Spring Break
'Crossing' into familiar territory
Fernando Dutra
Issue date: 12/1/08 Section: Focus
The addition touted in the game's title is the city section in the game. By boarding a bus, players have access to the city, available from the outset of the game. The city contains stores for players to visit, but they are mostly familiar. Gracie, the fashion designer; Harriet, the shampoo clerk; Katrina, the fortune teller and Red, the black market salesman, are all located here. Originally, these characters were special occurrences in previous entries of the series, so the novelty that they used to be greeted with quickly wears off here. There is also a movie theatre and the Happy Room Academy board room here, where players can get updates as to how their room is doing according to feng shui. The city section is, mostly, just a convenient location, offering nothing new to players in terms of experience or interesting new characters.
Another feature that makes its debut in "Animal Crossing" is the Wii Speak peripheral. This futuristic device is sure to usher in a new era of gaming, what with its ability to allow players to converse with one another while playing the game. This peripheral only goes to show how behind Nintendo is on what the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 has offered since day one - but being that Nintendo is leading the console war right now, who's going to complain about them? The important question is to ask where this feature was when "Super Smash Bros. Brawl" came out, a game that would have benefitted from the ability to talk. Since Nintendo is concerned with a friendlier family image, it makes sense that this peripheral makes its debut in "Animal Crossing," - Who's actually going to trash talk in this game?
For "Animal Crossing" loyalists, this game is definitely worth the money. To those who have never played a game in the series before, this is worth picking up. Anyone else who spent hours playing the original or the DS game should know what to expect, especially since this game feels so much like a retread. The novelty quickly wears off, since they mostly feel tacked-on. It isn't that the core experience isn't fun, it has been and will always be. It's just that Nintendo didn't push this entry into a deeper direction. Instead, it feels like a formulaic part of the DS game and a holding pattern for the inevitable follow-up.
Another feature that makes its debut in "Animal Crossing" is the Wii Speak peripheral. This futuristic device is sure to usher in a new era of gaming, what with its ability to allow players to converse with one another while playing the game. This peripheral only goes to show how behind Nintendo is on what the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 has offered since day one - but being that Nintendo is leading the console war right now, who's going to complain about them? The important question is to ask where this feature was when "Super Smash Bros. Brawl" came out, a game that would have benefitted from the ability to talk. Since Nintendo is concerned with a friendlier family image, it makes sense that this peripheral makes its debut in "Animal Crossing," - Who's actually going to trash talk in this game?
For "Animal Crossing" loyalists, this game is definitely worth the money. To those who have never played a game in the series before, this is worth picking up. Anyone else who spent hours playing the original or the DS game should know what to expect, especially since this game feels so much like a retread. The novelty quickly wears off, since they mostly feel tacked-on. It isn't that the core experience isn't fun, it has been and will always be. It's just that Nintendo didn't push this entry into a deeper direction. Instead, it feels like a formulaic part of the DS game and a holding pattern for the inevitable follow-up.
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