Animal Crossing

Gamecube

Nintendo - 2002

It is impossible to describe this game to anyone without getting unstoppable, uncontrolled laughter thrown in your face in return. The entire premise is entirely too dumb for words. Ooh, a real-life simulator where you can't do anything that you would want to do in life, but is illegal. I tell friends, "You move to a town where you live with animal/human hybrids, collect seashells, bugs and fish, and sell them to the store owner to pay off the debt of your house." So then they ask me back, "So, can you take your hatchet and go chop your neighbors up, and hide there remains in the tulip garden you planted in your backyard?" And the only answer I can come up with for that is, "No, that's Grand Theft Auto 3." For while most everyone would want to play a real-life simulator so as to do stuff you can't really do in real life, in Animal Crossing, you do trivial tasks that, if you tried, you could do every day. The most exciting part of my day in Animal Crossing involves writing a letter to a neighbor, mailing it, and waiting for a reply while I chase bugs out of my garden and fish. I also like to take long walks on the beach, collecting seashells. You see, when you describe the game, it sounds incredibly retarded.

Let me just get these facts out of the way first. Animal Crossing features many interesting new ideas to the genre.

1. - It runs off the Gamecube's Internal Clock, and the programmers had a hayday programing stuff, so you actually HAVE to play it at certain periods of the day to have stuff happen. For example, Tom Nook's store, the only store in town, is only open from 9am-10pm. So if you play a lot of videogames late at nite, the store will not be open. Also, the game includes every holiday, plus a lot more, so you have to be playing the game on New Years and Halloween, for example. The inhabitants also go about during certain times of day. Some sleep late and some go to bed early, so if you need to talk to one, you better do it while they are awake, or wait til the next day. And if you keep them up all night talking to them, they will sleep late the next day and be groggy. For all you wondering how you will play the game on New Years and what not, you can speed up the Gamecube's clock, but you wouldn't cheat, would you?
2. - The game is compatable with other people's. This means, if you have a friend who plays the game, they will have a different town, with different people, and different landscape, different weather, and different fruit trees. You can visit their town by train, mess with their stuff, donate items to their museum, steal their laundry, and write letters to their townsfolk. And if you are nice enough to them, one of them will move to your town!
3. - You can send items to other people. But you don't need an internet connection. Just choose an item and know the name of the town and person you are sending to, Tom Nook will give you a password. Give that to your friend and in their town they can receive the item! I still don't understand exactly how it works, but it does.
4. - The new Gameboy Advance E-Card reader works with the game, so you can buy cards and add new stuff, like clothes and music. I don't really understand it fully.
5. - The Gameboy Advance- Gamecube hookup works so you can visit an island off the beach of the town and do stuff there. Again I haven't tried this, but it sounds cool.
6. - There are other things that are cool too, but as of this moment, I don't remember.

So what exactly makes this game good? I still do not quite know. It just possesses a similar addictive enjoyability as Mario and other Nintendo games. It is a game that you just start to play, and want to play more, even though you never do anything in the game. I can't explain it. It is something you have to experience.

So I guess a better thing than explaining it would be to share some of my journal entries. You get a journal where you can write down everything you do every day. Here is what I have written: First off, my name in the game is "Hawke," and the town I live in is "Your Mom."

Day 1: Today i moved into your mom. I wonder how long it'll take to wear that joke down. My boss is a jerk and makes me dress funny and I can't find everyone in town. AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!
Day 2: Today I tried to pay off the loan shark, er Tom Nook... It didn't go too well, but I should be able to pay it off tomerrow. On another note, it seems the inhabitants of this town are a caring bunch. There is a rabbit named Gaston, and when I wrote him a letter asking about where Belle was, he sent a letter back and gave me a free t-shirt! He's my new best friend. We like to sing beauty and the beast songs together. I also met a duck named Midge, who I renamed Mitch. I found a pear tree and shook it. As it turns out, the pears fell, and I picked them up. I tried eating one, and it was delicious, then I learned that I don't HAVE to eat, so I sold the rest to Tom Nook.
Day 3: I collected a lot of seashells today. As it turns out, Tom buys seashells for around a mean price of 80 bells. I finally paid off that debt. Whew. Now I get an addition to my house! Yay!
Day 4: Today I got my new house, but I owe Tom Nook 148,000 bells. That's a lot o moolah. I fished a lot today, mailed a buttload of letters, and started my museum. I helped out Gaston, and decided I can't tell if Mallory is a guy or girl. I lastly got a peach from Sundu in Mars town in the mail. I mailed him back a pear.
Day 5: I taught Tank a new catch phrase today. He had decided that "Ker-POW." was just not cool enough for him to end all his sentences with. So I taught him to say "Ya Re-Re." at the end of all his sentences. He thinks it is cool, and so do I. I met a ghost late at night, and he asked me to collect a bunch of spirits that were wandering, which I promptly did. And in return I got a cool statue for my house.

