Animal Crossing: Let's Go To The City Review

By Simon Parkin Published 17 November, 2008

A tale of two cities.

Version tested: Wii

Animal Crossing is a world without death, but that doesn't mean it's a world without loss, something that's never more keenly felt in this virtual life sim than when your in-game neighbours up and leave. As the name suggests, Animal Crossing houses a transient population, something we're not used to in games that ask us to invest in relationships, so when Tiffany, the cute cat you've been flirting with and running errands for, leaves the village on the next bus out with only a scribbled note by way of goodbye, you're actually sad.

The feeling in past Animal Crossings was heightened because while most of the residents were free to head off to new lives on a whim, you could only go to your friends' towns, and only on the DS. A town of one sort or other was where you had to stay until you grew tired of it and stopped visiting, leaving the weeds to sprout and your relationships with the other villagers to wane. Until that point you were the local constant - the hick who never left its borders - and there was some comfort in the knowledge that the places the other animals went would never be known by you.

Until now, anyway, because Let's Go To The City, the third western Animal Crossing game and first for Nintendo's Wii, punches a hole through the series' previous boundaries. Now you're free to toddle along to the bus stop at any point and catch a ride to the big smoke. Sure, all you can do when you get there is a bit of shopping and character-customisation before your inevitable ride home, but with the exception of multiplayer on the DS it's the first time players have been allowed outside the confines of a village, and it's a rare new feature in a game that otherwise exactly apes its forebears.

Indeed, for players familiar with the Animal Crossing series, much of Let's Go To The City is like watching a favourite film for the hundredth time. You smile at the right places, giggle at the worn jokes, whoop when a much-loved character pops onto screen, celebrate the triumphs and feign sadness at the micro-tragedies. It can be a joyful experience but this is joy from familiarity and not discovery. Despite the game-box promises of "new events to celebrate!" and "new items to collect!", despite the extended development time, and the community features facilitated by the Wii, and the option to play as your Mii character and, of course, the titular promise of a whole "city" to visit, there are few innovations beneath the topsoil.

'Animal Crossing: Let's Go To The City' Screenshot 2

Pop along to the recycling bin in town and you'll be able to nab some neat unwanted items before they go off to the dump. Likewise, every day you can claim items that aren't yours from the lost property.

Your adventure begins in the same way it always has, with a journey into a new beginning, a bus ride to a fresh start. There's no background given, no great trauma that you're fleeing from and no overarching mission driving you forward. Instead you ride in the back of a rickety bus answering the questions of a friendly co-passenger, spoken in the cutesy burbling half-tongue language of the game's inhabitants. 'Are you a boy?', 'When is your birthday?', 'Have you arranged accommodation for when you arrive in town?' The answers you give here determine your character's features, which are finally revealed when you step off the bus into your new hometown.

Moments later an officious raccoon, the local shop owner, landlord and general furry Godfather, Tom Nook, offers you one of four properties to call your own. From there in you have neighbours to get to know, letters to write, festivals to attend, fish to collect, bugs to net, fossils to excavate, clothes to buy and, of course, a mortgage to service. The game follows the Wii's internal clock and calendar, meaning that when it's night in your world it's night in Animal Crossing, while the shops open at nine and close at six, and Christmas falls on 25th December.

Let's Go To The City has all of this. It is, in format and progression, a cookie cutter copy of the other Animal Crossing games, especially the first GameCube one. There are seasonal festivities, like daily fishing competitions to see who can catch the largest Black Bass and challenges to see who can best match their home's furnishings to the month's theme. The lines of (brilliant) dialogue may have been rewritten, the visuals are sharper and brighter, and your choice of four homesteads are now scattered around the town rather than in a cluster near the bus station, but it's best to view Wii Animal Crossing as an expansion pack.

