It's a whole new world out there (Animal Crossing: Let's Go To The City (Wii))

Member Name: Phantom_Wombat

Product:	Animal Crossing: Let's Go To The City (Wii)
Date:	20/05/09 (38 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A huge amount of content, very cute, and easy to play.

Disadvantages: A very casual game indeed. Not much advance on previous games in the series.

== Introduction ==

Animal Crossing has been a bit hit for Nintendo on the GameCube and DS and now finds its inevitable way to the Wii. It's essentially their take on The Sims, although much cuter and with an even more laid back approach.


== Gameplay ==

You start the game by meeting the friendly cat Rover, who will ask you a few questions and set you on the bus on the way to town. There, after finding your way to the town hall, local shopkeeper Tom Nook (a raccoon) will set you up with a house (and a mortgage to pay off) and also offer you a part time job running errands which will give you a chance to learn how to play the game.


Initial impressions might be disappointing. If you've played it before, it's virtually the same game as on the earlier two machines, just spruced up graphically and with some extra content, not all of which is immediately obvious. If you've not played it, you might be wondering what there is to do at all. There are no real challenges to the game that'll tax either your strategic skills or your dexterity with the Wii-mote and nunchuk. However, the freeform nature of the game allows you to make your own goals. You can make money by such diverse activities as collecting fruit and seashells, digging for buried treasure and fossils, or speculating in the turnip market.


You can then spend your earnings on paying off the mortgage or going shopping. As well as Tom Nook's store (which undergoes a few revamps as the year progresses) you can now go to the city on the bus as well, where there are a variety of other shops. Gracie Grace and Redd now have their own stores, and you can get a makeover to make your character look like one of your Mii's. Redecorating your house, Sims style, is a big part of the game and although I'm a bit dubious of it in real life, in the virtual world of Animal Crossing Feng Shui actually will improve your luck. The game does have some structure though. There are regular fishing contests, Easter Egg hunts, house sales, etc. and you can collect the local butterflies, dinosaur fossils and so on for the town museum.


==Graphics ==

The graphics will mostly be recognizable to anyone who has played the earlier versions of the game. Given that it's always had a great individual style, there's not much in the way of noticeable change though; everything's just a bit smoother and more detailed, and there's more of a 3D feel to the terrain.

== Sound ==

The effects are pretty much in keeping with the graphics; each of the animals has its own brand of cutesy garbage speak whilst the text of their conversations is shown. You also get cartoon-style noises when you bump into things, dig with your shovel, go fishing, etc.


There's a constant soundtrack of background music which changes according to events; early in the day when the sun is shining it's quite jaunty but becomes more sombre in the evening and when it's raining. On Saturday evenings you can go to the coffee lounge in the museum to watch a gig by the itinerant musician K. K. Slider, which is an experience to say the least given the howling and squeeky garbage vocals, and collect one of his songs to play on any of the hi-fi items you may collect during the game.


Animal Crossing is also the first title to work with the Wii-Speak microphone add-on for the Wii which allows you to chat and send voice messages to your friends whilst playing.


== Longevity ==

Although it'll never get your heart rate sky-rocketing, there's a lot of content in Animal Crossing, and much of it is time dependent so you'll have to keep at it all year round to see everything that it has to offer. (Or you could cheat and keep changing the date, but even then it'd take you some time to find everything.) As such it's very much a title that you'd want to buy and a rental will do little justice to it.


== Overall ==

I can't see this game appealing much to fans of pure action games; indeed it's probably the most casual of all casual games, but it's also one that becomes insidiously addictive. You might only play it for half an hour at a time, but you'll keep coming back to check on your animal friends, harvest your fruit and go shopping to see what items have popped up.

(Review may also be posted on Ciao by Phantom_Wombat)

Summary: Recommended for casual gamers.