Animal Crossing Review

By Kristan Reed Published 30 September, 2004

Better late than never, but is it worth dusting off the Cube to play it?

Version tested: GameCube

Order yours now from Simply Games.

Nintendo has a long and inglorious history of making us long suffering PAL gamers wait for its games. How long do you think is enough before enraged gamers storm the Kyoto gates of Big N HQ in their thousands dressed in fluffy animal costumes with giant heads to make their protests? A couple of months for localisation? Four months? A year? Try two years, plus a bit more to take into account its original Japanese release. Yes, dear patient gamer, on September 16th 2002, US gamers were busy running their first errands for Nook and co, while we sat largely oblivious to the cutesy charms of this Most Wanted of Cube releases.

Of course, the belated, nigh on legendary release of Datel's wonderful FreeLoader gave thousands of PAL gamers just the excuse they needed to import it (although naughty Ninty put a stop to the likes of CEX actually selling any imported Nintendo products, threatening the store with legal action after it foolishly decided to sell modded Cubes with a region switch) and by February last year, a wealth of European gamers were becoming ensconced in one of the most bewilderingly held back games of all time. More bizarrely still, Nintendo did produce a PAL version for the Australian market about a year ago, and still couldn't explain why the game wasn't being released in Europe, apart from muttering about the usual localisation issue. By the turn of this year, most of us had simply given up all hope of ever seeing the game on European shelves, and then at E3 it snuck an unheralded press release into its press pack detailing its PAL release, almost, you might suspect, to check if we were still awake. How and why do such bizarre decisions get made? Who forced the issue? We'll probably never know.

No more Mr Nice Mole

'Animal Crossing' Screenshot 1

Anyway, with such a determined outcry proving to be ultimately successful, we sit writing our equally long-overdue review with the game having entered the full price UK games chart at No.14 just hours earlier. It's hardly going to have Nintendo execs eating their words, but it feels comparable to the small feeling of victory we once had when seeing a Smiths single enter the hit parade in the Top Twenty and then watching Radio One jocks greet Johnny Marr's floppy fringe and the wave of Morrissey's gladioli with a certain amount of bewilderment. Rubbing shoulders with the current best sellers will be an all-too-brief experience, but in a cultish way it feels like a breath of fresh air.

But, such is the cult of Animal Crossing among the readers of this publication, it's often hard for the uninitiated to work out what all the fuss is about. It's a cutesy fetch and carry game, right? A kleptomania-fetishist's wet dream where you catch a train to the town of your choice, move into a tiny house, work your arse off to pay off your mortgage, spruce up your pad and make as many chums as you can along the way via your position as skivvy for hire. At first, you're at the mercy of Nook, the town's entrepreneur, shop owner and property owner, but after a brief stint as his lacky you're forced to find other means to raise the funds (Bells) you need in your quest to become upwardly mobile.

On a basic level it's an unbelievably simple game, with some astoundingly simple goals. Ultimately, like any independent soul seeking a new life in a dream town, you need cash to do anything, and for cash there are a variety of ways and means. The principal way is simply to talk to people, find out whether they have a job for you, and then go out and perform a relentless succession of menial tasks for them for some sort of reward. Aside from that you can shake trees (because money grows on some of them, stoopid), go insect hunting, dig up fossils, fish, or even try your hand as a fashion guru, designing clothes and umbrella patterns for the populace to sport in their daily routines of, um, wandering around near their houses.

What a pain, aiya?

'Animal Crossing' Screenshot 2

Boiled down to its constituent parts, Animal Crossing sounds utterly pointless and repetitive. Indeed, you can spend hours just literally performing fetch and carry jobs for everyone and offloading your inventory stash whenever required. It might help you make those payments down at the Post Office. But after a while you'll probably start to question your sanity. If this was a Teletubbies-branded educational adventure designed for children as a means of instilling the benefits of positive social interaction we'd believe it, and probably wouldn't go within 40 miles of it. So why does its Nintendo badge seem to make it so appealing to hardcore gamers hung up on Japanese cartoon charm?

