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Crazily and stupidly addictive

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 448 / 462
Date: December 30, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Thank god I got this as a Christmas present. If I hadn't, I'd be bouncing off the walls all through the school day waiting to play this dumb game.
Why a dumb game? Well, the concept is amazingly simple. You live in a little town (mine was christined Jamaica by my little sister in honor of our upcoming trip to the actual island) in a little house. You can fish, dig for treasure, hunt bugs, and do favors for neighbors (all of which are cute little animals that vary depending on which type of town you ended up with). You have to pay off the mortgage for your house. You can chat it up with residents, visit the local museum, or go shopping. If that gets boring, you can always decorate your house with the seemingly unlimited amounts of rugs, wallpapers, and furniture. Sounds kinda redundant, huh? It's not.
What really makes this game fun? Three things. First of all, the detail in this game is amazing. The towns residents don't just interact with you, they interact with eachother. Several times a day I'll walk into an area to see one character whisper something to another, resulting in either one or both of them getting extremely angry (you can't talk to them while they're like this!) They'll also give eachother presents, and gossip behind eachother's backs. Also, if you share the town with another player (I share with my sister) the town's residents will tend to favor one of you over the other (e.g., a hippo named Lulu loves bragging to me about my sister, showing me her letters, and gushing about favors she did). Secondly, the town is bursting with surprises. You may start a conversation with a character only to have them suddenly give you a gift. New characters may appear, to move in or just visit. My favorite is a disgruntled mole that shows up and spazzes every time I restart the game. Because how would you feel if someone just started your whole world over again? Finally, the real time aspect of the game is great. On Sundays a warthog comes through the town selling turnips. On Saturday nights a guitar playing dog cranks out tunes. On holidays, there are celebrations (for example, I recently got a notice about a New Year's bash at the wishing well). Want to visit a resident? If it's past their bedtime, you're out of luck.
So it sounds like a kid's game? No way. It appeals to little ones (Preschoolers will adore the simple things, like shaking trees, collecting seashells, and moving furniture), grade-schoolers (the museum curator spews interesting facts, and it's always fun to interact with town residents), and teenagers and adults (there's a surprising amount of strategy involved!). What's also great is that you can never "beat" this game. Like The Sims, you basically play until you get sick of it.
I strongly reccomend this game to ANYONE of ANY AGE. Very addictive and endlessly fun, this game is worth your money!

Innovative, exciting, wonderful, and addictive

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 236 / 242
Date: December 24, 2002
Author: Amazon User

The only reason I bought this game was because I heard I could play a whole bunch of classic NES games and even transfer them to my Gameboy Advance. I was a bit annoyed by the first hour or so of play as I was required to name and create a town and character. After that, however, I became interested in the variety of activities I could participate in (besides just playing old NES games). By the time Halloween came and all the characters dressed-up as Jack O'Lanterns and asked me for candy, I was amazed at the amount of fun I was having simply living in this world, which I called Europa.

That's when my 3 year-old decided she needed to start playing. Within a day or two, she had mastered the (mostly icon-based) interface. It was fascinating watching how she enjoyed playing the game - not by any means I would've thought. The first week she loved shaking trees looking for treats. The 2nd week, collecting shells and selling them to Tom Nook was her favorite. After that she went into phases of planting flowers everywhere to chopping down pear trees (they're not as pretty as cherries). She was playing in Europa alongside my character. What she did impacted my game experience and we loved sending letters (with presents attached) back and forth to each other.

Then, my wife decided she was interested enough to look at it (for once, she actually looked at a videogame). Soon, the three of us played the game on a daily basis and talked about it when we weren't playing. The combination of time-based events and small surprises in almost every play session makes this something that people want to talk about.

Best game I've played this year.

I Wish I Lived There!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 61 / 61
Date: August 05, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Okay, let's all admit it! Before playing Animal Crossing for the first time, you think that this is another baby game, just by Nintendo. Actually, you'd be half there. Animal Crossing may appeal to babies, but it will also greatly appeal to anybody else who loves games along the lines of Pikmin or Super Monkey Ball 2. I thought about buying this game for months, before finally deciding to pick up a copy, and even then, I questioned my purchase. However, within five minutes, I fell in love with the game. The whole point to Animal Crossing is trying to make a home for yourself in a town overrun with animals. It is similar to The Sims, the PC hit by Maxis, but only not as in-depth. However, in some ways it is better than The Sims. You have no momentum bar like you do in other Sims games, and you explore the whole town freely, unlike in The Sims where you call up cabs or buses to take you everywhere. AC is much more colorful than The Sims as well. The first thing that you will notice in AC is that the game is simply not hard. In fact, the hardest task that you may do is finding out who stole Leopold's glasses! Although it may sound corny, the concept is VERY fun. In the town, the time passes like a real day. One minute in our world is equivalent to a minute in Animal Crossing. it is really fun like this! Also, a calendar is kept, unlike The Sims, and you have four seasons come and go. The animals also celebrate holidays like Christmas and Halloween. There are fishing tournaments and even raffles to do in the town. The whole thing is really quite fun and charming. There is never an excuse for not doing anything in the town. There is always something to do, whether it's running an errand or catching bugs. The biggest problem with the game are the graphics and sound. The graphics are really about N64 quality and the sound is only okay. But, the fact is, everything is so endearing that it's hard to heavily nitpick Animal Crossing. This is definitely one of Nintendo's better projects, and in my opinion, Nintendo is still king when it comes to developing games. While most systems stride to become more and more violent with games like Silent Hill 3 and GTA Vice City, Nintendo strides to become more family-oriented, which is a refreshing favor. Even me, a diehard fan or Resident Evil and Vice City loves Animal Crossing. Whether you are three or fifty, you will find Animal Crossing very fun. I know that I will play this game for years to come!

