nintendogs + cats

Go straight to the game's presentation video.

What child has never wanted a little dog or cat? They're so cute when they're small! But everyone knows how it all ends up. The little ball of fur becomes a big fleabag and looking after it can become a bit of a chore. Nintendo has the solution: put your pets onto a 3DS game!

Content: the dogs run things

We might as well let you know from the start, nintendogs + cats is designed mainly for kids. Once the pleasure of discovery has passed, adults generally don't appreciate the fact that there aren't any real objectives to attain in a game which is more of a real life simulation than a race with a goal.

In fact, the aim of the game consists in amusing your puppy, cajoling it, feeding it, washing it or giving it fashionable accessories.


There are twenty seven breeds of puppy, shared among three versions of the game, so you need to make sure you choose before buying, though the other breeds can be unlocked after playing for a certain amount of time. You then simply go and buy them at the kennels, which now also include three breeds of cat too (see inset)!


In addition to taking care of your animals, you can also have fun with them in various ways, which leads us to the gameplay of this episode, which puts to good use all the 3DS console's potential.

Gameplay: intuitive and realistic

As soon as your new four legged friend arrives at home, you can start teaching it up to three training exercises a day: sit, lie, turn around and so on. You can train the animal with a word that is then recognised thanks to voice recognition. Simple and effective, this system is also handy when you want to call your puppy by name. Those who don't like shouting at their pet however can use the touch screen instead for most of these actions.


Once your champion knows a few exercises and has been well enough trained to catch frisbees, boomerangs and balls, you can enter it into competitions which allow you to win a bit of money.

You can then use this money to buy food or other objects for your pet or to furnish its kennel (four different environments).


After all this effort, your little baby may want to take a walk and relieve itself in the flowerbeds. You can also hold the lead using the touch screen, or put your console on standby and actually go for a walk in the street, thanks to the 3DS' pedometer, using the 'Streetpass' mode! The console then communicates with other 3DS consoles that you might meet along the way and allows your pup to interact with others.


The community aspect is thus encouraged, especially as this allows you to unblock other breeds of dog not initially available on your version of the game. If you meet a breed that isn't included in the nine breeds in your version at the beginning, this new breed then becomes available in your kennels.

The game also uses augmented reality cards to project your dog or cat onto one of the AR Games cards or photograph it on your desk, outside or in the palm of your hand!

Graphics: very cute 3D!

Cuter than ever, the puppies and kittens in nintendogs + cats are very well modeled. The fur is well represented and animation well designed, giving a certain realism to the game.

Only the decors leave something to be desired as the textures lack detail and there's pronounced aliasing.


That said, fluidity is impeccable and the 3D effect gives very nice depth. The puppies really look as if they're running around in front of you and you really believe when they stick their paws up against the screen.

No complaints on the audio side either. The noises are convincing and the music is calm and fits in well with the relaxed atmosphere of the game.

Presentation video