A few weeks ago right before Christmas, I was at the game store desperately searching for a game to pass the holidays. You see, everything in Japan closes for 5 days or so during New Years, and people stay at home watching TV from their kotatsu (a Japanese table with a heater under it). So it was very important that I find some way to survive this nuclear winter. Anyway, here in Japan, we are deprived of GameCube games. No Rogue Leader. No THPS3. No sports games except FIFA 2002. I looked at the selection, and realized I pretty much have all of the available GameCube’s games except for 3 new games. Universal Studios Adventures? No way on earth I was going to waste my scholarship money on that game. So I ended up picking the other two, Sonic 2 Battle, Animal Forest+, and of course, a GBA-GC link cable all for around 16000 yen (about $130).

I got home, and inserted Sonic 2 into my GameCube. I wasn’t disappointed; Sonic 2 was fun, fast, and intense. After an hour or so though, I decided to take a break, and popped in Animal Forest+. To be honest, I had my doubts despite all the good stuff I heard about this game. But after only 30 minutes or so, my doubts were gone. If Sonic 2 could be described as intense fun, Animal Forest + should be described as relaxing fun. It kind of felt like playing Pikmin without a time limit.

After spending 3 weeks with this game, I have to say that if you own a GameCube, you should definitely buy this game when in comes out in the States. However, you should not import this game unless you can read Japanese. The game is heavy on text, and much of the contents are based on Japanese culture. For example, as I will mention later, the game time progresses with respect to real world time. On holidays, special events take place, but since this is the Japanese version, its calendar corresponds to the Japanese one. Something will happen during Golden Week in Japan, but I assure you nothing is going to happen on Thanksgiving.

This game is not about saving princesses, finding short cuts, or getting to the finish line as quickly as possible. Rather, it’s about deciding how your room should be arranged. What you want to wear today. How you should design your wallpaper. Whether or not you should help out your neighbors. Yes, it may sound stupid at first. But, trust me, once you start playing the game, you will realize how fun this game is.

Animal Forest+ begins in a train bound for a village where you will start living independently. Once you arrive at the village, Tanuki (a raccoon), who owns the only store in the village, greets you. He then shows you four houses, one of which you must choose to live in. Of course, your house doesn’t come without any strings attached. You will have to pay off a loan to Tanuki, but fortunately Tanuki offers you a part time job to help you get started.

After selecting your house, the game really begins. You are now completely free to do anything. You can go work at Tanuki’s store. If you choose to do so, you will be given tasks such as planting seeds around the store, writing a promotional message on the bulletin board, or delivering goods to other village members. With the money you earn from your part time job, you could begin to pay off your debt. Or you could postpone that and buy items to decorate your room, clothes, or even Nintendo games. If you decide not to work, you could be friendly and go talk to other village members. Most likely they will ask you favors, such as retrieving borrowed items from other village members. Upon completing such a task, you are rewarded with items such as furniture or stationery that can be used to send messages to anyone within the game.

Your other options include taking a stroll by the sea and collecting seashells to sell to Tanuki, writing letters to other village members, arranging your room…the list goes on and on. The list expands once you buy a shovel, axe, a fishing rod, or a net to catch bugs for you insect collection. Oh, and don’t forget your Nintendo. As a gift for buying Animal Forest+, you will receive a letter signed by the immortal Nintendo president, Hiroshi Yamauchi, attached with Punch Out! and Donkey Kong 3. (The first time I booted up Punch Out!, I forgot I was still playing Animal Forest and turned off my GameCube without saving. The next time I booted up, a “reset mole” popped out in front of my house and said, “You forgot to save, didn’t you?”, and continued explaining about the importance of saving and then turning off the system.)

Time plays an important part in the game. The GameCube's internal clock is utilized to correspond game time with real time.　(And if you actually pay attention to the little clocks in the game, they correspond with the actual time.) Tanuki’s store closes at 10 everyday. Certain village members sleep early, and others sleep late. If you turn on the game at 2 in the morning, chances are nobody is going to be up. But, that doesn't necessarily mean there's nothing to do. Once I ran across a ghost that asked me to find something for it at 3 in the morning. The village also holds special events during holidays. For example, on New Year's Eve, you are invited to a countdown. And for a brief period after New Years, Tanuki sells special items in his store.

