Animal Crossing

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Animal Crossing
The Animal Crossing logo
Genre(s)	Life simulation
Developer(s)	Nintendo
Publisher(s)	Nintendo

Animal Crossing, known in Japan as Dōbutsu no Mori, is a video game series developed by Nintendo, in which the player lives his/her own virtual life in a village populated with anthropomorphic animals. The game takes place in real time, reflecting the current time of day and season. The individual games have been widely praised for their uniqueness and innovative nature,^[1][2][3] which has led to the series becoming one of Nintendo's leading franchises. As of March 2007, over 7,000,000 units of games from the Animal Crossing series have been sold.^[4]

Series

Games

Applications

Film

Manga

Gameplay

Despite its ad infinitum nature, the game presents several tasks, including the capture of fish and insects. 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 shopkeeper Tom Nook. The game keeps record of which insects and fish the player has caught.

Collecting

• Insects - Capturing insects requires a net, which can be purchased at Tom Nook's store. Most insects can be found during the summer, while a few are available during winter. Most insects can be located based on their volume, tone and direction of chirping, or through careful inspection of trees and flowers. Pill bugs can be found by using shovels or axes to hit rocks, and bees must be caught before they have the chance to sting the player and leave their left eye swollen shut. Ants and cockroaches may be lured by spoiled turnips or candy from Halloween or The Festivale left on the ground. Fleas can be caught by swinging the net at another animal when small dots can be seen jumping on them. The player's reward for capturing every type of insect is the golden net, which is larger than the standard net.

• 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 in the rain or at certain times of the day and year. The player's reward for capturing every type of fish is the golden fishing rod, which causes fish to stay on the line longer which makes it easier to catch fish.

• Fossils - To dig up fossils, the player must use a shovel. Initially, fossils unearthed are unidentified. In Animal Crossing, the player must send by mail to the Farway Museum to identify the fossil; in Wild World and City Folk, the player instead asks the museum curator, Blathers, to identify it. Once identified, fossils can be sold to Tom Nook, donated to the museum or displayed in the player's house.

• Gyroids in Animal Crossing resemble clay figures, and are found in the ground, usually after it has rained in the game. In the Japanese version of the game, "gyroids" are called haniwa, after a type of archaeological artifact native to Japan. Gyroids make various sounds at intervals determined by the music the player has chosen to play in his or her house. In the GameCube version of the game, a player can sell items, save progress and perform other actions via a gyroid stationed at the player's house. In City Folk, the player may store gyroids with Brewster, the coffeemaker at The Roost, once they develop a bond with him.

Items

• Axe - Players can purchase an axe to cut down unwanted trees, but the axe will eventually break after enough uses. A golden axe is awarded to players in Animal Crossing who beautify the town by following the Wishing Well's instructions consistently long enough. In Wild World, however, the player must do the "red turnip trade" and follow a series of other trades with other special visitors such as K.K. Slider, Saharah, Tom Nook, Crazy Redd, and Pascal to obtain the Golden Axe. In City Folk, the silver axe is introduced as a slightly inferior counterpart to the golden axe. Both axes may be obtained randomly from the goddess Serena once the player has a fountain built in his or her town.

Other

• Pitfalls are an item that, upon burial, cause all who step over them to fall into pits where they were buried. Pitfalls can be obtained by talking to villagers, digging them up or looking in the lost and found (located at the Police Station in Animal Crossing and with gatekeeper Booker in Wild World). In Animal Crossing, non-villager NPCs are not affected by pitfalls. The name of the item was changed from "pitfall" to "pitfall seed" in Wild World.

• Balloons - Occasionally, a balloon will float by the player in the air, carrying along a present for the player. In Animal Crossing, the player must follow the drifting present until it gets caught in a tree. In Wild World and City Folk, the player can use a slingshot to pop it. In City Folk, these balloons may carry regular Tom Nook's items, or rare Mario items.

