Think of a game that plays 24 hours a day 365 days a year. Think of a game that has no end, no enemies, and no levels. Think of a game that will be different for each and every player. Animal Crossing allows all this and more. This is a game of life. You become part of a functional community. You buy a house, get a job, interact with fellow villagers, and even share your world with your friends after a short train ride (via memory card swap). In Animal crossing you will collect items, plants, fossils, and animals, as well as build relationships with your neighbors. Its simple to become friends in Animal Crossing, you can do chores for other towns folk or even mail them a letter just to say, "Hi" using AC's post office. You can even play NES games and celebrate holidays on the date they are occurring in real life. It's all here and waiting for you to not just play it…. but live it!

Graphics

Welcome to Animal Crossing

Well I won't lie to you; Animal Crossing has some very "Nintendo 64-ish" looking graphics. Nintendo gave Animal Crossing a slight update but overall compared to other Gamecube titles it looks old. While not great technically, Animal Crossing's graphics serve their purpose well. Textures are crisp and colorful as they have a storybook look. Stuff like water and the ground have a stylized look. Nintendo added some nice lighting effects but overall it has the same type of look as the Nintendo 64 version. You will see changes in the season such as snow and rain. Characters are a mixed bag. While they are bright and colorful and fit in well with the environment, they look horrid when it cuts to close up shots. The designs of the animals are well done. A create a character option would have been nice. The animation's are well done and showcase emotion in characters when they are happy, sad, even in love! AC isn't a game that was build for its graphics, it's all about having fun and the graphics do give you that feeling.

Features


As you visit your village throughout the day, different activities happen at different times: plus, special things happen on holidays.
Interact with other gamers - up to four players can move into a village and take turns playing in a shared village, cooperating and competing on one game.
Swap memory cards with friends who have the game and travel to their villages to interact with different characters there. In other villages, players find different assortment of items and build new relationships with different groups of villagers.
Pay off and improve your house by returning daily, adding floors and new furnishings; and watch how other human characters improve their houses, which adds a competitive element.
Experience the game's unique and engrossing sense of community as you join villagers in actual time.
Relive many classic NES games included in Animal Crossing, which players will discover, earn or get passwords for through Animal Crossing's E-cards.
Check back regularly or the virtual residence will become overrun by weeds and cockroaches. And don't dare try to reset the game!
Connect to a Game Boy Advanced using a Nintendo Gamecube Game Boy Advanced cable. Once connected, players can travel from the village to a remote island, and find exotic items.
Hook up the new e-Reader through your Game Boy Advanced and swipe Animal Crossing's E-cards to acquire game tips, special or rare items, or even special messages from the characters living in Animal Crossing.
Experience the all-new N-Port feature. Download a classic NES game to your Game Boy Advanced. Then disconnect and take the game with you!

Control
The controls are very simple. The control stick moves your character (this along with B makes you run); C stick controls the camera. The B button puts away items, while the A button allows you to talk, enter buildings, shake trees, read messages on bulletin boards and use items while held down.

Sound
Nintendo did some cool things with the sound in this game. The music changes ever hour in a days play. The music adds to the bright feel of the game and gives it an upbeat feeling that fits the game so well. Another thing Nintendo did that was cool was what I call the KEKE feature. Totakeke sings a new song (you get a bit of everything) on Saturdays that you can collect and play in your radio back at your house. This Dog is a regular Elvis and one of my favorite characters in the game. Sound effects are all well done. Clanks of your shovel hitting an object, footsteps and other sounds are well done and give you a nice feeling of the action. The dialog in Animal Crossing will be a hit or miss with gamers. I found it to be entertaining, even funny at times. While at the same time, others who played with me found it annoying. It would have been nice to get real voice acting but overall its not bad.

