Dogz

It's likely that at some point during your childhood you have wheeled and dealed with your parents to get you a dog. You know the experience well, and maybe even as an adult you find yourself trying to convince your spouse to get just one more dog. Whether you're really ready for the responsibility of a pet or not is not for us to say, but we do know that when you play the 1995 game Dogz, you can get all of that enjoyment and a rewarding experience from raising a pet without having to lint-roll any extra pet hair off of your clothes and furniture.

Dogz is another game from the Petz series that allows you to do similar things in terms of raising various animals, but puts the focus solely on our canine companions. In Dogz, you are responsible for all of the same things you'd have to do to care for a dog in the real world.

As your dog grows up, you'll be responsible for feeding it and grooming it, but you can also teach it fun tricks like sitting, fetching and more. You begin as the brand-new owner of a puppy whose breed you get to choose. Once you really get down to playing and see all of the information that is offered to you for training and caring for your puppy, you'll quickly see that the game Dogz is as much as an information funnel for learning how to care for and raise dogs as it is a game, making it a really educational choice for kids or even adults looking to learn to care for pups. And, if you neglect their care, just like in the real world, the sad reality is that they'll die.

Pros of Dogz

• Interactive dog-raising lets you raise the animal from puppy to adulthood in a meaningful way
• Presents actual educational information on raising and training dogs
• Fun for all ages with endless replay value

Cons of Dogz

• Cut scenes and interruptions make it difficult to get consistent, constant gameplay out of it
• The controls of the Gameboy seem to be underutilized, making it difficult for you to easily control the pet at times

Bottom Line

Dogz is a game in the Petz series that never quite loses its appeal, even after all of the years that have passed since it came out. It helps that it is a low-intensity game that can be picked up and set down at your leisure over the years. This laid-back game uses simple sprites to fill in its characters, much like you're used to from all of your favorite old-school games, to give you that retro experience you're after. At the end of the day, Dogz is just a super happy and carefree little game that provides lots of fun entertainment for kids and adults alike who just want something fun to poke at and check on... or to learn how to care for a real dog in the future. It's up to you how you use it.