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  REVIEWS - Animal Crossing ::

Fishing fun
Game Info.
Genre
Simulation (friendship and communication-themed)
Publisher/Developer
Nintendo/Nintendo
Peripherals
  • GBA Card-E Reader + Animal Crossing Cards
  • GBA/GCN Link Cable
    • Release
    9/16/02
    Media
  • (our Animal Crossing section)

    • Animal Crossing
    Yeah, I like it.
    Reviewed by Sam - September 15th, 2002

    As everyone should know by now, Animal Crossing is Nintendo's new simulation adventure game that stars you, a boy or a girl, moving into a brand new town of animal folk who you'll have to more than get along with to survive. No, no scary monsters to fend off (unless you count crawfish and yellow swallowtails), just a hefty debt to pay off and a lot of spare time on your hands.
    Perhaps the game is best known for thriving even while the system's turned off. Working on the GameCube's internal clock, Animal Crossing knows and plays off of exactly time of day it is in the real world, 24/7/365, for years and years to come. So unlike Harvest Moon, where September 30th could come sooner depending on how much you play the game, September 30th happens when it does in life in Animal Crossing, making your task of setting up a living a task you can't just complete on a midnight binge. I've been playing for over a week, and am sure I've put in at least a solid 30 hours of play; this would seem like more than enough to warrant a review. But, oh, on the contrary, for I have really only had a small slice of the Animal Crossing pie, and Aunt Nancy's made us seconds. (On the other hand, I kinda' felt like now was a good time for NGEB to have a review up, so here goes ^_^.)

    Gameplay
    This is, and was instantly, one of my favorite games of all time. A few days late last week were spent struggling with finding good furniture, neighbors moving out, and a severe lack of fish in the town (I so cleverly coined Onett)'s streams. I was in a slum, and for a while, the game just wasn't enjoyable. Of course what I didn't realize at the time was that I had only hit one of my many-to-come bumps on the road to a perfect life, and have since seen the light that is this game so close to perfection.
    Most of your time in gameplay is spent trying to find good furniture, clothing, and wallpaper, as well as making as much spare change as you can. As expected from Nintendo games, this can be done in any number of ways. My preferred method has been to communicate with friends and neighbors, who are surprisingly generous at first, but play games with you, just like in the real world, to try and catch you off-guard and steel your money in turn for lousy gifts. This game is smart. I'm often surprised at the level they've written this script; it's honestly the best written dialogue in a game I've ever seen.
    But this continuous communication isn't without its faults, of course. The drawback depends on how much you really get into the world, and on how long each of your excursions lasts, but it's basically due to the limitations in how much one character can really say and do. I mean, before long, the magic of, "hey, I left my handkerchief at Tad's house, go pick it up for me" just starts to flicker. Regardless, there're countless beautiful things these people say, and I'm surprised by something new and bizzare every day.
    To me the best part of the gameplay lies in all the secret stuff you can find and collect. As your collections pile up, you can feel free to donate to the local museum, showcasing all your fossils, insects, sea creatures, and rare artwork, rewarding possibly the most enticing collection system in any game ever. Genius. I'm personally in-love with fishing in this game; it's brilliantly fun trying to find all the right fish everywhere. No, it's not all boring crap, you can even catch crazy-rare fish like the giant arapaima, or even the ancient coelocanth. God, I'm a junkie. ^_^
    What's one thing I'm a little dissappointed with are the GBA extras. The secret island, what was hyped at E3 beyond belief, has just about nothing to do on it, and is really only a treat if you need some extra space to hang out without worry. Modifying patterns (for your clothing, wallpaper, etc.) is a very nice feature, and certainly worth the 350 "bells" (pocket change) every time you pay, which is why I don't really see the advantage to doing it for free on your GBA, with its limited control, darker screen, and poor color quality. On the other hand, I'm still looking forward to all the fun new things that will be made available from the new e-Reader (which should make that damned $10 cable worth its while for once).
    In all, I think the game plays through extremely well, each day opening up new possibilities for you to explore; each second of anticipation more beautiful than the last. It's hard to imagine more polished gameplay than this, though I still have my infrequent complaints. If this is as far as you read, buy this game. Now.
    9/10

