Game Info
Game Name: Animal Crossing: City Folk
Developer(s): Nintendo EAD
Publisher(s): Nintendo
Platform(s): Wii
Genre(s): Simulator/Strategy
Release Date(s): November 16, 2008
ESRB Rating: E
Oh boy! Downtown…I bet there are tons of things to do…or not…
You’ve just decided to move to a new town. You’ve got your house now it is time to meet your neighbors and maybe take a trip to the big city. If not sit back, relax, plant some flowers, go fishing, start a bug collection, or talk to your neighbors. It’s your world, you do what you want with it.
Animal Crossing: City Folk follows Animal Crossing (GameCube) and Animal Crossing: Wild World (DS). It was released for the Wii in 2008.
Animal Crossing was a fun little game. You were given a city and had manufactured friends (that you still had to befriend). It was a little escape where you could spend the day fishing or catching bugs…I was excited to hear it was coming to the Wii, but I was disappointed it really did not expand upon the idea.
Jingle, all I want for Christmas is a world where I can easily interact with friends and visit their towns…
Animal Crossing: City Folk doesn’t evolve it enough for the new system. You can still do all the stuff from the original (which is good), but it never went beyond this. It adds some new collections to seek out and more characters, but if you played the previous games, it can feel like repetition.
Another big problem with City Folk is the city itself. With so many online games, City Folk just doesn’t have enough interaction. There are a couple of stores and a few things to look at, but most of the city is a waste of space. The city should be a place where you can meet other players, but due to Nintendo’s strict online policy, the only way to meet outside players is through a complicated exchange of codes and an arranged online meeting. There are a few things you have to go to the city for (like art), but for the most part the city is a waste of time…plus you have to take the annoying bus there each time you want to visit.
Still love waiting for the big fish
If you love collecting stuff, Animal Crossing is great. What is nice as with all the games in the series, is that you have to plan a bit. Certain animals are only available at certain times of the day, other animals might only be available for a couple weeks in a year. Granted, you can manipulate the clock on your system, but waiting for holidays, special items does make the game kind of exciting…it is also a bit weird to get excited to see the Easter Bunny and other holiday visitors, the thrill of a first snow, or the summer arrival of lightning bugs.
If you’ve never owned Animal Crossing, this game could be a lot of fun if you like games like the Sims. It is like the Sims-lite since all the interactions are definitely PG (no matter how hard you try). It really would have benefited from a greater open world, but there still is a lot to do if you’ve got the time. Animal Crossing: City Folk was followed by Animal Crossing: New Leaf for the 3DS.
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