It took a certain kind of gamer to be interested in the original Animal Crossing game when it was first announced for the GameCube, and my pre-teen self just happened to be one of those gamers. I was entranced by the charm of the town and its inhabitants, the abundance of things to do, and the ever-driving motivation to pay off that debt. Yes, I was an Animal Crossing junkie, but I managed to break free of my shackles when Nintendo released Animal Crossing: Wild World for the DS. It was a worthy sequel, sure, but I just couldn’t manage to get into it like I had with the original. Now, though, Nintendo is attempting to lure me into being an Animal Crossing slave once again with the release of Animal Crossing: City Folk, and the question arises… do they succeed?
According to Cammie Dunaway in her presentation during the Nintendo Fall Media Summit last week, Animal Crossing: City Folk for the Wii combines the best of the elements from the original Animal Crossing on the GameCube with the best of the elements from Animal Crossing: Wild World on the DS, and it’s primarily true… the problem is that what this all boils down to is that Animal Crossing: City Folk is just more of the same.
Sure, the game has its own new features and improvements to add to the series. For one, the game offers a vast improvement for its player communication and interaction. Yes, you can still visit other peoples’ towns and have them visit yours, and communicating with them has never been easier thanks to the inclusion of not just USB keyboard support but the inclusion of the all-new WiiSpeak peripheral. Online functionality has also been kicked up a few notches with the addition of online auctions and downloadable content in the form of new furniture and items.
And then, of course, there’s the eponymous city portion of the game. By going to the bus stop in your town, you can get transported to the city, which hosts a slew of interesting shops and attractions. There’s a fortune teller, a shoe shiner that can change the color of your shoes, a hairstylist, a fashion boutique, an auction house, a theater, a headquarters for the Happy Room Academy, and more. The city is a great addition because it takes so many functions and tucks them into a nice little place that leaves the simplicity and peacefulness of your town unmarred.
When you put all the online and city stuff aside, though, you’re not left with much else that’s new other than the controls, and might I say that the controls are perfect. You control your character with the Wii remote and nunchuk and are given the option to use the Wii’s motion sensing capabilities to move and select objects and use items, but the game is perfectly functional without it, and I respect Nintendo for making that decision. On the bottom of the screen is a nifty little mini-menu that has options for everything from your pockets to snapshots to your bug collection to your fish collection to your friend list to your map. I think I listed everything there. At first I found the map to be intrusive when using the motion controls because it would pop up if you went anywhere near the bottom of the screen, but then I discovered a button that retracted the menu and all my qualms went away. Yes, the controls for Animal Crossing: City Folk are pretty much perfect.
And yet with all of this, I can’t help but feel like the game is just more of the same. It isn’t necessarily a bad thing – after all, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it – but it seems like the game doesn’t offer up enough new stuff to invigorate previous players to give the forest life a third try – just refinements that offer up a more fluid and enjoyable experience. If you’re an Animal Crossing addict that’s just itching for your next dose, City Folk will probably be just the thing to hit the spot. But if you’re a former Animal Crosser like me with waning interest, proceed with caution.
