a voice action to that. After a few times of saying the command, the dog will remember it and you can show your friends how cool this game really can be. There is many tricks to unlock and find with each dog, some harder then others but within a few hours you will have your dog sitting, sneezing, laying down and various others. It is important to reward the dog after it does the right thing otherwise it won't know whether it is behaving or not.

The other main section of the game is the competitions and tournaments. These range from catch with a frisbee through to obedience training and (continued next page)