By Osei Tyson on October 1st, 2002

Genre: Your guess as good as mine.
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
# of Players: 1-4 Players
Memory: 57-61 Blocks
ERSB: Everyone
Also On: None

Best Feature: Open ended gameplay.
Worst Feature: Some might be turned off from it’s weird appearance.

Presentation
Step into the world of Animal Crossing, where villagers live their everyday lives in actual real time. To become a part of the thriving village community, you’ll get a job, buy a house and interact with other villagers, some of which can be controlled by friends and family. But the real question is “what is Animal Crossing?” First off it’s a game that I thought will never make it to the US. It’s also a game that if you keep an open mind. Will possibly bring you enjoyment for years to come. I know I’ll be playing until I can see what everyone gets me for my birthday. And that’s all the way in July 2003. Will I be bored with Animal Crossing before that time??? Simple answer to a simple question NO! This game has so much to do. From filling the museum, to catching all types of bugs & fish, to having the biggest and best furnished house in town. Hang on you’re in for a ride.

Graphics
In one word I’ll have to say limited. There is very little if anything in this game that resembles graphics on a next generation console. They look allot like N64 graphics (first one was released on N64 in Japan). Minus the blur effect. But they are very tolerable. Sure it’s not Metroid Prime. But it isn’t Azuruk (Xbox) either. As long as you can tell people and objects apart, graphics don’t matter in this game and were never meant to. Even though Animal Crossing would have been better cel-shaded than Zelda is.

Sound
The music is really simple, but isn’t bad at all. Sound effects are pretty minimal, but all the little touches (bees buzzing, crickets chirping, etc.) make the game work. Why can’t we turn the music volume down without turning the FX down too? That is a feature that should not have been overlooked. Making your own town ’sound bite’ was the best idea in the sound department. Since I did name my town Hyrule. I did a pretty good job making my town music sound like the classic Zelda tune. Some of the in game music is also notable like my favorite K.K. Ballet. I wish the characters spoke for real instead of pseudo-gibberish. They actually talk in English, but it’s layered and garbled. Why did Nintendo garble it? I’m not sure. I would have liked voices, even if it was synthesized.

Gameplay
Elegant and astounding! It’s a fun version of life. There are many ways to get money, and once you have money you can work on a bigger house, and buy all sorts of things. It may not seem like it should be fun, but running errands, decorating your house (in possibly millions of different ways), making your own clothing and logos, treasure hunting, gardening, are all a blast. On top of that there are holidays to celebrate, and all kinds of special events hidden in the game. I’ve read probably 50 articles on this game, and yet, my first full day of playing, I had an event no one else has ever mentioned. ON MY FIRST DAY!

Oh and don’t forget about all the hidden extras. Like the hidden NES games through out the game. Classic’s like Excitibike, Punch Out, Donkey Kong, & Balloon Fight are all playable. In Japan Nintendo are even doing special promotions for gamers to get their AC versions of Super Mario Bros. & The Legend of Zelda!! That will make it to the US one way or another. Can this get any better? Sure can if you have a Gameboy Advance. Link your GBA to your Cube and you can visit an hidden Island (that you name yourself also) to find even more rare items. To top it off you also can use your GBA e-Reader with AC. The Character Cards have two passwords, one printed on the card and one in the Dot Code. If you swipe the card when it’s attached to the Game Cube game, you will receive an item immediately. Items include a variety of furniture, clothes, etc. If you enter the password in a letter to one of your villagers, you might receive the item as well...but this is not guaranteed. Town Tune cards will allow you to change your town’s melody to the melody encoded on the e-Reader Dot Code strip. Design cards will import the texture embedded on the card’s Dot Code strip into the GC game.

The game does have a few minor complaints: I wish trading with other players was a little easier. Plus you can’t trade with a player who has the same town name. Nintendo should have known many were going to name their town Hyrule! But the trading system does work well enough. Also, I wish I could give gifts to the computer characters without mailing them. I guess getting mail from them in return kind of makes up for it though. Also when talking to another town member I wish I could skip the text. The most you can do is speed it up with the B button.

This could be the best family game ever made with one condition. This game is best played by each family member for maybe 30-45 minutes a day while no one else is around. Much of the fun of this game is in the surprised you leave for one another. If you watch another player play, a lot of surprises will be ruined. Why a good family game then? Because it’s awesome to get into the game and see what has changed in town after others has played. This game is delightful. Probably will end up playing this game more than any other I’ve ever played. It has too much variety to ever stop playing.

Conclusion
First off I’ll like to say if you believe is the term “kiddie game” this game isn’t for you. If you’re an open minded gamer I say give it a try. If you’re a gamer heavy on action games chances are you won’t like it. It has no deep story line, no main plot, no ending, and most of all no killing. What it does have is tons of stuff to do, non-frustrating gameplay, and best of all a unique style of play never seen before. This is the type of game that defines innovation. Other than those few minor quibbles I mentioned, Animal Crossing achieves exactly what it set out to do. There’s a virtual cartoon world that seems to take on a life of its own, and while it might not seem that addictive, most players will get hooked without even knowing why. For anyone who has grown tired of the constant challenge in video games and just wants a pleasant diversion from real-world pressures, Animal Crossing does the job. I only ask of Nintendo to make an online version in the near future.

~ditto~