Nintendogs + Cats

Here puppeh, puppeh...wait? Kitteh?

Posted 2 years ago By - Jay Acevedo

As you’re about to read this review, you may ask yourself if Nintendo released a Nintendogs game for the DS a few years back. Correct, Nintendo did unleash a pet simulator upon their handheld owners back April of 2005. It sold millions of copies too. So when this game was first announced, I don’t think anyone jumped to the ceiling in surprise. Sure, this new Nintendog title may have one obvious new feature (Cats), but is the rest of the experience worth your attention?

For those out of the loop, Nintendogs allows you to raise you own puppeh - or kitteh - and train them, feed them and teach them tricks...just like the real thing, you know? You start out picking your furball, giving them a name, and then you are off and running. The rest of the game allows you to play with your pet, be it in the house or out at the park, along with all the other things that come with raising a pet. It’s pretty much Miyamoto’s version of Tamagotchi. As you progress through the game, new breeds will become available, allowing you to adopt new pets (up to three).

Now, the “new”. First, Nintendogs + Cats looks better than its predecessor, on top of supporting 3D viewing. The fur is more lifelike than ever before, though it still won’t quite replace the real thing. Second, the voice recognition has been improved. facilitating more than single word commands. Although, it is still a bit touchy. The bright side is that you may make a new friend out of that homeless person sitting next to you on the bus. Third, the game communicates with other game owners via StreetPass, which acts like a pet park, allowing you to exchange info and such with others virtual pet owners. Fourth, the game can search and connect to an Internet access point to download special items via Spotpass. However, both the Spot and Streetpass options couldn’t be fully tested as of this writing as the hardware hasn’t been launched yet. Finally, there’s a picture viewing mode where pictures of your companion will appear in your world via the handheld-bundled AR cards. Outside of all this, it’s pretty much the same game we have played before.

3D

Obviously, 3D is put to good use in this game. The little buggers come up to the screen, whether to lick you or barking cutely, begging for some attention. It also gives a certain measure of realism in terms of depth when going out to play games, which is where 3D truly shines.

Conclusion

With Nintendogs + Cats, Nintendo caters to a very specific market, but makes itself interesting enough for those who haven’t experienced the franchise, no matter how old they may be. It’s friendly, somewhat addictive and easy to play. I don’t think its worth the console upgrade if you’re still feeding Fido on your good old DS though...unless you’re REALLY into cats.

Overall, this is still Myamoto’s Nintendogs. Now, when will we get Michael Vick’s Nintendogs? I kid, I kid.