History VideoGame / AnimalCrossing2001

->--TOM, ''Creator/{{Toonami}}''

-> ''"This is my kinda game. You just sort of... hang out. You're on your own for the first time; the only hang up is you're broke, so you gotta work off your debt to Tom Nook. He's a raccoon and all the people are animals, but trust me, it grows on you."''
-> - TOM, ''Creator/{{Toonami}}''

** Your neighbors never actually come into your home, and Blathers never leaves the museum.

* CulturalTranslation: The original Japanese releases were heavily influenced by Japanese culture. For the western localization, much had to be replaced by something the Western market can relate to, like a Japanese fireplace being replaced by a barbecue grill, during localization; what Japanocentric elements did remain were typically exoticized or presented in more Western-friendly terms. However, the Japanese team liked the changes so much they released the game as ''Dōbutsu no Mori e+'' in Japan as well. Many of the westernized changes ended up being used even in Japan in the sequels, due to the first game having proven the viability of the IP abroad as well as in Japan.

** International versions of the game feature a much deeper, western-sounding version of Animalese than the Japanese version, with the text-to-speech program being fine-tuned for the phonetic inconsistencies of western writing. All later games would maintain the high-pitched Japanese voice for Animalese across regions and lack the greater fine-tuning of the [=GameCube=] localization's text-to-speech, likely to save time on the localization process but at the cost of making non-Japanese dialogue sound closer to SpeakingSimlish (especially in ''Wild World'').

** The UsefulNotes/Nintendo64 and UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube logos appear as obtainable furniture items.

** Two of the favor items are a UsefulNotes/GameBoy [[note]]Though it's modeled after a yellow UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor[[/note]] and a Toys/PokemonPikachu.

** In ''Doubutsu no Mori+'', Tom Nook is officially a {{Tanuki}}, and Kapp'n is a {{Kappa}}. The English release [[AdaptationSpeciesChange changes them]] into a raccoon and a sea turtle, respectively, but they have [[PunnyName Punny Names]] that reference what they're really supposed to be.

*** Cranky and Snooty villagers in particular are ''much'' truer to the names of their personalities compared to later games and will ''especially'' chew you out big-time if you dare say "no". Surprisingly enough, the Peppy villagers, [[OutOfCharacter of all people]], are just as unpleasant as the Cranky and Snooty villagers, coming off as entitled {{Spoiled Brat}}s who often insult the player because they feel like it (it should say something that they are the villager type that is more prone to stealing items and money from the player) Jocks wouldn't shy away from treating the player poorly, as well — a Jock who just moved in could possibly insult the player character's name. The Lazy and Normal villagers are the nicest of the bunch, but even they can have their moments (i.e. Lazy Villagers [[YouAreFat calling the player fat]] and teasing them for getting "defensive"; Normals simply brushing the player off when conversing with them). Later games, especially from ''City Folk'' onwards, rewrote Cranky and Snooty villagers to be the most mature of their respective genders whereas Peppy villagers were turned into lovable [[GenkiGirl Genki Girls]], and are all far nicer to you right off the bat.

** This is the only game to feature [[GameWithinAGame the ability to play NES games]]; later titles would excise this option due to a combination of redundancy in the face of similar features (i.e. the ''Classic NES Series'' line of UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance carts, the UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole, and Nintendo Switch Online's NES/SNES game streaming service) and concerns that these games were distracting players from actually playing ''Animal Crossing'' itself. ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingNewLeaf'' would introduce a small handful of original minigames (including a new ''Puzzle League'' spinoff of all things) via the ''Welcome amiibo'' update in 2016, but these are considerably pared down compared to some of the NES games obtainable in the first entry.

** All versions of this game feature the ability to collect various UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem games as furniture items and play them using an emulator developed in-house by Nintendo. The vast majority were arcade-esque titles released very early in the system's lifespan, with only a select few (''Wario's Woods'', ''VideoGame/PunchOut'', ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'', and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'') having been released past this period. The NES games are fairly rare, with the methods required to obtain them ranging from getting very lucky with the game's RNG to outright having to use hacks.