Clothes

• Patterns - For 350 Bells, players may design patterns at the village tailor shop, the Able Sisters, run by sister hedgehogs Mabel and Sable Able. These patterns can be used for wallpaper, flooring, umbrellas, and shirts. In Animal Crossing, the player can use the pattern on the door of their house. Players can also use the Game Boy Advance, hooked up to the Nintendo GameCube with a GCN-GBA link cable, to design for free. After a player designs patterns, they can put up to eight of them on display at the tailor shop: four as shirts, and four as umbrellas. In Wild World, all eight patterns are displayed as shirts. Displaying patterns allows the other villagers to wear them. If players put up signs of those patterns around town, they become more popular. Mabel tells the player the most popular shirt and umbrella patterns if asked.^{[clarification needed]} Also, in Wild World, there are eight starter designs on display in the Able sisters' shop, all made by players in a town called Treehut. In City Folk, players may edit designs without the Able Sisters for free. However, a new variety of patterns, Pro Designs, can be made for 350 Bells at the Able Sisters' shop. Pro Designs allow the player to edit the front and back of a shirt, as well as the left and right sleeves individually.

• Headgear - If the player's character is a boy, he wears a horned helmet. If the player's character is a girl, she wears a cone-styled hat. In Wild World, there are several different shapes of hats available, but players can also not wear a hat, instead choosing a hairstyle in the hair salon at Nookington's. In City Folk, a player can use the face of a Mii as a "mask", which precludes wearing any headgear, or get a hairstyle in the city at Shampoodles.

House

• Happy Room Academy - Once a player finishes Tom Nook's chores, the Happy Room Academy ("HRA") begins judging the interior design of the player's house. Judging takes place every other day in Animal Crossing and every Sunday in Wild World and City Folk. If the player changes their interior since the previous inspection, the HRA sends the player a letter informing them of their rating. The HRA judges the first and second floors of a player's house according to a point system. On earning certain numbers of points, the player receives prizes. In City Folk, the player can sign up for the Happy Room Academy in an office in the city.

• Feng Shui - Certain furniture items in the game have the properties of Feng Shui. If certain colored items are placed on specific sides of the player's house, the player has an increased chance of finding Bells, rare items 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, provide good luck in money and items regardless of placement or color. The setup is: Orange in the north for better luck with finding money and items. Red in the east for better luck with items. Yellow in the west for better luck with money. Green in the south for better luck with money and items.

Shopping

In Animal Crossing, the primary method of obtaining new items is by purchasing them from Tom Nook's shop. When players begin their adventure, the store is an understocked, tiny shack-like building, called Nook's Cranny. As players progress through the game, Tom Nook expands his store at intervals, making it larger and increasing the daily inventory.

Thousands of bells must be spent at each interval for Nook to upgrade his shop. Eventually, a department store is opened, called Nookington's, staffed by Nook and young twin raccoons named Tommy and Timmy.

At the end of every month in Animal Crossing, Nook runs a raffle, which players can enter by handing over five raffle tickets, won by buying furniture, wallpaper, flooring, clothes, and umbrellas over the course of the month.^{[clarification needed]} Items cannot be purchased or sold on Raffle Day. Tickets for a particular month must be used in that month, but of any year; for example, a set of April tickets obtained in 2006 cannot be used in May 2006, but can be used in April 2007.

Characters

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Able sisters

Mabel and Sable are porcupine sisters who run a tailoring store. Mabel is the saleswoman; Sable is the elder work-focused seamstress. Sable does not initially speak to the player, but a relationship can be built up to learn more of the sisters' back-story. Sable is the older of the two Able sisters, with Mabel ten years younger.

As explained in Wild World, Sable had been a childhood friend of Tom Nook, to the point where they had considered Nook as her older brother. However, while Nook went to the city to pursue his dream, Sable had remained in town, having to do so because she was left raising Mabel after the death of their parents. By the time Nook had returned, his demeanour had changed. Nook's experiences in the city had left her bitter, and their friendship had appeared to drift apart. After a confrontation where Nook simply brushed her off with "Dreams are nothing in the face of money!", Sable had developed what Mabel described as a "city-folk complex": a hostility to anyone from out of town, including the player and Blathers, due to their untrustworthiness. However, she learns to warm up to Blathers after he had barged in to the store, looking for clothes for his sister, Celeste.

