Nintendogs Labrador Retriever & Friends (Nintendo DS)

It may sound clichéd, but Nintendogs truly is a game for all ages. Hey, I can prove it. My dad's as tough as nails (REALLY!). He served in the army, and is very disiplanary. He hates it when I act immature, although he actually ASKED for a go on Nintendogs. And enjoyed it. That's quite an achivment; he would never DREAM of chosing, say, Mario over Halo. He says that Mario's a bit too childish for him. He's an IT specialist, so he knows what makes a good console (or, at least he thinks he does!). Anyway, let's not get too personal.

Nintendogs is a winner on all levels of play; it's addictive, it's clever, it's innovative, and most of all, it's fun. Play consists of training a puppy, teaching it commmands via the microphone and touch screen. It's all very sophisticated. You can enter your puppy in different contests; including Disk Catching, Agility, and Obedience trials. Another huge part of Nintendogs is walks. The walks are great. Map out the route you'll be taking using the touch screen, and then use a leash to control your dog while walking. It's pure gaming gold. On walks you'll expect to find 'presents'; this is to say, parcels, wrapped in paper. Not the OTHER 'present'. God, no. Most times you'll find an item you already have, such as the utterly useless bubble blower, or perhaps a shoe, and occasionally, you'll find the odd hat. Although the fact that somtimes you end up with a stick will annoy even the toughest of players. It makes me cry.

Back home, you get a full selection of toys and gifts you have collected in the game; items range from white leather boots to remote controlled Mario Karts. All Nintendogs have different reactions depending on which item is used; for example; my Golden Retriver; Lewie, hates the stick. He simply sits there and growls. While my sisters Chihuaua; Tom, absolutly loves it, but hates the dog photo (a personal favourate of Lewies', may I add). This is influenced by different personalities; some dogs are well behaved, some dogs aren't, and so on. The way you train them influences their overall personalities.

Now. The Microphone. Where to begin? Well, for a start, it's rubbish. It hasn't got a good enough frequency to be used properly. It's far too sensitive. It picks up FAR too much static. Even on low, the Microphone persists on being rubbish, although low works better than medium or high. The microphone is simply not good enough. Luckily though, GAME stores group Ltd. have realised this, bringing out a DS headset, which consists of an earbud and ajustable microphone. Imagine the Xbox Live headset, only smaller and weedier. You plug it into your DS, and you're away. No messing around. And because the GAME microphone picks up more Bass than Trebble (unlike the built in one, which does the complete opposite), it's much more efficient, too. It would be well worth investing in for Christmas. PLUS, GAME are flogging it for about £9.99, so you better get there quick. Trust me, gamers. I'm getting one.
(This was NOT intended as advertisment for GAME stores group Ltd. I was simply stating a fact.)

All this aside, Nintendogs has turned out to be an outstanding DS game. It uses the functions properly, and has a neverending replay value. That said; Nintendogs isn't actually a game. It's an experience. And one not to be missed, at that. This is what the DS needs to pull it out of the PSP's dust. Congratulations Nintendo, on what is, another truly outstanding game.