Animal Crossing : Wild World Review (DS)

Heading into the Wild World of Wi-FI

Being above the age when Disney World seemed the perfect way to spend my summer and shoes with blinky lights on the side were the height of fashion I approached this one with some trepidation. However, I read some pretty solid reviews and so I said to myself what the hell, if I don’t like it then it might shut my little brother up for a couple of hours. However, I’m quite pleased to say that I ended up finding a bit of a gem here, though sadly one that will only shine for a couple of hours.

In terms of gameplay, Animal Crossing is different. Master Chief fans stop reading right now because in no way is this even nearly for gamers like you. However, if cracking alien heads open isn’t the type of thing you usually do then definitely think of picking this one up. Basically, the game starts out with you on this bus heading to a town where you are about to start your new life. You choose the name of the town, your name and your sex, and then you’re dropped off outside of the town hall. You walk inside and are told that your new house is ready for you. You are then shown where it is on a map, and walk up there. Here is where you meet Tom Nook, a character who you will learn to hate and despise as the game wears on. You are told that you now have a mortgage on the house, and you are to work for Tom Nook to pay it off. So you go and work for him. These first few “missions” work as kind of tutorial, as you learn the basics of the game. You are then unceremoniously dumped from Nook and made to head off into the Wild World. And that’s where the fun starts. Basically, Wild World is free. You can not pay off the mortgage, and just stroll around and see how many butterflies you can find. Or you can go on a massive apple picking spree and smack off half your mortgage in 5 minutes. It all depends on how you want to do it. Once you’ve paid off your first mortgage, Nook expands your house and you’re given another one. This pattern repeats until you have a fully formed house in front of you, complete with three first floor rooms and two upper floor rooms. This house is completely customizable. You choose the wall paper and the furniture, and can customize it to fit your style, or you can just buy as many insane things as you can. There’s even a grading system where a company grades your design style and gives you a score as well as some tips to up your grade next time.

Moving into the money side of things, there are a multitude of ways to pay off your debt to Nook. You can create your own little apple tree farm in your backyard.

Master Chief fans stop reading right now

You can catch fish and butterflies and sell them off to Nook or simply donate them to the Museum. You can collect sea shells, or do odd-jobs for the other animal tenants of this fair town of yours. You play it your way. You can even ditch the whole single player mechanic and go online. However, to do this be aware that friend codes are needed to play, so make sure you have some buddies with the game. If you can rustle up some friends then there is some fun to be had. Basically, you can visit your friends town. Once there, you can partake in a fishing or butterfly contest or, and this is especially fun if you have a particularly well-ordered friend, you can just go around writing rude messages on their notice board and tramping around in their flowers, as they run along hurriedly in your wake, trying to fix the damage being done. Overall gameplay is very good in Wild World. However, if you’re looking for a game that’s going to captivate you for hours on end I’d look elsewhere, as it does become monotonous once you’ve seen most of it. Then again, if you can muscle past this then you do have quite a fun game on your hands.

Graphically, Wild World is solid. Being the DS it’s good, but it just doesn’t reach up to the standards of quality titles such as Metroid Prime: Hunters or Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. However, it is done in a nice kind of kiddie cell shaded style that definitely isn’t hard on the eyes, and would probably rank in the top third of DS offerings.

The sound is limited, being a DS title, but what sound there is is reasonable, if not spectacular. There’s no real speech, though characters do emit a kind of babble that is of no discernible origin. However, there aren’t really any faults with the sound – there just aren’t any great sounding moments.

Overall, Animal Crossing: Wild World is good. It’s not amazing, and it’s not going to revolutionize the way we see video games today. However, if you’re willing to give it a try there’s a good game here, great for small trips on the train or the bus. The single player is good, and the co-op gives what will ultimately be a 5-8 hour single player experience some legs. All in all, if you’re looking for a reasonable game to see you through to the next big hit on your calender, Wild World is a strong contender.

The Good: I like the idea; Reasonable graphics; It’s addicting for a while; It’s perfect for a portable system; Online is rather cool
The Bad: It won’t hold your attention for long; Friend Codes;


Animal Crossing : Wild World Animal Crossing : Wild World Animal Crossing : Wild World Animal Crossing : Wild World 


Silver Y AwardSilver Y Award
4 4 / 5

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