Jerry Rice and Nitus' Dog Football Review

In a fusion of wild ideas and strange gameplay that you'd never see on the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360, Jerry Rice and Nitus' Dog Football is, to me, a pure representation of all things Wii.

It's family-oriented. It's motion-controlled. It's populated with happy, smiling cartoon avatars, it's based on the preposterous concept of dogs suiting up in uniforms and playing football against each other and, to really top it all off, it's actually presented by the voice and likeness of one of the best players in NFL history.

And his dog.

That insane mixture of elements was so intriguing to me that I just had to go out, buy this game and play it for myself – and now I've reviewed it for you. Are you ready for some dog football?

The sport is exactly what it sounds like it would be – traditional American football with first downs, touchdowns and all the rest of the normal rules – except that dogs are the players. Golden retrievers are receivers. Yorkshire terriers are tight ends. Labradors are linebackers. (You get the idea.)

The only non-dog on your team is your quarterback, who's still a human. They command the squad and get every play going – taking the snap then launching a pass way downfield, or getting a run play started by doing a short toss to a nearby pooch who then grips the ball in his mouth and dashes forward toward the goal.

It's definitely different, as the dogs get all the focus. The human QB never moves, so there's no option to ever take off toward the goal on your own two feet – the ball must be passed off and run on four legs instead.

That took some mental adjustment for me to get used to, and I didn't like that decision at first – but then I remembered I was playing a game called Dog Football and looked on the bright side of it.

Keeping the focus entirely on the dogs when the action starts keeps things simpler, as the game seeks to streamline the interface and make it accessible to anyone (the family-oriented part). I think it succeeds in that too – controlling your dog's running path is as simple as pointing the Wii Remote at the screen to move a floating bone cursor that he'll always run straight toward, and you can even go one step simpler than that by just holding down the A Button to activate an auto-run option that will make the AI take over for you and determine the best path to the end zone automatically.


And the dogs-only focus makes more sense once your dog is off and running too, because each field has been built with them in mind. There are interactive objects spread across each arena – tunnels for small dogs to dash through, platforms for them to jump off of and walls and dividers to dodge around to evade the incoming defense. They're all neat ideas and make running with the football more interesting than trekking across empty, featureless fields as a human being would be.

Dog Football also uses the same cursor/pointer control to direct your dogs when you're on the defensive side of things, while Wii Remote shakes are thankfully used only sparingly and in appropriate circumstances – avoiding the pitfall of "too much waggle" that so many Wii titles have succumbed to over the years. Developer Judobaby then surrounds this core gameplay with a good variety of modes and options, like tutorials to learn the game, full season challenges that unlock more teams and a character customizer that lets you make your dogs and human QBs look even goofier with different clothing options and colors.

All around the game is surprisingly well done for a freshman effort from a new studio, and at its budget-friendly price I could see lots of families having fun with good old Dog Football here.

But, all that said, the game is still clearly a freshman effort – and you'll be reminded of that in a few irksome ways each time you play.


The first is in how choppy everything is. The game runs smoothly once a play is in progress, but anytime there's a screen transition the whole display hiccups a bit and pauses awkwardly for a second. (And there are a lot of screen transitions, as your position is reset after every down.) It's a jarring visual that I hope this team will be able to iron out of any future releases.

The audio side of things unfortunately gets annoying too, as the human QB characters spout off one-liners at a nearly constant clip – selling their stereotyped personalities too strongly and too often. Yes, I understand that Madison is a Beverly Hills rich girl. I don't need to hear her crack the same joke about having lots of cash every five seconds.

And, finally, I was disappointed that the stars of the game are M.I.A. from the start. Jerry Rice and Nitus should have been unlocked characters by default – I was looking forward to jumping right in and taking command of them, and I worry that other NFL fans grabbing Dog Football on the strength of Jerry's endorsement will be similarly let down that his voicework is the only part of him that appears right away.

Those are the issues. They're certainly noteworthy, and Dog Football absolutely could have been smoother visually, less annoying audibly and had Jerry show up ready to play from the beginning. But if you can forgive Dog Football its faults and keep an open mind about its overall oddness, you and your family could have some genuine fun here.

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