When a game scores a perfect score in Japan’s illustrious magazine "Famitsu," it warrants the attention of the gaming world. Merely four games before Nintendogs were able to accomplish this feat, including The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Vagrant Story, Soul Calibur, and The Legend of Zelda: the Wind Waker, making it quite an undertaking to create a "perfect" game. That being said, it’s quite the statement when a game is able to join the ranks of such an exclusive group of classics.
But what a seemingly random game to do so with! Nintendogs just looks so innocent; it stares at you with those puppy dog eyes, begging to be played with. To most people it doesn’t seem much different from a "Tamagotchi," or "virtual pet," which came into style and left as quickly as most trends do. Those who take a closer look will be in for quite the surprise, as Nintendo is using the DS to simulate owning a dog to great aplomb.
A Soft, Shiny Coat
Having seen Nintendogs in motion, I can say I’m immensely surprised at how good the dogs look. The animations are superbly done, and the dogs’ movements are very realistic. I can’t stress enough how good they look; it has to be seen to be believed.
The environments aren’t quite as nice. Most of them look very N64 era, with muddy textures and blocky environments, though some areas look much clearer than others; maybe it’s because the videos I’ve seen are from early builds. One good thing though, is that the frame rate seems stable, because nothing is more irritating than when you’re playing fetch with your real dog and he drops to ten frames per second.
All the Fun of a Real Dog without the Mess!
Taking care of your virtual pet is given a creative twist through the use of the touch screen, and through great use of the microphone. Using the stylus you can pet your dog, or brush your dog’s hair, and the dog will react accordingly. If the dog is enjoying it, it might roll over so you can pet its stomach. There is no "Red Rocket" mini-game, so if that’s something you’re looking for (like how Nintendo requires players to molest a Pikachu in the beginning of Pokemon Dash), you’ll be disappointed, you sick freak. It’s not that in-depth of a simulator.
The dog’s toys are also manipulated via the touch screen. You’ll be able to play fetch with your dog with various items, such as a tennis ball, or a Frisbee. You throw the item with the touch screen, and the dog runs after it. You then say the dogs name into the mic, and the dog will return with the item. Voice recognition also works with other people, so anyone else could play with your dog as well.
Speak and They Will Listen
When a dog is doing something and a light bulb appears above their head, it means a voice command can be assigned to that particular action. It takes about three times in order for the vocal command to become definite, so if your dog sits three times, and you say "sit down" three times when it’s doing it, you’ll have "taught" the dog how to sit. Amusingly, you could tell the dog to "fart face" instead of "sit down," and your dog will sit when you say "fart face;" it just might get confusing if you forget your "funny" commands.
In fact, almost any action the dog performs can be taught. You can lift their paws with the stylus to teach them to shake paws, teach them how to wag their tails, roll over... all of these and more can be assigned vocal commands.
You’ll unfortunately only be able to teach your dog a limited amount of tricks in a day. Eventually your dog will stop learning commands (after about an hour), which means you’ll have to wait until the next day to play teach some more. The game uses the DS’ internal clock for this feature. Not only does this increase play time, it’s fairly realistic; you show me a puppy that can learn a handful of tricks and do them consistently in just one day.
There Goes the Neighborhood
That’s right, the neighborhood. You’ll be able to explore the world in Nintendogs by taking your dog for walks. You designate a path on the map, and you and your puppy will travel to the destination you’ve decided on. Along some of these paths you might cross question marks, which could uncover toys and treats, or even reveal another dog for you to play with. The dog will also relieve itself, and it’s something Nintendo deemed necessary for show, and you’ll even have to pick up the remains, should your dog choose option number two.
There are several locations for you to end up at, like the Pet Store, where you can buy new toys for your canine companion. If you buy the disc, you’ll also be able to enter the Disc Throwing Competition. You’ll have to train your dog for these, since there are all kinds of factors that go into the scoring. There are other kinds of competitions as well, such as the Command Competition, where you say the commands and your dog does them (duh). You’ll win trophies and other prizes at these competitions.
Three Times the Fun?
Nintendogs, similar to Pokemon, comes in three flavors, meaning there are three different versions to get. Each version has five completely different dogs, meaning there are fifteen total. You can play with your friends’ dogs via the wireless connectivity, or you can buy all three cartridges for the full experience. In Japan, Nintendo actually offered up J-Pop star Utada Hikaru’s Nintendog "Shin Chan" for download through their DS download service. Since the DS is going online in the US shortly, one wonders what kind of celebrity will offer up their digital puppy for download; Michael Jackson, anyone?
With a perfect score and astounding sales numbers in Japan, Nintendogs looks like its going saddle up to the leg of the naysayers, and hump them into submission. It really is hard to believe how much hype the game is getting; it’s rubbing elbows with what Famitsu considers the four best games they’ve reviewed. It’s important to remember, before writing this game off, that nobody thought Pokemon would be the run away success it became. Right now Nintendogs is on an eerily similar path.
