Animal Crossing: City Folk (Wii Review) by Zeypher

Animal Crossing: City Folk
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
System: Wii
Released: Nov 16, 2008 US

Story
Ah, Animal Crossing. If you've played any of the previous titles in the series, then you would have already known that this game has little to no story. You start off in a bus talked to a cat looking animal named Rover. He explains how to play the game sorta, and also let's you name yourself, your town, and decide your gender. After that, you talk to the local shop owner, Tom Nook. You have to run a few errands for him to pay off a little bit of your house, but after that you're all on your own. You can literally sit around and do nothing. What you can do, however; is pay off your house at ridiculously high prices and donate Bells (the game's currency) to the town. That's basically all the story this game has, but it doesn't necessarily need a story, and you'll see why.

Sound 8/15
The music of Animal Crossing: City Folk is very mellow, it's almost boring. The music in the overworld of your town rarely changes, but they tunes it does display aren't anything amazing. In the Town Hall you can make your own town's song, but it doesn't always work out too good; unless you're very skilled at it. One highlight of the music though, is K.K Slider. Every Saturday night he shows up in the Coffee Shop (basement of the Museum) and plays a song. Players can get this song on a tape and play it from the radio in their house. There are a lot of tunes, so you should be coming back for more.

Graphics 10/20
The graphics of Animal Crossing: City Folk are subpar at best. There really isn't much difference between the GameCube and the Wii versions, except the Wii version looks a bit more polished and has the same "world" view as the DS version. There's so much more that could be done to improve the visuals with the added power of the Wii, it's sad City Folk looks like a slightly enhanced GameCube version.


Appeal 22/25
Animal Crossing is all about the re playability, and City Folk is no different. There are special events that take place during each Holiday, and there are even added Holidays and special one's depending on what region you live in. Different kinds of villagers will move into your town, and they always have something different to say or for you to do (finding their lost house key, delivering presents, etc). Each day there will be different items at Tom Nook's shop, and the more you buy, the bigger his shop gets. Upgrading your house and donating Bells to the city to build stuff like a Lighthouse and a Fountain will also keep you coming back for more. As always, there are fish, bugs, fossils, and paintings which can either be sold to Nook or donated to the Museum. The added function of Wi-Fi capabilities adds length to the game, as it's a lot of fun to play with a group of friends. The City is also a nice addition.

Gameplay 28/40
The gameplay of City Folk is fairly simple, but well executed to an extent. There are two controller options: IR with the Wiimote and Wiimote-Nunchuck. The IR controls with the Wiimote is very poor. You basically point the Wiimote at the screen and hold down the A button to walk in the direction you're pointing. Pressing the B button will pick up items that are under your character, but since the IR is so poor sometimes you won't even pick up the item. Shaking trees with the IR controls can also be harder than it should be, since most of the time you're not close enough to the tree. With the Wiimote-Nunchuck control option, the game feels more responsive. You still have to use IR for the menus and stuff, but moving your character is controlled with the Nunchuck's analog stick, and feels a lot more natural than the IR. There are different items in the game, including the Shovel, Axe, Fishing Rod, Bug Net, and Slingshot. The fishing controls feel very good, since you can either waggle the Wiimote or press the C button to cast your line and reel in the fish. The fish's AI have also improved since the previous installments.

Overall68/100
Animal Crossing: City Folk isn't a terrible game, but it isn't an amazing game either. There are a lot of things added to the game and enhanced from the previous Animal Crossing titles. The main draw back, though; is that there isn't enough new things added to the game, where the Animal Crossing series has so much potential. If you're a die hard Animal Crossing fan this is easily a buy, but if you're not that big of a fan or hardly a fan at all rent it and see if you like it for yourself.

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