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Oh, Animal Crossing, the little game that taught us picking up seashells and picking fruit could be fun. And it still is...if you're new to the concept. Animal Crossing: City Folk isn't a sequel, but more of a slightly expanded port of the game, much like Wild World was for the DS. The mobile version was a smart move, but is porting it again for the Wii worth it? Yes and no, if you've played Animal Crossing extensively before you won't be wanting to start from scratch again. But for those of you new to Animal Crossing, you might find it pleasantly at home here.

Welcome to the Jun...er...small town of friendly animals.

If you haven't (and shame on you) played Animal Crossing before, its essentially a customizable town with animal inhabitants who like to visit you, trade letters, gossip, shop, and otherwise go about their lives. The beauty of Animal Crossing is that you don't really have to do anything past fish or catch bugs or earn some bells to buy an arcade cabinet for your house, but for those who enjoy collecting and finding all the quirks and hidden details of a real time community, its...well, its video game crack like Tetris or The Sims.

In this iteration, players can take the local bus to the city, which is populated with shops run by the characters that made special appearances in the previous games. For example, Gracie’s haute couture is available around the clock, Shrunk performs his emoting shows at the movie theater, and Redd hides out down an alleyway. You might call that making the game more accessible, but I call that “NERFing”. On the plus side, I did get a balloon shaped like an adorable bunny rabbit and it kind of made my day.  Part of the original appeal of Animal Crossing was in the dedication to turning the game on at odd hours, as it follows real time and seasons, to catch say, the persistent Lyle, deliver some carpets for a rare item, or get your fortune told. On the other hand, the Happy Room Academy makes a lot more sense now. Anyway, by making the hidden gems of the world into every day occurrences, you remove, dare I say, the “hardcore-ness” that gamers had attached to the title. There are new characters to discover as well and subtle additions to the world that make you wish they’d added even more.

You can't go home again.

City Folk does try to be compatible with the DS version of the game. When you boot up you'll have the option to import your character from Wild World; however, your town doesn't transfer, so you're still basically starting over. Once you're done with your tutorial of indentured servitude to town shopkeeper Tom Nook, you can take your bells, AC's currency, to the big city and get yourself a makeover that transforms your character into the Mii you select. While it’s an extremely cool addition for a game that never had much in the way of character customization, if you opt to wear any headgear your character will revert back to its original form. No bunny hats and space helmets for you! The DS functionality also lets you transport your character to friend’s consoles, or you can open the gates to your town and let friends visit via friend code.

So, what City Folk offers is Animal Crossing but skewed to a slightly younger, with perhaps limited console time audience. Using Mii’s definitely adds some charm, and WiiSpeak voice chat is maybe one small step towards Nintendo un-clinching their tight grasp on on-line play. Of course, you still need the friend code to gain access to your friends content, keeping the title extremely family friendly. That said, the animals will frequently warn you that material written on in-game letters can find their way to other people’s towns…so…anyway, I’m really sorry I said that about your mom. If you’re interested in the authentic Animal Crossing experience, you can pick up the original for about twelve dollars now. If you don’t care about being an uber-Animal Crossing nerd, you will find a tremendous amount of enjoyment in this one as well.

Article Written By: Abbie Heppe