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Animal Crossing

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''This article is about the original Animal Crossing. For its sequel see .
Animal Crossing, known as Animal Forest or in Japan, is a video game franchise developed by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development. After release in Japan, the game was improved upon and released in the United States on 15 September 2002, later being made a Player's Choice game.

Because of its complexity, the game uses 57 blocks of the standard 59 block memory card. If bought new, it comes with a memory card with an Animal Crossing sticker already on it and a 1 block "grab bag" in-game present in it. If the player has an NES game in Animal Crossing and the present is not collected, the entire memory card is used up.

In Japan, Animal Forest was released for the Nintendo 64 on 14 April 2001, and a new edition of the game, called Animal Forest +, was released for the GameCube in December of the same year. Another new edition of the game, Animal Forest e+, was released on 27 June 2003. Only Japan saw a Nintendo 64 release.

An Animal Crossing movie has been announced, and its official website can be viewed here: http://www.doubutsunomori-movie.jp/index.html. It will be released in Japan on December 16, 2006.

Contents

Gameplay

Animal Crossing has been dubbed a "communication game" by Nintendo, but has been rated as an Action game. It is an open-ended game, where a player can live a separate life with no preset plot or mandatory tasks. There are, however, certain tasks which players can choose to complete, and goals they can choose to achieve. The game is played out in real-time - observing days, weeks, months, and even years - using the GameCube's internal clock. There are many actual events and holidays spanning the year, including Independence Day, Christmas, Halloween, and Thanksgiving, among others. Other regular activities such as early morning fitness classes and fishing tournaments are included in the game as well. Some players purposely adjust the clock to skip forward or backward in time, a practice known as "time traveling."

House Improvements

The main and most obvious goal of the game is to expand the size of the player's house. This house serves as the repository for furniture and other items bought or acquired during the course of the game. It can be customized in a number of ways, including roof color, furniture, what music (if any) plays when a player enters the house, wallpaper and flooring. House expansions grant the player a larger house, and thus more space to store items or more decorative flexibility.

Tom Nook, a tanuki in the Japanese version and a raccoon in the American and European version, 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 house is comically small, furnished only with wallpaper, flooring, a box, a journal, and a radio. Upon paying off the entire debt, part of which is done through a part-time job to Tom Nook, the player is offered to expand the house. If the player accepts, the house is enlarged overnight for 120,000 Bells. If the player refuses to have their house expanded, Nook expands the house nevertheless, claiming that the player will need the space. Upon paying this debt entirely, Tom Nook gives the player the option of either having the house expanded again for 398,000 Bells or having a basement built for 49,800 Bells. After the player chooses one and pays back the debt, Tom Nook then offers the other. The last addition to the house is the installation of a second floor. Upon paying back the 798,000 Bells for this last expansion, Tom Nook builds a statue of the player in front of the train station. To reach this point, the player will have paid Tom Nook a total of 1,413,600 bells in home expansions. The statue is in gold, silver, bronze, or jade, depending on the order that the other players pay off their entire debt.

Though Tom Nook is more than willing to sell furniture and other items to fill a house, there are many other ways to acquire furnishings. A trip to the town dump may yield items that were unwanted by someone else and are thus free. The police station has a lost and found department run by Officer Booker, who will allow anyone to claim any item that has ended up there. Other villagers that live nearby may need favors and will reward the player for their help. Players can even obtain new furniture items by shaking trees until a piece of furniture falls from one. The downside to tree shaking, however, is that bees may come out instead. If this happens, a player must run into the nearest house or building, or else they will be stung. However, there is an upside; if the player has a net, they can catch the bees and sell them to Nook or donate them to the museum.

Villagers

The Animal Crossing village initially contains a handful of villagers, and others will move in or out depending on the player's actions. All of the villagers are animals, hence the game's name, and each has their own small home that the player can visit. There are many possible interactions between the player and the villagers. These include talking, trading furniture and other objects, completing tasks for rewards, and writing letters. Villagers will also interact with each other. There are roughly 200 villagers, but no more than fifteen will ever live in a town at once. Each villager also has a sound or phrase they repeat often, often relating to the animal they are. For example, a cow might exclaim, "Macmoo!" These phrases simply add personality to the character, and can be changed at times if the villager asks the player to do so.

