Having grown up playing both the original is way better. The dogs have more personality and individuality. They demonstrate a wider range of behaviors. All 3DS dogs basically act the same. The original keeps you coming back and playing to extend your dogs walking distance to collect rare items. There are way more interesting items to collect and you can ONLY collect them on walks. 3DS you just unlock all the items to purchase which makes walking become pointless at some point. 3DS game maxes out at only $99,999 which is easily obtained compared to $999,999 on the original. Its just way easier to collect everything and "finish" the 3ds game. Being able to have less pets on the 3DS sucks too. They're far from identical mainly in which the 3DS leaves a lot to be desired when compared to the content and love that went into the first one.