Nintendogs Review

The stylus also comes into play when using toys or going for walks. In your toys inventory, you can whip out anything from a tennis ball to a rubber chewing bone and so on. You will then use the stylus in a sort of “throwing” motion to toss them in your pup’s general direction, which will then in proceeding cause your puppy to chase after whatever you threw. The same goes for walking. When choosing to take your pup out for a walk, you will first use the stylus to trace a path anywhere around your immediate neighborhood and back to your house. You will have to keep note of your dog’s stamina as it will only go as far as that meter can go down. You must get the line trace back to your front door before it empties, or else you have to draw a different path. Once the walk begins, you use the stylus to hold its leash and allow it to do whatever it needs to do. This may encompass doing his or her “business” like noted before, finding presents along the way and giving them to you, interacting with other dogs on walks, or visiting the various places that you can go to on your journey!

Nintendogs also makes incredible use of the DS’ built-in microphone. You will utilize this to not only name your pet, but to call it, give it voice command recognitions and so on. Near the beginning of the game, you will say your pup’s name into the mic and it will eventually recognize your voice and come to you when you call it. But when it comes to training it to do tricks, it’s a bit more involved. This will involve the combined use of the stylus and microphone. Your pup can learn up to three tricks a day and can hold a supposed maximum of 14 in its memory banks. This can include the simple tasks of sitting and lying down to the much tougher tasks of begging and backflips! Any time you either manipulate the movement or position of your dog or when it might actually do it itself unintentionally, that is your cue to teach it that voice command. So when you get your dog to sit, a light bulb will appear in the upper right portion of the touch screen. Any time your dog executes a trick, your job is to tap on that light bulb, then as clearly as possible, say the voice command that you wish to associate that trick. Some tricks like sit take little to no time for your pup to get a hold of and learn, while others like begging take a bit more dedication. Regardless of what it is, the light bulb icon and your voice recording are key to helping your puppy understand you. It’s also critical to maintain a consistent tone and volume of voice, or else you may very well confuse your puppy and it may never learn what you want it to.

The DS’ wireless capability is also utilized very nicely in Nintendogs. Any time you may be near another person with a DS and a copy of Nintendogs, you can go into what is known as “Bark Mode.” This basically enables the wireless function of the game, and if you detect a DS with the same game operation nearby, you can play with another trainer’s puppy! You also have the option of recording a voice message that can be heard when your trainer info is displayed to the other person, and if they accept, you may do whatever you wish with each other!

Next we have competitions. These encompass events for disc throwing, agility courses and obedience trials. Disc competitions are fairly self-explanatory. You have a flying disc in your hand and you must throw it within range of your pup’s running ability so that it will catch it and be awarded points. Throw it the farthest distance and you will win, simple. Agility courses are a little more complicated, in that they require you to guide your dog through an obstacle course designed for dogs. There are hurdles for it to jump over, tunnels for it to run through, seesaws for it to climb and poles for it to weave in and out of! Have the least number of faults and the fastest time and you win! As for obedience trials, this is where your dog’s loyalty to the trick training its been through is put to the test. Each level of the competition requires your pup to know differing skills of complexity, and you must have your pup execute them within the time limit to receive a good score. Beat out the second place entrant in the judging and you will win! Winning competitions nets you trainer money that you can spend at the pet store or buying various models of new houses to take your pup into for the future!

You also have to make sure your puppy maintains a healthy looking body correct? That’s a given with any dog, real life or Nintendogs universe. Any time you need to wash your puppy, simply select whatever shampoo you need from your inventory and begin sponging away! Just be careful not to get any in their face or eyes, they tend to not like that. But once you’re done making your dog’s coat beautiful again, switch to the shower head and rinse away! After you’re done rinsing it off, it’s a good idea to brush its fur to maintain good consistency. It’s not required, but it will make your dog happy and make competitions easier for your pup since it will look very nice!

Finally, we have our group play. You have the option of caring for three dogs at once. You can choose to leave current dogs at a “hotel” while you adopt newer dogs and then you can have all kinds of puppy friends! How well your current dogs will take to newcomers is truly unpredictable, but it seems more often than not they will like each other in the fact that they have a permanent buddy to play with!

What more could you really ask for in a Nintendo DS game? It’s just too darn perfect in utilizing the DS’ awesome features in allowing you to realistically take care, play with and train a virtual puppy! Any dog lover or person that desires a dog, this is a great way to go, and far less expensive as well!

Nintendogs easily has some of the most replay value of any game out there ever. It’s virtually a never ending game simply because it’s a pet simulator that allows you to take care of your own dog! Your dog will not die, and whether or not it will actually grow and mature seem to be unseen. But regardless of that, there’s always something that you can do with your puppy, it’s just like you would be interacting with one in real life! A real dog is an animal you can interact with on a daily basis and it’s no different in this case. The fun is always there, the competitions are fierce and you can always erase what tricks your dog(s) may know and teach them new ones that are more complex!

Nintendogs is without a doubt a Shigeru Miyamoto masterpiece. Now obviously not everyone will take quite as much a liking to it as others have, but that still doesn’t take away that Nintendogs is just incredibly well-done and designed. Everything that encompasses the care taking of a puppy is in this game. It’s an awesome alternative for those that can’t afford to own a dog themselves or simply just can’t for whatever reason. The game simply looks awesome and jaw droppingly realistic in almost all aspects. The music is always cheerful, and your puppy will make all the sounds a puppy is known to make. There’s almost no reason not to love how Nintendogs utilizes each of the DS’ features in the way it does simply because they are all so intuitive and well-implemented. Many people probably think Meteos is the best DS game out right now, Nintendogs seems to be able to easily dethrone that game in this regard. It’s one of the most interactive gaming experiences to ever grace a Nintendo system, and my goodness is it entertaining. To put it simply, you will most likely love this game. Why? Because it’s something different, and something FUN.