If the player doesn't interact with individual villagers on a regular basis, they are likely to leave the village. The village also has a level of attractiveness that depends on certain parameters that are never explicitly described to the player, but are hinted at by a spirit living in the village fountain. A high attractiveness will draw new animals to live in the village.

Fish and Insects

Animal Crossing maintains a list of all fish and insects caught by the player, one of the goals of the game being to catch every fish and insect as well as to completely fill the museum. Some types of fish and insects are only available during certain parts of the year or at specific times. Both fish and insects can be donated to the museum, kept in the house as a decoration, or sold to Tom Nook for varying amounts, with some fetching prices as high as 15,000 bells, such as the Stringfish, and others, such as the Cockroach, selling for only 5 bells.

Insects

Capturing insects requires a net, which can be purchased at Tom Nook's store. Most insects can be found during the summer, and very few are available during winter. Most insects are found by walking around and listening to the loudness of an insect's chirping, or looking at trees or flowers, but some take more dedication. Pill bugs must be found by examining rocks, and it is quite difficult to capture a bee before it has the chance to sting the player and leave their left eye swollen shut. Ants and roaches may be lured by spoiled turnips or Halloween candy. The mole cricket can only be found by listening for its distinctive sound and attempting to dig it up. The player's reward for capturing every type of insect is the golden net, which is larger than the standard net, and a butterfly model for the player's roof.

Bug List

Fish

Catching fish requires a fishing pole, which is also available for purchase at Tom Nook's store. Ponds, lakes, rivers, and the ocean are available for fishing. Certain fish live only in certain bodies of water, and some fish can only be found while it is raining, as well as at certain times of the year and day. Fish are caught by placing the bait in front of the silhouette of the fish, then pressing the A button at the exact time the bait is pulled under the water. The player's reward for capturing every type of fish is the golden fishing rod, which causes fish to stay on the line longer and makes it easier to catch fish, and a fish-shaped weather vane for the player's house.

Fish List

Nintendo Entertainment System games

Nearly two dozen NES games are available to collect in Animal Crossing. Animal Crossing is packaged with a memory card that gives the player two games. Others are acquired in various ways. The games available are:

Japanese Exclusives: U.S./Europe Exclusives: The other games are the same in Japan and US/ Europe, totalling exactly 19 games in all GCN versions.

There are four NES games often referred to as the "Forbidden Four" that can only be obtained by using an Action Replay cheat device or an e-Reader. Ice Climber and Mario Bros. are available through both hardware devices, while Super Mario Bros. and Legend of Zelda are only available by using an Action Replay. Previously, this was referred to as the "Forbidden Five", as "Punch-Out!!" was only available by means of Action Replay until the European release, when the Nintendo of Europe website for Animal Crossing offered a code similar to the ones needed for Clu Clu Land D, Donkey Kong Jr., Donkey Kong 3, and Soccer on the American website for Animal Crossing. The code worked for U.S. copies as well. These codes were the only way of obtaining the five games.

Advance Play is when a person links their Game Boy Advance into their GameCube to download the NES game to their handheld temporarily. For this to work, a player must download a game that does not require saving, meaning that Clu Clu Land D, Legend of Zelda, and Wario's Woods cannot be played on the Game Boy Advance. Punch-Out!! can't be played on the GBA as well due to the fact that the original NES release uses password to save, and while playing within Animal Crossing, the password is saved. All other games can be played on Advance Play, but they are slightly stretched on the Game Boy's display and are limited to one player.