There have been changes to the interface and these are without exception an improvement. Moving around the town is as simple as pointing and clicking with the Wiimote and, thanks to the accelerometer, activities such as fishing are more slick and enjoyable then ever: a flick of the wrist to cast and another to reel. The d-pad allows you to instantly bring up your spade, fishing rod, net and watering can and the menu shortcuts are triggered by moving the Wii pointer to the base of the screen. If you're online then visiting friends' towns is much easier than it was in the Cube version and there's even the option to import and synch your whole town from the DS title Wild World. These are all tweaks of convenience, for sure, but positive ones nonetheless.

The city is where almost all of the game's new ideas come from, although, when you first step off the bus on a day-trip and it turns out to be little more than a cul-de-sac of six or seven boutique shops, it's easy to feel short-changed. The disappointment grows when you discover that at least half of these shops have been in previous games, albeit as travelling merchants who visited your town on certain days of the month. Katrina the fortuneteller, who arrived in her caravan to read palms, is now stationed in a rather underwhelming, dingy terraced store, a peek at the lifestyle behind the mystical curtain we maybe didn't need.

'Animal Crossing: Let's Go To The City' Screenshot 3

Up to four players can live and play in your town. Your neighbours can also move into your Wii friends list, taking with them any letters you might have written them to show and tell.

That said, the few additions are welcome. The up-market Gracie Grace department store sells expensive tailoring and items for your home and it's a joy to walk around. Harriet at Shampoodle will give you a shampoo, cut and style for 3000 bells or, if you prefer, will apply a Mii's head to your character. For 500 bells you can have your shoes shined, a cute way of choosing their colour. You can now actually visit the Happy Room Academy, its chairman Lyle a delightful Glengarry Glen Ross-style failed real-estate salesman who speaks in machine-gun staccato when setting each month's home-decorating theme. There's also a comedy club where you can watch an awkward stand-up routine, an 800-bell investment that grants you a new emoticon for conversing with friends, while a useful MMO-esque auction house rounds off the city's attractions. The extra space these shops have received is welcome but it won't take long for the novelty to wear off and after the first few visits there's not much reason to return.

This is the best execution of Animal Crossing so far, but it is difficult to view it as anything other than a lazy remake of what's gone before. With Wild World the adherence to template was forgivable: the original's framework was robust and interesting enough to warrant a rebuild. But for this Wii game there was no need for more polish, especially not in lieu of new ideas, fresh takes on core concepts and happy invention. In broadening Animal Crossing's borders, Nintendo has done nothing to add to its depth, and as such this is arguably still the best cutesy Japanese life-sim on the market and a solid buy for newcomers, but for series fans it's in no way a life worth reliving.

6 / 10

Animal Crossing: Let's Go To The City is due out for Nintendo Wii on 5th December.

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Simon.

About Simon Parkin

Simon Parkin is an author and journalist on video games. A regular contributor to Eurogamer since 2005, his work has also appeared in Edge, The Telegraph, Gamasutra and Boing Boing.

Read more articles from Simon by visiting the Simon Parkin archive page.

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Comments (94) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • brainbird #1 3 years ago

    /sees score
    /is in disbelief
    /must read review

  • Ryze #2 3 years ago

    Oh well. No need to rush and buy that Wii then?

  • chrisjm #3 3 years ago

    very fair score, i will give this a miss sadly :(

    but take the score and add 2 or 3 if you've never played it

  • Triggerhappytel #4 3 years ago

    And it'll still sell about 100,000 copies a month for about three years.

  • david78 #5 3 years ago

    Ah well,I'll still get itprobs.

  • brainbird #6 3 years ago

    Any idea if there's some sort of "import your save" from the Gamecube version (not DS), like there was in Fire Emblem?

  • merkdot #7 3 years ago

    more twee crap

  • neonemesis #8 3 years ago

    Totally deserves the score it got I'm afraid. Had the DS version on the go for a while now and there doesn't seem enough differences to warrant a purchase of this version.

    Only good thing I did pick up on in the review was the d-pad shortcuts for equipment - exactly what I would have suggested.

  • brainbird #9 3 years ago

    I don't know how much time Simon Parkin had to review the game but I could imagine there are a lot of new things hidden in the game if you play it for a very long time.
    It's still a pity Let's Go To The City doesn't offer more new things from the start, though.