Welcome To The World Of Animal Crossing

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 57 / 62
Date: October 16, 2003
Author: Amazon User

This game is like no other,no,it's not an adventure,or a puzzle,it's life!Expeirience a new life where you name your own town and make your own rules.You buy a house,catch bugs,go fishing,anything.You start out in a small house and pay it off,just like in the real world,each time you pay it off you talk to Tom Nook(the shop keeper)and he'll upgrade your house!You can make a basement,an upstairs,or just make your main level bigger.Once you've paid off your house and it's been upgraded to the highest it can you get a gold statue of yourself infront of the train station!
If you connect your GBA with the Nintendo GameCube link cable,you can travle to animal island where you meet a friendly animal.You can also use the AC e-reader cards to get helpful codes.
AC runs on a real 24 hr. clock,so you can celebrate holidays and special events theat go on in your town.
The animals that live in your village have different personalities.You can help them with errands to get a little reward or talk to them and write them letters.
You can find many classic Nintendo games,such as Donkey Kong,CluClu Land and Excitebike.
In AC there's all that and much more.I hope my reveiw was helpful to you:)

Surprisingly Innovative, Scarily Addictive: Animal Crossing

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 35 / 36
Date: December 08, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Ah - Animal Crossing. Where to start?

Well... it all starts when you're riding on a train, heading out into the world for the first time. A blue-and-white cat by the name of Rover walks up to you and asks you if its some ridiculous time, such as May 30, 2030, 2:41 am. Unless that's somehow right, you'll tell him he's wrong and he'll ask you the real date and time.

Once you tell him, he sits next to you and engages in conversation. Eventually he asks you your name and where you're going. Once you tell him you don't know where you'll be living, he calls a friend in the town you're heading for and gets you a house.

When you get to the town, you are greeted by a monkey porter. After you walk down the steps, a rather pudgy raccoon runs up to you, introducing himself as Tom Nook. He shows you a group of four shabby, tiny houses, and you will be allowed to choose one. When you are asked to pay, it is revealed that you have - not nearly enough!

And so it begins. Nook asks you to work part-time for him for a while, and then are free to pay off the rest of the debt (17,400) on your own by doing favors for your neighbors, fishing, selling fruit, et cetera.

Oh, yes - your neighbors. You'll start out with five or six animal neighbors. They all have different voices, personalities, and "catch phrases" (such as: I have a duck named Deena who says "sugarbill" at the end of most of her sentences). If you aren't nice to them, they will mostly be mean to you and even insult you. You can do favors, be quizzed, and trade furniture with them. Once you start visiting other towns, more animals will move in until you fill up to fifteen of them.

There's also holidays. On your birthday, a neighbor will bring you a gift, plus a batch of them will arrive in the mail from all your neighbors. At the Harvest Festival (their version of Thanksgiving), you must steal the knives and forks to help out the main course, a rather frantic turkey.

It would really take far to long to describe everything in detail. You can run errands, fish, catch bugs, dig for fossils or treasure or even money, shop at Nook's (which eventually upgrades as far as Nookington's Department Store, run with the help of two adorable twins named Tommy and Timmy), upgrade your house, decorate, gossip with your neighbors, write letters, send presents to your neighbors, request songs from Tokakeke (or K.K. Slider, as he prefers to be called on Saturday nights, when he plays by the train station), listen to music, change the 'town tune,' and much, much, more.

Said the walking endorsement for Animal Crossing.

Move over Zelda, Animals are Crossing

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 45 / 53
Date: August 11, 2002
Author: Amazon User

First of all, it's not a Game Boy Color game. Second of all, now for my reviews. Ahem...Animal Crossing is a great game. You can do so many things. It is great for all ages. Everyone will have fun. You can do...These things: Name your character and town, ride a train to town to town, visit your friend's town by using the Memory Card, mail letters, change clothes, get a job, play original NES games, custumize your house, visit a mysterious island by using the GBA-GC connector, visit people's houses, if it's your birthday-you'll receive a gift and letters! This isn't a game. I'm not sure what to call it. I guess a mini-virtual life. If you reserve it, trust me:You will love it. It is not a game that contains stages, levels or boss-fights, just doing your daily routines. It may not sound fun, but if you look in pictures in Mags (Nintendo Power recommeded) you'll see how fun it really is.

