Welcome to Modojo, Join the Party!Welcome to Modojo, Join the Party!
submitted by Chef Felix
posted December 6, 2005Animal Crossing is finally on the Nintendo DS, and we get our groove on in the little town we like to call Fun. Or Corny.
Read the Modojo Review
submitted by dominiccarfan76posted February 3, 2008ahh December 2005.Now at the time I had a DS phat before i got my white Ds lite which the hinge broke off and before i got my black one.Dad had got Two AC:ww's but he wouldn't let us open them.So i begged him and he said ok ok.So i opened mine and put it in my ds.So the first thing i saw was that i had to create my charecter and i could name my town any name i want so i named it suburbia.So 3 years later my town is L.A. well let's start this with
Graphics are cute.my charecter has a flame shirt.they don't have the colors the gamecube had.so graphics 8.0
Sound and Music sound beautiful and every saturday night k.k. slider comes to the roost. 9.0
GamePlay you can move your charecter either with the stylus or the abxy buttons and the + pad.
So there you have it 10.0
submitted by SoulSpikeposted May 23, 2007Almost everything people have said about AC-Wild World is true, but my biggest complaint is that the controls are so small as well as the DS screen, that much of the imagery is lost on those with less-than-perfect eyesight. Sure, you can do more with your characters, but they still look ridiculous, and what good is all that if you can barely see them? Another thing that bothers me is how you have to hold the screen at just the right angle, to see someone in the distance; unlike the GC version, not everyone in the screen is visible at the same time. This makes it so you miss crucial visits or interactions. I still have NO idea how to catch a bee (that is, how to be quick enough), though I finally DID get the hang of it in the GC game.
I miss the larger screen for many reasons: it was MUCH easier to design clothing, your house looked better and you could actually get cool objects that LOOKED cool, rather than blocky (like the Sphinx...on the DS, it looks like it's made of cardboard!). Writing letters in the old AC was never much fun...now it's downright painful! At least they're shorter.
The lack of an Island also stinks. Fishing is far more difficult and the complete opposite of the GC version. Tried-and-true techniques just don't work anymore.
Having animals drop by for visits is all well and good, but once they get there: it's BORING! And if you forget or miss the time...they get so bent out of shape...it's not worth it. As for the animals themselves, they're not much of an improvement over the GC ones. They are now also prone to fits of nonsensical talk...which serves no purpose (that I can tell) other than to irritate you! Then there's that deal of giving you 5-6 "nicknames"! What's with that?
The only real improvements I see are the way the sky changes, esp. at sunset, some of the music is better and you get a bigger house and more say in urging animals to stay or go. Maybe if I could play this game on a large screen, I'd like it better, but not much. I'm sticking with the GC version!
submitted by GamerGeorgeposted January 29, 2007
1 of 1 recommend this reviewAnimal Crossing, one of the most unique, quirky, and just plain weird titles you'll likely ever encounter, finally decides to leap onto a portable platform. And what better way to get itself acquainted with portability than with Nintendo's latest ingenious hardware creation, the Nintendo DS?
Featuring, for the first time, online playability with friends not just in your neighborhood, but all throughout the world, in conjunction with many new items to find and decorate your house with, and plenty more activities that you can apply your unused time toward, Animal Crossing: Wild World is, for the time being, the absolute definitive installment in the Animal Crossing series. No longer are you tethered down to your GameCube at home. Now, you can play basically anywhere you want (even in the bathroom for people who like to play games in the bathroom... for whatever reason that may be).
Wild World, just like its predecessor, doesn't necessarily have a story to tell. This time, instead or arriving to the village in a train, you arrive in a car. Once that happens, you'll need to immediately look for a job to help pay off your debt for your house (what, you think that house was free or something? Not if you're playing by Nintendo's rules!).
One parallel to the GameCube game, though, is the fact that once again, you'll need to create your in-game persona. As a human in a world full of animals, you'll obviously be able to be one of two genders, male or female, although what gender you actually become in the game isn't immediately accessible. You'll be asked some questions, and depending on what your responses are will result in what kind of character you become in the game.