For one thing, it's undoubtedly the charm and humour that weaves its spell around you that makes it so infectious. There's no way we'd devote the amount of time it takes to do nothing in this game if it wasn't to see what gem the various characters come out with, aiya? If it's not Choo suffering from one of his legendarily bad moods, it's Rhoda being a terrible flirt and calling us Clucky for the 15th time this hour. Yes, most of what you do in Animal Crossing is pointless and repetitive, and you will spend hours meandering for little more reward than a few thousand bells, but somehow you don't mind. It's like gaming hypnotism. Several times we'd have to check with fellow AC players whether we'd missed something, and it appears up to a point that this most definitely is not a game that can be 'reviewed' in the traditional sense, thanks to its ingenious real time clock and calendar, and ability to swap towns with friends and even (gasp) dust off that link cable and plug in a GBA for some pattern-creation fun, or visit an island (and watch the residents while you're away).

When the game kicks off, you simply set it as whatever the current date and time is, and go from there, but where Animal Crossing keeps players coming back is the desire to 'tune in' and see if anyone new has moved in, whether certain 'visitors' have arrived, not to mention the special events triggered during the holidays relevant to whatever country you happen to live in (spoken of as one of the reasons the US version couldn't just be ported as was). On top of that, there are plenty of objects and articles that take time to uncover, or even order from Nook's catalogue - NES games, anyone? Admittedly, the novelty of playing old 8-bit games within a modern game wears off pretty quickly (Shenmue, anyone?), but as an example of the attention to detail within the package, it's easy to see why so many devotees have had their lives taken over by what is a relatively simple concept. That many have even been moved to buying USB memory cards in order to swap town data and explore each other's creations speaks volumes of the kind of game we're dealing with. For those who've invested the time and effort, it's spoken of with the kind of affection reserved for very few games.

Brilliantly pointless, pointlessly brilliant?

'Animal Crossing' Screenshot 3

But even as an arch disciple, it's still easy to acknowledge that this isn't a game for everyone. In the same way that the kind of repetition and customisation within The Sims isn't everyone's idea of a fun way to kill a few hours, similar arguments can be levelled at AC. But while the game world freezes over in virtually every other game out there, there's always the incentive to come back and check out how your town is doing, see who's moved in, and to make sure you're up to date on your re-payments - it's the kind of game where playing for only a few minutes here and there can make all the difference. In that sense it's a truly unique and brilliantly pointless experience.

In many senses Animal Crossing is a totally out of time game that stands out among the herd of samey done-to-death titles out there. It's the sort of game that could have been made 15 years ago or more such is its simplicity. That's not to say it's particularly retro though. Sure, the cutesy, basic, brightly coloured graphical styling aren't exactly stretching the Cube, but it's hard not to love them all the same when you've got a big-headed talking panda or sheep burbling away at you in an almost discernible dialect, greeted by variations of the same addictive little ditty.

Playing Animal Crossing feels like the gaming equivalent of watching 70s/early 80s children's TV. Think Bod, think Magic Roundabout, and try not to smile while you're playing. But please god, don't think Teletubbies, unless you're on really good medication. It's charming and childish, yet has that layer of humour sophistication that rescues it from being labelled as a mere curiosity cult. Like we said earlier, you can't really review Animal Crossing, you can merely report back your experiences. It's evidently greater than the sum of its parts, it definitely won't appeal to everyone, but to those that seek a different flavour of gaming the choice is yours. We just wish Ninty had given us that choice a couple of years back, because you can't help but feel its impact has been lessened as a result...

Order yours now from Simply Games.

8 / 10

Read the Eurogamer.net scoring policy
Picture of Kristan.

About Kristan Reed

Kristan is a former editor of Eurogamer, dad, Stone Roses bore and Norwich City supporter who sometimes mutters optimistically about Team Silent getting back together.

Read more articles from Kristan by visiting the Kristan Reed archive page.

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Comments (71) Latest comment 7 years ago

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

  • martyngates #1 7 years ago

    how did it get no number 14 in the charts a few hours ago, its only come out today, is that on pre orders alone?

    edit: actually it isnt even out until tomorrow is it!
    Edited by 1 at 30/09/04 @ 10:09

  • Machiavel #2 7 years ago

    How Euro-centric have the special events become? I note you mentioned in "What's On" that they didn't send you a PAL review copy because "nothing much has changed" but is it more than that, or are we all looking forward to Labour day?

  • volb #3 7 years ago

    Aaah. A successor to Halo's review.