  • DFawkes #10 3 years ago

    I'd have this, just for the convenience of easily switching tools via the d-pad. Constantly opening the menu just to take out a catapult quickly to get that balloon is a pain.

    Curious to see how the DS conectivity works. Will I have 2 versions of myself? Each with a house and identical catalogues, or will I be moving between them? Should be good anyway.

  • rock27gr #11 3 years ago

    Well, the score maybe fair to AC:WW owners, but it can be misleading for all other potential gamers. I think it should be the other way round; give it a proper score as a standalone product, but warn past owners of the similarities.

    Also, what about the new online aspects of the game; not much is mentioned at all, and WiiSpeak is totally absent from the review. Surely the enhanced comunity aspects are a major part of this new version?

  • insincere_dave #12 3 years ago

    "but with the exception of multiplayer on the DS it's the first time players have been allowed outside the confines of a village"

    I clearly must have imagined the island on the GameCube version.

  • jamespo #13 3 years ago

    and I thought the PSOne was bad for shovelware

  • goz #14 3 years ago

    insincere_dave: yeah, I did mention the secret micro-island in that line originally but then took it out because the majority of readers wouldn't have seen it and, it was so small and irrelevant to the game's systems that the point stands anyway.

    Still, you win a badge for excellent pedantry. :)

  • barat #15 3 years ago

    Disaster: Day of Crisis - 6/10
    Wii Music - 5/10
    Animal Crossing: Let's Go To The City - 6/10

    Worst Q4 Nintendo line-up ever... and it's not like third parties offer anything interesting either.

  • rock27gr #16 3 years ago

    @ goz

    what about my comment? I feel neglected. :(

  • Shakey_Jake33 #17 3 years ago

    I'll still get it because I'm looking forward to a Christmas of playing this with my brother over WiFi, but 6/10 is a fair score for what sounds like a rehash. It's about time they started getting critisised for this, to be honest.

    rock27gr - I see your point, but on the other hand, an 8 or 9/10 for a rehash of an N64 game (then GameCube, DS...) would be somewhat undeserved. If anything, your valid point underlines one of the many problems with the very concept of review scores.
    Edited by 1 at 17/11/08 @ 12:11

  • rhubarbandcustard #18 3 years ago

    What is the difference between a bucket of shit and a Wii console?

    a bucket of shit stinks, but isn't harming the gaming industry.

    What percentage of people getting their first taste of gaming from the Wii will never ever buy a console again because of this torrent of crap available for it?

    Fuck off Nintendo, and don't come back.

  • dr_faulk #19 3 years ago

    Best DS game ever.

    Wait.... Wii? What!?

  • rock27gr #20 3 years ago

    @ Shakey_Jake33

    you only need to see the comments on this page to realise what the score tells people; that it's a shit game, which it clearly isn't.

    Also, I'd like an answer on my second part of the comment; about the new online features, i.e. WiiConnect24, WiiSpeak etc.

  • rock27gr #21 3 years ago

    @ designerheadache

    This is very true.

  • jonsaan #22 3 years ago

    The DS game is fabulous. Being able to import your town is a great move.
    Edited by 1 at 17/11/08 @ 12:26

  • Darren #23 3 years ago

    So the Wii's pre-Christmas games list - what little there is, that is - continues to disappoint then...? :?

    Can't say I'm surprised and if I'm being honest, Animal Crossing isn't a game that interested me much anyway. The game itself looks OK but I absolutely detest the art style, so much so that it puts me off playing the game completely. Urgh!

  • goz #24 3 years ago

    rock27gr:

    This is something Tom and I discussed at length. In the end we felt that, as most of EG's readership will have played an AC game before it was best to bias the piece towards them. Also, had the game been marketed as a remake, or an expansion pack, the adherence to template would have been forgivable but this is being sold as an All! New! Animal! Crossing!, a marketing skew it doesn't live up to.