The game is, graphically, impressive for a handheld title. It replicates the look developed in the GameCube incarnation rather successfully, only with slightly less dignified textures when compared directly to that version (for instance, pixelation is a rather bothersome sight on the DS--rather than having textures that are smooth, they appear blocky). Still, the visual style the game is fashioned in could be considered appealing. It really is unlike any other game out there, outside or inside the genre, and that really helps as it gives it points in the originality department.
Controls in the title can be operated via either the DS' touch screen, or with the standard d-pad and face buttons. Personally, I like to use a combination of both at times. Basic actions like simply moving around is where I'll use the touch screen, while the d-pad/buttons faction will be more prone for use when I do some fossil hunting or gardening, just for that extra added bit of accuracy and consistency.
Animal Crossing: Wild World features plenty to see and do. There's a museum, which you can donate items to, like any and all fossils you may unearth somewhere in the city. That same museum is also home to a bar, and in that bar you may occasionally run into K.K. Slider, who likes to spend time there entertaining visitors with his music. There's also the Able Sisters' shop, where you can create your own custom brand of clothing and other things. Finally, last but certainly not least, is Nook's shop, where you'll be doing the majority of your shopping and perusing. Nook is the person you owe your house debt to, so you'll obviously be seeing plenty of him during your time with Wild World.
Before too long, you'll be able to upgrade not only your house, but also Nook's shop. Improving your home has benefits that are apparent at first thought, like granting you more access to space to place objects you value, while adding to Nook's tiny little store will enable him to stock more items at once, which can truly help you when it comes to specific situations, like decorating your lovely little home.
Speaking of your home, you're not the only person in town. You share the city with animals, who you can either befriend or piss off. These same creatures have the tendency to offer you an item (at a price, of course) or, if their in the mood, might even give you something for free! You're also susceptible to receiving mail from them, which can range from merely asking you what's up, to notifying you that their birthday is coming up and they'd like to invite you over.
You'll also be able to do activities that were present in the original Animal Crossing, like being able to go fishing, growing your own garden, and hitting rocks with your shovel for money (I'm serious). Oh yeah, there are also trees that have fruit that you can harvest and either eat or sell for bells (the game's form of currency).
By the way, did I mention that Animal Crossing: Wild World has online play? Finally, you can visit other people's towns that are more than a few feet away from you. Yes, you can exchange items with your closest friends, as well as play a game of tag. Honestly, while the addition of online play is a big step forward for this series, you can't help but get the feeling that it isn't quite complete in that area. Maybe in a future edition...
Anyway, moving on, Wild World has a nice musical score to it. You'll find beats that that have sort of a jazzy sound to them, which is fine in my book as I like that sort of style when it comes to music, and others that are quite a bit more upbeat and fast. It's not Final Fantasy, mind you, where you're in awe, but it gets the job done quite competently.
A lot of people complained about the original game when it came to the replay factor, the point being that there really wasn't much of one. It's nice to simulate a digital life, but for how long? After a while, you're going to get tired of it and realize that you have an actual life of your own that you need to put into the forefront and that's where Animal Crossing is lacking. It's no doubt a fun game for the first few weeks, but, after that, you're more likely than not going to start getting a bit bored or tired of it. It doesn't help that Nintendo decided to remove the NES games that were in the original game, either.
Overall, Animal Crossing: Wild World is a very solid entry in the Animal Crossing series. It is the best game in the series thus far, and has a lot to see and do. The problem is, it, at the end of the day, isn't enough to continually draw you in. The addition of online play is a positive, but even that isn't going to add that much to its replay value. Still, with all of that in mind, you can certainly do much, much worse than opting to pick up Wild World. It is without a shadow of a doubt one of the best RPGs available for the DS, as well as one of the best games for the system, period, and proves once more that Nintendo knows how to craft a quality release.
