You've heard about it, you've read about it, and most likely you've seen it played or played it at one time. What is this real life simulator that swept accross at least two nations, creating a league of addicted fan boys (and girls)? It's Animal Crossing (AC). This game was originally created for the N64 in Japan, but was postponed in America untill the release of the Gamecube. This is a game that you can play for your entire life, and never get bored. But lets not delve too deep into it at this moment. There are two reasons for this: 1) You may never come back, and 2) We'll discuss in small edible portions in the different sections that follow this brief undeserving introduction to a wonderful game.

Yes, it's good, but is it great? Yes. But is it truley awesome? Pretty much. In case you haven't figured it out already, AC is a real life simulator where you play as a large headed human in a town full of, well, large headed animals. You may be thinking, what is the objective of this game? Well, I’m going to tell you: Whatever you want it to be. Do you want to be best friends with everyone in town? Go for it. Do you want to create the most awesome house ever created in the history of house creation? Go for it. Want to catch every species of fish catchable? Well, go for it. Want to do all of the above? Why not? This game allows a freedom unparalleled by any game ever seen before. When you first start out your ultimate goal is to pay back Mr. Tom Nook, the money hog raccoon, for your house he so kindly gave you. But you are free to get the money any way you want. After you pay him back, you can get your house remodeled. While you are trying to endlessly get more money to pay him for new remodeling, you can do whatever you want. Two of the major features of this game are 1) collecting cool items for your house, and 2) communicating and befriending the local residents of your town. You can do this by running errands, writing them letters, giving them gifts, or all of the above. The only thing I found bad about this is the letter writing. It can become very tedious to think of and write good letters, and sometimes the animals will get angry at your letter for no reason. You see, each letter you send is actually "read" by the receiver. Depending on what you write, they will react differently, but one misspelled word can easily spell disaster. It is also apparent that the animals like happy words, like happy, love, excited, etc. But the good thing is that you don’t necessarily have to write letters, but the animals will ask you why you don’t.

Not to be forgotten is the awesome multiplayer mode. While only one person can play at once, there are four empty houses in the town, and a different human person can take up residence in each one. You can write this person letters and send them gifts like any other neighbor. Another cool feature of the town are the holidays. There are holidays that mirror our world holidays, and some completely fictional. You will learn to be sure to visit the town during each holiday to take part in the festivities. There is also an intricate code system that allows you to trade items with people across the internet or regular mail without ever seeing each other or plugging into the internet. These codes allow an item to be created in one game and taken from the other in exchange for a different item. There are also "universal" codes which will work for everyone’s game.

I could talk about this game for as long as you could play it--forever. There are so many countless features that it would be impossible to detail each one in this review. I tried to hit on all the impressive and outstanding features, but I am sure that I have missed some. The only way to discover the rest is pick up a copy for yourself and get playing. I could easily give this game a 10.0 in gameplay and most people would never question it, but as I set here writing this, I realize not all is perfect in the world of Animal Crossing. The biggest downfall of AC is that it's high's are extremely high, and the lows can be downright low. It's hard to imagine how much you will dread writing that next letter to the same old person. It becomes extremely hard to think of things to say in a letter, and most of the time you will find yourself writing, "I am very happy today. Don't you love living in *insert name of town here.*" And the fact that the GCN lacks a hardware keyboard will make typing these letters very tedious. Also contributing to the 1 point deduction is that sometimes you will find that there is absolutely nothing to do. AC can only be played for a couple hours a day, before you find that you've done everything you can for a day. But don't let these small flaws turn you away from AC, just reread all the good points.

The controls are near perfect, but I did notice a few flaws. While it is easy to navigate the menus and move your character about the town, you will notice a few times that the controls cause you to mess up slightly. You will find yourself digging holes in a tile slightly off from where you meant to, and since you can't move the camera freely you wont be able to see yourself behind trees. I don’t see why this couldn’t have been fixed, but the truth is you will never see the backside of the houses. The camera is fixed and will cause problems, but its nothing to get excited about, you'll get used to it in time.

Ok, so we all know the graphics of Animal Crossing aren’t what you would call marvelous, and they are by no means up to par with other GCN games such as Metroid Prime or Resident Evil, but it still pulls off a 7. How, you ask? How can a game designed for the N64 pull off a 7 on the graphic machine we call a Gamecube? It’s all about style. The graphics of this game seem to match up PERFECTLY with the type of game it is. The large headed characters, literally, seem to fit this game like water and another mixable substance. The textures are ok, but they're nothing to marvel at. While the graphics are a little blocky, you will soon learn to love them and would try to kill anyone who tried to change them. Don’t let the "kiddie" looking graphics influence your decision to purchase the game. Trust me, they work.

What can be said about the music of this game? Superb? Awesome? Marvleous? No, none of these words do it justice. The correct word to use here is customizable. There is actually an option to alter the music you hear while walking around the town. So if you find yourself turning down the volume, you have only yourself to blame. Even the most tone deaf person can create a catchy tune, but someone with musical skills can create a score worthy of the next Zelda or Final Fantasy game. Not to mention the almost infinite supply of tunes you can get for your in game stereo. These tunes can be bought from the guitar playing pooch known as Totakeke. Once you have these tunes you can play them in the stereo in your house. The Sound effects of this game are also on par. When you strike a rock with your shovel, it sound like a shovel hitting a rock. And chopping down a tree, sounds like a guy chopping down a tree.

This game was built with replayability in mind. I don’t feel it necessary to rant about this for an extended period, as I have said countless times you can play this game forever.

Overall, I have to say this game is fantastic. There really isn't much in the line of errors in this game. I do think that the textures could have been made better, but I wouldn't change a thing with the character design. While I have stressed how great this game is, its not for everyone, as no game really is. If you don’t like games that never end, don't buy this game. If you want a game you can play for an hour or so a day for the rest of your days, then this is the game for you. Just keep in mind: Things will get boring every now and then, but one day you will wake up to see a new animal in town, or someone has left, or maybe there is a celebration, and it really rejuvenates the game when these things happen.