    By the way, does "addictive" equal "fun"?

  • krudster #4 7 years ago

    It came out on the 24th. We got a copy just after Tom wrote What's New after I stamped my feet! The events are Euro-centric, but, come on, you'd have to play it for months to really find those sorts of things out.

  • krudster #5 7 years ago

    Addictive doesn't always equal fun. I've had the most enormous tantrums to games I'm hopelessly addicted to. This, however, is addictive in the sense that it's relaxing, often surreal and very funny.

  • Lutz #6 7 years ago

    Awesome review. Or should I say, report of experiences. I'm almost tempted to rebuy the cube for this. But is tehre anyword on AC2 getting a PAL release?

  • ruttyboy #7 7 years ago

    Or just look in your diary that came with your house, they're all there :)

    EDIT: Of course referring to the events.
    Edited by 1 at 30/09/04 @ 10:20

  • sam_spade #8 7 years ago

    I don't think it is a game that can be played in the normal sense. If you play it too much then, like The Sims, the novelty wears off quite quickly. However, if you have an allotted time to go around doing the weeding, tree chopping, harvesting crops, fishing and trying to get that bloody well to give you a good rating then it really does last a long time.

    And then there is the Turnip market, that's tense stuff: bidding away all your money on a Saturday morning (?) and hoping to get a fat return on the sales in the week and hoping your turnips don't go rotten while you wait.

    And then there's the trading (see EG forum) that really brings out the best and if you get a few mates (or forumates) to swap stuff then it becomes a more interesting proposition as you can start harvesting different crops and getting new stuff to pad out your evergrowing home.

  • krudster #9 7 years ago

    Well, yeah, you could look in the diary, but you can't actually experience them withhout cheating and meddling with the Cube clock or something. I'd rather find out by just remembering to play it on certain days. I think that's all part of the charm, the surprise elements.

  • martyngates #10 7 years ago

    did it? was nice of nintendo europe to promote it at tell people that it was out :os

  • krudster #11 7 years ago

    Well, did you not see the bloody great pop up ads and banners on this very site? One got me last night in fact...

  • DB2k #12 7 years ago

    One of mine and the wifes fav games for many months. Rushing home to have a whip round the village in daylight before night comes. Its just so brilliantly made. Sure its got some annoyances.. after all I think it was an N64 game originally? Anyway its really enjoyable, addictive and a lot of fun.

    Fav bit of the review:Brilliantly pointless, pointlessly brilliant?

    Its hard to write about a game with no real goals or motivations. Theres no killing nor combat (unless twatting someone on the head with a butterfly net counts!) but you can have loads of fun. How I used to enjoy visiting my wifes town and desiging shirts with knobs on them for her villagers to wear, and writing *wifes name* smells on that dogs face.

    Stupid that its come out here really. I'd have imagined people that wanted it imported it years ago. I did and I loved every minute of it.

  • Tiger_Walts #13 7 years ago

    I want the DS version NOW!

  • Angel_Treats #14 7 years ago

    Nice review Kristan. Goddamit now I have to go and buy the bloody thing :(

  • Royal Fool #15 7 years ago

    Good review, this should spur interest in the game a bit. I'd hope so at least, with Nintendo having actually bothered to give fans what they want.

  • Teeth #16 7 years ago

    In two whole years of "localisation" they have failed to translate it from US English to UK English. I'm still seeing words like "color" and such that just don't belong in a game that's supposed to have taken two years to localise to Europe.

    This is a farce. I've bought the game regardless because I didn't have it before, but also because I'd still like to make Nintendo realise that it's worth releasing this sort of thing over here.

  • squaylor #17 7 years ago

    Looks like EG have avoided receiving a narky letter from Disgusted of Ottawa.... ;)

  • kalel #18 7 years ago

    Angel said:

    "Nice review Kristan. Goddamit now I have to go and buy the bloody thing :( "

    Thought you had a free copy...
    Edited by 1 at 30/09/04 @ 11:25

  • krudster #19 7 years ago

    Yeah, where is that Otto, hmmm? Too busy selling turnips?

  • Lutz #20 7 years ago

    Otto is in Canada, 5 hours behind... :)

  • BartonFink #21 7 years ago

    Finally it arrives after many many months of bitching and moaning. \o/

  • perilikid #22 7 years ago

    I'd hope otto was asleep by now!

