Nintendo always comes up with innovative ideas. That’s why when I first heard about Animal Crossing (then Animal Forest) I wasn’t surprised. "A town with some neighbors and free NES games? Cool, I should rent it" is what I said. As the months went by, I got more and more interested with the game and its plot; making friends, designing houses and clothes, growing trees, fishing. When Nintendo released it here, I got it and played the Hell out of it for weeks. My life was sleep, school, AC, chat for a bit in the Cafe chat, more AC, then sleep. Oh yeah, and I ate, too. The incredible amount of things to do in Animal Crossing will stagger anyone’s mind. It certainly did stagger mine. Sit back and read about one of the best games of 2002.

There isn’t really a plot to Animal Crossing (even though it was otherwise noted above). That’s a good thing. There isn’t an ending either, and life at your town is pretty easy. The game doesn’t tell you what to do, you tell YOURSELF where to go. You can fish, write letters, or anything. It’s very opened minded, and that’s what I like in a videogame. The story is that you have moved out on your own, leaving your mom and dad behind, and you move to a whole new town with some colorful neighbors. Tom Nook will take you under his wing and help you with a house (which at first, isn’t really that big) and a job. That’s the only thing that you will ever HAVE to do in the game. After that, you are all by yourself. Well, of course, you’re not actually by yourself, but you get my idea. Moving along…

One of the things I like about Animal Crossing is the amount of neighbors that are in the game. There are so many, I have yet to see them all. There are kangaroos, cats, dogs, sheep, you can name any animal, and it’s most likely in there. You can do some interesting stuff for them. For example, neighbors have different catchphrases they use, and sometimes they can be a bit annoying. Sometimes they will ask you to change it for them. You can use one of the "cool" phrases you use around school, or an obscene word like f- …wait, I can’t say that word in there. Besides, the animals will know if you put a word like that in there and they won’t accept it. Nice try, Mr. Dirty-mind.

Yeah, those Abel sisters sure know their fashion designs

Another interesting thing you can do in the game is play NES games. Yes, Nintendo Entertainment System games are in there via an emulator. Classics like Excitebike, Pinball, Punch Out, and Donkey Kong are all in there. Personally, my two favorites are Excitebike (designing levels rock) and Pinball (its addicting). And you would be surprised at my other favorte..Donkey Kong Jr. Math. Yeah, you heard me. Adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing have never been so fun. Maybe Nintendo should do another game like that sometime. Not like that edutainment crap like Mario's Fun With Numbers and crap like that. I advise you, however, to keep away from such "classics" such as Soccer, Tennis, and Donkey Kong 3. Avoid them, for they are utter garbage.

Have you ever wanted to donate to museums? Of course not! Yeah, like [b] you [/b] could ever find a dinosaur bone. But in Animal Crossing you can. So what would you do with these fossils? Sell them, dur, or donate them to your Museum, once gain…dur. The owl who runs it, Blathers, will go on and on about it. That owl can really be annoying at times. I wish I can just grab his beak and- err, sorry, got a little bit carried away. Anyway, you can donate other things besides dinosaur bones. Insects, art, and fish can be donated as well. Get something rare, and Blathers will have seizures. Not really, but almost. Also, there is a lost and found where you can claim anything you want. And it’s free. Things such as umbrellas and chairs will be there, so go and claim them as your own so you can get some free stuff. Another interesting place to go to is Tom Nook's store. You know, the place where you worked at when you first moved into the town. At first, Tom Nook doesn’t have much to offer. But his store will get bigger if you buy a lot of items from him. Eventually his store will turn into a two-story department store full of furniture, tools, and may other things. Finally, there is the post office. You can use this place to store your favorite letters. You can also mail letters as well. The other thing you can do there is scanning E-reader cards. E-reader cards can store anything from music to furniture. Those are the basic places you will find in your town.

12,000 for Pinball?! Screw you, Redd, SCREW YOU!!!

One of the most brilliant ideas of Animal Crossing is to celebrate holidays with your neighbors. Although most traditional holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving are not on there, there are substitutes like Toy Day, which are basically the same. You can even get a festive tree or candles to celebrate your holiday. Other months, there are Sports Fairs, which place you and your neighbors in various activities. If you talk to Tortimer, the mayor of your town, he will give you a certain item. Plus, there are more events than just holidays. K.K. Slider comes at Saturdays to sing songs. Request a certain song, and he will give it to you so you can hear it whenever you would like to. Celebrating holidays and various activities has never been so fun.

Even though I have talked about this game with praise, there are still some faults with the game. The graphics are not as good as many would like. However, they are not entirely bad. But seeing that this was a former Nintendo 64 game, the graphics have improved only a tad bit. And then, the neighbors have a few problems. Sometimes they will repeat the same things, over and over. They will get respective if you talk to them for a while. But otherwise, I can’t find any other faults to the game, it’s that great.

What’s the bottom line to Animal Crossing? The bottom line is that this is one of the best games of 2002. Yes, I’m serious. Sure, Metroid Prime was ok, but I actually prefer Animal Crossing. Why? Because I like to take things slowly and not worrying about what to do next. Animal Crossing gives you the option of doing whatever you want. The amount of things to do in that game is huge. You can fish; catch bugs, visit a nearby town, or just plant. The concept of doing whatever that YOU want to do rocks. Leave it to Nintendo to come up with creative and original games. Nothing compares to the originality of Animal Crossing. I definitely have had an excellent time with Animal Crossing, and I definitely cannot wait for the sequel. What should we expect? Who knows? But what I do know is that AC2 will defiantly be better than the original. And that’s saying a lot.