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:: Animal Crossing GCN Review |
Overview
Animal Crossing is a good, even great, game. Right from the start, you're thrown into the action. People have been waiting for this game ever since it was first announced as Animal Crossing, for the Nintendo 64. Unfortunately that game was scrapped, and it was moved to the GameCube. One unique thing, the game changes with the season. Like in Winter, there will be snow on the ground. Summer, green ground. Fall, Brownish-yellow, and spring, a light green. The clock changes with the day, aswell. It will be sunny during the daytime, sun going down after 6pm (18:00), and dark at around 9pm (21:00). But the time changes and the season change isn't the best part of the game.
For graphics, they could have been better. A LOT better. Your character's face looks like it was simple pasted on, no detail at all. All the characters look like that. N64 graphics? I thought we were playing the GameCube, not the N64. Graphics are only a minor disadvantage, though. The game is fun enough for you to forget that.
On to gameplay, if we will. The game starts with you in a train, heading to your village for the first time. You meet Rover the cat, who is neither guy nor girl. Sort of scary if you think about it. Once you fill out your name and town name, the cat makes a call to Tom Nook, owner of the one shop in your town. Once you arrive in the village, Nook decides to sell you a cardboard box he calls a "house". For a mere $19,000. I still think he's insane. So you work for Nook until your loan is near 17,000, then he lets you go and you can pay the rest off at the post office. To get the money, you can catch fish, sell fruit and bugs, or do jobs for animals and get money/furniture/clothes, yet around 60% of the time you'll get stationary, which sells for 40 bells. The main character is also a very punny person. "I caught a red snapper! That was a snap!" you'll hear jokes like that throughout the game.
For sound, it couldn't be better, or funnier. Everyone actually speaks, but they speak in garbled words. If you listen closely, they actually ARE saying the words, just not clear enough for the human ear to hear. Also, for quite a laugh, head for the train station on a Saturday, after 7pm (19:00). K.K. is the funniest thing I've heard for some time now. If you want something good, request K.K. March. Great song.
One thing I like about Animal Crossing is the interaction. You can do virtually anything. You can pick your friends, pick your enemies, etc etc. You can receive mail from the animals that are your friends, from the museum, from Tom Nook, or from people playing the game with you. And if you think your house is too small, once you pay off the loan you can get a bigger house. During certain events, you can also become a member of the HRA, the Happy Room Academy. They judge your house on a points system. The higher your rating, the more people come to your town.
If you have a friend with a GCN and AC, you can travel to their town VIA memory card. A pretty cool feature, but remember, once you go there an animal from your town is randomly selected to move to the other memory card. Once you're in the other town, check for fruit you don't have, they sell for 500 bell back at home! There's just so much to do, I can't even list half of it.
Another cool feature is this. Start up a game, go to the Gyroid. Save and continue. Once it's done saving, reset your GCN. Start playing again. Now meet Mr. Resetti, who is the single best character in the game besides KK. Unfortunately these two don't cover the repetitive-ness that you'll see during the game. It's the same thing over and over again, such as pick up this from this guy, or deliver this to this girl. Yadda yadda.
So, Animal Crossing's final rating? It's great in my books. Get yourself some furniture, get a bigger house, and start designing. It's endless. And very, very fun.
Sound: 9/10
I love the sound and songs. Very classic.
Control: 9/10
The buttons are all in the right place, and very easy to get at.
Graphics: 5/10
Nintendo could of done better.
Gameplay: 7/10
Same thing over and over.
Overall: 9/10
It's worth a buy. Very good game, worth the long wait we've all had.
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| Reviewed by Chad ::
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