    The community features have almost all appeared in previous games in one form or another, although as the review points out, they are best-executed here thanks to the Wii's ease of online connection. I wasn't able to test WiiSpeak because nobody else I know has the add-on but, to be brutally honest, voice chat in games, no matter how effective the hardware is in picking up voices, is very, very old hat.

    You can totally have a badge too though.
    Edited by 2 at 17/11/08 @ 12:27

  • Stoatboy #25 3 years ago

    "...furry Godfather, Tom Nook...".

    Very good! :)

  • insincere_dave #26 3 years ago

    Can I trade in my pedantry badge for the Wii review of Shaun White Snowboarding please? Or at least an indication of when it'll be published.

  • varsas #27 3 years ago

    rhubarbandcustard
    17-Nov-08 12:10:25

    What is the difference between a bucket of shit and a Wii console?

    a bucket of shit stinks, but isn't harming the gaming industry.

    What percentage of people getting their first taste of gaming from the Wii will never ever buy a console again because of this torrent of crap available for it?

    Fuck off Nintendo, and don't come back.
    The percentage will be 0.

    The Wii is pulling in players that would never touch a console in the first place. Gamers who would by a console would buy a PS3 or 360 no matter what happens with the Wii.

  • rock27gr #28 3 years ago

    @ Goz

    Fair enough, though I wouldn't say most of your readership has played Animal Crossing; many of the regular foroumites perhaps, but even then the numbers should be low.

    I would argue that in this case the game could warrant a 2 score feature; one for new players (whcih should be most of your readers) and one for previous owners.

    Just look at the reaction in these here commentes section; mostly by people with no idea of what AC is, some of whom even own a Wii (Darren springs to mind).

    Let me put it this way; how good is the game for AC virgins, or even Cube-only owners (myself included)?

  • FenderMaster #29 3 years ago

    Nintendo release a sub-standard game in 2009 *shocker*

    This really has been an off year for Nintendo, hasn't it?

    I mean for quality 1st party games, not for sales....

  • iago71 #30 3 years ago

    Oh dear what a shame. It really seems that Nintendo have become lazy. Im sure that people who havent played this before will be enthralled by its charms but come on Nintendo - When are we going to see some of the innovative must have titles of the past. I hate to say it but they really seem to have forgotten their core fanbase in favour of the new market that theyre enjoying. What a disappointment. :(

  • MaxiSleep #31 3 years ago

    Nintendo internally clearly believe that marketing to casuals is far more profitable then producing good games. Like (record loss making recycle your IP) EA you can only hope that their cynical view will cost em.

  • Progguitarist #32 3 years ago

    Terrible year for Wii. There was so much promise with Prime and Galaxy but the standards are dropping sharply.

  • Sid-Nice #33 3 years ago

    What's the difference between rhubarbandcustard and a bucket of shit?

    The bucket.

  • rhubarbandcustard #34 3 years ago

    Haha Sid Nice, I see what you did there.

    Very clever.

  • Dr_Spankenstein #35 3 years ago

    "The Wii is pulling in players that would never touch a console in the first place. Gamers who would by a console would buy a PS3 or 360 no matter what happens with the Wii."

    but that shouldn't be an excuse for Nintendo to release sub par crap. 3rd party releases are worse still. This is a far cry from glory days of the NES and SNES. It's no wonder that a lot of fans are upset, we're being treated like dickheads.

  • muscleblade #36 3 years ago

    Yet another mediocre Wii game. They just keep coming.

  • ryohazuki1983 #37 3 years ago

    Agree with rock27gr about the misleading score.

    Don't think nintendo care about the core "fanbase", why would they when games like brain training and its sequel sell over 10 million each.

    Those "casual" titles must be so easy to make compared to a game like zelda/mario etc, end of the day Nintendo are a business so their aim is to make money in order to survive, fair play.

    Least there's other consoles in the market, just hope they don't follow suit!

  • Pac-man-ate-my-wife #38 3 years ago

    Not enough of change or development from the other two versions for me sadly.

