"Go Wild!"

Introduction:

Image taking day-to-day chores, and making it into a video game. It sounds boring, right? It is hard to imagine how a game based off of repetitive chores can be successful, yet somehow, Animal Crossing: Wild World manages to pull it off. Following the success of the hit GCN version of Animal Crossing, Wild World seems like a perfect game for the DS, and it is. Taking full advantage of the DS's innovative possibilities, you'll find yourself addicted all over again (if you've played the GCN version); if you've never played Animal Crossing before, then you're in for a real treat. This game is essentially an edited version of the GCN version, with new neighbors, items, fish, bugs, sounds, etc. and of course, the addition of wifi.

Story - 2/10

This score is rather irrelevant, and I will not take it into consideration of the overall score. Animal Crossing is not known for its storyline. It's so basic that it's virtually non-existent. You start the game in a taxicab on a rainy day, answering a bunch of questions, which will effect how your character will look. After answering the cab driver's questions, you will be dropped off in front of the town hall. Tom Nook will ask you to do some chores for him, then you're pretty much free to play the game however you want, following no story line. The game is pretty simplistic, and straightforward. You will delve right into this game, and before you know it, you'll be playing for hours.

Innovation – 9/10

This game is perfect for the DS. The stylus opens up many possibilities to the game, making it highly more innovative than the GCN version. The tedious task of typing using the D-pad has been fixed by incorporating the stylus. The stylus is works very well; you can practically play the entire game using only the stylus. However, you'll often find yourself abandoning the stylus for much of the game, and using traditional controls. Why? Because the stylus isn't as accurate. For example, when you want to move furniture in your house, you will accidentally pick up the item you wanted to move. The only real use you'll have for the stylus is typing.

Controls - 9/10

This is a follow-up on innovation. The controls are pretty straightforward, but again, the new stylus controlled game play will just become a nuisance. You will find that the traditional controls are easier, and more accurate to use. Again, the stylus is good mostly just for typing. Perhaps now, you may actually write sentences in letters to your neighbors.

Game play – 10/10

The game play is simply superb in this game. The possibilities in Animal Crossing are endless. There's always something to do in the game, and you will find yourself addicted to this game in no time. This game is difficult, believe it or not, that is, in terms of trying to collect everything, which is a very tedious task to accomplish. You cannot collect all the bugs/fish within a year (unless you time travel). Bugs and fish are hard to collect. You will often find yourself catching the same fish/bugs over and over, finding it impossible to catch all the rare ones. Although this game has the difficulties, there aren't any requirements on how to play the game. This leaves a huge gap, which will allow gamers and non-gamers alike to enjoy this game. The difficulty of this game all depends on how difficult you make it.

Drawbacks

Although this game is well-developed, there are some drawbacks that I found. For example, in the GCN version, you could go to a neighbor and tell them to give you a task to accomplish. In Wild World, this feature has been removed. Instead neighbors will occasionally ask you to do something for them. I don't know why the developers changed this, it gave gamers fun little chores to do (like side-quests) while they took a break from collecting all the various things this game offers. That being said, this is just one small, nit picky drawback to the game, and by no means should it keep you from purchasing this game. However, the hard tasks which this game throws at you can become frustrating, tedious, and boring after a while, which may dismay gamers from picking up this game. Luckily, there's wifi, so you can chill after a hard day's work of chores.

Sound– 10/10

A huge step-up from the GCN version; the music in the GCN version would often become annoying. Wild World features a variety of background songs, that won't bother. Now, they're nothing to go put on your MP3 player, but they just seem to fit perfectly with the game. The music changes every hour; I sometimes find myself whistling to the music as I play. And the soothing nighttime music will put you in the mood to just doze off.

Graphics - 9/10

Nothing very new about the graphics. It still holds the same “kiddish” graphic style as the old Animal Crossing, with some minor changes. Overall though, the “kiddish” style just seems to fit with the game, and it looks pretty nice on the DS.

Online – 9/10

The real kicker to the game; this is what truly sets this apart from the GCN version. This feature practically makes the game. As long as you have a wireless router, and grab some Friend Codes, then you're all set. This game is just excellent online, you can even talk to each other through texting. The downfall to online play, the flaw the gives it a 9/10 rather than a 10/10 is the lag. You will be frustrated over the amount of times you get disconnected, and the fact that only 4 people can be in a town at once will anger you further when you have a lot of friends. Although, with the lag this game gets, it probably couldn't handle more than 4 people. Nevertheless, aside from the lag, it's really fun to just chill with other people online. There are many possibilities to what you can do online. You can host a fishing tourney, or a bug catching contest. You can hold races, heck, you can even play capture the flag. Going online is a great way to play the game when you just want to relax.

Replay – 10/10

This game revolves around its replay value. There isn't much of a story to this game; it has no beginning or end. You're free to do whatever you want in the game. Even if you manage to collect everything in the game, there's still always something to do, especially with the addition of wifi, it's fun to just chill with friends.

Buy or rent? – Don't even bother renting the game. If you want to play it, buy it. There's no limit to how much you can do on this game. The only reason I would suggest renting it, is if you're still unsure if the game is for you.

Conclusion:

Welcome back to the addiction, or if you're new to AC:WW, welcome to the addiction. If you like Animal Crossing for gamecube, you will like this sequel 100 times more. It's practically a remake of the original, with small developments in many areas, and of course the addition of wifi, which only aids this game in surpassing the GCN version. The possibilities of this game are endless. So, go buy this game, and go wild!

Overall rating – 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/08/07