Well wasn't that helpful? I thought so. Now let's go on to the second half of the review ya Re-Re.

What liked: Everything. I really don't know what I like. It's more of a weird addiction. You aren't really extatic about the game, but you keep playing, and dream about it, and run as soon as class is over to check the store and collect seashells. I can't explain.

What disliked: You can't speed up text. You will get really sick of Tom Nook's greeting, which is always the same. "Welcome. Feel free to browse, but try not to carouse. Ho ho!" Yeah, that's great, you jerk! You charge like, 50x what I sell you.

What to expect: Wow. I can't fill this out either. It's like nothing you've ever experienced before.

What not to expect: Killing people. That's Grand Theft Auto 3. Don't expect the Sims either, for while they are similar, there is a lot of difference as well.

What's so different from this and other games of it's genre: It feels like a kiddy game, but has so much crazy nuances that only older people would get. It's crazy full of stuff, and has more to do than any game ever, yet all you do is fish. I don't get this game.

Ratings on:

Control: 7 - Very simple, very too the point, and well done. The fishing game consists of pushing a to throw rod out, and holding a when the fish bites. Everything is that easy. Also, the main character spins very well, which is great for dancing, which I have him do, a lot.

Graphics: 7 - You look at these graphics, and you think, "Wow, throwback to the N64." But if you look closely, they are rather detailed, and have some really nice touches. They also, I'm pretty sure, use some cell-shading. But I really can't tell. It's confusing. I dunno.

Sound: 6 - There are some great songs, but you can't really get them fast enough. I started my game on a sunday, and the guitarist dog guy, KK, doesn't come by until saturday. So I can't get any songs until then.

Style: 8 - This game is soo weird. You would think it sucks, but just like crack cocaine or Evil X's mother, it keeps you coming back for more.

1st hour: 8 - This is weird. Why did I buy this.

5th hour: 7 - I owe HOW MUCH MONEY for my new house? Wow, I'm never gonna pay that off.

3rd day: 9 - Wait, I can get 350 dollars for a seashell? Wow, I already paid off the first debt, now an upgrade on my house, and a new debt.

1st week: 9 - I run straight from class in the morning to play. That's scary.

#1 reason why I hate this game: Tom Nook's freakin' monopoly! How come he can sell those turnips I just sold to him for 50 times what he bought from me? That ain't fair!

by Hawke

      I must admit, I'm the one who told Hawke and Evil X to get this game. I told them that because it was fun, and would be more if we could visit each other and trade items, and I was right. We even got together to visit each other one weekend. But I'm not going to lie, this game is no longer fun. If it were a game you could beat in 2 months it would be great. If it were a game you could beat at all it would be good. However, despite the innovation of a game with no purpose, which I applaude, there is no real reason to play. It becomes more of a chore than a game. Eventually, you realize that there isn't really a penalty for not playing. As long as you don't reset without saving, you never get in trouble. Maybe you come back once a week, but for what? To find approximately 10 million weeds and a hundred letters. This experience makes you want to play even less, essentially ending all motivation you might have had. I'm not saying its a bad game, it's just not for everyone, which you probably already knew. Really, I'm just saying that you've got to be pretty committed to your town and your character to keep enjoying this game. The only reason I have left to visit is to see Tom, the cat, who is trapped on the square in front of his house by three "Got Wang?" signs each with an arrow pointing towards him. I don't even know who lives in my town anymore.

      -Sundu