Animal Crossing: Wild World (AC:WW) for the Nintendo DS has got to be one of my favorite games of all-time. It’s so appealing to me on a few different levels. First, it’s on the DS, which I really prefer to a console system because I can power it on in seconds in any room of the house (or apartment in my case). I can use my headphones and play a game in bed without disturbing Mariko or the kids, because I can keep the lights out.

Secondly, the soundtrack of the game is wonderful! It’s really relaxing and soothing. It sounds awesome when using headphones, and even the built-in DS speakers sound great. I even plugged it into my car stereo’s aux-in port to listen a little bit while driving. Ok, that’s so lame, I can’t believe I admitted it! But that just shows how much I like the soundtrack.

The controls are great because you can do just about everything by just using the keypad, but you can also use the stylus for the more complicated tasks, like casting your line when fishing, writing letters, or messing with your inventory and selling things.

But what really has kept me interested in the game is the pacing. It’s not at all a chore, which Nintendogs can be. You can skip days of playing (not that I have), and jump right in where you left off. It’s designed to be played in small time chunks too. The town store closes from 11pm-8am, so you can’t just make money and shop non-stop. The AC world mirrors real-life time, using the system’s built-in clock. So, when you play the game at noon, the AC world is at noon, and when a real-life holiday rolls around, there will be special events in-game as well. It’s just a neat concept which started with the Gamecube version and continues here. This mirroring of real-time has the neat effect of making you want to login at different times to see what is different in the AC town.

And it’s not just the 24-hour timeframe either. It also has seasons! Right now there is snow on the ground, you can make snowmen, and Christmas trees are available in the store. But, since it is winter, there aren’t any insects flying around to collect with your net. A number of people have “time-travelled” and reset their DS time/date to be summer so they can find special summer items, but I don’t think I will be doing that.

Anyways, there is tons of stuff to do in the game. I am currently working on my orchard so that I can make some money and expand my house. And I am keeping an eye out for any UFO’s that I can use as a target for my slingshot. The game is so great!!! It really makes me want to break out my Gamecube version again and play that too!