Animal Crossing: New Leaf for the 3DS was released in North America just this June of 2013. The latest in the Animal Crossing franchise, New Leaf has yet to disappoint. In this game, the player operates as mayor of a virtual town of animals—literally. The same food-loving and friend-sassing personalities are back in this newest edition. Along with these familiar faces are some newer ones including the smug persona and uchi (which means “big sister” in Japanese) persona. Many other aspects of the game have been slightly modified. Such includes the town layout, collectible items, and villager requests. And, of course, no game is a complete work of art without a proper soundtrack, and this one happens to be a chronological soundtrack. Nintendo has really outdone itself this time with this restoration of a loved classic.

The villagers that live in the town are all animals except for the human mayor with which the player maneuvers. Angus the cow, Alfonso the alligator and Pinky the bear return along with many other recognizable villagers from the previous series. Returning personalities include the lazy, diva, jock, and cranky personalities. Favorites from each category include: Drago, the lazy dragon who makes witty banter about napping in corners and eating esoteric foods; Annabelle, the diva anteater who playfully insults the player about his/her choices in fashion and furniture. Also returning is Bud, the jock lion who invites the player to go for daily ten-mile runs with him and Buck, the cranky donkey who complains about the weather, the weeds and the other animals.

Just like in the previous Animal Crossing games, the villagers can give the player requests to complete. The animals can ask the player to retrieve various pieces of furniture, deliver packages to other animals, or catch assorted insects and fish. Upon completing each request, the player gains friendship status points and some sort of collectible item, whether it is a new item of clothing or a few hundred bells (the unit of currency used in Animal Crossing). New and notable requests include the ability to retrieve different fruits, to travel to other towns to get signatures for petitions, and to establish public work projects. One request Nintendo brought back that is less than pleasant feature to the game is the amount of time it takes to complete the house visit request; but other than that, the requests are worth the rewards the animals give.

Public works are the most time and resource intensive requests to complete. This is mainly because they are the most expensive (bells wise) to complete. Public works allow the player to build infrastructures such as fountains, bridges and clocks for the town. The game starts out with the town layout almost bare, so there is a lot of space to work with. The villagers’ houses are the only things that the town has at the beginning of the game. The Re-Tail store is a place where the player can auction her/his own items or purchase items from other villagers. Due to the town being so bare at the beginning of the game, the public works projects are some of the more satisfying requests to complete because the structures remain in the town for the players to see. At the end of each completed project, Isabelle—the dog that functions as the player’s secretary—throws a ceremony to celebrate. The celebration is the same for all the projects, so it can get old quickly; however, the game tries to keep things fresh by varying the villagers present at each celebration. And who can get tired of cute old Isabelle anyway?

To tie together all the aspects of the game is a completely reconditioned soundtrack. I find that the “7PM” soundtrack is the most calming. It goes perfectly with evening bug hunting or just a quick stroll around the beach. The piano in the back brings out the accordion’s melody, making for a balanced song that is easy on the ears. The background music changes every hour just like in the old versions and produces the same relaxed feelings that go hand-in-hand with the gameplay. Soft but upbeat music complements the serene environment, creating the perfect scene for virtual scuba diving with other Animal Crossing players, coffee drinking with other villagers at the local café, or completing delivery requests under the warm virtual sun.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf is the best version of the Animal Crossing game to be released to the public so far. It has far exceeded my expectations in terms of both gameplay and aesthetics. The game not only continues the long-standing Animal Crossing tradition of providing endless hours of entertainment, but also constantly betters old sectors of the game. Players of Animal Crossing Wild World and Harvest Moon would enjoy the community simulation gameplay that is offered in this new version, but I would also recommend this new and improved version to novices.