I am sure you have probably heard about Animal Forest+ being the first game to utilize the GBA/GC connection. It’s cool, but to be honest, it’s a bit disappointing. The GBA links up in 2 ways. The first feature is downloading a mini paint program to your GBA so that you can create your own designs for your wallpaper and clothing. The interface is very simple and similar to Windows’ Paint program. You have your basic shapes, and you can turn a grid option on and off. I made a couple of designs on it including a Link outfit. Very neat. The second feature, however, is not so impressive. Basically, with a GBA you can access an island unique to your save. The island isn’t very big. There are some trees and a house with someone living in it. (In my case, it was a wolf.) There is also a flag where you can put up your own design. Upon leaving the island, you are given the option to upload the island to your GBA. Once uploaded, you can check out what is happening on the island...and check out is pretty much all you can do. It is just a bit disappointing that the design you put on the island’s flag isn’t reflected in the GBA. With the island in your GBA ram, you are also able to swap islands with other Animal Forest+ owners (I haven’t tested this out yet). By doing so, you can collect seeds and items not available on your individual save. On a side note, since the RAM gets erased when you turn off your GBA, there is a sleep mode so that your batteries aren’t drained.

Continuing on the topic of swapping islands, let me point out some features that make this a "communication game." Although you can play this game by yourself and enjoy it, the game's fun factor is multiplied when you have people playing with you. Like I mentioned before, there are four houses, one for you and three for your friends. You and your friends cannot play simultaneously, but you can send letters and presents, leave messages for them on the bulletin board, or go to their houses to turn on their lights and waste electricity. Sometimes you even hear about them in conversations with other village members. For example, if John hasn't play the game for a while, a village member might say, "Have you seen John recently? I wonder how he is doing." Animal Forest+ also allows you to visit another village. If you have another group of friends that play Animal Forest+, insert their memory card into the other slot, and simply hop on the train to visit their village.

However, the communication aspect is not without problems. The input system is one of the very few complaints I have, but it is noticeable. The inputting interface for English works like this: you basically have a jog dial, and you get 5 letters at once, for example A to E. To get to the next 5 letters, you rotate the dial. However, you cannot rotate the dial backwards. So for example, if you want to insert a word like “cheese”, you would have to cycle through the jog dial at least 3 times. The scheme works ok with Japanese, but in English, it becomes tedious, and writing messages becomes a hassle. Perhaps they will tweak the input system for the American release, or maybe introduce a keyboard peripheral?

In terms of control, it’s smooth, and it never seems to interfere with the game. Similar to other recent Nintendo offerings, the A button is pretty much your action button. If you are holding an axe, then A allows you to swing the axe. If you are holding a shovel, A is to dig. X is used to call up a menu when you want to use or switch items. The character is controlled by the analog stick. The B button is used to run. If you are running at full speed, and you pull you analog stick the opposite directions, your character brakes, and turns around. There’s really not much to say. It’s Nintendo quality.

On the lines of music in this game, there isn’t really anything that stands out too much. There is no catchy theme that you would whistle after you shut off the game. However, the music does help build the very relaxing atmosphere.

There is a major sound clip, or short melody, that is prevalent in the game. For example, when you talk to your elephant friend, this melody will be executed with elephant-like sounds. When you talk to your zebra friend, similarly this melody is played with horse-like sounds. The cool part is that you can actually program this melody. To compose a new melody, you simply just go to a certain sign in your village, and modify the melody.

Like the music in this game, do not expect any stellar mind-blowing graphics from this game. The graphics are cartoony in nature, and do more than enough to create a relaxing ambience. The environment also changes according to the time of the day. Around 5 pm, it starts getting dimmer. Around 7pm, it becomes dark. The trees and climate also reflect the seasons. During winter, it snows and the trees are covered with snow.

Animal Forest+ is different. The lack of a distinct goal may sound like a turn off, but in exchange the game offers a degree of freedom unparalleled by any other existing video games. It is not meant to be completed, but rather played little by little, and if possible with a friend since it is dubbed a “communication game.” Like I said in the beginning, when this game comes out in the States, you should definitely buy it. The emulated Nintendo games alone are well worth the price.