Anybody who knows me as a gamer also knows I’m a sucker for Nintendo’s Animal Crossing franchise. I find the art style fresh (even 6 years after I was introduced to the game), and the relaxed gameplay right up my alley. 

In a nutshell, Animal Crossing is a “life sim” in which you go through day to day tasks at a leisurely pace, with the ultimate goal of earning money to pay for your house and things to fill it with. With City Folk, you can expect the same formula, with nice additions, new things to buy, new events to experience, and a whole new way to connect with other villagers. The game can be purchased with Nintendo’s new Wii Speak microphone, which lets you and anyone else in your room communicate with players on the other end. This is Nintendo’s first Wii Speak title, and my first time using the device was flawless! I connected with a woman in Ohio who traded me fruit, we spent some time fishing, and of course taking photos with the game’s new camera feature which lets you save snapshots to your SD card.

There are some drawbacks, of course: you’re essentially spending $50 on an experience you probably have done before, and you basically have to start from scratch, forgetting items you may have picked up along the way in the DS version. Don’t let this turn you away from this title. It still comes with a renewed feeling of adventure and accomplishment, and there is plenty of new stuff to see in the city section of the town. Most of all, I’m looking forward to imagining new ways to play Animal Crossing with my kids. I’ve already imagined scavenger hunts, treasure hunts, and more games we can come up with on our own to broaden the whole experience.

While this review of Animal Crossing: City Folk may be short, it probably would not be wise to assume this is the last Animal Crossing post on this blog!