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Animal crossing for GCN

PREVIEW by: Kazooie

At the Electronics Entertainment Expo 2000, designer Shigeru Miyamoto promised a new genre would emerge from Nintendo's Kyoto home base: "communication games." Animal Forest was the first of these titles, released in Japan for the N64. The popular game will be ported to the GameCube for late 2001.



Features -
  • Unique gameplay system and objectives stress communication with other animals.
  • Real-time, interactive game world
  • Characters from one save can be exported to another
  • 1-4 Players
  • Play classic NES games in various houses
  • Collect insects, fish, dig, chop down trees and more!
  • Up to four players -- friends, family, or both -- can exist in the world you create
  • Watch the world change around you as data is saved to the included Animal Forest Memory Card
  • Link up with the Game Boy Advance for data trading and mini-games



    If the footage shown at E3 2001 is any indication, Animal Forest will not undergo a major graphic overhaul in conversion to the GameCube. It looks sharper and cleaner, running at a higher resolution, but appears to be the same engine.

    Animal Forest's visual design is typical Nintendo: bright, colorful, and just slightly askew. The super-deformed animal characters navigate the fields, orchards, and villages of the Animal Forest. It's a stylized cross between Zelda and Pokémon. It might not exploit the GameCube's graphic potential, but it is nevertheless appealing. The graphics at least serve not to distract from gameplay.

    And that gameplay is peculiar. As noted, Animal Forest is a "communication game:" players must interact with other characters to achieve every objective. The game might be more accurately described as a Social Simulator. Like Natsume's Harvest Moon, Animal Forest makes addictive gameplay out of pedestrian chores, in a world that adapts to your actions--or inactions. It's a persistent world: the GameCube's internal clock regulates the time of day, and season of the year, within the game. Every action is saved, and its effect imprinted on your world.

    Animal Forest is completely adaptive. By getting jobs and earning money you can do many things. With the money you earn you can buy new clothes, furniture to redecorate your house, and even food for a pet you might have. If you're not the working type, then you can catch insects, go fishing, or play music. Item selection is very simple. You bring up a sub-menu by pressing Start, then use a cursor to select an object, then place it in your character's hands on the menu screen. Hit Start again and you're ready to use it. Objects include an axe, a fishing rod, a shovel and many more.

    Because of its social focus, Animal Forest features a considerable amount of text. Nintendo has made no indication that the GameCube's audio capabilities and storage media will be used to feature full voice articulation for the multitude of critters. Nor has any indication been made that this game will utilize the GameCube's network capacity or Game Boy Advance connectivity; though as it seems a direct port of the N64 version, these options will likely not be explored. NES Games in Animal Forest

  • Donkey Kong
  • Donky Kong Jr. Math
  • Donkey Kong 3
  • Tennis
  • Baseball
  • Ice Climer
  • Pinball
  • Golf
  • Clu Clu Land
  • Balloon Fight

    Despite its niche-nature, Animal Forest has sold well in Japan. It is no doubt this success that has prompted Nintendo to rush it onto the GameCube.

    Presentation
    Animal crossing features a nice, unique real-time, interactive game world, which makes for a good thing.
    8.0
    Graphics
    The new version appears to be close to the same graphics as the old one. Sure, the graphics are cleaner and smoother, but not too much improvement has been done.
    6.0
    Gameplay
    The unique gameplay has you communicating with other animals, as well as plenty of mini games to keep you busy.
    7.0
    Overall
    This game features the GBA to GCN connectivity, which could really help out the game. But, even with this in mind, the game still looks lacking. We will just have to wait and see.
    6.5





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