  • iago71 #39 3 years ago

    'Those "casual" titles must be so easy to make compared to a game like zelda/mario etc, end of the day Nintendo are a business so their aim is to make money in order to survive, fair play. '

    I totally agree and see your point but that doesnt change the fact that its a disappointment right?

    Thanks God for the other consoles - Theres so much on offer at the mo I dont have time to play all the games, yet deep down I cant help but hope that Nintendo will pull out a gem like Mario Galaxy or a Zelda ..... I guess thats not going to happen though.

  • andromeda #40 3 years ago

    wiilol

  • quantumsheep #41 3 years ago

    I'm guessing the importing from DS is just one way?

    What I'm really asking is, can I import my DS town, play on the Wii, then re-import my town back onto the DS?

    I imagine you can't. Which makes it a bit of a useless feature. Why would you want to keep up to date with two towns?

  • andromeda #42 3 years ago

    i was in game picking up my 360 mirrors edge on friday and was behind someone who was buying a Wii.
    People are still buying this gimmick.

  • ryohazuki1983 #43 3 years ago

    @iago71 Yeah I agree, however I owned a Wii for a while, however after Zelda, Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart and a few others there wasn't/isn't anything else on I was looking forward too except maybe madworld and conduit so I sold my Wii. Now got a 360 and nowhere near enough time to play all the titles!

  • Progguitarist #44 3 years ago

    It doesnt have to be gimmicky though, thats the thing. When the controls are implimented well it can add to a title. The quality of the games lately has been very poor though and the "gimmick" label is probably justified.

  • morriss #45 3 years ago

    Oh dear. Wii Muic and now this.

  • Lawlost #46 3 years ago

    If quantumsheeps suggestion has been implemented this would make it much more attractive. An hour or two in the evening then export it to the DS, play on the way to work and then import onto the Wii when you get home. Love that idea. Sadly I feel this has not been implemented.

    Anyone know anything about the mic you get with a different version of this game and well it works?

  • Eraysor #47 3 years ago

    I can only assume that one man develops this game, for it to take so long with so few changes. There comes a time when you should stop publishing a decade-old N64 game.

  • Golgo #48 3 years ago

    What a dreary Nintendo line-up for Xmas. Never mind, as far as Nintendo are concerned it'll be 'Animal Crossing: Let's Go To the Bank'.

  • Artemus #49 3 years ago

    Christ, this has been a very poor Q4 for Nintendo this year.

  • gamingdave #50 3 years ago

    Does it have the collectable NES games that the Cube version had?
    Is it easy for 2 people onthe same Wii to visit each others villages or is it only via going online?

    Never played the N64 or Cube versions, but played a fair bit of the DS version. The NES games were one of the biggest draw for the Cube version, but as I say, I never got round to getting it. The Mrs loved it for a good while too, so would be great to know if I get it, we will be able to dip into each otheres villages easily.

  • rock27gr #51 3 years ago

    @ gamingdave

    Ifit's anything like the Cube version, you only get onevillage for up to 4 persons.

  • jlaakso #52 3 years ago

    I was shocked to play this at a convention. It's the exact same game with so little extra content that even my wife, who's hugely into Animal Crossing, was very disappointed.

    Nintendo can say what they want about HD, but N64 graphics should not be put out to a modern display. I am very surprised that they didn't bother to redraw some of it - or if they actually did, the change is so minor that I can't tell. It's just ugly. When it's meant to be cute. Doesn't work.

    I really honestly thought that Nintendo would put a lot more care into a new Animal Crossing game, especially considering how this is supposed to be the season's "hardcore" title.

  • spekkeh #53 3 years ago

    I've never played an Animal Crossing game before and would also be interested to know what you'd score this for a newcomer..

  • tufty #54 3 years ago

    Most of us here are, if not hardcore gamers, at least long-term gamers who look for new, better games. We are no longer Nintendo's target audience. This is sad for us, but sensible business for Nintendo. While the money flows in, I am sure we'll still see Zelda and Mario titles released, but true gaming innovation beyond such staples is going to be thin on the ground.

