Animal Crossing Review
This game simply rocks. It’s a living, thriving, interactive life, but in a game. You help people, collect furniture, pay off bills, go fishing, visit friend’s towns, steal lost items, take a boat to a tropical island, and that’s not even the top of the barrel of tricks this game has. Name off anything you’ve ever wanted to do in a simulation game, its here. There is no limit. You can completely customize your game, with your own songs, clothes, designs, wallpapers, and carpets. Or you can stay original and use what the game has to offer. Limitless possibilities, in a limitless game. Its like The Sims meets Harvest Moon, and any gamer can love it.
I hope you are a gamer who does not get turned off by bad graphics, because this game is quite ugly. Up close the character models are very muddied and edgy, worse than some N64 or PSX games. But, when the camera is pulled away (like it is in 90% of the game) everyone looks fairly next-gen, and the polygons are more smoothed out and graphics never glitch (example of glitch: hand goes through wall). Please do not keep your mind on this game’s graphics, if you do the whole experience will go to the crapper.
If you pick up the Nintendo Power strategy guide for this game and look at the index of items you’ll be in awe. There are so many different furniture items, so much different clothes, dozens and dozens of different carpeting and wallpaper designs, and many, many different characters to interact with. Also, everyone’s town is much like a snowflake; you’ll never find one exactly the same, or with the same animals.
But wait, I haven’t mentioned the hugest element of the game’s gameplay, real-time play. This means that the whole game runs concurrently with the exact hour, minute, day, month and year in which you are playing it. When its Christmas in real time, Christmas is going on in the game. On April Fool’s day fellow citizens will play little pranks on you. And even on the 4th of July there will be a fireworks show.
Other miscellaneous events are always happening throughout the year, these including sales, sports fairs, special visitors, and the like. There will never be a dull moment in this game, with your house getting bigger all the time, shells to collect, bugs to snatch, and fish to catch, there is almost to much great gameplay in this game for one to handle.
Hold up! There is almost too much gameplay for your memory card to handle. That’s why this game is specially packed with a Memory Card 59 so you can save your massive town file (57 blocks) and your letter and NES save data. Yes, if you haven’t already heard, this game includes 13 playable NES classics. All the more reasons to get this game!
Animal Crossing has extremely versatile, but simple controls. First of all, the A button will be your primary select/action button, X access an extremely helpful map of your unique town, and the C-Stick moves the camera around inside houses and other indoor areas, and finally the B or L or R buttons allow your character to run when you completely press the control stick in one direction. Letting you use one all three of these buttons is a great addition, considering you could’ve just picked up Eternal Darkness, which makes you press L to run, or if you have picked up Resident Evil, where B is the run button. I would recommend using L to run, as it is the most comfortable, and you’ll be able to run using only one hand. Also, B is used to pick up items, so reserving it for that one duty is a good idea. After maybe five minutes, at the most, you’ll have these controls down, ready to take on the Animal Crossing world.
No your game is not messed up, and no you don’t need hearing aides, the Animal Crossing folk do actually speak in that weird dialect which resembles that of the voice of some computer programs (cough Bonzi Buddy cough). After awhile you’ll notice that the strange voices aren’t that awkward and some of them make the game just a little more interesting and fun.
One of the many strong points in this game is that every hour the in-game music changes completely. As soon as your town song has rang over the clock at the train station you’ll hear a whole new beat, with a new mood for the hour. When will the diversities of this game end!?
Sound effects of this game are average, nothing really to be impressed over. Laughing sounds like laughing, crickets sound like crickets, and the reward jingles give you that nice feeling that you did something right for once. It all fits in just fine.
Wow, I never heard the word “Nintendo” said this weird. Yeah, that’s right, you get to hear the AC peoples weird voices right from the start, with the presentation of the Nintendo racetrack logo. After that the game comes to the title screen and Animal Crossing forms on the top half of your screen. So, maybe this game doesn’t really catch your eye from the start, you’ll learn to love it. But you’ll always hate that freakin’ blue cat on the train. Oh I hate him!
But wait, where are the options? It took me a little while to figure this out too, but if, right before you load/start your game, you select “Before I go…” it will take you to an options menu where you change the time, date, sound setting etc. Like the sound, this game’s presentation is a little above average, but nothing special.
The game never ends. It’s that simple. You’ll be playing it almost every day to see what’s new. You might even wake up Christmas day, not to open your presents at home, but to turn on AC to see what you got in the mail. I won’t, but hey, I know someone will. Animal Crossing is a living adventure, and not until you have every item, have spoken and made friendships with every animal, have filled your museum to the brim, will you ever be even close to being “done.” In this game done is not a word. Beat isn’t a word. And completed is a word. The game goes on and on, and your playing should too.
This is another “go out and get this game now.” Pull that wallet your sitting on out, get down to a store and buy this mother! It’ll keep you playing until the end. And, rest assured, even if you didn’t like The Sims or any of the Harvest Moon games you still have a chance at loving this game. I have talked to many The Sims/Harvest Moon haters who own Animal Crossing and love it. But, it’s all in your personal gaming taste. Go out and take a stab at your own virtual, animal-filled life. That’s an order, get off your ass and buy it.
Visuals: 7.5
Sound: 9
Originality: 10
Replay: 10
Overall: 9