Animal Crossing (Gamecube)

Once in a while, it's nice to put aside the fast-paced first-person shooters, Real-Time Strategy, and racing games that dominate the gaming industry and enjoy a taste of something different. Simple to play, yet surprisingly addictive, games akin to Animal Crossing don't come along every day.

Animal Crossing began as a Japanese Nintendo 64 title which sold fairly well, but was never brought stateside. As you begin the game, you find yourself on a train, headed to a town that you will improve and shape with your actions - we're not talking micro-management on the level of the many "Sim" series games, but certain actions have an effect on your town. If you have played any of the "Harvest Moon" series of games you will find Animal Crossing somewhat familiar, however, wherein the focus of the Harvest Moon games is the creation/cultivation of a thriving farm/wedding one of the village women, the gameplay focus in Animal Crossing is mostly social, as the best way to obtain unique items is by doing favors for the local villagers. If you ignore your villagers for any extended period of time by refusing to help them/send them letters, they will eventually begin to move away from your town, but as this game strives for universal appeal, you will find that it takes extreme neglect for that to happen.

The most unique, and lauded aspect of Animal Crossing is the use of the Gamecube's internal clock to calculate the passage of time, certain events only occur on certain dates and at certain times, and the shop in your town closes at 10pm initially, forcing you to do your buying and selling during the day. As time passes, the seasons in the gameworld change, mirroring reality, you will even find that there are certain fish and bugs you can only catch during a certain season (and as fruit obviously won't grow during the winter, you better plant and sell your local produce during the spring/summer). The main draw of this game obviously has a downside, unless you are able to devote at least some time to the game every couple of days, your village will become overrun by weeds, your villagers will become unhappy etc. - you could cheat and change your system clock, but that ruins the fun of the game. Another unique aspect of the game is the fact that each new town created on a memory card has a randomized layout, unique villagers and a unique local fruit. You will always have a store, police department, museum, etc., but they will be in a different place from town to town, furthermore, if you insert a memory card with an animal crossing town on it into the second memory slot in the Gamecube, you can visit a friend's town, talking to villagers, buying goods, etc.

When you first arrive in your town, you have very limited funds, and your house is quite small. When you pay off your initial debt to Tom Nook, the owner of the village store, you will be upgraded to a larger house, etc. There are several house upgrades available as you eliminate your previous debts, each exponentially more expensive than the last. You can engage in several different activities to earn money, such as shaking down fruit from your local fruit trees and selling the fruit, shaking trees for the odd "100 Bell" bag, catching and selling bugs and fish, and selling off the clothing/furniture you receive as gifts from grateful villagers. Although it is best to pay off your initial mortgage as quickly as possible to upgrade to a larger place, there is no pressure to do so - this is part of the simple appeal of the game, there is no real way to "win", sure, the more villagers you attract to your village, the more things you can do, but the game is played out much like the average day to day life of your average human being - you do what you have to do pay off your debt, and spend the rest of the time having fun. Each day, the village store rotates its wares, and as you purchase key items/obtain new furniture, each item is added to a personal catalog that you can order from if the need should arise. You will find yourself selling off much of the furniture and clothing you receive from the villagers at the beginning as storage space is limited, but the best way to earn quick cash is tree shaking, bug catching and fishing. As you pay off your debt and your house is remodeled into a true home, you can take the time and apply the wallpaper and flooring you receive or buy, and place furniture as you see fit. At some point, Tom Nook informs you that your house will be under scrutiny by the HRA, a group that grades the layout of your house and can increase your town score if your house is up to snuff, fortunately, your HRA score has little impact other than allowing access to the very largest of house renovations and helping your town score a bit, so unless you are a perfectionist and must obtain everything, you can feel free to imbue your humble abode with some much needed personal style. As time passes, and you plant trees/flowers and help out your villagers, you will discover new houses and villagers popping up in the various acres, a large part of the appeal of the game is wondering what each new day will bring.


Graphically, the game is simple, yet highly stylistic, somewhat akin to "Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker". The graphics really show their Nintendo 64 roots, as little seems to have changed, perhaps higher resolution textures and a higher screen resolution, but they hold their own charm. Your town is initially populated by a handful of animals from a pool of a few hundred, and each posesses their own unique stlye of clothing and furniture style/arrangement. It would be easy to dismiss this game based on the childlike quality of the visuals, but you would be missing out, and you soon discover that the visual style really suits the game well. It would have been better Animal Crossing for the Gamecube had been a total graphical revamp rather than pretty much a straight port, but as it stands, the graphics are more than adequate. The music is simple, but appropriate, and most of the villagers will play their own unique music in their house. Sound is minimalistic, consisting of maybe a handful of sounds effects total, but again, this game is not a jaw-dropping display of technology, it's all about simple, fun, and addictive gameplay that truly never ends.

With addictive gameplay, bright graphics, and simple, but catchy music, this is one Gamecube title that essential for everyone, and when you consider the fact that it is now in the "Player's Choice" game selection, retailing for $20 -and including a free memory card 59 with a free present on it, it's a fantastic gaming value that no Gamecube owner should pass up. It's not often that you find a family friendly game with such universal appeal: if you didn't grab the game when it was released, I suggest you drop a twenty and pick it up immediately.