Harvest Moon

""Milk, milk, brush, flirt, hangover, work butt off, repeat.""

Yeah! Harvest Moon. Moonest Harv... errr... Noom Tsevrah? Great, confused yet? Mwahahaha. This game is unbelievably fun. Thank god for EGM2.

GRAPHICS- 10/10

Okay, so you have the SNES. You have the farming simulation's martyr. And you have cute little pixilated sprites. Therefore, great graphics. C'mon, Farmy (whom i will call for lack of a better name) has some hilarious sprites... including when he gets poisoned or drinks. And the characters walk into walls on various occasions, which has me cracking up. Then when the cows are preggers, you'll know.

And as for the things other than characters... each area is beautifully done (for the SNES) and they look great with each season change. But I gotta point out one really bizarre thing I noticed. If you go into the fortune teller's house the day the earthquake occurs (It's the small log cabin near the town square) the house will disappear! The characters will be inside still, but everything else will be reduced to an acid-trip-like state. I guess Natsume wanted to freak us out. Succeed they did.

STORY- 8/10

It's okay. Not very in-depth, but I like it. Parents leave you to tend a farm for two-and-a-half years. What to do? You can get married, became a player (requires much gift-giving, and I think each girl will be a little miffed) being a bachelor with lots of horses/ chickens/ etc. having a family, having a perfect, 50's emulating life, or just sitting on your lazy vushla (If it isn't a dirty word in another language) and doing nothing... and did I mention VEGETABLES can affect your ending? (There are over ten.)

CONTROL- 10/10

Racing games be damned. This game has such smooth control... oh so smooth. Yep. Farmy can run like the wind (and he can leap when running downwards, and I think sideways or upwards) whack rocks, chop trees down, etc. all with liquid smooth controlling. But the control CAN be too smooth sometimes. he's prone to dropping important presents if you press the wrong button in the wrong place.

REPLAY ABILITY- 10/10

C'mon! About 20 endings, five lucky bachelorettes, festivals (yes festivals) constant weather changes, etc.... what's not to replay for?! And if you screw up, well, some gifts DO produce hilarious reactions, and you can miff the right girl. Just be sure to buy your digital girlfriend another of the same gift in the event one is lost on the way.

NOW LET'S SEE... HMMM...

Well, all that's left is to add up the scores.

Graphics- 10/10
Story- 8/10
Control- 10/10
Replay ability- 10/10

OVERALL SCORE...

10! (No, really?!)

There you have it. Harvest Moon- game for the ages. Have a nice farm- er, day!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 10/06/01, Updated 10/06/01