Animal Crossing Review
What do you get when you mix The Sims and Pokemon? You get Animal Crossing for the GameCube. Before I start off, let me tell you that this game is weird. And that’s not for the bad, either.
I was very skeptical about Animal Crossing as I came home with it in hand. I’ve heard bad, I’ve heard good, so I decided to give it a shot. When I started the game I was greeted by Totokeke, and the next thing I knew was that I was on a train talking to a cat. Setting up the game is pretty easy, and seems like real life. In fact, the entire game seems like real life. I think Nintendo got the point across pretty well.
Control is very well done. “A” is used to talk to someone, read a sign, or to move furniture. “B” is for picking up an item, the “C Stick” is for manuevering the camera angle in a building, the “Control Stick” is for moving the character. “R” and “L” are used to make the character run. “X” lets you view your map, while “Y” really doesn’t have any intention. Moving your character is easy to do. The town is represented in “acres”, and knowing what acre you’re in is similar to Battleship. Control moves very smoothly and adds charm to the game.
Sound is very, well, “cute.” The music is very delightful. Somewhat, it reminds me of the music in Pokemon games. The whole soundtrack is cheerful, although you don’t see a lot of background music. During the game you hear your footsteps on the grass or concrete, and the voice of the character you’re talking to. Of course, it’s all just a bunch of jibberish, but that’s what the text bubbles are for. Sound effects are presented in great fashion, every “bleep,” “blop,” and “bloop” sounds good.
The graphics are the only downside here. Characters are kind of jagged looking, and light inside a house at night looks really, really bad when a door is open. This is all because Animal Crossing originally was a planned N64 game, but it wasn’t worth putting it on a nearly dead system. The entire game looks cartoony, and so do backgrounds. The cartoon look is nice, and all is pleasant. I wouldn’t recommend this gme to people looking for blood and guts action.
Now for the most important part, the real-time clock. If you play at 8:00 AM, the other residents of your town will either be inside their home, sleeping, or just coming out to say hello. If you are playing at 3:00 PM, it will be very bright and sunny, or in some cases it will be raining. However, there is no real-time weather tracker, although then we’d be asking for a bit too much. If you are playing at 10:30 PM, it will be dark, and all the shops will be closed until tomorrow. Most residents will be inside sleeping. There are also events that take place on holidays, such as Halloween, when there may be a spooky festival going on. The real-time clock is the coolest part of Animal Crossing.
Although the game is not multiplayer, it is possible to have more than one person play the game. A little boy might play in the morning, his mom in the afternoon, a sister at sundown, and the father when he comes home from work late at night. They can all have separate homes and write each other letters, give each other gifts, and so on.
In conclusion, Animal Crossing is a game with something for all ages to enjoy. It has tons of replay value, with so much to do, it’ll keep you busy for a long, long time. It’s a fun, family-oriented game to play, and the first of its kind. I highly recommend Animal Crossing, Nintendo has created a masterpiece.
Visuals: 9
Sound: 9
Originality: 10
Replay: 10
Overall: 9