''Animal Crossing'' is a LifeSimulationGame originally released in Japan in Spring of 2001 as the final first-party title for the UsefulNotes/Nintendo64, under the name ''Doubutsu no Mori'' ("Animal Forest"). While modest in intent and definitely sparse in content, it was popular enough to receive an UpdatedRerelease on the UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube with a bunch of added content, characters, and dialogue as ''Doubutsu no Mori+'' in winter 2001. This version, albeit heavily modified, is what would be released internationally as ''Animal Crossing'' in 2002 in North America, 2003 in Australia, and 2004 in the European Union.

Nintendo of Japan were highly impressed with the localization, incorporating its changes and further new content into an UpdatedRerelease as ''Doubutsu no Mori e+'' in the summer of 2003; many of these added features would gradually be carried over to later installments, through which they would make their belated international debuts. Unfortunately, this is where the story for the original incarnation of ''Animal Crossing'' ends, with ''Doubutsu no Mori e+'' remaining [[NoExportForYou Japanese-exclusive]] to this day. However, the three versions altogether were a successful financial venture for Nintendo. They followed it up by releasing a UsefulNotes/NintendoDS sequel, ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingWildWorld'', in 2005, which set the stage for ''Franchise/AnimalCrossing'' to become one of Nintendo's flagship franchises.

* {{Feelies}}: The [[UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube GameCube]] versions came with a free 59-block memory card preloaded with special data that gives you two free NES games and includes ''Animal Crossing''-themed stickers to decorate it with. It seemed like a fantastic deal-- until you saved your game and discovered that one file takes up nearly the whole card by itself[[note]]if you include the data for things that are normally inaccessible, like the NES games, it really ''does'' take up the whole card[[/note]].