Gameplay


The gameplay in Animal Crossing is like nothing else ever created. With so many options and so much to do it's literally a never-ending game. Not only that but each gamer will have a different experience. This is a game of life. You will need to work, make friends, and collect items so your life can improve. Once you start the game you will be given a house but you will need to work for your very generous landlord, Tom Nook, to pay it off. You will be given different tasks that not only earn you money, but also familiarize you with the game mechanics. As time goes on Tom won't need your help anymore so you will need to earn your money elsewhere. Asking fellow townsfolk for jobs is a great way to earn some cash, along with items such as home furnishings and paper to write mail. You can also collect items (Tip: fruit are easy to find and you get 100 bells each) and sell them to Tom for cash. There is no limit to how many you can sell to him. Friends are important in this game. You need to make friends with others in your town, too not only earn items, but to also enhance the game. You have the option to send mail to people in the game (they will send mail back along with items a lot of the time). There is a museum in your town that you can donate to. Things such as fossils that you can dig up with a shovel, fish you can catch, and even bug's can be donated and displayed. This helps make your town a more desirable place to live. You can even customize your own wallpaper, clothing, and umbrellas, and send them to your friends or use them yourself to customize your house.

One of the keys in Animal Crossing is housing; you can furnish, customize, and even upgrade your house. There is a panel of judges that will check your pad out and rate it. You can buy or trade furniture and even get tips from other citizens. All this will help you develop the best house in the village. Some of the items you can get include chairs, music instruments, even a NES! And with your NES you can play such classics as Donkey Kong, Excitebike, Pinball, and Balloon Fight. All are perfectly recreated, just like back in the 8-bit days. And this doesn't scratch the surface of AC, as there is so much you can get it is overwhelming.


One to four players can live in one village. You have the ability to check out each other's houses, send each other gifts, post on the town message board all on a 1-player basis. How this works out is each player takes his or her turn playing the game as it only allows 1 player to play at a time. It gives the game a feeling of online playing community with out even going online. So you are getting bored of your town? Well, why not take a trip? You can visit a friend's town simply by plugging in his memory card in the second slot and hopping on the train. You will meet new animals, collect new items, and even trade items only found in your town for a much higher price! You can even make friends with the animals in the town and send letters back and forth to them. You may even like that village more then your current one. If you do, well why not move into it. Or have your friend move into yours! Let's say none of your friends have the game yet, or they live to far to play. You can call them on the phone or email them a code so you can trade items; it's that simple. Nintendo made this one player game a community you can share with people around the world!

Time is key in this game, whether its nighttime or day the real time clock will display it all. Some cool aspects of this game depend on what time it is. Some bugs can only be caught at night, and many items and animals are seasonal. Also your surrounding change as time goes on; things such as snow and rain litter the town (you can even make snowmen). You can plant fruit and watch new fruit trees grow (Tip: if you visit a town grab their fruit and plant it to have your own fruit tree of rare fruit). Even holidays are celebrated in the town and certain items can only be found on that day! But don't go too long without playing, otherwise the town will begin to be overrun by cockroaches! This game will have you playing night and day 365 days a year.

Closing Thoughts

Caught A Dragonfly

While I did find some problems with Animal Crossing, (that stupid owl in the museum never shuts up) over all I found it to be a great game. With such innovative features and an unlimited amount of things to do Animal crossing will have you coming back for more. Who knows what rewards Nintendo included in this game such as more NES games or even special items, all I know is I am hooked. If you can overlook the kiddy image and the 64 style graphics you will see a true gem. I feel that Animal Crossing is a game that will get more and more popular over time (This game could be the next Pokemon) as the game provides players with something not often found in a lot of current games, fun! I am happy to see Nintendo trying something different and bringing over this very "Japanese" game to the states. With the very busy line up of great games it may be hard for some gamers to pick this game up. I encourage you all to do some chores, sell your stock, ask for a early Christmas present, whatever it takes, cause Animal is one of the best games I have played in a long time. Will you look at the time. I need to get back to playing my game. Ahhh the cockroaches are attacking!