Animal Crossing

"Better than The Sims"

Animal Crossing was my first Gamecube title I decided to pick up; I decided to buy it because I used to play The Sims on my friends computer whenever I would go over to his house and Animal Crossing seemed very similar, it was also a players choice and was inexpensive. When I first saw it I knew it would be a game I would like: Animals, cartoony graphics, a dog that can play guitar, etc. What else could you want? A guitar playing dog seems pretty nifty to me. So I went out to my local Gamestop and picked it up, very excited to get home and play it. I turned my Gamecube on and put the game on where I was welcomed by a dog and then found myself on a train talking to a stranger figuring out who my character was. I find out that I don't have a place to live and the cat that welcomed me on the train tells me he has connections with a raccoon named Tom Nook and can get me one of four houses I get to choose from. I then learn that I don't have any money so how do I pay for this house? Well, luckily enough Tom Nook is a nice guy and lets me work for him to pay off the rest of the house. So the point of this game seems to just be paying off Tom Nook, right? Wrong, this is not even what a 1/100 of the game is about. So after paying off Tom Nook I decide to stop playing for the day and turn the game off. I come back the next day turning the game off realizing that the game doesn't have autosave and I would have to do everything over again. As the game loads and I come out of my house I am greeted by an angry mole who is yelling at me for reseting the game without saving telling me that life isn't a game; pure genius. I was most definitely not let down, and now here I am 2 years later writing this review.

Graphics: Hey, the graphics aren't all up to date but it doesn't interfere with the game. The graphics are pretty simple; and to me, simplicity is great. Nothing is blurred, but nothing is amazing either. So overall the graphics are pretty average, and I can deal with average graphics as long as the rest of the elements make up for it. Another thing is that the graphics don't need to be crystallized and detailed; it's a cartoony game and is supposed to have cartoony graphics. Alot of people really seem to not give this game a chance due to it's graphics because of how shallow they are; but hey, it's their loss. It really isn't hard to tell that this was originally a Nintendo 64 game though. You did know it was originally a Nintendo 64 game, didn't you?

Sound: The sound, like most everything else in the game, is great. All of the tunes being played throughout the game are catchy and quirky. Some sounds may get repetitive such as the sounds when you catch a fish or catch an insect, but it's alright, it doesn't get annoying. Each town also has their own melody; if you find yourself getting bored of your town melody you can customize it to whatever pleases your ears; my town melody, for example, is part of the theme from the original Donkey Kong game, the on with Mario having to save the Princess. The biggest pro for sound is the weekly music you can obtain from Totake each Saturday night (the dog that plays guitar). He'll play a song for you and then give you an aircheck to you so you can listen to it in your own pad. In your own house you can have a stereo in each room playing a different tune; the tunes you get to choose from are from the songs you have Totake play for you each week. I can, of course, go into alot more detail concerning the sound but we don't have all day here.

Difficulty: Is there a difficulty to this game? No, I don't think so. It basically comes down to each individual player and their own personal goals within the game. It can be a really easy game for you, or a moderately easy game. The challenges within the game basically come down to a matter of patience; if your patient with this game, any goal you set for yourself can happen. The controls for this game are also very simple making this game an even easier experience. Easy isn't always bad though.

Characters: The characters seem to be such a big part of the game I think I'll add in my own little section about them. There are so many different characters and so many different personalities. You can also probably find every animal you can think of as a character. From the moment you start playing the game you have a few animal neighbors in town; as you live there longer you start to have more animals moving into your town. As you play even longer, some animals will move out and some will move in. Alot of the time if you visit your friends town you will end up having one of their neighbors moving into your town and one of your neighbors moving out of your town into your friends. I found myself loving some characters and hating others. At times I found myself being happy that someone was moving out, and sometimes sad that someone was moving out. I did find myself getting attached to many of the animals. One thing that seemed to confuse me was why they didn't have fish as neighbors but they had octopuses. If they can't have fish as neighbors because they need to live in water then what about octopuses? That is definitely a mystery I will be sure to look into.

Gameplay: Wow, definitely the strongest aspect of the game. Where do I start? Well, Animal Crossing is basically living another simple life with animals. You plant flowers, send mail, pay off your house, go fishing, catch insects, design clothes, chat with neighbors, visit other towns, go shopping, dig up fossils, take a boat to your island, celebrate holidays, hit your neighbors with a net, dig holes around your neighbor to trap them, get your fortune read, visit the lost and found at the police station, deposit and withdraw money at the local bank, ride a train, find a strange pelican passed out on the beach, collect seashells, wear different clothes, paint your roof, decorate your house, play NES games, collect gyroids, order items from a catalogue, run errands for you neighbors, buy wallpaper from a walrus, buy turnips from a lady, participate in the monthly lottery, etc. I can go on and on about what there is to do in this game, it's amazing. This game is pure fun.

Replay Value: The replay value for this game is definitely high. How long have I had this game now? 2 years roughly, and I still play it. This game is more addicting than nicotine; well that might not be true as I'm not a smoker. But really, I've been playing this game for 2 years already and don't plan on quitting anytime soon, it'd be too hard. All of my friends that own this game are also still playing it; we made a bet for who would stop playing first but realized none of us would win. Maybe I'm over exaggerating a little bit. But the point I'm basically trying to get to is that this game has one of the highest replay values ever. Don't pass it up.

Overall: This game is a 10/10 and deserves it well. Every single aspect might not be a 10 out of 10, *cough* graphics, but when you add everything up it definitely receives the score of 10/10. This game is in my top 5 favorite games of all time and will most likely always remain there. I told myself I would try not to write a review on a game until I have finished it completely 100%, but this game has to be an exception. It'll at least take you a year to finish this game completely: certain fish in certain seasons, certain insects in certain seasons, different town models during different holidays and occasions. Some say this game is overwhelming and has too much in it while trying to do too much. It's really not the case at all, this game becomes very simple and addicting after awhile. One thing that may be somewhat annoying is making some events without cheating as this game is set in real time. Some things, such as aerobic classes in the morning I had to miss due to me not wanting to wake up that early. And sometimes you might miss out on some holiday events because you're doing things with your friends and family. You can, of course, cheat and mess with the clock by going back in time or going ahead. All in all, this game has no main goal, you just live your simple yet beautiful life in the world of Animal Crossing. This game really is a gem while being highly underrated. I hope someday to live a life with animals as my neighbors in peace and harmony ; oh wait, all I have to do is play Animal Crossing.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 12/26/05