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(More customer reviews)With the digital pet craze for the past several years (and still growing) it was just a matter of time for LeapFrog to develop something to tap into it.
I just purchased the Pet Pals game for my 3.5 year old son, who has had a Leapster since his 3rd birthday.
The game begins by having the player choose one of three dogs and then naming the dog they chose instead of entering the player's name like in other Leapster games. Pet Pals then takes you to a virtual home with an entry area, a living area and a kitchen. Each room has things to click on (leash, wall picture, couch pillow, etc.) to play games. There are numerous amounts of games to choose from, some of which offer different levels. You earn "love" points for playing the games and you also earn coins that are stored in a piggy bank which you can spend at a store to buy food, shampoo, treats and clothing.
My son's current favorite games are the letter-writing practice (which is similar to the Mr. Pencil's letter-writing game, but is slightly less sensitive and less frustrating), the dog-walking (which has levels and depending on the level, for example, asks the player to walk the dog down streets collecting all the capital letters), and the tricks game (which has the player follow a series of instructions three times in order to teach their dog a particular trick). There are many more games to choose from such as dog washing, toss-and-catch, dress your dog and others. Playing all of these games ultimately leads to the player choosing the "dog show" game, where most of the other games are done collectively in order for the player's dog to win the dog show.
Now, with all of this going on, there is still the "virtual pet" part of the game where the player needs to care for their pet. The dog needs to be fed, watered, scratched, taken for walks (leads to dog-walking game), etc. The player needs to respond to his dog's needs in order to gain more love points. I read in the instructions that the player can loose love points for not taking care of their pet, but I have not paid attention to see how this happens.
This is probably my favorite Leapster game so far (out of all the Pre-K games) and seems to hold my son's interest much longer than any of the others ever have, even when they were brand-new. It has so many different game choices that will keep a player's attention for long periods and the idea of taking care of their own virtual pet (even though we have two real live ones) is it's own attraction to the game.
I HAVE ONE HUGE COMPLAINT! At the beginning, the player earns their dog an adoption certificate by following just a few care instructions for their pet. Pet Pals tells the player to go to www.leapsterworld.com to enter the secret code to print out their dog's adoption certificate. The problem is that LeapFrog has not yet (as of July '07) updated their LeapsterWorld website with the Pet Pals game. When you go into the Secret Codes section on the website, Pet Pals is not yet available to choose from for code entering. I have sent LeapFrog an email a few days ago and have not received a response. I would think that an educational toy company such as LeapFrog would have updated their website appropriately to correspond with the release of a game. My son is very dissapointed that he cannot print out his dog's adoption certificate. I guess I'll have to design my own for him until LeapFrog takes care of this, which I have no doubt they will.
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LeapFrog Leapster Learning Game Pet PalsThis will help you to learn important reading and math skills as you feed, groom and care for your puppy, take it for walks, play catch, and more. Then show what you know in the big dog show and win "money" by showing off your smarts. Kids will learn phonics skills, counting, letter writing and responsibility. For use with the Leapster Learning System or Leapster TV Learning System, this is sold separately.
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