  • Machiavel #23 7 years ago

    Right, I'm going to pick this up today - sounds perfect for those 30 minutes gaming sessions wrestled from an unfortunately busy life.

  • Taurus #24 7 years ago

    The real question is:

    What's the diference between this version and the American version for those who already have the NTSC one?

  • Angel_Treats #25 7 years ago

    Kalel said: Thought you had a free copy

    Eh? How'd you figure that out? I got a free copy of Driv3r if that's what you were thinking of. I might steal Rutty's copy of AC at the weekend though :)

  • kalel #26 7 years ago

    Sorry Angel, looking back I think it was Rutty not you. Yeah, steal his copy, that's what girlfriends do with AC in my experience

    /glares at Mrs kalel

  • krudster #27 7 years ago

    The difference between PAL and NTSC? Not much from what I can see. As someone noted, the American spellings are all still there. The holidays will be the only real difference. Any Aussies around here played spot the difference with their PAL versions next to the NTSC?

  • sam_spade #28 7 years ago

    what are the gba linkup features exactly?

    From memory, they are:

    Ability to transfer NES games and play them on the GBA.
    Design clothes/wallpapers that you can then sell or wear.
    Visit an Island which allows you catch a different insects and fish and keep the island running while disconnected from the GC.

  • ruttyboy #29 7 years ago

    Hang on, I did get a free copy... but how did you know that? I never mentioned it on here!

    /looks suspiciously around

    /loads stapler

  • Angel_Treats #30 7 years ago

    Kalel wrote: Yeah, steal his copy, that's what girlfriends do with AC in my experience

    Oi! I don't steal - I relocate stuff! ;)

  • AOFanboi #31 7 years ago

    I prefer the Harvest Moon games though - more to do, more variety - but sadly no NES games built in. :)

  • Blerk #32 7 years ago

    Any Aussies around here played spot the difference with their PAL versions next to the NTSC?

    Don't have the aussie version myself, but my friend does. I just asked him and he said something like this:

    "The holidays are exactly the same as the American holidays, just renamed. So on the fourth of July you'll have a 'firework party'. On Thanksgiving you have a 'turkey festival'. Etc. etc."

    Which blows the whole 'it's too difficult to convert to non-US locales' theory to buggery really, doesn't it?

  • Pirotic #33 7 years ago

    very good review, i'd probably have given it a 9 just for the character design.

    get the net and hit them on the head a few times, very funny :)

  • HankScorpio #34 7 years ago

    I dusted of my US copy last week, decided to start a whole new town. It's super cute. Great when a few people use your cube, as having housemates in the same town is ace - giving them stick for messy houses, seeing what letters they send to the town's inhabitants and then calling them liars, and (a fave between me and my sis) sending each other lovely little presents in the post.

    Only niggle at the moment? I got one of those most excellent 04/05 animal crossing calendars, with all the event dates on them, but it's for the PAL version and doesn't match my US dates! I missed Harvest Moon by a week!

  • krudster #35 7 years ago

    Yeah, I wonder how much those AC calendars will go for on Ebay?

  • ruttyboy #36 7 years ago

    What calendars?

    /wants

  • HankScorpio #37 7 years ago

    If you haven't got one, you REALLY don't want to know. It'd just break your heart.

    I only got mine through a workmate, I pleaded and begged till I could do it no more, and the poor fella took pity on me.

  • krudster #38 7 years ago

    They are awesome. I'm trying to ask nicely for another one. It's a 16 page calendar with all your fav AC characters, complete with dates....

  • HankScorpio #39 7 years ago

    and it goes all the way to next christmas which is great.

    Miss May is a real hottie. She works down at the post office but I hear her twin sister who does the night shift is a real bitch!

  • dadrester #40 7 years ago

    what are the gba linkup features exactly?

    design clothes and umbrellas, play classic nes games, and go visit animal island where you can do some tamagotchi style item hunting. the best gba - gc link up i've seen (i've not played sonic, billy hatcher or crystal chronicles though)

  • Nemesis #41 7 years ago

    I got fed up with Freeloader and purchased the UK version.

    As an aside, if you go to the Nintendo AC Mini-site they advise of upcoming events and you can mess around with loads of stuff. They have a designer app within the page so you can do some nifty patterns whilst bored at work. A really well done site.

