Animal Crossing

"What do you get if you mix Nintendo and crazy animals?"

Animal Crossing…The name itself may bring confusion to the uninitiated. The first thing that came to my mind when I first heard of the name was a scene of some animals crossing the road using a zebra crossing(hence the Crossing). And it couldn’t be further from the truth.

Gamers have longed for originality in their games.And for the most part, the developers have been happy to comply. Seaman for the Dreamcast, Fighter Maker and RPG Maker for the Playstation, even to a certain extent Grand Theft Auto 3 on the PS2. They all brought something new to the table,be it free roaming gameplay,the power to create your own fighters or even taking virtual life to a new level.All of them break some sort of boundary previously set and blazes a new trail for others to follow. Animal Crossing(or AC from now on) is another one to add to the growing number of niche titles. Animal Crossing,like most of the others listed earlier,defies fitting in.It stands in a genre of its own(how else are you going to classify a ‘game’ that has no clear ‘goal’?).That’s right,kiddies.No goal…at ALL. You’re given free reign to do whatever you please when you please(although there’re restrictions on what is allowed…unlike the uber RPG Morrowind.More on that later).

Wet your appetites,have I?Well,I’m just getting started.Let’s get down to the gritty part of AC.

Gameplay:Animal Crossing is typical Nintendo fare.What do I mean?Basically,it’s a cutesy looking game that has no violence or any of the hooks most games usually parade as the ‘next best thing’. What it does have however,is gameplay.Something most big budget games nowadays still can’t get right.AC has gameplay filled to the brim. The premise of AC(and its main claim to fame) are its nonlinear nature and it’s innovative use of real time and dates. You’re asked for the time and date as you begin the game and from then onwards,it’s all real time.From the moment you board the train to your town,you know the game’s different than others that you’ve played.The reason?The first character you meet is a talking cat.It’ll then proceed to ask your name and your town’s name.After that it’ll offer to get in touch with her(it’s?) friend so you can buy a house in your new town.As the train stops at your town,you alight and meet for the first time a raccoon called Tom Nook.He’s the friend of the cat earlier and he’ll sell you a house.During the first few hours(or days) in AC,you’ll probably spend your time clearing your debt to Tom.Once you’ve done that the game lets you do anything you want.You can dig holes in the ground to plant trees,design your own custom textures to use as your clothes(or even as an umbrella or wallpaper in you house),do favors for the town’s animal inhabitants(which are random in EVERY new game you start).Or if doing menial tasks like that don’t suit your fancy,you can go fishing or even bug catching.Catch enough types of bugs and fish and there may be a great reward or two waiting.Writing letters tickle your fancy?Then by all means,write letters to the animals or even to other players(provided a friend or family member is living in your town).I haven’t even mentioned about feng shui that rates your house or going to the dump to salvage items.Or even donating fossils to the Farway Museum and playing with retro NES games such as pinball or tennis.Needless to say,the diversions in AC is nearly endless…

Even if you’re sick of playing in your animal village you can travel to another town or an island.The town’s accessible ONLY if you use another memory card with an AC save on it(so it pays to have TWO blank memory cards).But the rewards for going to another town is worth it.The new town may have fruits you don’t have in YOUR town(they sell more than the fruits in your town if you sell them to Tom) and also probably animals you never met before(and maybe even some that you met in your town but have moved to the second memory card).Which brings me to another plus in favor of AC’s gameplay,the inhabitants of your village never stay in YOUR village for long.You’ll never be stuck with the same faces for more than a few weeks at most.After a few weeks or even days,some of your regular villagers may move and new animals take their place.The villagers that move will sometimes even migrate to another town(the second memory card comes in handy here if you want to meet them again).In the new town,you can do whatever you could do in your town.The only drawback is you have to go back to your own town whenever you want to save.Why didn’t Nintendo include a portable saving system is anybody’s guess but it’s a bit of a pain to travel to and fro to save.

