"Totakeke, Tom Nook, Kapp'n, Pelly, Phyllis and all your favourites are back for more!"

Back in 2001, Nintendo released a video game for the Nintendo 64 called Animal Forest. Since the game was released so late in the N64's life, Animal Forest never saw the light of day outside Japan. A year later, Nintendo ported the game to the Nintendo GameCube, going under the name, Animal Crossing. It was an awesome game, basically a family-oriented version of The Sims meets Harvest Moon. You controlled an oddball human living with walking, talking, shirt/dress-wearing animals. You even got to create your own life; go fishing, donate things to the museum, participate in the lottery, work as a delivery boy, or just try to make as much money as you could. The best part was: you got to see how other people lived. Ask your friend if you could borrow their memory card, then put it in Slot B of your GameCube. You could just go to the train station, climb aboard and pay a visit to a new village! However, the game was quite flawed: for example, it got boring quite fast, making deliveries and writing letters is extremely aggravating, and it was incredibly boring to write a letter, attach a fossil, mail it to the museum for identification, donate it, then repeat for the rest of your life. So, Nintendo decided to release Animal Crossing: Wild World, an advanced version of Animal Crossing for the latest in handheld technology, the Nintendo DS. Many of the fans' favourite characters were back, including Tom Nook, Totakeke (widely known as "K.K. Slider"), Redd, Pelly, Phyllis, Blathers, Copper, Booker, Gulliver, Kapp'n, even Resetti and Gracie were back for more. Some new characters were also introduced, including Blathers' sister Celeste, Nook's friend Harriet, Dr. Shrunk a psychiatrist (and former comedian), Pascal, a deep-thinking beaver, and Brewster, the owner of The Roost, a new cafe. However, some characters were replaced. For example, the train station has been scrapped in favour of a main gate, meaning that Porter is absent, Wisp the ghost is gone (don't ask why), and Don Resetti was removed for a more humourous Resetti scene. Ah, I think my personality is just like Blathers'! Let's get to the actual review, shall we?

Graphics: 10/10
The graphics are much more detailed than the first AC. They also look less like they were from an N64 game, as they actually have limbs, eyes, and other facial features (unlike the original where everything was "painted on" everything else). Sure, they may look cartoony, but that's OK, since Animal Crossing is meant to be for all ages.

Sound: 10/10
Did I tell you that Totakeke is back? Every Saturday night, he jams on his guitar at a stage on The Roost. He even has several new songs, such as To the Edge, Agent K.K., K.K. Rockabilly and more. The sounds are also much more realistic than Animal Forest, and the music also changes to reflect the mood of the hour. For example, 9:00 AM has a nice, soothing "good morning, world!" theme, and 8:00 PM has a night-guitar song that would most likely put little children to sleep. You also get to customize the town tune! Overall, music is almost as good as the music from a Sonic the Hedgehog game.

Gameplay: 10/10
Wild World is much more fun than it's prequels. For example, the aggravating challenge of mailing fossils to the Farway Museum for identification has been scrapped! You just deliver the fossil to the museum, and Blathers will offer to identify it (he seems to have better eyesight). If it's new, he will ask if you'd like to donate it. Plus, less weeds and treasures appear every day. It took me forever to finish weeding my AC town. You can even play late at night for a bit of fun. Don't worry about being alone; one or two neighbours stay up very late so you'll have someone to talk to. You can do some shopping at night, but the store and the tailor close at 11:00 PM. However, town hall, the main gate and the museum are always open for your convenience. And, you can still visit your friends, but thanks to the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, you can visit anyone! First, go to the main gate and talk to Copper (yeah, the police station's been demolished. So, Copper and Booker got jobs as gatekeepers!). Go close to a Wi-Fi "access point" (such as a wireless router and/or the Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector) and talk to Copper. Ask him for a "friend code", and he'll connect to the access point and tell you your friend code. You should register it on the "special" part of the friend roster so you don't forget it. After you get your friend code, you can tell it to your friends and register them to your friend roster. Without friend codes, you can't explore new towns! To visit a village, have one friend open their gates with the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Then, tell Copper that you'd like to go out and connect to the Wi-Fi Connection to see your friend! Voila! Simple, huh? Plus, you can bring back some fruit and sell it to Nook for 500 bells! Also, you can be the host of a party and do fun things like pull pranks on neighbours, get some advice on landscaping, and give them a tour of the museum. You can even introduce them to animals living in your village!

Story: N/A
To be honest, there is no story unless you begin. When you start your life in Animal Crossing: Wild World, you will be in a bus (with, interestingly, Kapp'n as the driver). Kapp'n will ask you all sorts of weird questions, which determine your gender, clothes and appearance. This is also your only oppurtunity to name your character and the village. When you're finished answering the questions, the bus will arrive in front of town hall and you will get off. Kapp'n will then drive off, always ready to take new passengers to their new home. You will then meet Pelly, the manager at town hall. She will generously give you a map, which you can use to find your new home (if you start playing at night and you go back in side, you'll find Phyllis in place of Pelly). When you get to your house, Tom Nook, the only shopkeeper in the village, will appear and give you a job at Nook's Cranny (his store). You can go there and do all sorts of chores, like planting vegetation, handing out flyers and making deliveries. After your job is done, you'll have to make some money and pay off the mortgage you've been given. After that, you can create a new life, and do things like protect the environment, visit other towns, and introduce yourself to new neighbours. That's it, that's the plot.

Rent or Buy?
Buy, definitely. My life never truly began until I bought this game at a local Toys 'R' Us. It will still be an excellent game, even if you don't have a wireless router and can't play it online.

Overall: 10/10
If I was trapped in the desert with nothing but my Nintendo DS and a copy of Animal Crossing: Wild World, I would do nothing but play Wild World. It is an enjoyable game that should be passed down for generations. With its outrageous sense of humour and fantastic gameplay, Animal Crossing: Wild World will remain a classic for years to come.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 05/24/06