Hey Chris, super stoked to know we’ve been able to capture that feeling for you! I also grew up playing many pet games on the DS (although these were more so taking care of them): Dogz, Nintendogs, Petz Bunnyz.
In hindsight, would definitely have spent more time optimizing the car game (struggled with time, ambitious plans LOL). The idea was to introduce minigames early on, but agree that does take away from the exploration and story-building. LESSONS LEARNED!
Thank you for your time & feedback! :D