Just as fun and loveable as the real thing! (Nintendogs: Labrador & Friends (DS))

Member Name: Lauren06

Product:	Nintendogs: Labrador & Friends (DS)
Date:	23/08/07 (155 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Lovely graphics and clear sound, cute puppies, plenty to do

Disadvantages: voice recognition doesn't really work

Although I own the Dachshund version of this game, they're all the same apart from the breeds of dog available - this Dachshund version was first to be released along with the Labrador and Chihuahua versions, and more recently a Dalmation version has been released. The european release date for the first three to be released was October 7th 2005.

This is a simulation game where you can choose and name a dog of your choice. When you first start, you don't have that much money so you can only buy one puppy. The puppies never grow, so they remain adorable! To earn money you train your dog for agility trials, obedience trials and disc competitions where you get money if your dog places third, second or third. With the money you save up, you can buy more dogs, re-decorate your home or buy toys, food, water, milk, shampoo etc. The maximum number of dogs you can have at home is three but you can own more by keeping some in the Dog Hotel for a while, where they are looked after.

The control system is easy enough for anyone to use as it makes full use of the DS touch screen system. While you look through your list of products you own, change your personal details or view puppies competition records among other things on the lower touch screen, you can see the puppies playing around on the upper screen. When you call on your dogs either by whistling or calling their name, the screens switch allowing you to use the stylus or your finger to pat your dog and train them to do moves. To feed them, you simply use the stylus to go to your items list, then to the food and choose the food you want them to eat - then it appears on the screen near them and they'll eat. It's the same for giving them water or milk and also for setting down toys for them to play with. Overall, the touch screen system is pretty self-explanatory and you get help boxes along the way. Through use of the microphone on the lower half of the DS your puppy will learn to recognise its name - once you name it you'll be asked to repeat its name a few times until it recognises it. After that you can call its name to get it to come over to you. I usually find this difficult since you have to speak exactly the same as you did when naming the puppy or it won't work, but to avoid doing this there is a hand symbol in the centre of the touch screen which you can press to whistle which works better, although adjusting the mic sensitivity can help with the voice recognition. The touch screen also displays the time and date. The graphics are excellent - the puppies look almost real! Each game comes with about six different breeds available at first but as you progress, more breeds are unlocked.

There's plenty to do with your puppies on this game. You can take them for a walk by first drawing a route around the little town the game is set in. Then you control the lead as the puppy walks or runs. At first the puppies can't walk far but as they keep walking their stamina builds up more and more. By drawing the route through little ? symbols you come across either other puppies in the game or your puppy will pick something up, which can sometimes be a fun toy or something of no value like a used disposable camera. It could also be something for your dog to wear, like a collar or even a wig! You keep these items in your items list. You can also walk to the shops, parks, or the gymnasium. In the shops you can pick up items like food and some collars, and there are also bargain shops that sometimes sell random items like a keyboard. In the park you can sometimes meet other puppies or train your puppy for disc competitions by using discs you buy or find. The gymnasium is for training your puppy to enter agility trials. Whenever you get back from a walk, your puppy will need something to drink and to rest for a while before the next walk. When you find toys its great to put them out and see how the puppies react eg. mine are always scared of the bubble blower!

The competitions are good fun and sometimes exiting! Disc trials are easiest to train for I find - all you do is throw the disc from the touch screen by controlling it as if you were holding it. The further you throw the disc the more points you get if the puppy catches it, with more points awarded for jumping catches. Each competition has different levels to move up through ranging from Beginners to Championship. Agility trials involving using the touch screen to guide your puppy through tunnels, over jumping bars, over see-saws and around poles. As you progress the trials become more complicated and you get less allowance for mistakes as you have to quickly manouvre your way round the course. Probably the hardest competition is the agility trial as this requires voice recognition for the tricks. When you teach a trick to your puppy you have to get it to recognise you saying the command, but even when it has recognised it you'll probably find it doing the wrong trick in the middle of a trial. As you progress through this competition you are expected to do more complicated tricks - tricks range from sit and lie down to spin and beg. I've found I have to use different words that are easier to say rather than whole phrases like "lie down". When you come in third, second or first you receive a trophy and prize money which is different depending on what level of the competition you're on.

Caring for your puppy is easy as long as you have the money for food, drink and shampoo. To wash your puppy you select the shampoo (long or short haired depending on the breed of the puppy) and you then choose the puppy needing a bath and wash them with a sponge. When you hear a beeping sound you select the shower head and rinse off the soap. If you wash it well enough a pop up will appear saying "Someone looks beautiful!" and your puppy will return to the living area with a sparkling coat. If you leave it too long before washing them, your puppies get fleas. Coat states range from Beautiful to Filthy. Treats are also available to buy for your puppies such as beef jerky and dog biscuits. You can dress up your dog in a wide variety of bow ties, collars, hats (including hats the same as those worn by Nintendo superstars Mario and Luigi) etc. which you find during walks. There's loads of items to find, including a rare valuable vase which I found them broke - don't use it! You can sell this and any other belongings in the second hand shop. Other items you can find include a tennis ball, a football and various designs of flying discs. There's also a lot of toys to find including a little wind up robot that walks across the room, usually scaring the dogs a little. As well as all this there is a music player which you find records for such as a lullabye tune which sends the dog to sleep. The sound, by the way, is of excellent quality in this game. The puppies can't die but you can give them away if you really want to by donating them to the dog hotel. After doing this, however, you can never see them again.

With all this to do you never get bored with this game. It's just like owning the puppies for real! I can recommend it to anyone as its so easy to use. It's especially good for dog lovers or anyone who would love a dog but can't keep a real one. I got mine as a pack with my pink Nintendo DS but these packs were hard to come by when I bought them and are very rare now. The actual game is availab;e new at around £24.99, and its best to look around for the cheapest price you can find - don't pay any more than £30 though. Second hand will be cheaper, try looking in Gamestation - possibly the best game shop ever!

Summary: Great for anyone