Arguably Nintendo's most unique creation yet, Nintendogs is easily one of the best Nintendo DS games.
When you first fire up the game, you'll be at the kennel choosing your first puppy. There are about 6 breeds when you start off, and there each different in the 3 versions, although all of the breeds are unlockable in each game. I chose a Shiba Inu and named him Ace (don't ask). I have the Labrador & Friends version, and the Shiba Inu just happened to be one of the starting breeds, as well as a Toy Poodle, Miniature Pinscher, Miniature Schnauzer, Pembroke Welsh Corgi and of coarse the Labrador Retriever.
When you get home, you'll have around $400 left. You use that to buy stuff like water, food, shampoo, a brush and maybe a toy or two you'll probably have around $360. After that, to get more money you'll have to enter your dog in competitions. Although unless you want another dog immediately you won't really need to enter you dog in a competition for a while, as $360 will last about a week and a half if you have only one puppy, but hey, more money is always good.
There are three different types of competitions, Disc Throwing, Agility and Obedience. Each competition has 4 different difficulty levels, beginner, Open, Expert and Master. As well as the difficulty going up, so does the pay (to actually get paid you have to come in 1st, 2nd or 3rd). To train your dog for a Disc Throwing competition, you'll have to take him or her to the park while your on a walk and throw around a Frisbee. Your dog will automatically know how to catch the Frisbee, but you’re basically teaching him/her to bring it back after you throw it. It might also take some time for you to throw your Frisbee properly as well. The Disc Throwing contests are probably the easiest of the three, which sort of makes sense, because they don't pay as much as the other two, although there is only a small difference in pay. You'll have to take your puppy to the gym while on a walk to train him for an agility contest. You'll be guiding him through various obstacles, by touching the objects on the bottom screen in the proper manner. And as you progress through the Agility Contests you'll have to teach your puppy to overcome even more obstacles. Perhaps the simplest contest would have to be the Obedience, which just happens to be the toughest. You'll be training your mutt right at home for these contests, because really, you'll just be teaching them tricks. You'll need to teach your puppies tricks like sit, lie down, shake hands, roll over, spin (which is essentially your dog chasing it's tail) and ect. I know this sounds really simple, but in practice it can be tough. Also if your dogs keep on performing the wrong tricks, it can be very frustrating. As previously mentioned, the Disc Throwing competitions pay the least. The Obedience competitions pay the most, which means the Agility, are in the middle. But the difference in pay in really minor, and there only for if you come in 2nd or 3rd. In other words, if you come 1st in the Obedience Trial, you'll get the same amount of money if you come in 1st at a Disc Throwing competition, but if you come in 3rd at an Obedience trial, you'll get even less at a Disc Throwing competition. But as I said, it's only I minor difference.
Another big aspect of the game is going on walks. While taking your dog on a walk, you can (as previously mentioned) go to the park, the gym and also the discount shop. Your dog will also find some gifts that just happen to be lying at the side of the street, wrapped up in white with a red ribbon. You'll find some pretty cool stuff, or rather your pooch will. Such as accessories like various different hats, glasses ect. And toys. Unfortunately taking your dogs on a walk can be a bit tedious at times, especially if they constanty stop to do there buisness. Also walks can take up to about 5-10 minutes, but taking you dog on walks is easiest way to get more trainer points, so it kind of feels like needless tediousness.
Not only will you find some interesting items on your walks but you'll also be rewarded trainer points. You'll need trainer points to unlock some more items at the shop; some new designs for your house, and most importantly, new breeds of dogs. There are various things that you can do to earn trainer points. Winning contests, teaching your dog new tricks, walking your dog and a few more things will give you trainer points. You'll need 50 000 trainer points to unlock the very last breed of dog in the game, and there is about 12 dogs in-between that. And as you might expect, it will take a very, very long time to get 50 000 trainer points (and i guess you could say you finished the game when you acquire that amount). So if your interested in finished the game, it'll take over a month to do so, and that's if your dedicated.
Unfortunately there are a few restrictions in the game, that can be disappointing at times. Things like only being able to take your dog on a walk every 25 minutes, only being able to teach your dog 3-4 tricks a day (and you can only teach him/her 15 tricks total), and also only being able to enter your mutt into three contests a day. These things aren't as bad once you have more than one dog, but at the start of the game it'll prevent you from playing the game, as much as you'd like to.
The puppy models are real, real smooth. There probably some of the best 3D models on the DS. They will also act life like. Everything your puppy does, is similar to the way your real dog/puppies (if you have one) would react, it's in a word, adorable. But unfortunately, the environments don't look nearly as good, especially, the environments you see while you’re on a walk. It goes for a certain 3d style, but doesn't succeed, and the result is some pretty ugly looking environments.
Again, it's the actual sounds that the puppies make that are the most impressive part in the audio side of the presentation. The dog’s barks and whimpers sound so much like real puppies, it's just really impressive. But the soundtrack (if you want to call it that) matches the tempo of the game very well. The music is very upbeat and calm. Overall the presentation is impressive; the ugly environments are my only beef with the presentation.
Nintendo’s is arguably Nintendo's most unique creation yet, its in a genre of its own. Nintendogs is also one of the best Nintendo DS games yet. If you do play Nintendogs, it's an experience you won't soon forget, every aspect in the game is solid, and I would recommend any DS owner give Nintendogs a try, because chances are, you won't regret it.