The game offers online multiplayer support, and you can have up to 3 other people in your town at the same time. While you can visit each other’s towns, you won’t see them in the city. Interestingly, there is no local multiplayer support available. It would have been nice to be able to plug in an extra Wiimote and play with your friend, but alas.

One major addition to Animal Crossing: City Folk is chat. Using a microphone called WiiSpeak, you can now chat with others in your neighborhood. Not bundled with the game, WiiSpeak is a small, dome-shaped device that sits on top of your motion sensor and retails for $29.99. It’s a pretty steep price for a microphone. If you don’t wish to chat vocally, you can also plug in a keyboard and type messages to your friends instead.

I’m not sure what to make of Animal Crossing: City Folk. On one hand, long time fans may appreciate the feelings of familiarity with this game. On the other hand, who wants to play the same game over and over but just on a different console? It’s just too similar to its predecessors. I am curious about WiiSpeak though, and wonder what future games it’ll be put to use.

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