Review by: Brandon "High Heel" Cackowski-Schnell

As launch games go, Nintendogs+cats does a good job of showing off the various features of the 3DS. The puppies and kittens are all well rendered and the 3D effect of them jumping up for attention is both realistic and adorable. Similarly, the game’s integration with the 3DS’s StreetPass system, camera and ARG cards is well done and works within the confines of the game’s narrow focus. Whether or not there’s enough game here for you depends entirely on how much you love puppies which makes the game difficult to recommend for everyone picking up Nintendo’s latest handheld.

The basic design of the game is unchanged from its original outing. You start off the game with a trip to the kennel, choosing your puppy from one of nine breeds. You can specify what color puppy you want, or let the game pick for you with the game doing an excellent job of recreating the various coats and spots found on the specific breeds. Once you’ve picked out your pup, you go home and begin your life as a new dog owner.

While at home, the same spate of activites from the first game are available to you. You can train your dog via a combination of touchscreen interactions, voice commands and an ample supply of treats. The voice recognition works well, however for best results you’ll have to speak clearly, not have a lot of background noise and be somewhere that people won’t be irritated at you saying “left paw” over and over. Every command has a well done tutorial that shows you exactly how to train your unruly beast, as well as an option to delete tricks from your pup’s virtual memory. At any time with your dog you can snap a quick picture with the 3DS’s camera, resulting in some very cute shots, all of which can be viewed in 3D. The game also has some interesting ARG integration allowing your new dog to appear on your coffee table or kitchen counter, complete with Nintendo themed accessories based on which ARG card the system is “looking” at.

As in the first game, walking your dog is a great way to not only build your bond with him or her, but also get gifts and practice for the various competitions. The ability to draw your route from the first game is gone, replaced instead with a jaunt of predefined length. This can feel constraining at first, especially given that your first few walks will be limited to a small neighborhood with no venues such as the park or the gym that allow you to practice for the competitions. Once your bond with your dog grows these areas become available however as they existing in different environs, the result is a strange one where your home is magically transported to the mountains or the beach every time you go for a walk. While walking you’ll have plenty of opportunities to interact with other dogs as well as teach your puppy good walking manners, all of which strengthens the bond between you and your dog.

The game interacts with the 3DS’s built in pedometer so that real world steps translate into trips with your pup, complete with gifts and an increase in trainer points. While walking with the pedometer, all of the StreetPass features are present, allowing you to get gifts from other StreetPass using 3DS owners, as well as giving you Game Coins to use in other 3DS games. Unlike the original game, where you had to wait thirty minutes between walks, there’s no such time constraint here, a nice touch given the arbitrary walk length.