    Control
    Action can sometimes be jerky - aiming for things just right, especially when you're digging, fishing, or catching bugs in a net, can get extremely frustrating, largely due to the smoothness of your character's movements. The menu system is done very well however to suit even the most complicated gameplay, and your pack can hold just enough items to challenge you around things without driving you crazy. One menu feature I fell in-love with from Harvest Moon: Back to Nature was the ability to quickly scroll through your tools in action at the press of a button; this would've been more than welcome in Animal Crossing. But oh well, things can't be perfect.
    8/10

    Graphics
    While a vast majority of the models are ugly, blocky, and cheaply done, you have to let yourself move past that and realize the game was originally made for the N64. Over this, the world is charming and beautiful. Awesome, fluid animation from the masters at Nintendo is the game's brightest graphical point, whether it be in your player getting stung to shreds by bees, or the floating wiggle of one of your fish at the aquarium. Subtleties in facial expressions and cartoony emotional depictions are what bring true life to the game. It makes you wonder which is more enjoyable - a sim with realistic visuals, or a sim that makes you smile.
    8/10

    Sound
    A brilliant soundtrack. The main background music changes every hour (even in the middle of the night), and each theme has its own feel. The 3PM theme, for instance, is perfectly relaxing on your busy afternoon adventures, whereas the 2AM theme hauntingly depicts the angst of a gaming insomniac. ^_^ While some complain about crappy MIDI effects, I've grown up in the SNES era and honestly find the technical weakness a bit... charming, really. In any case, it's hardly noticeable in a score written so well.
    Most sound effects are pleasing enough, and some are just downright awesome. But what's worth mentioning while I have the time is the beautiful voice dubbing. The programmers must've implemented some kind of program that can, in dozens of different voices, read out loud what characters are saying. Some players might find it annoying, but there's also an option to turn it off.
    A neat feature I'm sure a lot of players enjoy is the ability to rewrite the town's theme melody that plays any time you talk to a character or the Train Station bell chimes (every hour, on the hour). While you're basically limited to 13 different notes within 16 time spaces, it's still very groovy to hear one of your own creations all the time, especially when every character sings it just a little bit differently. I myself have recreated the EarthBound Sound Stone theme, and am constantly reminded as I play this game that EarthBound is still alive back there somewhere in my cabinet... somewhere. ^_^
    9/10

    Replay Value
    It's just unbeleivable that they've created a game with so much to look forward to; they've certainly done their research. Obviously the endless gameplay, where you're always waiting over a span of days, sometimes weeks, for the next thing to happen, is a good solution to the replay problem.
    What I didn't expect and pleasantly surprised me is how fast gameplay can go by. You can literally be playing through an entire afternoon and it may only seem like you've been on for twenty minutes, but this again all depends on how you occupy and manage yourself. My advice would be to take things slow and let yourself play an entire night through; sometimes it's just not worth it to take shortcuts around getting good furniture or making loads of cash (kind of like in real life, my friend). I know it's hard to believe, but the characters will even catch on and be suspicious over whether you're manipulating them or not. This can sometimes lead to them moving out of town, which is just not a good thing.
    9/10

    Overall
    (Yeah, I DO realize that was by far the longest of my reviews ^_^, but for such an epic game, I feel it's important to say what I need to say, y'know? Let's get this shit rapped-up...)
    Since 1995, my loyalty to EarthBound has been unquestioned, but for a time I loved this game so much it almost changed my mind. Having said that, of course, this game didn't turn out to be the second coming of our lord(s). It was, however, a completely enthralling experience. Much as IGN has put it, Animal Crossing, instead of exciting you in a realm of far-away mysteries, surprises you with the beauty of things like just having a chat with your friends, or picking a killer new outfit to wear. In such a thick haze of gory, violent video games, releasing Animal Crossing was indeed a bold move for Nintendo, and to me a much-needed chance to inhale goodness for once. Folks, my friends, buy Animal Crossing. It's the least you could do to save yourself.

    FINAL SCORE: 9/10
    =Amazing=

    Send feedback to: sam@ngeb.net