Mabel, on the other hand, is ten years younger than Sable, and as such, is more naive to the outside world. After the death of their parents (and presumably, the departure of their third sister, Label), Mabel was primarily raised by Sable. Because of this, she is largely oblivious to Sable's old ways, formed from her childhood friendship with Nook. In particular, Mabel sees Nook as being obsessed with money, to which Sable claims that it is because she does not recall how Nook used to be.

In City Folk, Labelle (a porcupine similar in appearance to Sable, one of the Able Sisters) works for the GracieGrace store in the city. Female city inhabitants often want to know where she got her clothes. If the player puts 10,000 Bells into the ABD (Automatic Bell Dispenser), they receive a shopping card (debit card) in the mail from GracieGrace, which can only be used at that store.

City Folk also gives insight to her origins: she is a third sister of the Able Sisters, Sable and Mabel. It is said to be a rumor but was confirmed after open hours in the Able Sisters shop. Labelle, originally named Label, was the middle of the Able Sisters, who had departed for the city to pursue her dream of becoming a designer, following a row with Sable shortly after the death of their parents; Sable had wanted Label not to go, wanting her to help tend to the shop that they inherited, but Label wanted to pursue her dream. Sable had become quite withdrawn because of this, and was left with raising Mabel (who was still very young) by herself. Labelle eventually found her way to Gracie, who allowed Labelle to become her assistant while Labelle continues to pursue her dream. Though she is not on speaking terms with Sable, she remains supportive of Mabel, sending her anonymous gifts of money, which Mabel constantly turns down.

Pelly and Phyllis

Pelly and Phyllis are pelicans in charge of the postal duties at the townhall. Pelly is the friendlier and chirpier of the two, she works the day shift and can be found at The Roost from 6:00 to 7:00am, though not everyday. Phyllis, however, is rude and unpleasant to her customers and she works the night shift. She may have a bad attitude, but villagers say that she is incredibly efficient with her work. Phyllis can be found at The Roost from 9:00 to 10:00PM on any day except Saturday. If a Player saves 500,000,000 Bells, they will receive a picture of Phyllis with her sister, Pelly.

Blathers and Celeste

Blathers is an owl in charge of the town's museum. The town museum is initially bare, and relies on its townsfolk to fill up exhibit space. Since Wild World, the museum is also home to The Roost, a cafe owned by his close friend, Brewster, as well as the town observatory, managed by Celeste. Blathers has a particular liking for fish, but is repulsed by bugs. Though he continually works on addressing his fear of bugs (as a favor to Celeste), he has not met much success.

As explained in Wild World, Blathers had originally been a doctorate student in the city, but had taken up the museum job before he had graduated, at the behest of his professor, due to the fact that no one from the Faraway Museum would move. In Animal Crossing, he is finishing his studies by correspondence, and thus does not have the authority to identify fossils. By Wild World, he has completed his studies, and is able to identify fossils, as well as differentiate real paintings from forgeries. He also hates bugs.

Celeste is an owl who runs the observatory at the second floor of the museum in Wild World and City Folk, where the player is invited to name constellations in the sky (in Wild World, this is because the star chart given to her by Blathers is mysteriously blank). She is Blathers' younger sister, who deeply cares for her.

Brewster

Brewster is a pigeon barista who works at The Roost coffee bar in the museum basement. He first appears in Wild World, and again in City Folk. Various characters visit The Roost, and as the player visits more regularly, Brewster will become warmer, beginning to offer them pigeon milk in their coffee and, in City Folk, to store gyroids.

As explained in Wild World, Brewster was originally the owner of a coffee bar in the city, where he had met a university student named Blathers, who, at the time, had been struggling on his thesis. Blathers and Brewster had quickly bonded, but some time after they first met, Brewster's coffee shop fell on hard times. Just as Brewster had decided to close his shop, he received an offer from Blathers, now the curator of the town's museum, to move his shop to an unused room in the museum, rent-free. Since then, business at the Roost is booming, due to a loyal local clientele. In City Folk, however, he eventually tells the player about his passion for Gyroids, due to the similarities between making delicate coffee and making a good sound from multiple gyroids.

