Dogz
Sit, Rex! Sit! Sit! Sit? Rex? … I swear, I’m neutering you tomorrow morning.
Tags: Dogz Categories: GBA Reviews, Reviews
Posted by Jake McNeill on Feb 6th, 2006
| Title | Players | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Dogz (title page) | 1 | ||
| Developer | Publisher | Genre | Online |
| Simulation | No | ||
 |
You’ve gotta’ have a lot of guts to release a handheld puppy-centric virtual pet game so soon after Nintendogs. Sure, you might sell a few copies to kids with GBAs that can’t afford to buy a DS, or parents shopping for presents that might confuse this with Nintendo’s title. But mostly I imagine people will ask themselves why they’d get this title when they could get Nintendo’s megahit puppy sim for the same price.
To their credit, UbiSoft and MTO have created a title that bears no resemblance to Nintendogs. Dogz is no mere knockoff, and contrary to Nintendogs, which aims to simulate interaction with your pup, Dogz aims to focus on tasks relating to raising and caring for the animal, something that works vaguely like Tamagotchi meets Harvest Moon.
 |
The most striking difference you’ll notice right off the bat is the graphics. Dogz eschews the realistic look for something more cutesy and anime-inspired. It actually works very well for the game, being bright and colorful and inviting. The sound, while nothing special, is also appropriately inviting, from the upbeat music to the playful yelps of the puppies.
Players control an avatar character (either a boy or girl) that lives in a house (complete with living room, bedroom, kitchen, etc.), with parents that instruct you on what to do. Upon choosing one of the 18 dogs types offered in the games kennels, it will follow you from room to room, although where it goes in a given room often depends on its own behavior.
 |
On the upside, the game attempts to make the task of looking after your dog more realistic than it was in Nintendogs, with your dog actually making a poopie on occasion, making trips to the vet, and even requiring that you break from spending time with him to go to school and eat dinner. Yay for realism, but not so yay for fun. Accurate portrayals of this stuff in a game is still actual portrayals of work, and being repeatedly interrupted by non dog-related obligations is a bit absurd considering you’re taking the time to play your videogame, not simulate downtime.
When you actually do interact with your dog, it more often than not seems to come in the form of repeatedly pressing the A button. Want to teach it its name? Press “A” to call it, then repeat this a dozen times until it realizes it’s being called (with more presses added to clear the messages from your parents instructing you to keep repeating your actions). Want to teach it to “sit” or “roll over”? Another session of using the “A” button a lot, now with extra option for scolding or rewarding the animal.
That’s pretty much it as far as gameplay goes. You’ll be pressing “A” a lot, but not much else.Yeah, you can play a few little minigames (when you’re actually given enough in-game time to do so), and there’s stuff you can buy, but Nintendogs offers minigames and stuff to buy too.
 |
It might seem unfair that I’m comparing Dogz to Nintendogs, but the fact is that Nintendogs has established itself as the ultimate dog sim, and has set a very high bar for the others that follow. Before Nintendogs, the virtual pet games were a dying genre, and Nintendo changed this by emphasizing what’s fun about owning a puppy to begin with: interacting with it. By contrast, Dogz seems to emphasize the work, and while taking care of a normal dog may be frustrating and even occasionally a little gross, here it’s just boring and tedious. Dog enthusiasts will likely be better off saving for a DS and a copy of Nintendogs. People enthusiastic about pressing the same button over and over again, Dogz might be right up your alley.
| What Works | Score |
|---|---|
|
+ It's not just a ripoff of Nintendogs! + Bright, colorful graphics + Your dog goes poo! Tee hee! |
4.0 |
| What Doesn't | |
|
- Pressing the same button over and over again does not a game make - And even that thrilling activity is broken up by the need to go to school and eat dinner at the table... in the game |
|
| Under the Shrink-wrap | |
| This puppy is high maintenence and he doesn't like to play. Trust me, the breed you want is Nintendogs. | |
[ Post the first comment | View related posts ]
Tags: Dogz
Posted by Jake McNeill on Feb 6th, 2006 and is filed under GBA Reviews, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can post a comment, or trackback from your own site.
