Virtual pets of the world should truly be in fear of being replaced; Nintendogs has arrived, and it is good. Nintendogs is a pet simulation for the Nintendo DS. You spend countless hours training, playing and showing your virtual puppy. You will quickly find yourself falling for your new little friends, mostly thanks to the great deal of effort Nintendo put into the development of this title.

You start off at the Nintendog Kennel where you will choose your first virtual puppy. The choice of breed you are given at this point is dependent on what version of Nintendogs that you own (Nintendogs: Labrador and Friends, Nintendogs: Chihuahua and Friends or Nintendogs: Dachshund and Friends). No matter which version you are playing, you will eventually have access to all eighteen breeds after you have enough time into this game.

The Nintendogs are brilliantly modeled to look just like there real life counterparts do. But even more importantly, they act just like their real life counterparts as well. From their bouncy gallop when playing, to the more simple movements that make a puppy a puppy, these Nintendogs have them. When you look into these little guy’s eyes, you almost can’t help dissecting your DS to save the poor little puppy that must be trapped inside. Your puppy also makes plenty of puppy sounds to help you fall in love with it more quickly. From the faint panting, to their little barks, Nintendo went all out to make your Nintendog feel as authentic as possible.

Once you have chosen your new puppy you get to take him home and get to know each other a little. This is when you get to name you new little friend. You do this by making use of Nintendogs voice recognition ability. You tell the puppy its name a few times until it learns its new name, then spend the next half hour showering the four legged mongrel with attention befitting a princess.

Once you’re finished showering your new puppy with attention you get to start training it. As your little friend plays it will perform actions that can be taught, such as sitting. When this occurs a light-bulb will appear in the corner of the screen. Quickly press the light-bulb and then you can say a command to associate with the puppy’s action. Once you have successfully given the puppy the new command a couple of times he will learn it, and let you know with a happy little bark and another light-bulb over his head. If you run into problems training a question mark will appear over his head. This either means you have given him a command that is similar to one he already knows or he didn’t understand you and you need to articulate yourself a little better.

Training and playing is not all your puppy has to offer. You can take your doggie on walks around the town. He can play with other pups, and the exercise will help raise his stamina for the coming contests. Poochie will also find toys and other items lying around town. You will also need to bathe and water your dog, give it baths and give it plenty of attention so it doesn’t run away.

Once you think that you and your puppy are ready you can join a competition. You can show off your dogs mad Frisbee catching skills, show the world how quickly it can make its way through a course, or just show off how well he listens to your commands. These give you a good deal of interaction with your puppy, and if you win you can get some cash or a shiny new trophy. Once you reach certain levels of achievements, you will unlock more breeds to choose from at the kennel. You can have up to three puppies at a time, so it doesn’t hurt to give you puppy a friend or two.

Unfortunately the game does have some draw-backs. You seem to be penalized for playing too much. You dog can only learn so many trick before it can’t learn anymore for a while. It can only go for walks about every half hour, and can only go into three shows a day. This is where multiple puppies are a good thing, when one gets tired you have two more to take up the slack.

Nintendogs truly isn’t for everybody, but it is for dog lovers and virtual pet fans alike. There is not a great deal of depth to the gameplay, and when it really comes down to it, you are still just playing with a virtual puppy. Of course it is highly addictive, and you can’t help loving you new little friends. So if you have a DS I would suggest giving this one a shot. It makes use of just about every feature the DS can throw at it, and you end up with an excellent little puppy simulator.