Extra NES Games (decoration only):

Museum

A player may choose to visit the local museum, but will not find much there initially. The museum has rooms to house fish, insects, paintings, and fossils, but relies on the player to complete the exhibits by making donations to Blathers, the owl curator. The fish and insect rooms can be filled by catching specimens to donate. However the player must be careful as to the order they donate their catches, as fish or bugs donated will crop up more often in the game. Because of this players often found it advisable to make a "store" of their catches in the basement of their house once they had received the expansion. Paintings are found like other furniture. Fossils can be dug up, but must be mailed off for identification before donation.

Pattern design

An Animal Crossing character wearing a tailor-made shirt on Halloween.
Enlarge
An Animal Crossing character wearing a tailor-made shirt on Halloween.

Players can also design patterns at a tailor in the bottom layer of the village, named the Able Sisters, run by two sisters, Mabel and Sable Able, but at a cost of 350 Bells. These patterns can be used for wallpaper, flooring, umbrellas and shirts. Players can also use the Game Boy Advance, hooked up to the GameCube with a GBA-GC link cable to design for free. After a player design patterns, they can put eight of them on display at the tailor, four as shirts, and four as umbrellas. This allows other villagers to wear those patterns. If players put up signs of those patterns around town, they could get more popular. Mable will tell the player the most popular shirt and umbrella patterns if asked. In addition, Sable Able becomes more friendly to the player when she is talked to enough and the player has created a number of designs.

Happy Room Academy

Once a player pays off all of their debt to Tom Nook, the Happy Room Academy ("HRA") will begin judging the interior design of the player's house on a daily basis. Each day (providing the player has changed their interior the previous day) the HRA will send the player a letter informing them of their point rating. The HRA judges every part of the players house, excluding the basement, according to a point system. Upon earning certain point marks, the player will recieve prizes. The prizes and the HRA points required to recieve them are as follows:

These two pieces are required to complete the town model set.

Shopping

While in Animal Crossing, the main way to find new items is via buying them in Tom Nook's shop. When players begin their adventure his store is an understocked, tiny store, called Nook's Cranny. As players progress through the game Tom Nook expands his store, making it larger, with a greater daily inventory.

Eventually, a store is opened by the raccoon, called Nookington's, which is staffed by Nook and his two sons, Tommy and Timmy.

At the end of every month, Nook runs a raffle, which players can enter by handing over five raffle tickets won by buying furniture, wallpaper, clothes and umbrellas over the course of month. (Items cannot be purchased or sold on Raffle Day.) Tickets for a particular month must be used in that month of any year, e.g. a set of April tickets obtained in 2006 cannot be used in May, but can be used in April 2007.

Feng Shui

Certain furniture items in the game have the properties of feng shui. If certain coloured items are placed on certain sides of the player's house, the player will have an increased chance of finding rare items, bells, or both. The use of feng shui will also result in a higher Happy Room Academy score.

Other items, such as trophies and items received on holidays will provide good luck in money and items regardless of placement or color.

Seasons

As Animal Crossing plays in real-time, the seasons within the game change accordingly. A number of noticeable changes occur during each of the seasons.

Spring

During Spring players can find a number of insects living in their natural habitat. This season includes a fair amount of holidays including the Cherry festival.

Summer

Summer is when players can find the most insects buzzing about. Occasionally, one can find a tent set up by a villager. If one talks to a villager, the player plays a game with him/her. Sometimes villagers will give the player a summer related item such as a campfire.

Autumn

During Autumn, the leaves start to fall off and the grass starts to become dormant for the year. There are several holidays in this season including Thanksgiving (called Harvest festival) and Halloween.

Winter

During Winter, snow falls and blankets rooftops, trees, and the ground itself. Small snowballs form randomly on the ground, and when these are pushed by players they can make snowmen. This is also when Jingle comes around to give the children their Christmas presents. When it is near Christmas some trees will start to have flashing lights on their branches. Several of the villagers also build igloos at this time of year, allowing players to play games with the inhabitants. Sometimes the villager will give the player the infamous "DUMMY" item. (see Secrets-DUMMY below) Also, villagers will give the player a winter related item such as a snow bunny.