Blanca

Blanca is a white cat who, in Animal Crossing, occasionally appears on the train when the player is traveling to another town. Every time she appears, the player can draw her a face on a pixelated grid, with her explanation being that she lost it. In Wild World, she occasionally appears in town, with the same purpose. In City Folk, if internet access is available and the player turns on the "mysterious cat" option via the phone in their house's attic, Blanca occasionally visits.^[7]

Booker and Copper

Officers Booker and Copper are the town's guards. In Animal Crossing, they are the local police officers, while in subsequent games they protect the town gate. Booker is a bulldog, while Copper is a German Shepherd.

Copper is the more focused on the two, and holds seniority. In Animal Crossing, he stands outside the police station, telling players of news or giving visiting players a map. In later games, he is in charge of managing the multiplayer aspects of the game at the town gates. Booker, by comparison, is not as focused, and tends to be distracted from his job easily. In Animal Crossing, he mans the interior of the police station, consisting of a lost-and-found. In subsequent games, he also takes over the job of telling players news of visitors, as well as allowing players to change the town flag.

Crazy Redd

Crazy Redd is a fox who, in Animal Crossing and Wild World periodically appears in town in a tent selling furniture. In City Folk, he can be seen operating a similar store in a shady part of the city. It is implied that he is representative of the game's "black market": his nomadic tendencies in the first two games (in an effort to not get tracked down by Copper and Booker), "invitation-only system" (using passwords in "Wild World" games and being given an invitation by a villager in City Folk), and his high price markup are among the indicators. The items he offers are typically high-priced, and the same items offered by Redd can often be bought for half the price at Nook's. Also, some items that can be donated are usually fake. Despite this, Redd sometimes offers exclusive items.

Kapp'n

Kapp'n (Kappa in the Japanese version) is a green kappa that appears as a driver of various forms of transportation. In Animal Crossing he appeared to take the player away to Gameboy Advance Island, which only showed up when a player plugged in their Gameboy Advance. During the voyage to the island he would sing a sailor's tune, usually about his life on the sea and women. In Wild World he drove a black taxi into the town to introduce the player to the game and asks questions that determine the gender and appearance of the character. He took this role from Rover, who did so on the train in Animal Crossing. He can also be seen drinking coffee at The Roost. In City Folk, he first appears as driving a bus into the town when you first begin the game, while Rover talks to the playable character determining the gender, birthday and appearance of the character, as well as the name of the town. He will then appear again driving the bus to the city if a player goes to the Bus Stop. During the journey to the city, he will talk about women, the city and modern day youngsters to male players. If the player is female, he will subtly flirt with them, calling them 'cute', 'pretty' and that a 'manly bus-driver is available'. If the player does not respond for a while, he will begin to whistle his sea shanty. He also appears in The Roost, as he did in Wild World, where he will talk about his life in more detail.

K.K. Slider

In Animal Crossing, K.K. Slider is a singing dog who appears outside the train station every Saturday night to play music. In Wild World and City Folk, he appears every Saturday at The Roost, a café located in the basement of the museum. After every performance, if the player has room in their inventory, K.K. gives them a tape of his song adapted for playing on an in-game stereo.

According to K.K., he remains nomadic due to the purity of his art, and willingly gives bootleg copies of his music as "it wants to be free".

Resetti

Resetti is a mole who appears every time the game is reset, immediately appearing outside their character's house, scolding them for doing so. If the player keeps resetting, Resetti threatens to, but never does, delete their character. The European Let's Go to the city manual warns that young children may find Resetti's authoritative tone of voice disturbing.^{[8][unreliable source?]} There is a Easter egg in City Folk that allows the player to enter Resetti's "surveillance center" in the rightmost part of the city after 8:00 p.m.. In his surveillance center, Resetti will give players the Silver Shovel if they talk to him. Resetti's brother Don also makes sporadic appearances. He also appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as an Assist Trophy item. In the film, Resetti is somewhat similar to a police officer, making sure the villagers follow the law.