Going to another island’s going to take some work but it’s just as fun as going to a new town.To go to a new island,you’ll need a Game Boy Advance and a Gamecube to Game Boy Advance link cable.Just hook them up and talk to Kapp’n at the pier and he’ll take you to the island(again,you can name it yourself).On the island you’ll meet other strange things(I wont spoil it for you but suffice to say,the GC to GBA connectivity is brilliantly utilized).

BUT that’s not all there is to the GBA connectivity.With an E-Card reader and some AC cards(sold in packets like those of Magic the Gathering cards),you can add new tunes into the game,furniture or even NES games.All downloadable from the cards.Amazing,huh?

Gameplay Rating:8/10

Visuals:Most people will find this the weakest part of an otherwise great package.The graphics and textures in the game look horrible…well,not really but they don’t seem to really push the capabilities of the GC.In fact,the N64 could probably handle the graphics without so much as a stutter.This isn’t so much as a surprise since the game was originally an N64 title(it was even released in Japan a few years back as Animal Forest).The character models aren’t made of a lot of polygons and the textures on some clothing and faces of the animals are really blurry when zoomed in.But COMPARED to the N64’s Animal Forest,AC’s textures are noticeably cleaner and the polygon models sharper.Everything’s smooth with no aliasing to be seen but somehow,it seems really plain and uninspired when you KNOW the GC’s capable of more…so MUCH more.On the other hand,the character designs are really cool(at least in my opinion).There’s a dog who sings,a cat without a face(you can even draw it’s face for it.Needless to say that’s a HOOT!) and others I think even I haven’t seen(there’re supposed to be more than a hundred unique animals in the game).And some the animals are….umm…..how should I say this….weird.But weird in a cool sort of way.How else are you going to explain an insomniac Hippo who keeps saying hippie at the end of his sentences?

Visuals Rating:5/10

Sound:If you ever played Super Mario Sunshine or any of Nintendo’s past games,you know what to expect from the music department.Catchy tunes abound in this game ranging from titles like K.K’s Love song(my favourite) to K.K’s Waltz.But to hear a lot of the songs you need to EARN them or download them from the E-reader cards.You can even make you own little ditty to listen to if you want.So don’t give up if you only hear a measly number of tunes in the beginning.The animals also have their own voices.Well…not voices per se more like grunts and squeaks.Anybody who’s played Banjo Kazooie on the N64 will know what I’m talking about.I’ll explain what I mean for those who haven’t.Whenever you talk to an animal,it has it’s own personal sound.So if you talk to a cat,expect to hear some mewing as the text scrolls across the screen.Like in Banjo,the use of said technique works well here.The sounds are really funny for most of the animals and succeed in giving personality to the creatures without resorting to actual voice overs by actors.

Sound Rating:7/10

Controls:Well,there’s not much to be said here.Most of the actions in the game revolve using only the A and B buttons while the X and Y buttons bring up the inventory screen and map screens respectively(the C-Stick only comes into play in houses to zoom in or adjust the camera).And the game takes place from a top down view so camera issues are practically non-existent.Since the controls take practically no time at all to pick up,the learning curve for this game is practically nothing.Nintendo’s reputation for creating tight controlling games continue with this latest creation.Moving your persona using the analog stick is easy and very responsive.If you intend to move up,press up.If you want to move right,direct the stick to the right.Easy,right?Thought so.

Control Review:10/10

Summary:All in all Animal Crossing is worth every bit of the money you’ll spend.It’s longevity is unmatched(after all,this is a game that CAN’T end) and it’s unique nature will doubtless be a breath of fresh air to those who want something other than the average game.

PROS:
-Nonlinear gameplay
-Great Character Designs
-Innovative gameplay that involve real time and days to trigger special events
-Great customization options
-Loads of hidden NES games
CONS:
-Plain graphics
-No save anywhere feature
-Need a lot of things(GBA,GC to GBA link cable,an extra blank memory card)to experience everything the game has to offer
-You need to wait for specific times for specific events(since it follows real time you really HAVE to wait)

TOTAL SCORE:8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/01/02, Updated 10/01/02