Genre: Video Game
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1-4
Retail Price: $50
Availability: Nintendo Wii
A familiar franchise makes its debut on the Nintendo Wii with Animal Crossing: City Folk. The big question this time around is: does the newest version provide enough to be worthwhile? The answer lies in the extent of your previous experience with Animal Crossing. If you’ve played either of the first two games then you’ve played a decent chunk of this game already, but the new features do add some unique elements to this already great series.
To call this game a series can be a bit misleading though, as each game is, for all practical purposes, a remake of the previous game with a few new features. If you’ve only played one of the other two games, or neither of them, then this is a must play title as it is one of the most unique and engaging experiences you’ll find on the Wii. If you have played the other two games and you thought that you’ve had your fill, the gap between releases may be enough time to reel you back in, but I wouldn’t expect an experience too different from your first run through.
When you start your game you get to choose your character’s name and the name of your town, then you get dropped of at the gates where it’s up to you to get settled in. Your first stop will be to see Tom Nook, a colorful character with a proposition for helping you get set up. So you then get to choose your house from four possible selections and learn all about your 20,000 bell (the currency in the game) debt to Nook. He then makes you work some odd jobs like talking to all the villagers in town and making some deliveries which help whittle down your debt a bit as well as get you familiar with your surroundings.
Once you get set up you’ll realize that Animal Crossing is a unique title because it doesn’t really have any set goals or tasks you need to perform. Sure, you’ll want to pay off your loan from Nook, and probably collect the numerous sets of furniture, but the game never really pushes you to perform and of these tasks. You can choose to fish or hunt for bugs, or perhaps do some shopping at Nooks, or maybe just wander around town and speak with the entertaining townsfolk who inhabit your village.
That isn’t to say that there aren’t goals for you to perform, but they all just have an optional feel to them. Each time you pay off your debt to Nook, he will give you the option to upgrade your house again and hit you with an even larger debt. You’ll of course take him up on the offer (why wouldn’t you want a bigger house?), and then you realize that every upgrade is vastly more expensive than the last. There are also a few different town upgrades if you feel like donating to the town fund at the post office, so you’ll have plenty to do with all those bells you gather up.
So how does one go about getting the bells to afford the lavish lifestyle you want to provide for your character? Well the primary methods are fishing and hunting for bugs, though in my opinion fishing works out a bit better and provides for more excitement. There are a huge assortment of fish and bugs to catch and collect so it will keep you busy for more than a fair amount of time. Catching all the fish can be a bit difficult though because of the game’s use of your system’s internal clock. Certain fish can only be caught during specific seasons, so you’ll be playing this game for a long time if you want to experience everything it has to offer.
The time based events in the game are what really make this a special experience you won’t find anything else. Besides the ability to catch different fish and bugs at different times of the year, you’ll also have a complete day and night cycle that impacts the events in your town. Nook and the Able Sisters are only open for certain hours, and you’ll find different fish in the morning, afternoon and night. You’ll also find that events occur for different holidays, and who can forget to check out Brewsters every Saturday night for the weekly appearance of K.K. Slider (singer/songwriter extraordinaire).
The biggest change in the latest version of the series is the inclusion of the ability for you to travel to the City. At any point you can head over to the bus stop and take a trip to the numerous stores in the City. All of the shops you’ll find have existed in the other versions of the game, like Crazy Redd’s and the Hair Salon. You’ll also find a comedy club as well as an auction house, but overall while the experience isn’t something you haven’t seen before, it’s just a bit more streamlined and easy to access version of portions of past games.
Online support is a feature that makes its return from Wild World, and it’s a welcome addition to the console release. The idea is amazing, but unfortunately is not implemented as well as it could be, since Nintendo doesn’t have the most impressive infrastructure in place. The friend code system is your only way of interacting with other players, but if you do know a few people who have the game, you’ll find a fun experience to share with your friends. You can visit each others towns and you can do everything you could on your own.
So what everything boils down to is that Animal Crossing is still one of the most impressive games you’ll find on the Wii. It is a complete experience you won’t get out of any other game, except maybe if you’ve played either of the first two Animal Crossing games. Even if you have played one of the first two games, you still find an awesome experience as City Folk maintains all of the best features you’ve come to love about Animal Crossing.