    I still love my Wii though... it plays my extensive Gamecube collection better than a Gamecube!

  • friendcodeconnect #55 3 years ago

    "This is the best execution of Animal Crossing so far"

    should be 9/10 then!

    /ignores rest of review

  • Beano #56 3 years ago

    I'v never played a AC game (yes I know!)... so I quess it will be a good buy for me?

  • electrolite #57 3 years ago

    And in the Nintendo boardroom they did offer a festive toast to the Christmas 2008 - the season of maximum cashing in for minimum effort....

  • varsas #58 3 years ago

    @Dr_Spankenstein:

    "but that shouldn't be an excuse for Nintendo to release sub par crap. 3rd party releases are worse still. This is a far cry from glory days of the NES and SNES. It's no wonder that a lot of fans are upset, we're being treated like dickheads."

    As I understand this game isn't sub par in itself, rather it's sub par in terms of improvements over it's predecessors. Aside from Wii Music I can't think of a recent Nintendo game that has been sub par.

    It's ludicrous bringing 3rd party titles into this argument since Nintendo don't have control over their output.

  • chrisjm #59 3 years ago

    '"This is the best execution of Animal Crossing so far"

    should be 9/10 then! '


    If you have never played it before, i think so yes.

  • varsas #60 3 years ago

    @Beano:

    I'v never played a AC game (yes I know!)... so I quess it will be a good buy for me?

    It is a good game but as with FPSs or JRPGs it depends on whether you like the style of play; read the review! :)
    Edited by 1 at 17/11/08 @ 16:26

  • iago71 #61 3 years ago

    Starfox (proper Starfox mind, as opposed to Adventures ) or a Pilot Wings anyone???

  • captainrentboy #62 3 years ago

    I'm not sure why Wii owners are complaining, sure this might have only got a 6/10, but look at what you've got coming before christmas...
    Barbie Borse Adventures: Summer Camp
    Funfair Party
    Hasbro Family Game Night
    Movie Studios Party
    Shrek's Carnival Craze
    Rubik's Puzzle World
    TV Show King Party
    Baby Sitting Party
    Deal Or No Deal
    Freddi Fish
    Pajama Sam
    Golden balls
    .... And many many more.
    Cheer up yeah? :)

  • canIdoyabombsforya #63 3 years ago

    Shakey_Jake33
    " I'll still get it because I'm looking forward to a Christmas of playing this with my brother over WiFi, but 6/10 is a fair score for what sounds like a rehash. It's about time they started getting critisised for this, to be honest. "

    Criticised by the snobby and self destructing gaming community and media maybe, but there are still over 10 million Wii owners who havn't played it yet. Is it really only worth a 6/10 to them when the Gamecube version they havn't played yet got a 9?


  • canIdoyabombsforya #64 3 years ago

    captainrentboy
    " I'm not sure why Wii owners are complaining, sure this might have only got a 6/10, but look at what you've got coming before christmas...
    Barbie Borse Adventures: Summer Camp
    Funfair Party
    Hasbro Family Game Night
    Movie Studios Party
    Shrek's Carnival Craze
    Rubik's Puzzle World
    TV Show King Party
    Baby Sitting Party
    Deal Or No Deal
    Freddi Fish
    Pajama Sam
    Golden balls
    .... And many many more.
    Cheer up yeah? :) "

    Yeah yeah, you've proved your point, the PS3 plays blu-rays.
    Meanwhile some of us have a shit load still unwrapped on all 3 platforms thank you very much. The new Pilot Wings can wait til next year.

  • canIdoyabombsforya #65 3 years ago

    "i was in game picking up my 360 mirrors edge on friday and was behind someone who was buying a Wii.
    People are still buying this gimmick. "

    LOL at the people who go online to troll Nintendo reviews but still shop in Game!

  • Jimaroid #66 3 years ago

    "This is the best execution of Animal Crossing so far"

    Animal Crossing GC : 8
    Animal Crossing DS : 8
    Animal Crossing Wii : 6

    A six beats beats two eights now? Are we playing score poker or something? Does anyone even know the rules? Hello? McFly?