** Blathers sleeps all day and stays awake throughout the night.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The original ''Animal Crossing'' games are dramatically different from future versions. Some features were introduced in ''e+'', but wouldn't be seen outside of Japan until ''Wild World''.
** Perhaps most notably, the original ''Doubutsu no Mori'' incorporated many elements of Japanese culture, such as Japanese holidays and daily life minutiae like [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_calisthenics radio calisthenics.]] The international release stripped many of the Japanese elements and replaced them with Western-flavored ones (like "Turkey Day" standing in for Thanksgiving), and even the Japanese originals followed that template from then on. Some Japanese events that survived the initial localization, such as the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_and_Sports_Day Sports Fair]] don't return in subsequent games either. Radio exercises took until the November 2021 update in ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingNewHorizons'' to make a return.
** The town is split into acres viewed from the top down, and the view will fully move on to the next acre when the player crosses the border a-la early ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' titles (a bit humorous considering [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI the first game]] in ''that'' series appears in ''Animal Crossing'' as an NES title, albeit unused). Later games feature a continuous map presented as a "rolling log", viewed from a lower angle; internally, they still use the "acre" system, but no visual indication is given. ''New Horizons'' includes both, with the right stick shifting the camera from the log view to an overhead view and sections of the island being labeled much like they were in this game, but without the camera moving from acre to acre when reaching the edge of one and none of the characters mentioning Acres in dialogue.
*** On a related note, this is the only game to hard-lock the player's view to a top-down perspective. Consequently, events based on phenomena only visible in the sky (i.e. the Fireworks Show, the Harvest Moon, and meteor showers) feature them reflected in the town's lake; the sole exception are rainbows, which instead appear over waterfalls. Because later games use a horizontal perspective that enables a full view of the sky, these phenomena are visible as they would be in the real world.
** Blathers is unable to identify fossils himself. Instead, you have to mail fossils to the museum's main branch, the Farway Museum, who will send them back the next day with an appraisal attached; dialogue from Blathers in later games indicates that he didn't have the license to identify fossils at the time. This is an [[TheArtifact artifact]] from ''Doubutsu no Mori'', in which Blathers and the town museum ''didn't exist''-- fossils were just kinda there, and the Farway Museum identified them so you could show them off or sell them. The Farway Museum returns in ''New Horizons'' but as their old purpose is now redundant, they instead congratulate the player for achieving HundredPercentCompletion on one section of the Critterpedia with a golden DIY tool recipe through mail.
** Several iconic characters (such as Blathers' sister Celeste and Dr. Shrunk), locations (such as Shampoodle and the Roost), holiday events (such as the Bug-Off and Bunny Day), and fish and bug species (such as tarantulas, scorpions, and all shark-finned sea fish) are not present in this game.
** Villagers don't gift you photographs for forming close bonds with them.
** Bass come in three sizes, all counted as separate species. The later games removed all but the medium size and relabeled it as a Black Bass.
** Toy Day is on December 23 instead of Christmas Eve.
** In the N64 and ''+'' versions, Fireworks Shows occur every Saturday in August, while in the international release and ''e+'', there's only one Fireworks Show in the entire year: July 4, American Independence Day. Starting with ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingCityFolk'', Fireworks Shows would consistently occur on Sundays in August.
** Certain furniture types which are functional in later games, such as refrigerators, are purely aesthetic here.
** Tom Nook has a Raffle Day at the end of every month, in which the store's normal services are closed and tickets received throughout the month are spent to win prizes.
** Flowers can't be picked up after being planted, only destroyed. Hybrid flowers and watering cans also don't exist yet, and the concept of cross-pollination to grow said hybrid flowers did not exist until ''Wild World''.
** There is a single acre with the four player houses in it, always located in Acre B-3 just south of the train station. Later games would either have a single house shared by all players (''Wild World'') or allow each player to have a house anywhere. Each house also has a Gyroid that acts as a SavePoint which you must return to if you wish to stop playing without angering Mr. Resetti or losing your progress. This Gyroid can also be used as a tiny sales market for players visiting your town, making this the only main series game where you can "trade" bugs and fish with other players (though a similar function would later appear in ''Pocket Camp''). The home Gyroid would return to the series starting with ''City Folk'' as the character Lloid, but he no longer plays a role in save functionality, instead being a moderator for various financial outlets.
