Full Review

Nintendo Dogz!?


Ok, I have the game. Pretty nice. I'm sort of....um....an addicted. But anyway, not everybody may think that. I want to tell you all I know about Nintendo Dogz GBA version (gameboy advance). Here I go! First thing that I'm going to talk about are the graphics

Graphics aren't the best. They are a little crummy. But, I think it's not that bad. One graphic mistake is the mother. It looks like she has a dog face. Or maybe even a grinch face. On the other hand.........the dog graphics are real cute! The only problem is that some of the dog graphics came out bad. There is this little blue dog, and it's face is mixed into its body when I saw it. Maybe it’s a glitch, but it could be a graphic problem. Basically, you see everything form a 3'rd person perspective from above, watching your movement from the celing. It has some ok detail, like different tiles when your inside the house (different colours), but nothing special. In this game you mostly see just parts of town (like stores, your house, the park, and just down different streets). I don't really know if this is 3D or 2D. I guess it's sort of both. You walk around 3D-likeness. I guess I'd go with 2.5D. For instance, when you feed your dog, it doesn't magically appear. You walk to a cabient, and then get the food out, and walk back to your dog. It's very colourful, with vivid greens in the parks, and dark browns in the house But all and all, the graphics out of ten, I would rate it a 5 and a half. Man, the graphic's in this game are hard to explain. It's like a Super Mario RPG game, from a 3'rd person perspective. If you haven't played Super Mario RPG, I suggest you play it (an excellent game). or at least look at some screenshots. So, to recap, the graphics are ok, but nothing special. It's like alot of other GBA games graphic wise (quality), so I won't spend too much time talking about them. Sound wise, there's actually quite a bit here. You can hear dog's barking (your own, and some in the background), you can hear yourself walking on the ground and stuff like that. Some sounds sound fake (like some of the dogs barking, sounds kinda squeaky), but some sounds sound real (like walking on the ground, hearing the grass smoosh beneath your feet). It depends on the dog, and the walking surface. Also, if you turn on the TV, or CD player, you can hear the appropriate sounds. There is always background music (sort of pop music-ish, cant really describe it), which isn't the best, but really isn't that bad at all. Really nice detail overall.

Controls


At first, the controls are really hard to understand. Every time you press A, you call your dogs name. Stupid. Controls after you get the hang of it are easy and quick to do. I've been playing all day. I still make mistakes. When I should press B, I press A and my dog comes. Oh yeah, the B button makes you run (the person, not the dog). So the B button is used for dog actions (telling your dog to walk, to do a trick, etc) and A for your person's actions (run, open things, etc.)

At the beginning:

When you adopt your dog, it gives you around five dogs to look at (eg, Dalmation, etc). Each dog has different attributes. For example, a smaller dog is more active, while a bigger one likes to be less active. As well, each has its own levels of happiness and loveness, among others. It all a matter of preference. Now, don't get me wrong, I love all dogs. But in this game you hardly ever get the choice of a Golden Retriever. Only once did I see one. I kept looking for it by making new files, and I wouldn't save it if I didn't find it.

Every time you press A in front of a dog, the clerk says, "Would you like to meet this dog?" And if you say no, now, this really bugs me, the stupid clerk says, "Oh well. There are plenty of other dogs to look at. Why don't you keep looking?" Over and over and over she says it...... In the next shop you have a choice to go to, there is a selection of only THREE DOGS!! How cheap?? Are these people trying to rip us off? After about going back and forth through the two shops, I found out that........STILL NO GOLDEN RETRIEVER.


You must feed your dog everyday. And give it water everyday too. What I find annoying, is when your dog is hungry, it whines and whines every 1 second until you feed it or give it some after. It won't let you scold it, so that’s a don’t. And when teaching your dog to stay after you put the food bowl down, and he stays flat on his bottom and doesn't touch his food, you have a sit command you can use before he eats. Ok, he's already SITTING DOWN! And after all your meals, you mom always reminds you about feeding your dog.

Feeding time helps you bond with your dog. And giving him water does too. A half a heart may fill if a little heart floats above your pups head after he eats or drinks.

When feeding your dog, and you have this option, always tell it to stay. That way, you can get it to learn how to stay more quickly. A little cheat that I found.

Give your dog a treat after being good. But don't feed him to much, or else he may come back to think that he owns YOU!


When it's time for you to eat, you go to the table and eat. Just like real life! I thought this was a pretty neat feature, but there is something I don't care for. Every time you go and eat, you say the same things over and over. I liked the part where you eating, and the dog is watching. It's cute!! But be careful, your mom always tells you to feed your dog. THAT gets annoying!

Overview:

The main part of this game is to let loose and have fun with you puppy. Train it to be a star. It depends what you do with your puppy for the three weeks you have for it. Then, It'll tell you how you did. After all this, you've completed the game. YEAH! I KNOW! But no fear, you can save your dog onto the Always Together Mode. But....you can't always save it on that mode. If you took bad care of your dog, you cant save it. But if you did take good care for your dog, no worry. You can always see your dog later!!! You can also semi-customize your dog, which only different leashes are avaliable. No other accessories are. You can also buy different beds, but I think it's just for fashion, not function (I could be wrong though). You get to buy one thing a day (your mom gives you the money), so basically you have unlimited money (I guess). You can pick from alot of different types of dogs. You like a kind, you can probably pick it (within reason, of course.)
You are also on a schedule, with a clock appearing on the screen, showing you the current time. Every room you walk into, you lose 15 minutes on your clock. If you just stand there doing no actions, time passes in real time, but if you want to do anything in the game, the actions decide how much time passses by. You have 24 hours technically, but you go to bed at 9:00, so that cuts down on playing time per day. You don't have to do anything at a specific time (execpt for bed 9:00 pm), so it allows you a bit of freedom. Once your done the game, don't fret: You sit and stare at the screen. Feeling the urge to start a new game of Nintendo Dogz now that you have finished it. But you don't want to leave your poor puppy.......since you took great care, go to your saved Always Together Mode. You can save up to three dogs here. Pick the dog you want to see, and hurray! There's your puppy! In this mode, you can teach it all the tricks it can learn (like fetching a ball, roll over, and all sorts of dog things!), you have all the foods and drinks in your cabinet, have all the leashes, have all the toys, no parents, no time!!! That's sweet! When the dog is hungry, he basically whines for you to feed him, sits by his/her food bowl, and does nothing (well, a limited amount). While there's no actual meter telling you about anything (like hunger or the likes), except the friendship heart meter. It goes up whenever a heart appears over your dog (this happens when you make it happy). The higher it is after the set amount of time, the more likely your dog will become a champion.


Connecting

Wanna have more fun with your dog? Yes my friends, there’s more to it! You can connect you dog up with a friend. WARNING: You both must have an Nintendo Dogz game and a GBA (Gameboy Advance). Here, you and your fellow friend can play loads of games with each other. Double the fun! I also heard it helps bond with your dog....*wink wink nudge nudge*

RATING!!!!

I would give this game in general, a great 7/10! For its cute graphics, fun features, and its wide selection of dogs! As well, like any other simulation game (this one is obviously a dog simulation), real skill is not needed to play this game, nor is a know how of video games as it is intuitive , and very easy to learn. Great for those non-video gamers that might want to try this game (there are alot of you out there!:))