  • Capn #67 3 years ago

    I can't help but feel this is a little unfair, simply marking it down for being like the prequels..
    Didn't happen to Pokemon - So why this. And from what i've gathered, this is a polished up version of the others - And in all fairness, i'd be pissed if it didn't stick to the same template.
    I presume you'll be marking Rock band 2 down. And all rhythm based games, oh and platformers, sports games..I could go on.

  • otto #68 3 years ago

    I love Animal Crossing but quite frankly I see no need to buy the same game a third time. It pains me to say it but I think I'll pass. :(

  • secombe #69 3 years ago

    Confused by this as well, the other half wants more of the same and I'm sure there are thousands like her (not to mention all those that have never played it), so if this is the best version so far then it's an easy 9/10. Bizarre.

  • iago71 #70 3 years ago

    'The new Pilot Wings can wait til next year. '

    I wasnt aware that there was a Pilot Wings happening.... is this concrete? Still as you say too much thats waiting to be played that it can afford to come along next year.....

  • BartonFink #71 3 years ago

    good point - not a whiff of him

  • Siobheon #72 3 years ago

    Sheesh, why is someone on here complaining about the wii and how it's killing gaming? Why aren't you playing with your serious console / commenting online on a serious game? Unless of course you are a troll...

  • yagisencho #73 3 years ago

    Truly, a completely lost opportunity here by a very complacent Nintendo. A shame, especially considering the weeks of my life spent playing the first two games in the series.

    Time to go back to playing the embarassment of gaming riches on the PC and 360.

  • merkdot #74 3 years ago

    Wii Mucus, Animal Tossing and Disastrous Day of Reviews.

  • ghearoid #75 3 years ago

    I don't care, I'm still going to get this. :o)

  • rock27gr #76 3 years ago

    As many have pointed out, a 6 for the best iteration of a great game maybe fair in terms of being a rehash, but when many of the readers will not have experienced the other iterations previously, the low score only does them a disservice by putting them of a wonderful and unique experience.

    I'll stick with my opinion that another score is needed to reflect the game's true value for al those readers.

  • WillTheSecond #77 3 years ago

    "Disaster: Day of Crisis - 6/10
    Wii Music - 5/10
    Animal Crossing: Let's Go To The City - 6/10 "

    I agree, a truly poor Christmas lineup. Nearly all the interesting Wii games appear to be coming out next year (I'm playing CoD:WaW at the moment and that's good, but its also multiplatform).

    Was never planning on buying this anyway. Disaster won't have sold well, Wii Music isn't doing too well and let's hope this doesn't either, it should discourage Nintendo from releasing such rubbish in future.

  • rock27gr #78 3 years ago

    Does anyone actually READ the reviews, or do you only read the scores?

    The reviewer said is is THE BEST VERSION of Animal Crossing! The only reason it got a 6/10 is because of it being esssentially the same game as the DS version. If you haven't played that, or don't care and want it on the big screen, the game is actually very very good.

  • Sid-Nice #79 3 years ago

    The RROD is more fun than most Wii games.

  • smelly #80 3 years ago

    Should've had guns... and a full screen ad... then it wouldve got 10.

  • smelly #81 3 years ago

    >very fair score, i will give this a miss sadly :(


    See, this sort of thing winds me up.. if you've not played a game.. how do you know whether the score is "fair" or not?

  • merkdot #82 3 years ago

    should have had more new gameplay, instead of recycling the old stuff, I think is the point, mr. smelly.

  • captainrentboy #83 3 years ago

    ''Should've had guns... and a full screen ad... then it wouldve got 10''

    Doubt it, Metroid didn't :)

  • Beano #84 3 years ago

    As I wrote above, I have never gotten around to play a AC game but I like the concept and style. So I will buy the Wii version when it comes out - at least one good title for Wii this christmas and something to get my pulse down after long Resistance 2 online sessions :)

  • electrolite #85 3 years ago

    Wii comments threads are kind of like the games selection on the machine - there are gems out there, and some solid stuff, it's just getting drowned under reams and reams of shite-merkdot and potato-fan competing to be the Wii Music of this thread.