*** Furthermore, certain major structures are locked to specific rows on the map. The post office, Tom Nook's shop, and the town dump are always on the A acres, while the Able Sisters shop is always in the F acres.
** Tom Nook's store sells clothing, while the Able Sisters exclusively specialize in custom designs only. Later games made the Able Sisters the centerpiece for outfit customization.
** Some scenery pieces, such as outdoor leaf piles, were scrapped in future games. As certain bugs like crickets and grasshoppers primarily resided in leaf piles, later games instead have them roam freely around the map.
** The furniture in most villager homes is more haphazardly arranged and usually follow some sort of gimmick. Additionally, with a few exceptions, everyone owns at least one Gyroid and it isn't uncommon to see a home with two or more of them. Later games changed the villager home interiors to be more organized and closer to a proper living space (though some retain gimmicky layouts and furniture sets similar to this game) and a smaller number of homes contain Gyroids overall.
*** Unlike in later games, the interiors of a Villager's home never changes. Some villagers (specifically those from ''Doubutsu no Mori e+'') may even have identical furniture setups to another, only differing in the wallpaper of choice.
** Pro designs do not exist in this game; you can only make standard patterns that copy over to every aspect of your character's clothes (as well as repeating across an umbrella if you choose to equip a pattern as one). Furthermore, you're required to spend Bells at Able Sisters to design a new pattern; ''City Folk'' would limit this monetary restriction to pro designs, with standard patterns in the vein of this game's being free-to-make, and ''New Horizons'' would remove the paywall entirely.
** In ''Doubutsu no Mori'' and ''+'', the Wishing Well is a Bell Shrine, which even lights up at nighttime. On New Year's Day, you can shake the rope to ring the bells; ''Animal Crossing'' and ''e+'' have you instead spend one Bell by tossing a coin in the Wishing Well's water.
** In the [=N64=] version, released fish bounce on the ground before diving into the water. In other versions and future installments, fish dive straight into the water for the sake of saving time.
** ''Doubutsu no Mori'' is the only game in the series where the internal clock runs off of a chip built into the cartridge-- the original plan was to use the 64DD's internal clock, but since that add-on failed, the game was shifted over to the vanilla N64, which didn't have a clock built into it, thus necessitating the chip. Later games would utilize their respective systems' own internal clock, which became standardized for Nintendo's systems from the [=GameCube=] and DS onwards.
** As a result of [[AmericanKirbyIsHardcore the localization team spicing up the script for the various overseas releases]], the writing edges closer to WorldOfJerkass than in later games, which are much more closer to their Japanese counterparts. Villagers get upset, rude, or snarky at you far more than later games when you give negative responses or refuse an offer (even for mundane reasons such as not buying a piece of fruit from them). Villagers will act cold towards you when you neglect them for a long time, and they are not above making passive-aggressive comments toward you or outright ''taking items and money right from your pockets'', regardless of what their personalities are.
*** Cranky and Snooty villagers in particular are ''much'' truer to the names of their personalities compared to later games and will ''especially'' chew you out big-time if you dare say "no". Surprisingly enough, the Peppy villagers, [[OutOfCharacter of all people]], are just as unpleasant as the Cranky and Snooty villagers, coming off as entitled {{Spoiled Brat}}s who often insult the player because they feel like it (it should say something that they are the villager type that is more prone to stealing items and money from the player) Jocks wouldn't shy away from treating the player poorly, as well — a Jock who just moved in could possibly insult the player character's name. The Lazy and Normal villagers are the nicest of the bunch, but even they can have their moments (i.e. Lazy Villagers [[YouAreFat calling the player fat]] and teasing them for getting "defensive"; Normals simply brushing the player off when conversing with them). Later games, especially from ''City Folk'' onwards, rewrote Cranky and Snooty villagers to be the most mature of their respective genders whereas Peppy villagers were turned into lovable [[GenkiGirl Genki Girls]], and are all far nicer to you right off the bat.
** The game's soundtrack is much more ambient and makes much heavier use of electronic instrumentation compared to the more conventionally melodic style and closer imitation of live instruments (and ''actual'' use of live instruments in the case of ''New Horizons'') seen in later games. The most notable instance is with the museum, which featured completely different themes for each section (with the bug exhibit being dead-silent, using the insect sounds as its "soundtrack") instead of a single leitmotif that changes thematically. In fact, very little of this game's leitmotifs make appearances in later games, in part due to ''City Folk'', ''New Leaf'', and ''New Horizons'' being very heavily based on the example that ''Wild World'' set.