Timmy and Tommy

Timmy and Tommy are twin racoons who appear in each game as the top floor workers for Tom Nook's last store expansion, Nookington's. They often speak in tandem (Timmy has a squeakier, higher pitched voice than Tommy), and are almost impossible to tell apart (Nook claiming that they have moles on opposite wrists). Though English-language sources imply that Timmy and Tommy are Tom Nook's nephews,^[9], dialogue in Wild World imply that they are not related. However, Nook does see both Timmy and Tommy as his protegees.

Tom Nook

Tom Nook is a racoon who owns the general store in the town. When the player's character first arrives in town, Nook sells the player a house. Because the player does not have enough money, Tom Nook lets the player mortgage the house. Each time the player pays off their debt, Nook expands their house by expanding the size of the main floor or adding another floor. In Animal Crossing, when the player's character fully pays off its last debt, Nook erects in the players likeness a commemorative golden statue placed in front of the train station. City Folk has a flag erected in front of the player's house instead.

The shop will start off as "Nook's Cranny", a small general store. As the player spends more money, it expands to "Nook 'N' Go", a convenience store; then "Nookway", a supermarket; and finally "Nookington's", a department store where he works with his two nephews, Timmy and Tommy. During renovation, the shop will close for one day. The player can perform various functions at Nook's store, including buying and selling items, browsing through their personal catalog of previously purchased goods, and, in the first game, providing and accepting secret codes used for players to trade items. In "Wild World", a membership system is added. This provides discounts on purchases at the store once milestones of Bells spent are reached.

Wild World elaborates on Nook's personal history: Nook had been childhood friends with Sable, and had left for the city to pursue his dream of owning a large store. However, his idealistic dream was injected with a hard dose of reality once in the city, and after some time, he had lost everything, and returned back to town, penniless. His city experiences turned him bitter, and for some time he became cold even to his friends loved ones — even Sable, who he simply brushed off with "Dreams are nothing in the face of money!". Despite this, he had kept his dream alive, and opened his first store, Nook's Cranny, out of one of Tortimer's old sheds, as a way to work towards that goal. Business had been slow until just prior to the player having moved into town, with Nook having to cut back on expenses such as clothes. Feeling sorry for him, Sable had made clothes for him as a gift, which had helped to mend their friendship; Nook had worn the same clothes since. Though Sable and Nook remain on fairly distant terms, they remain good friends, and Nook occasionally refers to her as his "voice of reason."

Tortimer

Tortimer is the town's mayor. He appears on select holidays outside the town hall. In the beginning of each game, Tom Nook asks you to go meet everyone in the town. In Animal Crossing, Tortimer is around the wishing well. In City Folk there is no wishing well, unlike in Animal Crossing. He can instead be seen in the back of the inside of Town Hall, sleeping.

References in Super Smash Bros.

Animal Crossing characters and items have appeared many times in the latter two entries of Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. series.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee, Mr. Resetti, Tom Nook and K.K. Slider appear as trophies players can collect in the game. Because Melee predated the release of the GameCube Animal Crossing (the first one to be released in North America), their first appearances are listed as "Future Release". Also, K.K. Slider's trophy's name is translated directly as his Japanese name, Totakeke.

The series has more significant cameos in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Included in Brawl are an item (the Pitfall, described above), several trophies (including ones for Redd, Sahara, Tom Nook, Timmy and Tommy, Pelly and Phyllis), an assist trophy (Mr. Resetti) and a stage ("Smashville"). The time of day and scenery for the stage is determined by the Wii's internal clock in a similar method to the Animal Crossing series. Special events also occur during specific times and dates at which the stage is played; for example, at 8 p.m. on Saturdays, K.K. Slider appears and hosts a guitar performance. The stage is influenced by Animal Crossing: Wild World.^[10] Several songs from Animal Crossing: Wild World play on this stage.^[11][12]

On July 31, 2007, the Pitfall item was announced on the Smash Bros. Dojo!! website as a usable item in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.^[10] When used, it temporarily traps the one hit by it in a pit, like in the game. However, it only traps the one hit if they are in contact with the ground, otherwise it functions as a throwing weapon that powerfully spikes the victim on impact.

References