Meet your kids’ newest pet: Wappy the robotic dog! Wappy Dog is a Nintendo DS game that comes with a real life robot dog toy. Both the game and the robot interact with each other. Use the DS to communicate with Wappy and care for him. Feed, clean, and play with Wappy on the DS, and you can even play games with or against Wappy. Pet the robot Wappy on his back and he’ll even respond! Just make sure not to pull his tail!

The DS game has two modes: Home Mode and Travel Mode. Home Mode is where you play with the robot toy and the DS together. Use the menu screen and tap on what you want to say to Wappy. Phrases include calling and praising Wappy in various ways, and you can even ask what Wappy wants to do or eat. Wappy will bark back and the DS will translate what he is saying. If Wappy is hungry, you can tap from a selection of foods that Wappy wants (he has a bit of a sweet tooth, though, as most of the selections include ice cream, cake, and other desserts). You can even tell Wappy to do a little dance, tell your fortune, or sing a song.

Play a quick game of Rock, Paper, Scissors with Wappy, or try a few arcade style mini-games. There are four in all. Each one has a slight variant from Home Mode to Travel Mode. For instance, in one game you might need to tap more moles than Wappy in a whack-a-mole challenge, while in the other mode, you may have to tap Wappy a certain number of times instead. Or Wappy may help you find hidden food items in one game, or he’ll try to find the foods before you do in the other mode. Playing games and taking care of Wappy increases your friendship meter, and when Wappy levels up, new games, tricks, and other goodies open up.

The other game mode is Travel Mode. When you can’t take the robot Wappy with you, you can save his ‘heart’ to your DS and play with him on the go on your DS screen. This mode is more akin to other virtual pet games like Nintendogs. Use the stylus and touch screen to pet Wappy, play Cooking Mama style games to feed him, scrub him clean, play with toys, and more. Tap the whistle to have Wappy do tricks, and you can play mini-games here, too. You can also change virtual Wappy’s color and decorate his ears with accessories. Then send Wappy’s heart back to the robot toy when you are ready to play again.

Wappy Dog does have a few problems and quibbles that you may want to know about, though. First of all, the toy does not include batteries, so you’ll need to have three AA’s on hand to power him up. Wappy responds to the DS through sound, but he’s a mite bit persnickety. You have to play with Wappy in a very quiet place, and have the DS less than three feet away with the volume turned up to max. And even then, Wappy still didn’t quite understand everything the first time. Plus, Wappy works better with a DS, not a 3DS, even the instructions say so. Wappy can lower himself down, turn his head, make his eyes and cheeks light up, and bark, but that’s about all the toy can do. Plus, transferring Wappy’s heart from DS to robot and back can be a little confusing at first. But even with these problems, Wappy Dog is still a cute toy and game for kids.

Kid Factor:

So is Wappy Dog right for your kids? Well, they need to have good reading ability to navigate the menus, and be responsible enough to take good care of their toys. Some kids may lose interest quicker than what you would like, also. But if your child is asking for a robot dog for Christmas, Wappy Dog is probably the best pick this year. Wappy is a very cute toy, and the game is rated E for Everyone.

Tags: Game Reviews