Dogz Review

Picking Your Puppy

The game starts with your basic introductory set-up things. For the first time in your life, you get to choose whether you (or, rather your avatar, I suppose) are going to be a boy or a girl, and your name. You partake in an incredibly short "Puppy Survey" that helps narrow down which breeds will be made available to you, based on your preferences for size, sex, and energy level.

There are 49 different dogs in all, made up of slight variations to 18 different breeds. You'll find everything from French Bulldogs to Dachshunds, and they all have ever so slightly different personalities. However, for all intents and purposes, you're just choosing a look. It is interesting, however, how all the breeds are essentially the same size, and that all the dogs aren't much smaller than your fictional character.

Sights and Sounds

The graphics are quite simple in this game, as expected, and you transverse isometrically through your two-level home (apparently your parents don't have a bedroom, because the only room upstairs is yours, with the main floor being composed of the hallway, a living room, a kitchen / dining room, and what appears to be a Japanese-styled den with cushions on the floor for sitting).

The weather is always nice and sunny outside, so as soon as you and your puppy are ready, you can go for a walk around the neighbourhood. There are a few stores you can visit to pick up puppy food and/or toys, as well as a small park where your canine companion can run around off leash. However, you will spend the vast majority of the game confined to your home, because while your character does go to school Monday to Friday, you never actually do anything there.

The music is repetitive, the look of the game is consistent (i.e., repetitive), and well, you get the picture.

I Didn't Know I Bought a Novel

As with every other Game Boy Advance title, there isn't any voice acting in Dogz. Instead, all interactions with your parents, the veterinarian, and your neighbours are via text boxes. There isn't a heck of a lot of words, per se, but because only a small handful can be displayed at a time, it can get incredibly frustrating trying to fast forward through it all. Most of the chit chat is superficial and adds little to this game. Moreover, the bulk of your interactions with your puppy -- like teaching it basic tricks (sit, lie down, etc.) -- are menu based.

If it weren't for all this reading (and skipping through text boxes), Dogz could be a much more enjoyable title, but as it currently sits, becomes frustrating, repetitive, and downright boring rather quickly.

Fun While It Lasts

Luckily, the game ends after 21 "days" with your puppy friend. The "fun" can continue through the "Always Together Mode" -- where a few extra tricks are added in, and you gain access to all the toys, snacks, and whatnot -- but the only reason I got as far as Day 21 in the first place was to write this review.

That said, I found the experience novel and enjoyable for the first few fictional "days" (which take about 15 minutes of real time each to complete), but Dogz for the Game Boy Advance is in serious need of some extra variety and a better speech/text system to get the "story" of the game across.