Animal Crossing is pure, addictive evil. Anybody who played the Gamecube version can attest to that, but it’s hard to see why if you haven’t. There’s some kind of urgency found with doing simple, everyday tasks in a village filled with humanoid animals that you don’t get from doing them in real life. Picking weeds? You’ll never catch me doing that in real life, but the second I spot one in Animal Crossing I’m down with my hands in the dirt yanking that sucker free.
The original also allowed four people to play in one village (with one village per memory card), though not simultaneously- you had to take turns. Given the addictive quality of the game, this doesn’t bode well if your friend is playing and you’re watching; you can’t help but get jealous as he begins to fill his house with all kinds of items you don’t have yet, or is paying off more of his mortgage than you. When I almost got into a fist fight with my best friend over fishing on a Sunday morning (yes, I realize how ridiculous that sounds) I vowed never to play the Gamecube version again, and quit cold turkey.
Like a former smoker, I still get cravings for this game. I wake up in the middle of the night, and my brother’s copy calls my name from his shelf. I walk by the Gamecube section at GameStop thinking about filling the empty, case shaped void in my collection, and my desire to refill it grows stronger. I’ve yet to break down, and given more time I might have, but luckily the Nintendo DS version will come to save the day this September. With its online functionalities, almost every complaint I had with the original is rendered moot. Oh, and I won’t have to share this time; it’s all mine!
Animal Crossing DS is going to use the dual-screened wonder in a lot of creative (if not obvious) ways; it’s almost as though the machine was built specifically to play this game. You’ll be able to use the D-pad for control, but you’ll also be able to just point to a spot on the screen and your character will go in that direction. The further away from the character you point, the faster they’ll run. Also, talking to villagers, leaving and entering doors, typing notes or conversations, or messing with your inventory can all be done with a few clicks on the touch-screen. Also, the MSPaint-like pattern editing program can be operated through the second screen as well, alleviating so much frustration when trying to accurately represent Mega-Man on your character’s shirt.
Of course the touch-screen isn’t the only way Animal Crossing DS will use the DS’ feature set. It’s one of the first games (if not the first) to go online on not just the DS, but for Nintendo in general. You’ll be able to do several things online that you weren’t able to do in the original. First off, you’ll be able to have more than one person in a village at a time. Up to four people can be in the same village at a time. You’ll be able to type conversations with each other, trade items, and hit each other with nets, all of which are things fans have wanted to do since the original, especially the hitting each other with the net. Imagine the battles you could have.
Also, you’ll be able to access all the locations in your friends’ villages as well. If the store has something yours doesn’t, you’ll be able to buy it. You’ll be able to go into their house, or the other houses. You can check at the police station and raid their lost and found. It’s important to note that in order to visit someones town, they need to be on your "friends list." You can’t just wander into someone elses town. At first I scoffed at the idea, hoping the world of Animal Crossing DS would be like one giant place, but then I thought about how people would probably roam around just to cut down trees, and I appreciated Nintendos foresight. You should probably only let people you trust into your town, though who you let in is up to you.
With the top screen, you’ll be able to see the sky. You might be asking why this is important, because I know I was. First off, there were balloons with items in them that floated around in the sky in the original. You’ll be able to keep a better eye on them with this feature. A feature is being incorporated with the night sky, and creating constellations. Also, those who remember the pelican that delivered the mail in the original game will be happy to hear he makes a return appearance as well. With the sky on the second screen however, players can shoot him, which makes him drop mail for you to pick up.
It’s unknown at this point whether the DS version will have the NES classics featured in the original or not, but it’s not looking likely. In an interview with IGN, producer Katsuya Eguchi had this to say:
"The NES games in the GameCube version sort of took players away from the adventure, and for the Nintendo DS version we wanted to put more focus on living in the Animal Crossing world. Right now there are no plans to include these games, but I don’t think the Nintendo DS version will feel lacking without them."
While it’s a sure bet that not all secrets on this title have been revealed, Animal Crossing DS is still looking like the killer-app the DS needs to really shine. Come this September, we’re all going to be pulling weeds, fishing, and paying off mortgages to Tom Nook, and amazingly enough online.
