Animal Crossing: City Folk

"A perfect example of taking something good, and messing it up in every way possible."

Animal Crossing used to be a fun game. However, tons and tons of things are removed, and this game is made worsened. I remember when I got this game how great I thought it would have been due to how much fun I had in Wild World and Population Growing, the games that came before this one in this series. I will explain why I think this game is not worth buying.

Gameplay: 5/10
Gameplay is tedious and boring. Wi-Fi would be great, but it takes a great deal of effort to type. Instead, Nintendo tries to get you to give them more cash, buy having you buy a keyboard which can hook up to the Wii. Instead you must click buttons, and it is just "meh" to me. Nothing special about it says it best. Also not only the controls, the characters REPEAT themselves. Yes, you get animal villagers, but interaction went from good in game one, to superb in game two, to none at all in game three. You press the A button next to an animal and what happens is they say one thing, and you usually get little interaction with them. There is a lot to do in the game, but it get's very old fast. Fishing is a part of this game, which is however fun. You see a shadow, and when it bites you reel it in. Also you can keep your own items, fill up a museum with it, or sell them for cash.

Story 1/10
You move into a new town. You get a house, but you have to pay it off. You work for a raccoon, and that is all there is to it. There is no other story. You pay the rest of the debts, get a bigger and bigger house, and that is the story. It is a real disappointment in my opinion.

Graphics/Sound
7/10
The graphics are barely an improvement, they are much different than game one, Population Growing, but from game two Wild World you can barely notice change, which with the Wii being capable than this, I think that graphics could greatly be improved if Nintendo tried. As for sound goes, you get nice different music. It's the same as Wild World, but you can still enjoy it. It blends in quite nicely to be honest. I don't usually judge games off of background music though.

Replay Value
6/10
Hi there Jim! Are you ready to do the same thing you've done the last time?
Animal Crossing never ends, but it gets old very fast. Collect shells, earn cash, plant trees, talk to your villagers, catch up with your online friends. Soon it becomes a chore, and you get bored of it. I got this game on release day, and played it once after Christmas, but that was it. The town of Holywood sits on my shelf, until Nintendo magically sets out some sort of update to make the game more worthwhile, like Downloadable Content.

Buy Rent or Burn?
Burn. I don't refer to burn as in set it in a fire, but I refer to it as ignore it. Pick up one of it's pilot games, or buy some other game, but don't waste a good 30$ on this when you can use it on something else.

Reviewer's Score: 2/10, Originally Posted: 05/29/09

Game Release: Animal Crossing: City Folk (US, 11/16/08)