Animal Crossing (video game)

A screenshot of the overworld, featuring the player's character. The game features graphics from the Nintendo 64 version.

Animal Crossing is a social simulation game, dubbed a "communication game" by Nintendo.[3] It is open-ended, and the player's character can live a separate life with very little set plot or mandatory tasks. Players assume the role of a new resident to the town. The gender and looks of the character depend on answers given to a cat named Rover, whom the player meets on the train the character takes to the town. There are also tasks that players can complete and goals they can achieve. The game is played in real-time, observing days, weeks, months and years using the GameCube's internal clock. Many real-life events and holidays span the year, including Independence Day, Halloween, the Harvest Festival (Thanksgiving), and Toy Day (Christmas). Other activities, such as fishing tournaments and early-morning fitness classes, occur on a regular schedule. When players stop playing, they can talk to their Gyroid, a creature next to their house, to save their progress. If the player turns off the game or resets the GameCube without saving first, what they achieved during the previous unsaved game is lost, but everything else is kept; however a mole named Mr. Resetti appears in front of the player's house the next time they play, to scold them for resetting and forces a drawn out conversation with the player. Rarely, Don Resetti will appear instead of Mr. Resetti, Don Resetti is the older brother of Mr. Resetti but they both have opposite personalities, Don Resetti advises the player of saving the game instead of getting angry at the player for not saving like Mr. Resetti.

One of the main goals of the game, given to the player during the game's opening cut scenes, is to increase the size of the player's character's house. This house is the repository for furniture and other items acquired during the course of the game. It can be customized in several ways, such as roof colour, furniture, music, wallpaper and flooring. These customisations are judged by the Happy Room Academy (HRA).

Tom Nook, a tanuki (raccoon dog) in the Japanese versions and a raccoon in the American and European versions, runs the local store. At the beginning of the game, he gives the player their first house with a mortgage of 19,800 Bells (the in-game currency). After paying the debt, part of which is done through a part-time job with Nook, the house is expanded, prompting another debt from Nook. The house is expanded several times during the course of the game. Players can sell virtually anything to Nook in exchange for Bells. As the player buys and sells items at Nook's store, it will gradually expand, offering a wider selection of products for purchase. Players can also visit locations such as the Able Sisters' clothing shop, where they can purchase or design new clothes; the Police Station, where they can obtain additional items from the Lost and Found; and the Museum, where they can donate fossils, paintings, fish and insects to put on display.

The village initially contains six villagers, and more villagers move in or out depending on the player's actions. There is a maximum of fifteen villagers living there at a time. All villagers are animals and each has a home that the player can visit. There are many possible interactions between the player and the villagers, including talking, trading items, completing tasks, writing letters, and, in e+, buying medicine for when they get sick. Villagers interact with each other independent of player control.

The game was developed by Nintendo EAD with an inexperienced team led by Katsuya Eguchi, Hisashi Nogami, and Super Mario co-creator Takashi Tezuka, most of whom had regrouped after the release of Yoshi’s Story in 1997. The 64DD peripheral served as an enabling technology platform for the conception and development of the game, with its real-time clock and 64MB floppy disk for writable mass storage.[7] Due to 64DD's extended delays and cancellation, the game's development was moved to the Game Pak cartridge medium—the only Game Pak containing a real-time clock—plus a Controller Pak for saving progress.[8] Kazumi Totaka served as the game's sound director.[9] Kenta Nagata composed background music for the fields, Toru Minegishi for the indoor areas and Shinobu Tanaka for the events.[9] The game was originally released as Dōbutsu no Mori (lit. "Animal Forest") on the Nintendo 64 in Japan in April 2001. It is the last game Nintendo released for the Nintendo 64, and third to last game released for the system in Japan.[10]

The game was ported to the GameCube as Dōbutsu no Mori+, released on December 14, 2001, in Japan, eight months after the original game. This version contains extra features that were originally left out of the Nintendo 64 version, and uses the GameCube's built-in clock. This led to the game's slogan, "the real life game that's playing, even when you're not". Dōbutsu no Mori+ cost ¥7,140 with 92,568 copies sold during its first week in Japan.[11]

When Nintendo began localizing Dōbutsu no Mori+ for release in North America as Animal Crossing, the game underwent an immense translation project, which resulted in much more text than the Japanese version. Not only did thousands of lines of text have to be translated, but translators Nate Bihldorff and Rich Amtower[9] had to create new holidays and items to be relatable outside of Japan. The translation process took six months total, which at the time was Nintendo of America's largest translation project to date.[12] Nintendo's Japanese leadership was so impressed with the work done by Nintendo of America's Treehouse division that they added the American content back into the Japanese version and released it as Dōbutsu no Mori e+ along with more new content.[13] It was released in Japan on June 27, 2003, with 91,658 copies sold during its first week.[14]

Upon its release, Animal Crossing was subject to critical acclaim. It was named the seventh best game of all time on the GameCube by the television show X-Play on the G4 network.[24] On IGN, the game holds an "outstanding" 9.1 rating.[23]

Some critics praised the game's use of the GameCube's internal clock and calendar and its inclusion of hidden NES games. However, others, such as IGN's Peer Schneider, criticized its audio and visuals, for being below-standard quality for a GameCube game.[23] According to the review aggregator site Metacritic, the game received a score of 87 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews" based on 42 critics.[16] According to GameRankings, the game received a score of 86% based on 72 reviews.[15] The game was a commercial success, at more than 2 million copies sold worldwide.[25] By July 2006, 1.3 million copies had been sold, totaling $43 million in the United States. Next Generation ranked it as the 37th highest-selling game launched for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, or GameCube between January 2000 and July 2006 in that country.[26] It is one of the best-selling Nintendo GameCube games.[27] ScrewAttack rated it the fifth-best GameCube game on its "Farewell to the GameCube, ten GameCube games" list, saying, "It's a game that plays even when you're not and can last up to 30 years!"[28] The popularity of the series inspired the creation of an animated film based on the game's sequel Animal Crossing: Wild World, titled Dōbutsu no Mori, which was released exclusively in Japan.[29]

• Japanese Doubutsu no Mori (Nintendo 64) website
• European Animal Crossing (GameCube) website