Dec 2005

Players move into a living, breathing world inside the Nintendo DS...and then invite their friends to visit from anywhere on earth.

In this sequel to the wildly popular Nintendo GameCube game, players and up to three friends can hang out in the same village and interact in real time - either through wireless LAN or over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Now players can visit a friend's village from thousands of miles away.

The touch screen makes item management and world navigation a breeze. Typing letters and designing patterns are now just stylus strokes away.

Days and seasons pass in real time, so whether players want to decorate their homes, catch bugs or fish, collect brand-new items like hats and sunglasses or just chat with the wild and wacky characters in their villages, there's always something to do.

HMV.co.uk Games Editor

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To call 'Animal Crossing' a unique game would be a gross understatement. There are no guns, no car-racing and no tie-in movie licence. What there is, however, makes for possibly the most engaging and rewarding game available. The player finds themself a new resident in a town of mildly unhinged anthropomorphic animals and charged with the task of getting on with life. Whether fishing, collecting shells, buying furniture, planting flowers or picking fruit there is almost an unending list of tasks to keep players busy.

The strength of the design in 'Animal Crossing' lies in the sense of accomplishment invested in these seemingly goalless chores. Running from the DS' internal clock, 'Animal Crossing' segues from day to night and even offers different events and festivals on particular days of the year. This is just one of the many ways in which the game takes advantage of the qualities of the DS platform. The game can entirely be operated by touch screen and Wi-Fi support offers players all over the world the ability to visit each others lovingly kept villages.

The portable nature of the system really pays dividends as the need to check in and get a few things done gradually increases its draw on the player. The entirely unprecedented design and inexhaustible supply of new things to see and collect make 'Animal Crossing' a joy to own. The hilarious insanity of the animals that move in and out of your town is reason enough for a strong recommendation on this brilliant title.

HMV Staff Review
Michael Kermode, HMV Reading Oracle