Animal Crossing

Animal Crossing
Developer	Nintendo EAD
Publisher	Nintendo
System	Nintendo 64. Gamecube
Release Date	Nintendo 64 JP April 14, 2001 Gamecube JP December 14, 2001 US September 15, 2002 JP June 27, 2003 (e+) AU October 17, 2003 EU September 24, 2004
Rating	ESRB: E

Animal Crossing (known in Japan as Doubutsu no Mori, which translates to Animal Forest) is a community simulation game designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and launched the series of the same name. Several versions of this game were released, with the original one having come out for the Nintendo 64 in Japan. It was only the Nintendo Gamecube version (known in Japanese as Doubutsu no Mori+) that was released internationally.

Story

The player controls an avatar who has just moved away from home to a new town. The player can make friends, obtain cool objects for their home, and pay off a debt.

Gameplay

Animal Crossing is an open-ended game without predefined objectives or goals to follow. The player can freely choose their own actions, with some options being to catch every type of fish, design clothes, or buy furniture for their house. The player can constantly expand their house to make it larger, and at the same time debts on the house must be paid to Tom Nook.The village is also populated by a colorful cast of animal characters whom the player can interact and deal with.

It is possible for multiple players to build houses in the same town, but only one player can actually play at a time. It is also possible to use codes to trade items between games. Using another memory card could also allow the player to visit another player's village through usage of travel data. The Gamecube version takes advantage of the system's inbuilt clock to keep track of the time and date. There are various events which occur on certain days and at certain times, and holidays are also observed within the game.

NES Games

One popular feature of Animal Crossing is the implementation of classic NES games. Designed to look like the NES with a game on top, these items let the player play full NES games. The following sections list the games and the methods for obtaining them.

Common Games

• Golf
• Tennis
• Pinball
• Donkey Kong
• Donkey Kong Jr. Math
• Clu Clu Land
• Excitebike
• Balloon Fight

These eight can obtained in a variety of ways during normal gameplay without any special circumstances. These games were also the only NES games to appear in the Nintendo 64 game.

Island Games

• Wario's Woods
• Baseball

These games can only be found on the island, which can only be accessed by linking the Gamecube game to the Game Boy Advance.

Uncommon Games

• Soccer
• Donkey Kong Jr.
• Clu Clu Land D
• Donkey Kong 3
• Punch-Out!!

These four games were available through a free give away at Animal-Crossing.com. Punch-Out!! was offered by the European Animal Crossing site. They can still be obtained either by trading or through a universal code.

e-Reader Games

• Ice Climber
• Mario Bros.

Both of these games are available through e-Reader cards.

Rare Games

• The Legend of Zelda
• Super Mario Bros.

These games are buried in the code of the game and have not been made available through any legitimate means. The only way to get these games is to use cheating devices for Animal Crossing.

Japan Only

• Gomoku Narabe
• Mahjong

These two were only available in the Japanese version of the game.

Versions

This original version was Doubutsu no Mori (Animal Forest) for the Nintendo 64. It was remade for the Gamecube as Doubutsu no Mori+ just eight months later, and this version is the one that was localized as the American Animal Crossing.

While porting the game to America, several features were added. For instance, Western holidays and items to go with them were implemented. This version also added e-Reader connectivity. The results impressed Nintendo enough that the enhanced American version was also released in Japan as Dōbutsu no Mori e+.

Legacy

Animal Crossing spawned the Animal Crossing series, which has continued along all of Nintendo's consoles. It brought a different type of gameplay to the market and acted as Nintendo's primary simulation game. Various aspects of the series were also represented in the Super Smash Bros. series, with a Villager from the games eventually becoming playable in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U.

Sequels

A direct sequel was planned for the Gamecube, but it was ultimately canceled. In 2005, Animal Crossing: Wild World was released. It expanded on the original game with features such as Wi-Fi internet, sharing a house, and hats.