Animal Crossing

Ah, Animal Crossing. Uh..hm... You must know that this game is one of the few games that is truly difficult to put into a genre, and even harder of what to think of it when playing. But of all the hardships this game brings (not a bad thing) the hardest is actually reviewing this game.

I would usually begin this with a description of the plot or a games story. But how do you do that when a game doesn’t have a plot or story? So bypassing that, I’ll cut straight to the core game-play elements that make this one of the most innovative and creative games anyone’s seen in a very long time. And that core element is interaction amongst NPC’s [Non-Playable Characters] and humans [friends/family]. Now Animal Crossing is not a multiplayer game, or at least not in a traditional sense. Its 1-4 players alternatively, meaning you cannot have more than one person playing at a time. And with this you can write permanent messages on town message boards for other friends, you can put items up for sale for other friend’s, you can even go inside someone’s house and use their TV, NES, or anything else they have that’s usable.

Now AC may not have a plot, but it’s still is a game and there is plenty to do, in fact AC has so much to do in it, you’ll be playing from the sunrise to sunset. And the sunrise and sunset will actually happen right in front of your eyes, thanks to the internal clock in the cube’. Even seasons take advantage of the clock, so when you got snow outside your house, it’ll be snowing in your AC town. It’s very ambient and makes your town feel even more alive, and an easier place for you to escape to.

Speaking of which, Animal Crossing is a great escape from the redundant routines of school or work. The vibrant colors, day/night cycles, changing seasons, holidays, and friendly neighbors all make AC the perfect retreat to anyone who can get past the blocky visuals and just sink into AC’s warm and cozy neighborhood. It’s like having a virtual community inside your television!

Now Nintendo did an excellent job of shrouding this game in secrecy, I had no idea what to expect when I got into it. I started off by moving to a small town that I named while on my way there via train. When I arrived, I was greeted by Tom Nook, the town’s shopkeeper. And after meeting Tom, he was nice enough to set me up with a house. But incidentally I only had 1 000 bells (Animal Crossing’ currency), and I needed 17 000 more. This creates a problem, but Tom finds a solution before I go begging the townsfolk: I begin working for him. So I did my job and paid off the money I owed Nook (I worked by completing simple tasks for him like delivering mail, retrieving a Gameboy from a neighbor or other errands). These were the only real “goals” I had, and after that I was let free to enjoy the rest of my time in Pluto (My town’s name) by planting trees, fishing, and building onto my house.

You can upgrade your house 5 times, and the cost of renovation keeps increasing with each addition. Tom Nooks shop will also improve in size and efficiency by upgrading 5 times. I only wish though, that there were many more upgrades, and different shops Nook can invest in. Because after fully upgrading your home and Nook is running his fully upgraded store, there’s no real reward left for you to work or look forward too, and your house does seem a bit small. But then again “All work and no play, makes an Animal Cross any day” and Animal Crossing certainly isn’t all about work, after finishing off your upgrades and paying off everything you relax and enjoy the games endless items or play NES games all day.

And speaking of NES games, the inclusion of old school NES games is probably the best feature this game offers. You can collect and play many NES games in Animal Crossing. It’s a very nostalgic, ironic and odd feeling playing NES games on a Gamecube. There are about 10 collectible games, ranging from the original Donkey Kong to Exitebike. And every one of them saves the data, and can be accessed in seconds. It’s odd though, rediscovering these games with the Gamecube controller.

Now the most obvious gripe someone might have with this game is its graphics. They look like visuals off a Nintendo 64 game, but they really don’t bother me that much. In fact, they don’t get to me at all; I’m too busy with the sheer amount of things to do in Animal Crossing.

Animal Crossing is basically Nintendo’s justification that a game doesn’t need to look awesome to be awesome. It’s not like the Gamecube can’t support higher quality graphics. Just look at Resident Evil, and many other games. It’s just not the focus of the game; which is why Nintendo didn’t focus on visuals.

But in the end, as much as I enjoy this game, Animal Crossing may just not be for you. If you can’t get past the 64 quality graphics, and lack of any real objectives then you will likely not enjoy Animal Crossing at all. But past that, is one of my favorite and most beloved games on the Nintendo Gamecube. I play it everyday and I’m still discovering something new about it, it’s amazing!