We store cookies, you can get more info from our privacy policy.
GC

North America

Animal Crossing

by Billy Berghammer - September 3, 2002, 3:16 pm EDT

Billy gets his paws on an advance copy of Animal Crossing. Could this be the next big Nintendo franchise in North America? Check out these in-depth impressions!

I’ve watched the progress of Animal Crossing ever since it debuted at Spaceworld 2000 as Animal Forest for the N64. Even though it was peppered with Japanese text, I thought it was interesting, but never thought it would see the light of day in the US. Now we in North America will finally get our taste of this strange world. I was actually looking forward to Animal Crossing until Nintendo showed a presentation of it at the E3 press briefing this past year. With a presentation completely directed at kids (and a family I’d love to slap), I was thoroughly nauseated. Now, out of nowhere, I got an advanced copy, the same week Super Mario Sunshine and Super Monkey Ball 2 are released. Why is it that Animal Crossing is the only game I’m playing?

This isn’t your typical game. I’m not exactly sure what genre Animal Crossing would fall into. The world of Animal Crossing is extremely free form. There doesn’t seem to be some ultimate goal of the game like saving a princess, or killing some final ultimate behemoth boss. From what I’ve gathered, the only point to this game is to interact with the characters, decorate your house and clothes, and have fun in the town.

When you begin the game, you are asked what your character’s name is, and what town you are going to. Since the game progresses in real time, you are asked if the internal clock is correct. Then you board the train to your town. This is where you are introduced to a raccoon named Tom Nook, the local shopkeeper. Since you are homeless, Tom Nook lets you pick one of four houses. However, you’ll have to work for Tom to pay back the house, by earning bells, the monetary units in Animal Crossing.

To get you acclimated to the new environment, Tom sends you on errands, or makes you perform certain tasks. You’ll have to plant flowers, deliver packages, write a store advertisement, and introduce yourself to the townspeople. Once you’ve paid off Tom, he’ll offer to make your house bigger, for more bells. As far as I can tell, you’ll always be working to pay him off, as long as you continue expanding your house.

Earning money can be done many ways. You can sell items to Tom, you can find money hidden, or get them from the towns people. Basically most of the time spent in the town is busy work. Catch fish and insects, gather fruit, plant and remove trees, deliver retrieve packages, and run errands for your friends in the town. You’re also finding new furniture for your house, and are awarded points according to how “stylish” your house is. This sounds monotonous, but actually is fun.

Animal Crossing isn’t all about work. Even though you’ll be catching bugs and fish for bells, there are many different types to catch, all at different times of the day, which you’ll add to your journal of collected items. There are also a lot of fun games and things in the game that will also keep you busy. Different calendar days trigger different events in the game. For example, yesterday was Labor Day, and the game told me that something would happen. Unfortunately, I must have missed the time of the event, cause nothing happened to me.

Time of the day does play a factor, and if you’re not playing Animal Crossing at a specific time, you can miss certain events. Characters will make comments on what time you are playing. They’ll even make cracks if you’re playing late night, or start playing really late. I do have a love-hate relationship with the internal clock. Due to the fact that my game time is rather limited, I can mostly play games at night. Most of the characters in the game go to bed anywhere after 7pm, and the shop closes at 10pm, so late night gaming is rather weak. Obviously, Nintendo doesn’t want kids to stay up late and play Animal Crossing all night. Interestingly enough, if you change the internal clock, you’ll meet Resetti, a character that basically yells at you for messing with the space time continuum. Very funny indeed, but I am forced to play Animal Crossing at different times of the day.

At first glance of screens, it looks like a total kids game. Graphically Animal Crossing isn’t anything to brag about. Very simplistic characters, environments, and cute little animals running around. Animal Crossing isn’t about bump mapping or cool transparency effects. It’s about the experience.

