Harvest Moon

"Pulling weeds has never been so fun!"

Back in '97, a little-known game was published. I remember first reading about it in a Nintendo Power magazine, passing it off as another SimFarm, and for a while, forgetting about it.

It's a good thing I didn't.

Gameplay - 10/10

Well, everyone knows this is the most important score, and apparently, so does Natsume. Everything is done flawlessly. You can plant crops in small 3x3 parcels of land, but you have to be careful, and decide the structure of your crops so as to both maximize yield and maximize harvesting speed. Time passes in an accelerated real-time, so you don't have all day, or all year. You're given a two-year time span to make your farm successful, so you'd better get to it!

Then, there's the rest of the game. What, did you think it was all farming? How silly. There's also a dating sim. That's right, a dating sim. You get to hang out with the local girls, and in a frightening parallel to the real world, you have to give them gifts -- lots of gifts. All of this goes towards spending those moonlight new years nights to eventually marry the girl of your dreams. Then, you can even have a kid! Of course, taking proper care of your kid requires a bevy of expansions to your ramshackle house, but that's the cost of living, eh?

All in all, the gameplay is superb. There's a huge variety of things for you to do, but spoiling it wouldn't be any fun, now would it?

Graphics - 7/10

So, the graphics aren't exactly astonishing. Most other games that were released around the same time, or even a bit before, completely blow this game out of the water in the visual department. Landscapes in Harvest Moon look pretty good, almost up to the level of titles like Star Ocean, but character graphics fall horribly flat. They look like Dragon Quest Characters, and we all know how THOSE turn out.

However, I can't complain too much. The graphics are more than passable, and don't really harm playability at all. Plus, they've aged pretty well, as I'm sure you could guess, given the time this review was written.

Sound and Music - 9/10

There's little to complain about here. Like all SNES game music, and most game music in general, it's extremely repetitive, but it's whimsical enough to not be boring and monotonous. Repetitive, but not repetitious is the mantra here.

The sounds themselves are all very clear, and not fuzzy at all. They fit the need they're given, and are as good as anyone could ask for.

Story - N/A

There's no real story in the game -- only an objective. Therefore, it's neither realistic nor fair to even give it a score.

Replayability - 10/10

This is one of the most replayable SNES games you'll ever find. There's so much to do that you won't likely do everything you can in one playthrough. Even then, there's a lot of things that physically can't be done in one run, and even after you've done everything, the game is fun enough that you can just go right on through again.

Fun Factor - 9/10

The game has such a simple and seemingly-dull concept, but trust me on this, it's loads of fun. You may just be pulling weeds and breaking rocks, then realize you just spent two hours on it, when it only felt like minutes. Sometimes, however, the farming aspect can get boring. After you've played for a long while, sometimes you just need a break from it. However, that's easily remedied with the large quantity of side material to the game, so as long as you know to stop doing something that gets boring, you'll never have a problem.

Buy or Rent

A rather moot point at the time of this writing, as you won't likely find many places that still rent out SNES games. Even then, I strongly suggest buying here. It's the kind of game that will give you hundreds of hours of fun, something a rental just doesn't do justice.

Overall - 9/10 (Not an average)

Sure, like any game out there, this one has its drawbacks, but on the whole it's a stellar game, so what are you waiting for? Slip on your overalls and get to work!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/31/07