Animal Crossing

"Two Years And Over 500 Hours Later, This Is Still My Favorite Game Of All Time"

Yes that's right, I may be one of the few people who likes this game more than any other game in the world. So after playing this game for almost two years I thought it was about time I wrote a review. So read on to see why I like this game so much.

Graphics- 7/10
The graphics in Animal Crossing really aren't the best GameCube's ever seen. Heck, the N64 already did graphics this good with Animal Forest, but in a game like this the graphics aren't really required to be spectacular. The good thing is that they weren't trying to pull off great graphics, so they look good for what they were trying to do. Now while the graphics aren't super, they did a great job with having detail for every little thing. By that I mean how the trees and grass change every month, and how every one of the fish and bugs look different. Not to mention that there are many different character faces. And the thing that is really cool is how every town is randomly generated, so no one has the same looking town. All these little touches really add to the personality of the game. So overall while the graphics don't look like anything special, just the changing of it and the differences in everything make it so much more real.

Gameplay- 10/10
This is where the whole of Animal Crossing is. The game starts with your character on a train, he or she is moving to a new town to start a new life. You meet a cat on the train you asks you your name, determines your gender, where you are moving, and ask you a few more questions about yourself which determines what your characters face will look like. You then tell him you have no money, so he hooks you up with a guy in town named Tom Nook who agrees to give you a loan on a new house. When you get the your town Nook shows you around, then tells you to meet him at your shop so that you can start working to pay off your debt. He gives you a few jobs, including meeting everyone in town, planting some flowers, and delivering a few items for him. After you do that he takes a little bit of money off your debt, then tells you that you must pay the rest of your debt off yourself. And that is where the real game begins, from here on out you can do whatever you want whenever you want, and there is so much to do. You need to earn money to pay off your debt. You can earn money buy fishing or catching insects then selling them, doing errands for neighbors, and you can even find money in the rocks, trees, and underground. Once you pay off your debt Nook will tell you that if you give him more money he will upgrade your house for you. There are about four upgrades that you can get which make your house bigger and adds a basement and an upstairs, but the price can get really steep by the end of it. It usually takes about a month of playing before you can fully pay off your debt for all the upgrades.

Now we need to talk about time. The coolest thing about Animal Crossing is that it runs off of your GameCube's internal clock. So whatever time and date it is where you live, it is also that time and date in Animal Crossing. So depending on what time it is the light of day will be different, stores will be opened or closed, and the villagers will do different things. And depending on the date the seasons will change, and different events can happen when they will actually happen in real life. The time is really what makes Animal Crossing what it is, as you will want to play often so you can catch everything that will happen.

Anyway back the rest of the game. As well as upgrading your house Tom Nook will also upgrade his shop a few times, so he will carry more and more items. And now we get into another huge part of Animal Crossing, items. There are hundreds and hundreds of items you can get. Most of them are different types of furniture you can put in your house. There are also other things you can get like a shovel, an axe, a fishing pole, a bug net, an umbrella, all of which are used for obvious reasons. There are about one hundred types of fish and bugs that you can catch, and they all come out at different seasons and in different times of the day, as well as in different places (some fish only appear in the ocean, some bugs only appear under rocks). Once you catch those things you can keep them and display them in your house, sell them, or donate them to the museum. You can also dig up fossils and find paintings that you can donate as well. Another big part of Animal Crossing is fixing up your town. You can plant different flowers and trees anywhere in your town. So apart from the fact that your town is already randomized, you can make it even more different from other towns. There is even a thing that ranks the condition of your town, and something else that ranks the condition of your house, so you can shoot for the top. Your town also has ten to fifteen villagers which can move in and out and random. There are about one hundred different villagers that you can have in your town, but like I said it's random. They all have different personalities to, and will say different things when you talk to them.

There are a few major places in your town. There is Nook's store, which I already talked about. A tailor shop where you can design patterns to make into clothing, wallpaper, flags, signs, and carpet. There is a police station that finds lost items and keeps tabs on people coming to your town. A wishing well which is really the center of your town and where most events are held. And last the post-office. A big part of Animal Crossing is mailing letters. You can write letters to anyone in your town, and even include gifts. And of course they will write you back. Every town also has a river and a lake, as well as some holding ponds, and the location of all of them is randomized. Each town is also divided into two or three levels, which makes every town even more different from each other.

Another big feature of Animal Crossing is multiplayer. There are two different types of multiplayer. The first is having multiple people live in your town. You can have up to four people living in the same town, doing the same things every day. While only one person can play at a time, you can send letters, write notes, and give items to the other people. Your villagers will also talk about the other people in your town. The second way is to visit another town. If you have a friend with an Animal Crossing file you can plug in both memory cards and one of you can go to the other person's town. While they are there they can buy items, meet the villagers, or just wreck havoc. As you can see since each town is different in nearly every way this can be a lot of fun.

The last major thing I can talk about are the extra features. Animal Crossing utilizes the GameBoy Advance link cable in a few ways. The first is to let you go to a tropical island in the GameCube if you connect the two systems. On the island is a beach house for you to decorate as well as an islander for you to befriend. And if you want you can take the island with you in your GameBoy Advance to play with on the go. You can also connect the GameBoy Advance to take the pattern design program with you in your GameCube Advance. You can also use the E-Reader and E-Cards to download different patterns, items, and songs. So in all, there so many different things you can do in Animal Crossing, you will be playing for a very long time.

Story- 6/10
There really isn't that big a story to Animal Crossing. Nothing more than I've already described. But most life-sims don't really have a story because the story is however you want to live it.

Control- 10/10
The controls are very simple, as there really isn't that much to control. The control stick moves. “B”, “L”, and “R” run. “A” talks, uses an item, or does an action depending on what you facing or holding. “X” brings up a map. And “Y” and Start bring up you items menu. As you can see it's so simple, there are really no control problems at all.

Sound Music- 9/10
Simple but great. There really aren't to many sounds in the game, but it doesn't really need it. I guess it could have been a little more in-depth, but you'll be to immersed in the game to notice. As for the music it is great. Everything is very simple, but fits everything well. The background music changes every hour, and there's also a different song for when it's raining, as well as a remix of all the hourly music when it's snowing. Each event also has it's own music. So it's simple but great.

Replay Value- 10/10
If I could give this higher than 10 I would. I can guarantee you will play the game nearly every day for at least two months. After you pay off your debt some people get a little bored with it, but some people don't. I got the game the day it came out (almost two years ago), and I STILL play it nearly every day. So it really depends how much you get into the game. If you can find the fun in doing stuff after you pay off your debt then you will play for a long time. If you can't then you will probably play for two months and never play again.

Recap-
Graphics- 7/10
Gameplay- 10/10
Story- 6/10
Control- 10/10
Sound/Music- 9/10
Replay Value- 10/10
Final Score- 10/10

Buy, Rent, or Not Bother-
Like I said, this is my favorite game not only on GameCube, but of all time. The only reason you shouldn't buy it is if you don't like any life-sims at all. But if you even some-what like them you should definitely buy, as this is a definite AAA title on GameCube. The level or quality is high, the gameplay is innovative and fun, and you will probably play this for a very long time. Not to mention since it came out nearly two years ago and is a Player's Choice title, you should be able to get it for $20 or $30. So if you don't have it go and buy it as soon as possible, you won't be disappointed.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 08/23/04, Updated 08/25/04