Even though the summer is over, for all of the inhabitants at Animal Crossing, the holiday season is just beginning! From the cats to the dogs, the wolves and the frogs, the racoons to the pigs and the koalas to the chicks, they are all packing their bags full, checking their passports and making their way over the Europe. Last year when they attempted the flight, they were delayed due to some technical problems (Nintendo’s brains being broken) but now everything is checked and their flight lands on the 24th of September 2004.
It was March 2002 when the inhabitants of Animal Crossing made their first excursion over seas to North America. Here they were welcomed with open arms and let in to nearly every home that owned one of the cute and squared Gamecubes. Soon their villages flourished and soon became a little part of the great continent themselves.
A while passed and then there were many in Europe that grew excited. Spreading through all of the Nintendo fans was a buzz of anticipation to hear of the release date when the game would be given another over seas trip to this wonderful continent. However, it never came and slowly but surely, the hearts of all were broken and it seemed as though Europe was doomed to an eternal torment of never being able to play the game in PAL format. (Not until Animal Crossing 2 was released anyway).
Soon there was a flood of requests for the game to be released here. Many people on the official Nintendo site pleaded for the company to port the game into PAL format for them to play. There were some, if not all, who even resorted to importing the game so that they could finally get their hands on it and see what all of the fuss was about!
Now they need to wait no longer, it has finally come to our humble shores.
Animal Crossing is a game that runs twenty-four/seven; even when the Gamecube is turned off it still runs by the internal clock. The game does not just go by days, weeks or years but it also changes with all of the different seasons too, matching the weather with rain, snow, sun, fog and wind! It is amazing the variety that this game shows and the realism of the different effects that can sometimes perfectly match the weather outside your very own window.
With this real time play, it then throws open the entire game to you and sucks you in completely with all of the many fun and exciting events that happen every day. The many things to do are endless; you can take part in the season’s activities such as fishing or early morning aerobics; then there are other things such as your day job, receiving letters in the morning or even going off in search of buried gifts that the other villagers have hidden.
One extra plus that all retro Nintendo lovers will enjoy is that you can obtain, through treasure hunting and e-cards, many of the classic NES games! There are many of them to collect from Zelda, Mario Bros., Excite Bike, Clu Clu Land, Clu Clu Land 2, Wario Woods, Pitfall even to Balloon Fight!
The main aim of the game is quite simple. When you first start the game you are given the option to name your village and then, by a new friend on the train, they talk to Tom Nook and get you a house to live in whilst you stay. Unfortunately, you cannot be an animal, you are a human but with two horns coming out of your head.
The house you get starts off at a small size and then by asking for loans from Tom Nook, he expands it for you. You can get a second floor, basement or just make the rooms a bigger size. However, none of this comes for free and as said, you have to pay off the loans by firstly working for him at his shop and then go about finding your own way to make money.
From then on the game unfolds with all of its crazy quirks.
There are six main places within your village that are in every village that any player creates; these are the post office, museum, police station, dump, shop and the crazy fabric shop. Each one of these places are run by the wackiest of animals that help you in various ways within the game.
From then you explore the rest of your village to discover the other settlers; all of which are some kind of animal. There are a wide variety of animals that are within the game; cats, dogs, wolves, bulls, frogs, koalas, chickens, mice, hippos, rhinos etc. With all of those who live in your village, you can go around and do chores for them to gain you items and money. If you keep them all happy then they will stay and even more will come to stay if you keep the village clean and tidy.
There is an endless list of everything that goes on in this game and it would take pages and pages to explain the many wonderful and intriguing things that you can do within your village. From special season events, athletics in the summer and your own birthday. There is just too much in this great and amazing game!
The graphics of the game are in a cell shaded/3D style and work really well with the theme of fun and craziness within the game. This helps greatly with the many expressions that the animals show; anger, happiness and sadness being some of them. Not to mention that it also enhances the wide variety of skin and fur that all of the different animals have.
It strengthens the colours in the designs of your clothes, wallpaper, carpet and all of the many wonderful items you have in your house. The weather effects are stunning too and it all just seems to fit perfectly.
Within the game there are many sounds. First of all you can choose the option of the ‘funny’ talking. This is where all of the animals do not speak in English but a creative animal jargon. Although this seems to be highly amusing, one can imagine that it would soon get on your nerves and that you would change the option to normal tones or just no sound with talking at all. However, it all adds to the feel of the game.
When you address each of the animals, a funny tune plays, each different for the type of animals that you talk to suit their character. They also speak in different tones with the animal jargon too; some have very deep voices, others high and some just plain weird!
During your time within the village there is also a nice selection of tunes that play for you in the background so that you do not get bored whilst you explore or run errands.
Animal Crossing looks to be an absolutely amazing and addictive game, where you will play it twenty-four/seven non-stop. All of the many events, games, treasure hunts, jobs and animals will have you forever working about the village; adding to it or just improving it in some way or another to get the most animals to stay at your wonderful village. With its success in North America and also Japan, it is obvious too that from the great demand by the gamers in Europe that Animal Crossing will be a certain success and a game well worth the money and all of the time needed to be put into it.
Tobias Rowe