    As for the game, it's genius. If you can get a few people in the village, it's sublime. The kids are gonna bring over my old Import memory card and we'll see if I can visit their town and nab some fruit.

    AC2 is really crying out for some online capabilities; even if it's shared villages or swapping items. AC-DS. I can't wait.

  • Angel_Treats #42 7 years ago

    How'd you get hold of yours Kristan? I'd love to get my mitts on one...

  • HankScorpio #43 7 years ago

    "The kids are gonna bring over my old Import memory card and we'll see if I can visit their town and nab some fruit. "

    I was wondering about that - can towns be visited if they're different (ie US vs PAL) regions?

    It'd be great if it could, I never knew anyone with a US AC so never got away on a day trip :(

  • Khab #44 7 years ago

    Why would that be ridiculous?

  • Teeth #45 7 years ago

    asd: OK - maybe I should have added that I did actually want to play the game and thought it would be great for my girlfriend who recently completed Dark Chronicle and had nothing to play. I could have imported it but, you know. I chose to wait. Sue me. Personally, I consider those who import games to be more hardcore than I am.

    Edit... bah
    Edited by 1 at 30/09/04 @ 14:28

  • Nemesis #46 7 years ago

    Hank, I'll post an update in the AC forum thread over the weekend!

  • Sid-Nice #47 7 years ago

    This is worse than the Def Jam Fight for New York review, 8/10 what a joke. Have you finished the game Krudster? Give us your review when you've completed it. And how has your copy got Morrissey in it? :)
    Edited by 1 at 30/09/04 @ 16:29

  • Tiger_Walts #48 7 years ago

    Hehe, good one Sid.

  • Pirotic #49 7 years ago

    my wife spent about £100 getting all the stupid toys from japan, the spare room is like a tiny carbon copy of her village now, she even named our cat Mitzi :p

    i think the theory is, if u want the PC back buy animal crossing, if you want the consoles back buy Sims 2.

  • DemonicDrew #50 7 years ago

    Post deleted at 18:16:17 13-12-2011

  • Sid-Nice #51 7 years ago

    Nice one Pirotic, my daughter is currently playing Sims 2 and Animal Crossing, we also have Harvest Moon. Now tell me it's a wonderful life? It's the lack of memory card space that's preventing me from playing AC and HM, even though I've got 5 (59 Blocks cards) and 2 (251 Blocks cards) I have 49 GC games, I did have over 50 but I put 5 games in as part-ex, deposits towards Donkey Konga, Fifa 2005 and Pikimin 2. I've got first dibs on Pikimin 2 nobody's touching that.

  • krudster #52 7 years ago

    AngelTreats - good old Ninty sent one to promo the game. Nice touch. We do get some lovely rare gifts here, lucky us!

  • otto #53 7 years ago

    I'm here I'm here I'm here!! Sorry I've been busy all day!

    kruds, thanks for the review, pretty fair on the most part. I'm still going to link to my reader's review in a sec though, to deliver a fan's eye view. ;)

    One thing about the review though that I'd like to pick up on...

    "Yes, most of what you do in Animal Crossing is pointless and repetitive, and you will spend hours meandering for little more reward than a few thousand bells, but somehow you don't mind."

    Come on, seriously. Can you not say exactly the same thing about virtually every game on the market? How is it less pointless and repetitive to run around picking up shines, or murdering aliens, or eating dots, or pulling off combos, or scoring goals, or improving lap times, or or or....? :)

  • otto #54 7 years ago

    Animal Crossing the reader's review :)

  • otto #55 7 years ago

    They are awesome. I'm trying to ask nicely for another one. It's a 16 page calendar with all your fav AC characters, complete with dates....

    Awwww now hell's bells, you can't keep that for yourselves and give me a copy of bloody WWE Crush Hour for my AC review!! That is simply not on! :'(

  • krudster #56 7 years ago

    I guess you could say the same about a lot of games, but in AC it seems for ages literally all you do is go from one character to another fetching and carrying one object after another after another.

    You feel like screaming "Just, just, just! Keep hold of YOUR THINGS YOU MORONS!!" They must be the most forgetful bunch of loons ever to grace a game!

