Putting it simply if you own the DS version then give this one a miss. It's the ONLY video game my wife will play! LOL

User Rating: 8 | Machi e Ikouyo: Doubutsu no Mori WII
Animal Crossing is a strange creature of a game. It's pretty much a sandbox style game where you are a member of a small critters community in a lifestyle that would be pretty cool to be a part of. What's the main goal of Animal Crossing? Well there isn't really one set goal you need to achieve. But before we get to what tasks you have to do on a typical day in AC I'll fill you in on the basics. You start of as a little scrapper leaving his/her home on a bus to your new village. You'll be asked some weird questions and based on your answers you'll be given a look for your little character. Once you get off your bus you'll meet one of the most annoying critters of the game, Nook. Nook is the shop keeper. He's a tight ass. He'll give you a home after you pick one of the in game houses and then land you with a job to pay off your newly created mortgage. But don't stress out. This is not hardcore financial stuff to worry about. Basically the sooner you pay your house off the quicker you can expand the house to fit more furniture and junk in it! You earn money in the game basically by selling stuff you find within the game. You can sell the fish you catch or the fossils you dig up or the presents you get from the many neighbours in the game.

This Wii version of the game is a very faithful reproduction of the DS version. But that's where the game loses it's fifth star. It's just a straight out port of the DS game with a new Town thrown in that has shops in it that were available in the original DS version anyway! Sure the dialogue is slightly different and the graphics look sharper on the big telly. But Nintendo really missed the mark here in some big fatal ways. Firstly I believe AC should have been a free built in game to help address the issue of Wii owners not hooking their Wii's to the net. I firmly believe more folks would take the time to connect if a cute fuzzy animal was pushing you to do so. Also Nintendo failed to use the fantastic Wii controller. The speaker isn't used at all on the controller.

But these shortcomings are minor. The bottom line is that AC is a great game that will keep you guessing what new events will come your way as the game is played in "real time". If you are playing at night time the game will reflect that. The seasons are also in real time (if you live in the Northern Hemisphere) and big events such as New Years eve are represented in the game with a few made up events too! There are too many mini events here to tell you about in a short review. But I won't need to tell you about them all as I can promise you that they'll keep you occupied.

However one final word for any DS owners of the game. Don't bother with this one unless you are an absolute AC junkie. It's simply just too similar to be even given a new title on the cover. Nintendo had an opportunity to put the Wii through it's paces here but for reasons unknown to us let everyone down.