Secrets

Magic Rock

Daily, one randomly chosen rock in the village will spout money every time it is hit by a player's shovel or axe. To find this special rock, the player must search for it by hitting all rocks in the village. When the correct rock is struck, Bells fly out and the rock turns red. The player can keep hitting the rock to get exponentially larger amounts of Bells, even up to 10,000 Bells. The rock can be hit up to a maximum of 8 times. After a little while, to indicate that the effect will cease, the bright red coloring of the rock will slowly fade. The sound one hears when one hits it several times in a row is the 1-Up Mushroom sound from Super Mario Bros.

Nice Sable

If players talk to Sable every day for a while, Sable will be a little more nice to them and tell them stories from her and Mable's childhood, like how their parents died when they were young to how much older she is than Mable. During these stories, Mable will comment about them, for instance complaints about Tom Nook.

Golden Tools

When the player completes certain objectives, he or she can receive special versions of the four tools in the game, including a Golden Rod, a Golden Net, a Golden Shovel and a Golden Axe.

K.K.'s Hidden Songs

Certain songs can only be accessed by specifically requesting K.K. to play them. To access these songs, players must ask K.K. to play K.K. Song (the theme to Mario Paint), Two Days Ago or I Love You. Upper and lower case are significant.

Common Bugs

DUMMY

A picture of the DUMMY item (the white triangle)
Enlarge
A picture of the DUMMY item (the white triangle)

Around Winter, villagers will start to make igloos around town. Sometimes villagers will make bets with the player. If a villager asks the player to pick a bag and they are able to buy the item inside, the villager may give an item to the player titled "DUMMY". It is a white triangle that has the word "dummy" written on it in katakana. It can only be obtained in this manner and it counts as furniture. The "DUMMY" is worth no HRA points. If the item is dropped on the ground, it cannot be picked back up, and resembles a fishing lure. The item was most likely used in early alpha or beta testing to check if the user was able to correctly interact with objects and the environment, and was mostly removed from the game once the testing was complete.

''Note: By using the Action Replay disc, when one of the "Item in Slot 1 is..." cheats is selected, the item will physically appear to be the dummy item, but it has the other item's attributes, such as price, log NUM, and memory space.

Missing Face

Missing Face Screenshot
Enlarge
Missing Face Screenshot

A person's character has one of eight pairs of eyes selected when a player starts the game based on the answers they give Rover to certain questions. However, if people leave their village, save their game to a second memory card, and start the first game again, without the second memory card, their character will have no eyes nor mouth textures. This is because their character's eye and mouth texture data has been stored on the second card, so the game, located on the first memory card, does not know what the textures are, resulting in the "missing face." This does not affect game play, however, as people can play normally with no face texture. It has been theorized to remind the players to save with the Gyroid and remember their memory cards. This can also occur if the player resets the console without saving in another person's town. Players will also lose all of the items in their inventory and their money if this happens. However, if the game is fast-forwarded to the next day, the player's original facial textures will become intact once more.

It should also be noted that in Animal Crossing for the Nintendo Gamecube as well as for the Nintendo DS, the villager Coco, a rabbit, bears a face resembling the "missing face" from its Gamecube counterpart, this time complete with a set of rabbit ears. There's no doubt that this character is an in-joke provided by the developers, and any doubt is lifted when you see the inscription on her picture, which reads, "I'm feeling kind of blank today.", jokingly implying that she is, in fact, missing her face.

Multiplayer

There are several types of multiplayer game play in Animal Crossing.

In the first, up to four players can create their own houses in a single village. No two players can play at the same time, but by taking turns they can each affect the village in their own ways, communicate with each other via the town board and mail, and share in the experiences of the village.

In the second, two players can play NES games together. All that this requires is two controllers and a compatible NES game (keep in mind that not all of the NES games have the two-player option). Once the controllers are in the players are able to select the NES game they want to play. Once the game is started, players can select the two-player option and start playing multiplayer.

