i've been a fan of the animal crossing games since around wild world. while i'd love to have bragging rights of being a fan of the series from day one, the original release of this game is actually older than me by two years to the exact day, so it's a bit before my time! (i guess sharing a birthday with animal crossing is pretty brag-worthy, though.) i got to play it for the first time only in my adulthood when it was given to me for my birthday by my dear, dear partner. they became eligible to be part of a class action lawsuit against gamestop because they got this for me, btw

while it's definitely a much more barebones game than something like, say, new leaf, population: growing! has gorgeously crunchy and low-poly graphics, an excellent score, and immaculate vibes. i've always loved the kookiness of animal crossing, and nowhere is that kookiness more undistilled than in the original title. it's a delightfully weird and quirky game and i've enjoyed running around in it.

my experience is admittedly hampered slightly by my gamecube's dead internal clock -- time doesn't move when i've shut down the console -- but it's a relatively minor issue. i really should fix that clock, but in the meantime, turning time forwards in-game whenever i hop on does the trick.