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Animal Crossing: City Folk
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Genre: Simulation
Release Date: November 16, 2008
Platform: Wii
ESRB: E - Everyone
Reviewer: Eric
Time consuming Animal Crossing is back but this time on Nintendo’s latest
console the Wii. With a big following with the franchise can Nintendo pull
another victory out of their pockets? Is City Folk just another version of the
original Animal Crossing or is there enough new here to make this game a solid
purchase?
I enjoyed the first Animal Crossing when it came out on the GameCube. It was one
of the reasons why I kept my system hooked up for such a long time. The game had
just the right amount of simulation in it to make it a blast. Unlike the Sims,
Animal Crossing focused more on the fun rather than making your character happy
in ten different categories.
City Folk has your collecting more rare items, furniture, fossils, bugs and
fish. All of this is rolled up into another Animal Crossing that feels just like
the last ones, minus the original Nintendo games you could unlock. Even if
Nintendo released games that have already been on the online store for sometime
it would have been nice. To me this just proves that Nintendo does not care
about their customers any more. The Wii prints money and that’s all that
matters.
The same old routine with extra items is not worth it the third time around.
Animal Crossing hit it big with Wild World, the Nintendo DS version. Taking
Animal Crossing on the road was fun and it made sense. Taking no new steps
forward just makes this franchise look like a joke.
Tom Nook is once again giving you money and making you work. You have to collect
fossils for Blather so his museum looks just like it did in the last two games.
There is no real motivation to play City Folk. It is a complete waste to pay
full price for a game you could either buy on the Nintendo DS or on the GameCube,
which at this time should be pretty cheap considering it is pretty old and
common.
Nintendo did manage to add in a few new bells and whistles to the tiredsome
formula. Dr. Shrunk has a business that sells overpriced items you can either
find or purchase from some one else. The dialogue is still funny and fresh. At
times the characters make fun of themselves. It feels nice to know that the
developers know what they made.
The auction house is a small reason to play this game every once in a while. You
can find some of the games rarest items here. If the item selection starts to
get dull you can always put up your own items, which can be sold to your friends
thanks to WiiConnect 24.
Other characters from different towns can move into yours or current residents
can leave for another town. Again nothing new to the series but it seems this
time around this feature is really lacking. None of the new residents really add
to the town. Just some new text and a fresh face, big deal!
If your town starts to get old you can always check out one of your friends.
This feature is poorly done thanks to Nintendo’s bad online strategy. Visiting
some bodies town is as easy as going to your own and hopping onto the bus. No
simple menu like most online games, you have to head all the way to the bus. I
want to kill myself after walking all that time just to find out that the
connection won’t work. Would it have killed Nintendo to make a real online game?
Still on the upside if you own the WiiSpeak microphone you can enjoy yourself.
Up to four people at a time can talk with each other, mess around, and honestly
just do what Animal Crossing is all about. Believe it or not WiiSpeak works real
well too. I never had any problems hearing my friends and they heard me loud and
clear as well. All of this may sound good but you still have to worry about
those damn friend codes.
Final Verdict
Before you buy Animal Crossing: City Folk you better look to see if you own the
last two Animal Crossing games. If you do then there is no real reason to buy
City Folk. It is fun and the online play is good, but if you don’t have the
microphone then you are shit out of luck. I would say wait on this title,
however if you want the best online title from Nintendo then cough up the money
at some point.
Rating
7 out of 10
More reviews:
MetaCritic: 7.3/10
TestFreaks: 6.5/10
IGN:
7.5/10
Animal Crossing: City Folk Trailer
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