Animal Crossing: Let's go to the City

Provincial

Having recently unveiled its upcoming Wii software release list for the first quarter of 2009, Japanese gaming giant Nintendo has flattered to deceive in terms of honouring prior pledges to deliver more hardcore and franchise titles. Moreover, with tantalising new Mario, Metroid Prime and Donkey Kong releases all emerging as little more than GameCube originals garnished with updated Wii control mechanics, it would appear Nintendo is in danger of becoming the new-old Electronic Arts.

Ironically, while 2008 has seen EA producing new franchises that have helped it shrug off the image of producing scant little more than series additions tweaked by statistical upgrades and glossy makeovers, Nintendo's ongoing lack of effort and its continuing penchant for 'casual' games is becoming something of a worry for its long-serving fan base.

But worry not, here comes Animal Crossing: City Folk (a.k.a. Let's go to the City), a fresh-faced Wii release that will surely offset any emerging doubt from faithful fans while showcasing Nintendo's drive to build on the Wii's potential as opposed to resting on its laurels of popularity.

Sadly, that simply isn't the case. With virtually identical gameplay to the existing GameCube and Nintendo DS iterations, not to mention limp aesthetic presentation that fails to build on either of its predecessors, City Folk arrives as yet another flaccid Wii release passed off as worthy due to a slightly tweaked control scheme.

Yes, players can point the Wii Remote at the screen and have their vacuously cute character follow without question as they complete banal tasks and interact with perpetually needy and moody residents, but is that enough to warrant another Animal Crossing purchase? Hardly. Content similarities with the original GameCube release and its portable Wild World DS sequel are alarming and offer established series followers very little to justify the monetary investment.

Specifically: player names new character; character arrives at new town; player names new town; player meets colourful creature residents; player purchases a property; player gets a menial job to help pay debt; player performs simple tasks for residents in return for gifts and cash. And, when the player's property has been fully paid for, a larger property is then secured - along with a larger debt - and the process begins all over again.

Of course, endlessly fetching and carrying odds and ends for either acerbic or saccharin residents isn't the game's only attraction. And, just like its previous editions, City Folk presents the player with the ability to purchase items of furniture, vegetation, and basic tools before then falling into a mind-numbing rhythm of digging up weeds, fishing, cutting down trees, catching insects, planting flowers and saplings, and filling the local museum with fossils, wildlife and artwork.

As the game's title suggests, the player can reach beyond core gameplay repetition and leave their nurtured little town by taking a quick bus ride into the city, which is where a sledgehammer of disappointment is waiting to slam them squarely in the midriff. The word 'city' conjures up images suggesting a hive of activity spread across a sprawling and densely populated metropolis that hides a wealth of exploration possibilities. However, in City Folk, the word 'city' equates to little more than a small collection of stores and businesses slung around a modest fountain and a bus stop. It's simply not enough to prolong interest before returning to a game life built around incessantly appeasing the locals and tending to rampant foliage.

From an aesthetic point of view, City Folk's visual presentation walks the same path as its GameCube inspiration but doesn't take advantage of the extra power available through the Wii system. Granted, that graphics boost may be minor when compared to rival hardware platforms, but it could have been used to give the game a refreshing new look with overhauled characters, better detailing and improved environments. As it is, a rolling game world perspective is the only notable difference from the original release. Again, it's not enough.

Nintendo's lack of expansion is also evident in City Folk's audio, which matches the game's cutesy visuals but feels distinctly staid and 'old school' in terms of its simplistic orchestrations. Also, with full character dialogue almost par for the course on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, having to read through endless speech bubbles accented by gibberish creature sounds soon begins to grate.

Nintendo purists might argue that the addition of player-to-player online communication through the Wii Speak microphone serves to help carry the franchise forward, while existing creations from Animal Crossing: Wild World can be brought over from the DS to the Wii - but they'd be wrong. Compounding that, gimmicky elements such as the basement coffee shop and stargazing observatory in the museum are only brief distractions, while the quicker attainment of work tools and fossil authentication only means shallow repetition hits home sooner rather then later.

The initial appeal of Animal Crossing is its ultimate failing. The draw of chasing insects with a butterfly net, unearthing valuable dinosaur bones, and buying a bigger house was compelling on the GameCube, it was portably cute on the DS, it's dull on the Wii. Completing the museum's collection, plucking fish from rivers, following seasonal events, and watching the town's community grow and shrink was stress-free fun on the GameCube, it was a fond retread on the DS, it's dull on the Wii.

The basic gameplay appeal lives on in City Folk, but Nintendo's laziness is there for all to see. Those Wii owners new to the world of Animal Crossing won't notice the lack of original content, but everyone else is likely to be infuriated by yet another Wii release that attempts to justify its price by repackaging and re-titling an existing product alongside basic Wii Remote controls.

If visiting and exploring a true cityscape had been the driving force behind City Folk then perhaps Nintendo would have dodged this particular review bullet. But, as it is, a bus ride and five minutes of extra content means the following score is thoroughly deserved for a game that looks, sounds, feels and plays, exactly like its 2002 original.

64%

By Stevie Smith