Very Fun.A must have.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 25 / 25
Date: December 03, 2002
Author: Amazon User

At first this game looked kind of babyish and the graphics are like the N64 AND the commercial is the stupidest thing i've ever seen!BUT THIS GAME IS AWESOME!You're moving out of your home and going out to see the world.You name your town and yourself whatever you like and no 2 towns are the same.You can be a boy or girl and you get to choose from 4 houses.You get a job to pay off your house but it doesnt last long.You pay a mortgage,decorate your house,and you can upgrade your to be bigger and have a basement and a second floor!You do errands and get stuff from your villagers,go to your island(with a GBA and a GBA-GCN link cable)and can get a tan!5 of my friends and my younger brother love the game!A company called the HRA(Happy Room Academy)grades your house.This isn't even half of the stuff you can do!I haven't heard of any adults who have tried but anyone will like this game!!! It is a must have!!!

The greatest game ever!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 21 / 22
Date: December 22, 2003
Author: Amazon User

If I was at a friend's house and they were playing this game, I would think that it was the stupidest thing ever. But I own it and I think that it's fun as heck. I'm 21 years old and I still love this game, even though I'm sure it was designed with kids in mind. But how can a game where you basically do nothing be not just super fun, but also seriously addictive? I have no idea. All I know is that I can't stop playing. There's so much you can do. You can fish, collect fossils, decorate your house, build onto your house, design clothes,talk to the other inhabitants of the town, run errands, visit other villages, plant trees, pull weeds, catch bugs, shake trees for money, and play classic Ninendo games like Donkey Kong. If you don't already own this game, click add to cart now!
**Rob's Tips**
Hit rocks with the shovel. Once a day, one will turn red and give you money. When it does, keep hitting it until it goes back to gray.
When you find a glowing spot, dig it up and you will get 1000 bucks. You can either bury the money and a money tree will grow, or you can bury a shovel to get the golden shovel.
Get two memory cards and create two villages. Go to one village, fill your pockets with fruit, then take the fruit to the other village and sell them. You can earn 500 dollars a piece for imported fruit.

How to truly rate a game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 40 / 54
Date: September 02, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Games can only truly be measured by how long you can stand to play them. ...
This game changes continuosly. It is like Harvest Moon. I played Harvest Moon for ages and never got tired. But when my sister erased my game, I really couldn't start from scratch and work my way all the back to where I was. But if i still had my game, I'd be playing it even now! Harvest Moon changed as I played, thus extending it's value as a game. Animal Crossing offers the same kind of game. But it changes more drastically, which brings its value close to the top-notch genre: Multiplayer.
Multiplayer games provide the most replay value because you are competing with something that provides new challenges at every turn: the human brain. Online capabilities are even better, they give you the oppurtunity to play against billions of completely different strategies. Animal Crossing slighty taps into the incredible power of multiplayer by letting other players occupy the same village. The players don't truly co-exist because only one can play at a time, but their presence is obvious. Competition brings out the best in everyone. It's the human drive to be better. This urge gives a game much more excitement. If you have freinds or family in on the game, it will be a far more entertaining.
The only real prolblem with the game lies not in the game itself, but in the concept of real-time events. People have schedules, school, vacation, some people even have lives!(woah!) If the only time you're free to play is the time when everybody is asleep, it's not very fun. And changing the game clock kinda kills the effect of real-time. And if the game moves on without you, that's not very fun either. If events in the game only happen at a certain time, you have to make appointments in your life to visit your other life and show up for those events. Having the game play by itself when you're not around is cool, but impractical. The game is great, but some of the concepts keep it from being perfect.

The sky blackens when my name is spoken.
Mortals cower beneath my image.
I am... THE BRASS MONKEY!!!

Nintendo's Take on The Sims...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 20 / 21
Date: August 04, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Animal Crossing is a game unlike any other, so much so that one might even question if it is a "game" at all. There is no conflict, and there are no real goals other than those that you set for yourself. Despite this, however, Animal Crossing has a mysterious and addictive quality. Whether you're improving your house or just want to see how the town is doing, you'll find yourself turning the game on several times a day to manage your vitual self's lifestyle.

Like the Dreamcast game Seaman, time passes in Animal Crossing in real time, even when your Gamecube is off. Your town will continue to develop while you're at school or work, so there's always something to do. Should you go pick apples to sell at the market? Maybe run some errands for your friends and rearrage your furniture? Or, if you haven't played for a while, you'll have to get rid of that pesky roach infestation that developed while you were gone.

Animal Crossing is also one of the first games to interact with the Gameboy Advance. When your GBA is connected, you'll be able to travel to a little island offshore to get money from a mysterious cat. Using the GBA, players will also be able to unlock new items using the new GBA eCard reader device and special Animal Crossing eCards.

Animal Crossing is completely unique and may not appeal to everyone, but it's a wonderfully enjoyable experiment for those that can wrap their brains around it.

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