    Calendar wise...I think I may be able to get another one. May.

  • jaa #57 7 years ago

    Er, I'm sorry... I really am... but... I think I'm not interested anymore. I'm trying to limit the number of games I buy (tbh, I'm in a not-that-interested-in-games phase at the moment) and the pre-Christmas time is almost upon us with several games I want being released. Plus, I would have liked to participate in that mythic forum thread. But that was one and a half years ago. Now, it's too late.

  • otto #58 7 years ago

    >I guess you could say the same about a lot of games, but in AC it seems
    >for ages literally all you do is go from one character to another
    >fetching and carrying one object after another after another.
    >
    >You feel like screaming "Just, just, just! Keep hold of YOUR THINGS YOU
    >MORONS!!" They must be the most forgetful bunch of loons ever to
    >grace a game!

    Hmm, true dat, I actually never really bothered with that whole 'do chores for the others' bit (other than the short period you have to work for the Nookster). I made my money on the neeps market.

    >Calendar wise...I think I may be able to get another one. May.

    8-0

    /is scared to say anything in case he says the wrong thing

  • otto #59 7 years ago

    It's not too late jaa! The forum thread has been resurrected! Don't be a ninny, you must be part of the legend! :D

  • jaa #60 7 years ago

    A "ninny"? And "Awwww now hell's bells"...? And "getting a bit nippy out there"? Hmmmm, get off the computer and go call your dad, little M...

    OK, I'll be even more honest: I played Harvest Moon: It's a Wonderful Life for... let's see, in minutes... damn, I need three more fingers!

    Guess I need to pick up shines. Or to murder aliens. Or to eat dots. Or to improve lap times... (No combos or goals for me though, thank you.)

  • otto #61 7 years ago

    er...

    what?

    Aaaaanyway, I also played Harvest Moon (GBA) for all of ten minutes, didn't like it at all. I really wouldn't compare Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon, any similarity is purely superficial.

  • jaa #62 7 years ago

    er...

    what?

    Aw, never mind. I had just visited a lovely site full of pictures of a happy family in their new environment. The "getting a bit nippy" line was there and I found it amusing. Again, never mind.

    And now for something completely different:

    Hmmmm, I don't know. Chronicles of Riddick is supposed to be a short game and I'm playing it for almost two months now... At the same time, I'm still trying to learn Disgaea's rules (sorry, Blerk). Last time I switched a console on was last weekend. I really think AC wouldn't have much of a chance right now.

    But I'll think about it...

  • otto #63 7 years ago

    Ah!

    /slaps self for idiocy

    :)

  • Sid-Nice #64 7 years ago

    The readers review was excellent, so what score do you give it otto?

  • otto #65 7 years ago

    I don't believe in scores. :)

  • jaa #66 7 years ago

    9.474

    That's what he told me once, days after that review was posted. Score obtained using the EU Directive about the "Standardization of score criteria in reviews of entertainment products", Chapter 4 (games), Section 3 (GameCube). GameCube games get an automatic plus of 1.215 values (PS2: 0.666; Xbox: -2.000*)


    *Fyi, Gestalt used this Directive when reviewing Halo.

  • Sid-Nice #67 7 years ago

    Someone was looking for you the other day Jaa, in the forum, I can't remember who?

    That's a good point otto, too many mediocre games are getting scores of 7/10 and 8/10 and great games like Def Jam Fight For New York are only receiving 6/10.

  • otto #68 7 years ago

    LOL, that's great jaa! :) Not too far from the truth either. ;)

    Sid, it was me looking for him. And I found him. Yay!

    I really think scores are stupid. They're always going to be subjective, no matter how pseudo-scientific the system they dream up. As far as I'm concerned, read the review then score it yourself. If it sounds like your cup of tea, give it a nine or a ten - if it sounds utter pants, give it a 2 or a 3. :)

  • otto #69 7 years ago

    I really really hope that was a joke!

  • daveo #70 7 years ago

    My 6 year old daughter, who has been playing this with me on import for about a year said to me yesterday
    'Why dont they do an advert for Animal Crossing so people will buy it?'
    (me) 'because they aren't very good at making adverts for they're games'
    'We could make one ourselves .......'
    Oh the innocence of youth.....

  • pelolep #71 7 years ago

    i want a DS version very very very very badly.