Moments into the game, you’ll realize the language skews a little more intelligent. Even though Animal Crossing is meant for kids, I can really understand why adults like this game too. It’s not like the characters are screaming “Ei-Ei-Poo” (cough Monkey Ball) or anything like that. Interaction with the people in the town is actually entertaining because the characters are funny. At least I find them funny. One of my favorite characters is Kapp’n, who sings as he rows the boat that takes you to your island. He says random things in the middle of his songs, and yesterday he said, “Yar, say there kid…you ever spend a night in a Hyrulian Prison?” I just about fell over laughing.

The audio elements in Animal Crossing are very well done. The music alone is very catchy, and I am already humming or whistling along with these MIDI tracks. There is no actual voice in the game, but the characters have a sort of “animal speak”. I think this actually works better, because I think zany animal voices would have gotten annoying after a while. Could you imagine talking with 30 different Slippys? I don’t even want to think about it. Sound effects also offer audio cues when you’re hunting down insects. You can hear the differences in chirps, and catch the insects you want.

Animal Crossing is also the first game in the US to truly utilize the connectivity between the Game Boy Advance and GameCube, as well as the upcoming e-Reader. These things aren’t necessary, but add more cool options to the game. When you connect your GBA to the GameCube, you can download certain game elements to your GBA. You can download a pattern editor, your island, and the infamous classic NES titles. You can do most everything on your TV as well, but you won’t get access to the island unless you have the cable. I think it’s actually useful. I was in the middle of the game, and wanted to design a PGC logo for my door, but had to go to the bathroom. So I quickly connected my GBA, and downloaded the editor, and literally from the crapper, the PGC logo was born. I’m sure Nintendo wouldn’t like for that to be my main explanation of how I used it, but hey, it worked. So far, I only have utilized the pattern editor and getting access to the island. I prefer to play the NES games I’ve found on my TV, but it does work pretty well on the GBA. I do not have an e-Reader yet, but I’m looking forward to getting cards, and seeing what that can add to the whole experience.

One feature that I think is amazing is that you can trade almost any item with anyone else with passwords. You can give your friend your character’s name, and town, and he can send you an item via password. What’s also great is that once you acquire an item, and sell or trade it, you can then order that item from the store. I think this makes sharing items more friendly, and inviting. The feature is coded to character names and towns, so you can’t really cheat, unless you have the same character name and town as the recipient. It’s very simple to trade items with your friends, no matter where they are. I don’t think you can get everything in the game unless you trade, but I’m not sure. I tried this out with a Planet Chatter by the name of POKETNRJSH, who sent me the NES games Excitebike, Donkey Kong, and Balloon Fight. All I had to do was give him my name and town, and he spit out 3 separate sets of code that I had to enter. With communities like Planet Chat and our new Animal Crossing Trading

Post, trading has never been easier. (Shameless plug.)

What I like the most about Animal Crossing is the fact that it’s so relaxing. It’s fun to lie on the couch and play. One rather large warning Nintendo should have put on the package was this game is very time consuming and addictive. I am afraid to see what happens to PGC productivity when the staff gets this game. It’s very easy to get lost in the world that you basically create for yourself. How long will the fun last? That’s a really good question. Since there really isn’t an ultimate goal in the game, I’m not quite sure how interested I’ll be in the long run, but for now, I’m really enjoying Animal Crossing. Time will ultimately tell. After a week in, I will say, Animal Crossing is yet another unique and entertaining experience that is truly Nintendo.

Share + Bookmark





Genre Simulation
Developer Nintendo
Players1 - 4

Worldwide Releases

na: Animal Crossing
Release Sep 15, 2002
PublisherNintendo
RatingEveryone
jpn: Doubutsu no Mori Plus
Release Dec 14, 2001
PublisherNintendo
RatingAll Ages
eu: Animal Crossing
Release Sep 24, 2004
PublisherNintendo
Rating3+
aus: Animal Crossing
Release Oct 17, 2003
PublisherNintendo
RatingGeneral

Related Content

Got a news tip? Send it in!
Advertisement
Advertisement