Animal Crossing: Wild World

Animal Crossing: Wild World will have you in many different stages throughout its lifetime. First you will have to make the leap to buy the game after getting over the fact the game looks a tad childish, you'll then put the cartridge in and play for hours thinking this is the best game ever. Finally, after about a year or so, you'll realise the game is getting a tad tedious and a chore to play.

At the start of the game you are riding in a taxi and the driver is questioning you on things such as your gender and what you want your town name to be called. It's a nice introduction which really captures the character of the game and gives you a nice first impression. You will then be dropped off in your town. Everyone's town is different (although they all have the same buildings), right down to the placing of the trees and your house - this is great as when you visit other towns you don't get bored of the repetition.

So, you have your town and your character. Now what? First you will be hired by Tom Nook, the local shopkeeper, to do a few tasks such as delivering packages. Once you have done these he will build your house which can be upgraded every time you pay off your ever increasing loan. Tom Nook's store starts of as a cheap shack and finally, after shopping there a lot, turns into a grand supermarket. In Tom Nook's store you can buy furniture for your house (and put it wherever you want) and buy tools such as spades and bug nets.

In the game you can catch bugs which change depending on the season or you can go dig up fossils to either sell at the store for Bells (the town's currency) or donate to the museum in hope of collecting them all. The town will change daylight and season to match that of the settings in your DS. If it is winter in real life, you will see snow on the floor of your town that you can roll up and make a big snowman!

You are not the only person in the town. There are about seven other people living in your town (excluding people in the public buildings such as Tom Nook) that you can interact with and talk to. You can send them presents on their birthday or be really mean to them so they move town. You can receive mail from these 'friends' although most of the stuff they send you is really random, although funny.

The game also has some nice features such as being able to make your own star constellations or going down to the museum's cafe and listening to KK Slider's songs with a mug of coffee, which you can take home and play in your house's CD player. Your house will also get rated from time to time depending on your collection of furniture.

A main attraction of Animal Crossing: Wild World is the fact you can take it online and visit your friend's towns. This may seem good on paper, but in reality all you can do is go to their shops and houses, steal their fruit that grows on the trees and chat to them. There are no special Wi-Fi games built in, unless you feel imaginative enough to make up your own - but then there are no official rules set in place stopping people cheating. Wild World online is a bit of a letdown in some places, but it can be good for a while.

Graphically the game is good for the DS but it isn't showing off what the DS can really do. The sound isn't exactly stunning and it just limited to the typical tunes of the DS, so don't expect a bestselling soundtrack coming out any time soon.

The main letdown of the game is a big one. After a while catching bugs and fish won’t seem as fun as it used to and catching up with all your friends around the town will seem like another thing to add to your long list of daily, repetitive chores. It really is a fun game while it lasts and you should still buy it, but some people may find it gathering dust on their shelves after a year or so.