** The title screen for the first game featured one of a cycling series of pre-recorded demos, each preceded by a splash screen of the "Nintendo" logo (the [=N64=] logo in the original 2001 release) with a computerized voice saying the company name; which name depended on the demo (the splash screen system had been standard for other late [=N64=] and early [=GameCube=] games as well, and carried over into many early DS games too). Starting with ''Wild World'', later games would instead display the title logo over a video of a random villager wandering around the player's town (or an empty town when starting a new file pre-''New Horizons'', which relies on an AutomaticNewGame).
** This game is the only one to have the journal/diary item, which gives you a calendar of when each event takes place and lets you write down notes for your own. In later games, the only way to to tell when an event's coming up is to wait until it's announced on the town bulletin board (or just look it up online), while writing personal notes became sending letters to your future self.
** International versions of the game feature a much deeper, western-sounding version of Animalese than the Japanese version, with the text-to-speech program being fine-tuned for the phonetic inconsistencies of western writing. All later games would maintain the high-pitched Japanese voice for Animalese across regions and lack the greater fine-tuning of the [=GameCube=] localization's text-to-speech, likely to save time on the localization process but at the cost of making non-Japanese dialogue sound closer to SpeakingSimlish (especially in ''Wild World'').
** This is the only game to feature [[GameWithinAGame the ability to play NES games]]; later titles would excise this option due to a combination of redundancy in the face of similar features (i.e. the ''Classic NES Series'' line of UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance carts, the UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole, and Nintendo Switch Online's NES/SNES game streaming service) and concerns that these games were distracting players from actually playing ''Animal Crossing'' itself. ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingNewLeaf'' would introduce a small handful of original minigames (including a new ''Puzzle League'' spinoff of all things) via the ''Welcome amiibo'' update in 2016, but these are considerably pared down compared to some of the NES games obtainable in the first entry.
** Multiplayer is a big feature of later installments, but here it's limited to being able to visit another player's town by inserting their Controller Pak into the [=N64=] controller on the original release and their memory card into the [=GameCube=] in re-releases; direct multiplayer only existed for the NES games. The [=GameCube=] ''did'' have support for simultaneous multi-system connectivity both locally and online, but these features were scarcely used even by Nintendo (who quietly swept them under the rug [[DigitalPiracyIsEvil after learning that hackers found a way to make ROM dumps with them]]), to the point where most people forget these capabilities were present on the system in the first place.
** This is the only game where the fishing rod has no distinct sound effects for when fish nibble at and bite at the hook; the main differentiator is the rumble motor in the [=GameCube=] controller activating for a slightly longer amount of time during a full bite. This was already a step up from the [=N64=], which had no rumble at all, requiring incredibly close attention to the audio and visual cues. ''Wild World'' introduced louder and more distinct audio cues for fishing due to the Nintendo DS lacking built-in rumble, a standard that would be maintained in all later entries.
** Bell gathering is more restrictive than in later games: bells can't be stacked on top of one another outside the player's wallet and max out at 30,000 instead of 99,000. Additionally, all increments of bells appear as bags: starting with ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingWildWorld'', amounts less than 1,000 would appear as gold coins with a star stamped on each face.
** In later games, bell trees can only be made with a golden shovel, but here they can be made with the basic shovel by burying bells in a glowing spot, a daily tile that contains 1,000 bells. The golden shovel instead gave you a chance to dig up 100 bells every time you dug a hole. The glowing spot returns in ''New Horizons'' and works the same way, with the golden shovel no longer being necessary to bury bell trees.
** Golden tools do not appear in the [=N64=] version, with only the standard tools being available; they would first be introduced in the [=GameCube=] ports and become the standard from there on out.
*** On a related note, the axe could be used an unlimited number of times in ''Doubutsu no Mori'' like any other tool, only to be given a limit of 23 uses before breaking in ''Doubutsu no Mori+''/''Animal Crossing'' and 25 uses in ''Doubutsu no Mori e+''. The unlimited use count meanwhile is transferred over to the golden axe, as a means of enticing players to obtain it. With the exception of ''New Horizons'' (in which all tools, even golden ones, have a finite number of uses), this would be the standard that later games would follow.
** The character of Farley only appears in the [=GameCube=] versions, being the middleman through which the player obtains the golden axe. Later games would each have different methods of obtaining the golden axe, but Farley himself would never make another appearance after ''Doubutsu no Mori e+'' (though ''City Folk'' would feature a gender-inverted SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute in the form of Serena).
** Rainy weather is accompanied by its own unique tune that plays no matter the hour. Later games instead play a slight variation on the current hourly theme.

