Nintendo DS NintendoSpin.com / Reviews / Dogz

Posted on December 16th, 2006 - 5834 Reads

Rated Everyone Dogz Nintendo DS Review Bronze Award

-- Written by Saul Santiago



 A game where you go to the pet shop, pick out a dog, take him home, and teach him tricks---does it sound familiar? Well, if the premise seems similar, the execution certainly isn't. Ubisoft's Dogz, a pet simulation game for the Nintendo DS, covers all the bases and provides a new take on raising a puppy and teaching it tricks. But how is it different from the already popular Nintendogs, and is it worth checking out for folks who already played through Nintendogs?

Dogz certainly looks different, with 2d animated characters and an isometric viewpoint, you don't just stare at the action from the first person perspective, you become a character in the game as you interact with your puppy. The animations are a bit stiff and the simplistic house where most of the action takes place could use some more detail, or at least some more rooms. Still, Dogz clearly has its own style and the third person perspective in isometric 2d does differentiate the title from Nintendo's entry. The game is abundantly cute, by design, and the 2d dogs are undeniably adorable, making interacting with them a rewarding experience.

You start off the game as a young boy or girl who's about to get a puppy. After playing around with the puppies at the pet shop, you select one of 18 available breeds and take it back to your house. The house serves as the activity hub in the game. Here, you can go to the kitchen to get the dog's food, go to the toy bin to find items that let you have some fun with the dog, etc. There is a room that allows you to log on to a computer that gives information about taking care of the puppy, training, etc. This serves as a tutorial of sorts, though your parents in the game give you plenty of tips on how to raise and train the dog. The dog also gives you some visual and audio cues about whether it's hungry, thirsty, tired, etc. Overall, the setup is very intuitive and allows you to jump right in and have fun. The toy bin already contains toys like little remote-control cars you can drive around with the dpad to have the dog chase. The kitchen is already stocked with dog food, and about five minutes after bringing the puppy home, you're already getting instructions on how to use the microphone to allow it to recognize your voice.

Moving around in the Dogz universe is also pretty intuitive. You simply touch the lower screen in the direction where you want your character to go. You can always call your dog over (once you train it) or sometimes it will follow you around. Tapping your dog brings up a menu where you can practice tricks such as sitting, giving you his paw, shaking his tail, etc. Tapping your character near an item of interest (such as the toy chest) will open the menu for that item. There is also a dog-house menu on the upper part of the lower screen at all times that brings up a menu screen that tells you things like the dog's current health and training levels in whatever tricks you are teaching it. It's actually reminiscent of the status screen of a role playing game, though with less items. The upper screen displays the time of day and numbers of days you've played in the game world and a picture of the house or environment you're in. Not much.

The most impressive part of the Dogz package, and what really pushes it beyond being a mere derivative, is the sheer amount of things to do. There is a lot of variety and new things are always happening. Your game parents give you rewards for training your dog. Sometimes, these are items to decorate your room, sometimes these are toys to interact with your dog. Like Nintendogs, there are also competitions such as obedience training and racing. These give the game more of that RPG "vibe" where you "level up" your puppy and compete for trophies and other prizes. The environments outside of your house are also very interesting and RPG-like. You travel to a mall, the butcher shop etc. to run errands for your parents, talk to other dog owners, and even receive one of two minigames to play, such as matching pictures with the stylus. Even when it comes to the dog, there are added responsibilities. You have to clean up after your dog, keep its bed clean, and teach it to obey you when you tell it it's time to go to sleep. Multiplayer consists of trading items or playing the minigames with someone, so it's quite limited.

It's clear that the developers wanted to make sure that they took all of the activities of Nintendogs, then made sure to add in a bunch of additional ones, so that there are many more things to do in Dogz. One of Nintendogs main problems, its relatively short experience, is definitely remedied by the additional content in Dogz. Unfortunately, the unique feeling of almost physically interacting with the beautifully rendered Nintendogs is lost with the third person perspective. Still, teaching your dog tricks, teaching it to recognize your voice, walking it around, and experimenting with all the different activities is still very engaging. Ubisoft has definitely created an experience that is similar and at the same time unique to the dog training genre. Dogz will seem both familiar and new, and the ease of jumping right in and playing with your dog makes it easily accessible for the younger gamers. Dogz is surprisingly robust, and fans of the genre should definitely give this puppy a chance.

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