It's that special time of the year again, when the world of casual gaming throws fluffy puppies and wide-eyed kittens at things and hopes to make a profit. This time Neopica has stepped up to the challenge with Pets Resort 3D. In the latest Nintendogs + Cats clone, the player takes command of a rather suspicious institution on a tropical island called 'Pets Resort', which oddly only caters for four breeds of dogs and the same number of cats. If you're a fan of, say, pugs, then we're afraid you may as well stop reading here.
Still with us? Okay, then before we get too carried away, we must keep in mind that this is a game intended for the younger market, and so of course it's only looking to provide a simplistic, easy-to-operate and non-challenging experience, sprinkled with cute looking critters. Even so, there are many instances where even here it falls short. For instance, the menu systems can appear rather overwhelming for younger players, although the map is simple enough to manoeuvre.
Where Pets Resort 3D differs from many other pet simulation games is that it puts you in charge of a large (and expandable) pet pampering facility, rather than simply providing you with puppies to brush and "aww" at. But don't get your hopes up; even though you may be a teenage billionaire who has recently purchased an island — honestly, in this economic climate?! — that doesn't mean that you'll be getting out of those mundane chores, as the majority of your time playing Pets Resort 3D will be made up of washing, feeding and pampering your pooches. While the game does drip-feed players with animal exercise mini-games — such as Fetch — to supplement the pains of sweeping hairs from the cat house, they soon become extremely repetitive and suffer from a lack of challenge. Even abysmally low scores allow you to advance to the next stage of the game.
In comparison to games like Puppies World 3D and Nintendogs + Cats, Pets Resort 3D is an entirely different animal, in that it focuses less on building a loving relationship a virtual pup or kitten. Neopica has chosen to instead push the player towards the (albeit very drawn-out) progression of the resort, as it takes only a few minutes for you to fulfill the requirements of a given pet and return it to their owner. While the sound of an extendable resort may have you dreaming of a Zoo Tycoon-like element to the gameplay, unfortunately the island is already mapped out for you, meaning that you can't manually position any buildings or personalise any part of your resort.
Sadly, by focusing on the development of the resort, Pets Resort 3D suffers from a lack of interaction with the pets themselves. Unlike Nintendogs, there is no way of calling over an animal and playing with them individually. Even while brushing a pet, which is a mandatory part of the resort's care regime, the animals don't react to your movements or even seem to acknowledge your presence.
Pets Resort 3D is also very lacking graphically. While the puppies are sweet, the texture of their fur is predictably second rate in comparison to Nintendogs + Cats and looks practically solid, and the cats have an awful habit of resembling a feline version of Yoda from Star Wars. Another major issue is that every retriever or German shepherd that comes bouncing onto the screen looks identical to the last, so there's no hint of uniqueness or personality to each puppy or kitten. Background environments during mini-games also look very static and unpolished, mostly comprising of a jagged shoreline and a few sad-looking palm trees. Some elements, such as the player character and the receptionist, are 2D sprites; they blend together with the 3D surroundings reasonably well.
With regards to the use of 3D, Pets Resort 3D does little to warrant the inclusion of the '3D' in its title. Even with the 3D slider pushed to the maximum, the game provides neither depth of field or that heart-warming experience of cute puppies jumping up and licking the screen. However, StreetPass functionality is enabled, allowing players to swap accessories and cry about how they wish they'd picked up Nintendogs + Cats instead.
Conclusion
Unfortunately Neopica has not revolutionised the pet simulation genre with its latest offering. The whole experience is both repetitive and mundane, even for the most ardent of pet simulation enthusiasts. However, Pets Resort 3D does provide players with something that Nintendogs + Cats doesn't already offer: the opportunity to clip doggy toe-nails and give cats acupuncture. Yes, really.
Comments 18
The cats resemble Yoda? That's an obvious plus.
A hairball, I am choking.
Surprise surprise.
Nintendogs+cats already has it all down. I don't know why they keep trying to improve the formula.
Oh cmon guys, throw the devs a bone.
The "3" in the title must stand for 3/10.
I don't know why this site would even waste the manpower to cover this game.
Wow what a score...
Get out your Pooper Scoopers!
That cover looks so badly photoshopped, and also the cats do look like Yoda.
Or better yet, Play catch the ball with your dog, and instead of the ball, use this game instead for more enjoyment...
I'm more into this crazy concept of real pets.
DOH! Pretty bad review. STREETPASS! I wonder when one of these of Devs is going to realize Streetpass sucks and Dare to break the mold and take their game online and possibly take their rating up on a game because it has online multiplayer or you can trade items or do various other things online. There is a whole worldwide internet out there just waiting for the 3DS to rule the stoop. that is definately something these Eshop Devs should consider when making their games to set themselves aside from the others. Nintendogs or Fakedogs is a perfect candidate for online play. Heck just an online dog park where you could visit with your friends and play with their virtual pets would be sweet or an online fishing game where you just hangout with friends in a boat or on a bank and catch fish together. Really just simple online play with some contests of some sort should be easy enough
If You were making a Nintendogs clone what would be the obvious feature to set your game apart from it? For me it would be online play. Just a simple online dogpark. Obvious or no?
I hear this just have a get together to play co-op well it would cost a fortune for me and my friend who lives in Alabama, I live in Nevada to have a weekly or monthly local wifi match Really nice on this streetpass and local wifi Nonsense
@kkslider5552000 LOL!
@Ben_RageV2 So people can know what to avoid. Would you want to waste money on a game only to find out it's no good? We need reviews out there for the bad games as well as the good ones, you know.
Hoo boy...this won't do too well lol
@Katy Ellis
Oh dear!
Sorry you had to go through that mental trauma @Katy @Katy @Katy @Katy @Katy
hehe!
pet games are pretty boring MARK MY WORDS
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