Nintendo of Japan were highly impressed with the localization, incorporating its changes and further new content into an UpdatedRerelease as ''Doubutsu no Mori e+'' in the summer of 2003; many of these added features would gradually be carried over to later installments, through which they would make their belated international debuts. Unfortunately, this is where the story for the original incarnation of ''Animal Crossing'' ends, with ''Doubutsu no Mori e+'' remaining [[NoExportForYou Japanese-exclusive]] to this day. However, the three versions altogether were a successful financial venture for Nintendo. They followed it up by releasing a UsefulNotes/NintendoDS sequel, ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossingWildWorld'', in 2005, which set the stage for ''VideoGame/AnimalCrossing'' to become one of Nintendo's flagship franchises.

* CoversAlwaysLie: Your neighbors never actually come into your home, and Blathers never leaves the museum.

** All versions of this game feature the ability to collect various UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem games as furniture items and play them using an emulator developed in-house by Nintendo. The vast majority were arcade-esque titles released very early in the system's lifespan, with only a select few (''Wario's Woods'', ''VideoGame/PunchOut'', ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros'', and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI'') having been released past this period. The NES games are fairly rare, with the methods required to obtain them ranging from getting very lucky with the game's RNG to outright having to use hacks.

* TheArtifact: The [=GameCube=] ports are fully loaded into RAM during gameplay. Once the town is initialized, the disc can be removed and the game will run with no issues until it needs to save again. This is because they're enhanced ports of a Nintendo 64 game, so their filesize is so small that they can fit into the [=GameCube=]'s 24 megabytes of RAM in their entirety.

** This is the only game where the fishing rod has no actual sound effects for when fish nibble at and bite at the hook; the only indicators to differentiate between the two are visual and tactile, with the rumble motors in the [=GameCube=] controller activating for a slightly longer amount of time during a full bite. ''Wild World'' introduced audio cues for fishing due to the Nintendo DS lacking built-in rumble, a standard that would be maintained in all later entries.

* EasterEgg: If you request an invalid song to K.K., he will randomly play one of three songs, all of which would become valid requests in later ''Animal Crossing'' games. If your invalid request contains the word "Forest", however, K.K. will always play "Forest Life", his cover of the game's title theme.

** The Japanese version features a fireworks festival every Sunday in August; while the English version only has fireworks on the 4th of July.

*** Cranky and Snooty villagers in particular are ''much'' truer to the names of their personalities compared to later games and will ''especially'' chew you out big-time if you dare say "no". Surprisingly enough, The Peppy villagers, [[OutOfCharacter of all people]], are just as unpleasant as the Cranky and Snooty villagers, coming off as entitled {{Spoiled Brat}}s who often insult the player because they feel like it (it should say something that they are the villager type that is more prone to stealing items and money from the player) Jocks wouldn't shy away from treating the player poorly, as well — a Jock who just moved in could possibly insult the player character's name. The Lazy and Normal villagers are the nicest of the bunch, but even they can have their moments (i.e. Lazy Villagers [[YouAreFat calling the player fat]] and teasing them for getting "defensive"; Normals simply brushing the player off when conversing with them). Later games, especially from ''City Folk'' onwards, rewrote Cranky and Snooty villagers to be the most mature of their respective genders whereas Peppy villagers were turned into lovable [[GenkiGirl Genki Girls]], and are all far nicer to you right off the bat.

** This is the only game where the fishing rod has no actual sound effects for when fish nibble at and bite at the hook; the only indicators to differentiate between the two are visual and tactile, with the rumble motors in the [=GameCube=] controller activating for a slightly longer amount of time during a full bite. ''Wild World'' introduced audio cues for fishing, a standard that would be maintained in all later entries.

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: The [=GameCube=] versions feature a number of quality of life improvements over the original N64 release to offer a far less restrictive experience.
** The re-releases heavily bump up the amount of items you could put in storage from one to three and allows you to put ''every'' obtainable aircheck in a stereo at once instead of just one per unit, with the library carrying over to all stereos in your house. Considering that there are 55 obtainable airchecks in the game, it's certainly a huge boon.
** Wendell will be able to accept any edible items the player has on-hand, rather than being limited to just fish, thus allowing his services to be accessible to a player who doesn't have a fishing rod yet.
** With the exception of bees, insects are now restricted to the acres they appear in, thus making it easier to chase down and catch them (albeit at the cost of allowing them to fly out to sea); this mercy was ultimately removed in later installments due to the removal of the acre-based navigation system itself.
** The "Handhelds" section in the catalog is expanded from just featuring umbrellas to include anything the player is able to hold in their hands, including tools and novelty items.

** The Japanese version of the igloo features a hot pot with bubbling tofu; the English release changes this to a pot of chowder.

** The Japanese version of the igloo features a hot pot; the English release changes this to a pot of chowder.

** In the Japanese versions, Resetti and his brother don't wear overalls over their shirts. The plain white shirts wouldn't reappear until ''Happy Home Designer''.

** Joey, a duck, has a pool instead of a bed in his house.