A third type of multiplayer play consists of trading items with another player using a system of codes. By specifying the name of another player and the name of their village, a player can "trade" an item, generating a code which the other player can input to retrieve the item. Also, a well known easier way to trade items is to simply travel to a friend's town and drop the item the player wants to give them. This prevents the loss of the item code which must be memorized or written down.

Travelling

Animal Crossing has a travelling system that allows one character to visit a friend's village. This method is quite simple and can be done two ways:

First Method: With a memory card with no Animal Crossing data, players go to the train station and tell the porter that they'd like to take a trip. The train will arrive and they climb aboard. This saves "travel data" on the other memory card, which may then be used in conjunction with a friend's memory card to visit their town.

Alternative Method: If players have a memory card with another town in memory card slot B, they may travel directly to the other town.

Since no two villages are alike, players can meet new villagers and shop at Nook's, which will have different stock. Inviting a friend over is also the only way to get Tom Nook's final expansion, Nookingtons.

Users on Japanese versions of Animal Crossing on the Nintendo DS are unable to travel to towns of English versions of Animal Crossing or vice versa.

Tropical Island

In Animal Crossing, each town has its own tropical island. One can access it by plugging in one's Game Boy Advance to Gamecube Link Cable and going to the southeastern part of town where the dock is. Players will meet a friendly old Sea Turtle named Kapp'n (this is a pun on 'kappa', a turtle-shaped imp from Japanese mythology) there, waiting inside a tiny little row boat. Kapp'n is as generous as the other residents of the town, and will ferry players across to the island for free, while singing bizarre sea-shanties and making his trademark ribald, inappropriate remarks. Arriving at the island one will see a new animal roaming the tiny island and can become friends with him/her. One can knock down coconuts, decorate a small communal beach house and fish at the shores. By staying there for a long period of time, (only when it's sunny, not raining.) players will get a tan. With an Action Replay and a copy of the NTSC American version of the game, it is possible to access it without the Game Boy Advance with the cheat that enables the player to jump.

Item Trading

Animal Crossing features a popular Offline Item Send & Receive feature. Through the use of codes customised by Player and Town name, players can transfer certain items to each other. If both of the memory cards are present, however, it is much simpler to just drop the item in your friend's town. It is also possible to get special gifts from Nintendo with special Universal codes. (Please note using universal codes may have an effect on the game, such as the rare glitch fish and death fish.)

Characters

Using the Game Boy Advance

Game Boy Advance connectivity can play a role in Animal Crossing for those who own one. To link the two, one needs a Game Boy Advance-GameCube cable.

The island

When the two systems are linked, Kapp'n can be found at the dock and will row the player to the island, where a villager has taken up residence. The player can give the villager items in return for money and other commodities. Also on the island are coconut trees, and this is the only place they can be found. It is always summer on the island, and only summer fish and insects can be caught there. When the player leaves the island, he or she can choose the option of transferring the island to his or her Game Boy Advance and interact with the islander as a minigame for in-game rewards.

e-Reader compatibility

Animal Crossing is compatible with the e-Reader. One can use e-Reader cards to get new items, including NES games, a new town tune, or a shirt design.

Other Animal Crossing games

どうぶつの森 (Animal's Forest)

The original version of Animal Crossing for N64, released only in Japan.

Animal Forest+

This was Animal Crossing's name in Japan, however, many features are missing from the American version due to those being added during translation.

Forest e+ (Dōbutsu no Mori e+) e-Reader cards at the Wishing Well to control which villagers appear in the town.

Animal Crossing: Wild World

A Nintendo DS sequel, has many of the same characteristics of its predecessor on the GameCube, with great improvements. Most notable is the game's ability to utilize the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection for online play. It has many of the features of Animal Forest e+.

Animal Crossing Wii

An untitled Animal Crossing game is in development for Nintendo's Wii [link]. It is unknown if this game will be able to connect to Wild World.(unofficially announced)

Trivia

External links

Animal Crossing series
Animal Forest · Animal Crossing · · Wii
Anime

 

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