Nintendogs (DS) Review

Nintendos: Daschund and Friends was used to produce this review. All games are identical, however.

The non-game. Whoever heard of such a thing? How can a videogame be a non-game? Seriously, what happens when you make a game revolved around commitment rather than skill that defies what is generic? Nintendo has done it before with its master creation Animal Crossing and now hopes that youll be hypnotized by puppy love on your DS. Using every single one of the DSs unique functions is Nintendogs a great, or a gimmick? Youll like the answer.

Gameplay
Ill say it now. Nintendogs is a game, which you will either love to pieces or hate with a passion. The gameplay is structured in a similar fashion to caring for a real dog. You cant really spend hours together, but can have fun in frequent intervals. The controls are simple and easy for anyone to learn. You can basically stroke, pat or move your puppy through the manipulation of the DS stylus. You also use it to play with your dog by throwing Frisbees, tennis balls or a squeaky rubber mushroom. The stylus is used to direct your pup in the agility trail competition as well as hold the leash when you go for a walk. All controls are simple and self-explanatory. The next element of the gameplay is teaching your dog commands. Whenever you can get your dog to do a new trick, by itself or by manipulating it with the stylus, a light bulb will appear in the corner of the touch screen. When you touch it you can assign whatever voice command you like to that trick. Repeat the process enough and the dog will learn the trick. The dogs name is taught to it in the same fashion.
Apart from walking and playing with your dog there are competitions you can enter. Obedience where our dog performs tricks, Disk throwing where the goal is rather obviously to get the most points from throwing and catching the disk, and finally the agility trial where your dog must clear obstacles such as tunnels see-saws and jumps. To begin with your dog will be rather bad at these activities. However, by giving them frequent training they become better over time. The more walks you go on the farther your dog can walk. The more times you practice agility the less coaxing your pup will need to clear an obstacle. Nintendogs replicates almost perfectly the aspect of time it takes to train a dog. The dame goes for feeding. Your dog needs food and water regularly to remain content with you. The gameplay as a whole replicates Nintendos standpoint of a simple game that can simply be enjoyed.

Graphics
Apart from looking at the dogs I doubt youll really care about the graphics, but the dogs are animated very well. They actually do look fairly realistic for a handheld game. However when you go to competitions the pixelated crowd is, in short rather obvious, not that youll care. Also, the constantly morphing backgrounds as you take your dog for a walk is a little strange. It looks nice enough but its not there to shock you either. The graphics do their job in the game, and dont draw any focus away from your treasured pet.

Sound
Sound is relatively absent from the game, apart from the barking of dogs and the theme music when you enter a competition or go for a walk. Music is generally absent from the game, although you can collect and play records to add a musical atmosphere to your dog home, which can actually affect the dogs. Naptime music makes them go to sleep and fast paced music gets them psyched up. Like the graphics there is nothing spectacular, yet it serves its purpose in the game all the same.