    As for review scores, this is another perfect example of why they're bollocks pointless numbers for simpletons. The review tells you everything-don't bother if you've played it before, but the best version if you haven't-and yet people are looking to base purchasing decisions on the score, or compare it to other games' scores from different years, on different consoles, with different predecessors (Jimaroid - does it matter??!!). Get rid of review scores, they seem to cause more confusion than they're worth.

  • WinterSnowblind #86 3 years ago

    @Cap'n

    The Pokemon games do at least add new content and features..

    This is simply a port of the DS game, there's very little new content. The new city features is all just things you could do on the DS version on specific days, the graphics are exactly the same, there's no new fish, insects or fossils and little new furniture..

    I am a big fan of the series, but I don't see any reason to waste my time with a console port of a DS game. This should have been so much more.

  • electrolite #87 3 years ago

    Aw, bless.....

  • smelly #88 3 years ago

    "should have had more new gameplay, instead of recycling the old stuff, I think is the point, mr. smelly. "


    But my point stands.. If you say "i'll give this game a miss" then you obviously havent played it.

    So how can you therefor say its "a fair score" to give the game?

    I've never ever ever played an animal crossing game - they look dull to me. But I wouldnt cast judgement on whether a review is "right" or not without actually having played the thing!

  • merkdot #89 3 years ago

    I didn't say that, btw, and I have had the fortune to have played both UK iterations of Animal Crossing in the past.

    Reading about the lack if significant new features in this one, I think I even would rather play a game with guns, on a joypad at that.

    But of course that's not a problem, because there is a hell of a lot more choice out there than this strawman argument that you seem to bring up any time people criticise Nintendo games.

  • smelly #90 3 years ago

    ??? You did read the bit where i said i wasnt interested in this? Or do you think i rush out and buy every nintendo game from wii music to this?

    In fact i dont play games that much. I havent bought or played a new game since getting a copy of "skate" on the 360. That game fills up all my time as i've STILL havent completed it (and when i do, i'll buy the sequel next year).

    Back on topic.. No-one seems to mind when the "latest fps" (tm - i wont mention any specific names as it'll only get fanboys going and start accusing me of bashing their console or something lame) comes out with no real new features from the last one do they?

    I may be wrong, but recently EG seems to reviewing games based upon their graphics and story as opposed to their gameplay. If you have a great story and gfx (bioshock) then you're gauranteed a good review regardless of whether the game itself is fun.

    Now back to animal crossing - I've never played them - but my understanding is that they're similar to games like harvest moon. So I'd GUESS that the game may on first glance look the same as those before but play more and more stuff will be revealed?

    I'm not making excuses though - if nintendo truely have just released a carbon copy of previous games - they can go to hell. But I dont think that's likely, so i am interested in what is new..

    And I certainly wouldnt be making a throw away comment like "this is ace" or "this is shit" without actually playing it - REGARDLESS of the machine it's on (note to fanboys : this is important.. i'm just as praiseful/cynical about other machines.. And I *DO* play on my 360 more than my wii)

  • merkdot #91 3 years ago

    I didn't say you had played it. What a weird response, do you get posters confused a lot?

  • rock27gr #92 3 years ago

    not if they keep away due to the low scores it wont.

  • merkdot #93 3 years ago

    they should have just picked up the original Cube version for peanuts months ago

  • spacenugget #94 3 years ago

    I think the review score is very msleading to newcomers. I can understand if its too similar to the DS version, but If I had never played AC before and skipped the review text (like so many do) I would never part with cash for it.
    Should at least have two scores or a sub score.
    I can image the outrage if a certain FPS got 6/10 for being a rehash of its last outing.
    I'm losing my trust in the EG reviews to be honest.
    GamesTM seem to be the only honest and fair critics.