Dogz (2005 Video Game)

''Dogz'' is a virtual pet and pet simulation game in the ''Petz'' series, released for the Game Boy Advance, in 2005, and Nintendo DS, in 2006. It is a localisation of the Japanese game , released in November 2004, and developed by MTO as part of the ' series. Unlike other games in the ''Petz'' series the player controls a playable character in an Isometric world.

It is a distinct game from the ''Catz'' games released on the Game Boy Advance and DS, as well as the previous ''Dogz'' game released for Gameboy Color.

Gameplay

As in previous games in the ''Petz'' series, the player begins the game by adopting a dog giving it a name, and "training" it. However, unlike previous games in the series, the action is presented in an Isometric perspective and with a player avatar performing the player's action. The game also has dialogue with the player character's family, who coach the player in how to look after the animal. The game's simulation runs with a daily cycle, with non pet related chores—changing music, switching on and off a television, tidying up, vacuuming—being included as minigames.

Reception

As the western localisation arrived only half a year after Nintendo's extremely popular Virtual pet game ''Nintendogs'', many reviewers saw ''Dogz'' as Ubisoft's attempt to cash in a trend and thought it unfavourably compared that game. Mark Green, of ''NGC Magazine'', thought it was overly simplified, and about "as fun to pick up and play as a tennis ball sticky with dog slobber." He also felt the choice to have the pet be owned by an intermediary player avatar made it difficult to bond with the animals. A review in Eurogamer found the interactivity and controls asinine. Matt Helgeson, of Game Informer, opined while there was "a fair amount of depth" in the actions performable with the dog, the mechanics seemed "awkward and static".

The DS port was seen as very similar to the GBA version, with '' Jeuxvideo.com'', criticizing the lack of use of the two screens of the handheld.

''Dogz 2''

In 2007, Ubisoft issued a game called ''Dogz 2'' for the Game Boy Advance, which was in fact mostly a reissue of ''Dogz''—featuring exactly the same story and graphics—but with six additional breeds of dog and added minigames. The reviewer for ''Jeuxvideo'' thought the attempt to pass of what, in their view, was no better than a reissue as a sequel was "scandalous".

References

External links

*
* {{mobygames, /179000/dogz-2/, ''Dogz 2''

2004 video games
Backbone Entertainment games
Game Boy Advance games
MTO (video game company) games
Nintendo DS games
Single-player video games
Ubisoft games
Video games about dogs
Video games developed in Japan
Video games developed in the United States
Virtual pet video games
Petz