Nintendo Selects: Animal Crossing: City Folk

This game offers immersion like few others. There is always something to do that will encourage you to play just 45 minutes a day or so, but you will want to do it everyday. The events that happen in the game seem countless. It seems like a very simple game at first- earn money to pay off loans and buy more stuff- but it is amazingly in-depth.

Socializing with a computer has never felt as awkwardly real as it does in this game. If you talk bad about people, or waste time when they ask for your help, or litter too much, people will slowly start disliking you more. They remember.

If you get your friends into this game, they can play online (compatible with the non-Nintendo select version) with you or on the same console (at different times). Leaving notes or treasures for loved ones is pretty fun (I leave my wife romantic messages in different places for her to discover <3) and players can work as a team to unlock all of the secrets of the game. There is a community museum that needs to be filled with all sorts of bugs, fish, fossils, and art, that players team up to fill up (I still haven't finished it).

There are tons of things to buy, build, or create! The amount of furniture available to buy is enough to wow players, but there are rugs, wallpapers, toys, clothes and many other things that you can use to make your experience unique. You can even draw your own designs! I personally, have a unique line of Bob Marley inspired clothes. And build on your house when you have accumulated too much stuff.

There is so much to explore I couldn't cover half of it in this review, but I can say this: if you are the type of player who buys few games and plays those games until there is nothing left to do, this is the game for you.

That being said, this game does have some drawbacks. The movement and overall presentation of this game seems a bit clunky. The graphics look better than an N64 game, but not by much. Sometimes (at night usually) there is almost nothing to do except run around your house redecorating.

This game seems to be directed at a younger crowd (no real way to fail, bright colors, happy easy going music) but offers a lot of fun for parents/uncles/aunts etc. who like playing with their kids. I think it teaches good lessons to kids to: upkeep of personal activity is important, keep the environment clean, don't talk about people behind their backs (even if they are obnoxious), and be sure to wish your friends well on special days.

In conclusion, this game is an acquired taste, but one well worth acquiring.

I bought this game about two months ago from Amazon. I bought the normal non-selects version, but it's the same thing so I figured I would review it on this version because there are not a lot of reviews for it right now. Anyways, this is an amazing game. I have played it for about two months non stop (Serious) there is so much to do in this game. So I will break the game down into different elements:

Graphics: This is the only low point of the game. Its very average, I mean its nothing you are going to sit and admire, you could even argue that the graphics are below average, buy you know what? Who cares, this is a game that doesn't need great graphics to be good. Its like Starcraft, the graphics look pretty bad, but when you get into the gameplay you forget about everything else. Animations are the same throughout, animals have a distinct look, houses all look the same, the city is the only area where some graphic prowess is shown. Overall, its definitely the weak point of the game but its something you don't care about once you get into it.

Sound: Beautiful. Seriously, this is as close to a 10 as you can get in a video game. There is 24 hours in this games (it uses real time) and every hour a different song plays. They are all catchy and some are really beautiful. When it rains, it plays the same exact song but its remixed a bit, because of the rain. There is also really nice music when you go to the City. The characters/animals do not talk, instead they speak a language called "Animalese" its kind of like where they are mumbling when they speak, it is not annoying at all though and you get use to it very quickly. Whenever you talk to an animal a sound plays for that type of animal, its something you get use to and understand over time. Nintendo has always been known well known for their audio and music and it's demonstrated here.

Controls: There are different kinds of controls that you can use. You can use Wiimote+Nunchuck or Wiimote only. I use the Wiimote only. It takes some time to get use to. Basically what you do for movement with the Wii mote only, is you point it in a direction (There is a floating hand that is one screen) and then press A. When you do that the character will move in that direction, and when you hold B on the back the character will run. You get different items in this game like fishing rod, net, watercan, etc. all you do is press A to use them. - button takes you to your menu where your items are located and + shows you a Map of your town. Left and Right arrows change items. Overall, its very easy to use it only takes time to learn when you have to catch bugs, I will explain later.

Gameplay: Interesting, and addicting. When you start the game there is someone you meet in the bus, they ask you your name, city you are going to, your birthday, and the time and date. Well, that where the core of the game starts. You land in that city that you talk about and you have to go meet "Tom Nook" AKA the Landshark (Kidding). When you meet Nook he gives you your first house in the game it costs 20,000 bells. Every time you pay off for your house, you get a bigger and better house, the funny thing though is you cannot say no! You are forced to do the upgrade, that's what you have to do when you deal with Mr. Nook, but its OK, you pay at your own pace and are not forced to pay. When its all said and done you end up paying over 1 million bells, to pay off all upgrades and have the ultimate home. So how do you make money? Fishing, Catching Bugs, selling furniture, etc. The problem is, Nook has to have these items in stock, so it normally takes a couple of days to get all the items you need, to start making big bucks. Anything you catch, you can sell to Nook, he pays a decent price and gives you money right away. You live with villagers and they are helpful in many ways. Sometimes they give you chores to do for money and items, and sometimes they will buy items from you randomly. Another thing that can be done is you can go to the city and buy luxury items (GracieCrace), auction stuff, get a hair cut, buy from the black market (Redd), go to the happy academy for your home, and go to the movie theater. So the depth is a lot, also on random days random things happen. Some days you find a flying saucer, a magic lamp, a four leaf clover, etc. That's why playing it everyday is so amazing, because it really feels like a different experience every time you play. I will wrap up by talking about events. They have different "event" in this game. You have Christmas, New Years Eve, New Years Day, Labor Day, Valentines Day, etc. On these days special things happen, you get free items, contests, city gets dressed up, etc. The atmosphere is really one that consumes you and brings you into the experience even more.

Overall: This is an amazing game, I think in my heart that this is a four star game but I'm giving it 5 stars because the value of this game and depth that it has, makes it one of the deepest games that you can buy for the Wii. I have already clocked over 50 hours (I play between 1-2 hours a day) and still haven't finished paying off for my house yet. If you want something addictive that you will be turning on daily, look no further, but be warned these animals might take your life over!

I played and loved the original Animal Crossing on the GCN. My wife and I both played the game, and it was so very innovative with the whole time aspect of it. We also got Animal Crossing on the DS, and also loved it. Nintendo added so many new things to the DS version, and it was a definite improvement over the GCN version. I was super excited to get City Folk. We were promised a central City where you could see other players, etc. But the Wii codes completely ruined this game. I tried several times to connect with a friend, and we were only able to visit each other's town one time. Also, there has been almost no improvement from the DS game. Very disappointed.