Animal Crossing (universe)
| Animal Crossing (universe) | |
|---|---|
 
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| Developer(s) | Nintendo |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Genre(s) | Life Simulation |
| Console/platform of origin | Nintendo 64 |
| First installment | Animal Forest (2001) 
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| Latest installment | Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival (2015) |
| Article on Nookipedia | Animal Crossing (universe) |
The Animal Crossing universe (どうぶつの森, Animal Forest) refers to the Smash Bros. series' collection of characters, stages, and properties that hail from the popular Animal Crossing series of colorful life-simulation games for recent Nintendo systems. The series received limited representation in the Smash Bros. games up until the inclusion of the main human villager as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. 4.
Franchise description
April 2001 saw the Japan-exclusive release of a game called Animal Forest (どうぶつの森, Dōbutsu no Mori), a life-simulation title for the Nintendo 64 that received an enhanced remake for the Nintendo Gamecube eight months later. Nintendo of America decided to localize this version of the game for release in the United States, and during the immense translation process many more new features were added, resulting in the final product, Animal Crossing, released on September 2002. The game, which had more-or-less already been "promoted to" western audiences via cameo appearances from some of its characters in 2001's Super Smash Bros. Melee, was a breakout hit and received high marks for its quirky and charming approach to the social simulation genre, and Nintendo of Japan was impressed enough with NOA's version that it was translated back and released for essentially the third time in that country.
Animal Crossing was established as one of Nintendo's regular franchises following the GameCube release, and every sequel in the Animal Crossing series had since been released worldwide. From a Western perspective, the second game was Animal Crossing: Wild World for the Nintendo DS late 2005, and introduced an online play component. The third game, Animal Crossing: City Folk (or Let's Go To The City in PAL regions) for the Wii in late 2008, added a city outside of the main town as a new area that could be visited. And the fourth and most recent game, Animal Crossing: New Leaf for the Nintendo 3DS on June 2013, allows the player-character to become the mayor of the town and obtain new customization options for it. The franchise had also spawned an anime film that was released only in Japan, and Animal Crossing properties steadily grew in representation in the Super Smash Bros. games until a character representing a typical Animal Crossing player-character was included as a playable fighter in Super Smash Bros. 4 as "Villager".
In a given Animal Crossing game, the player's avatar, a human boy or girl, moves into a randomly-generated village in a forest that is populated by anthropomorphic, talking animals that are all roughly his or her size (despite the large range of animal species the villagers encompass). Once the avatar is settled into their living quarters, they may interact with and perform errands for the amiable residents on a day-to-day basis, amassing wealth (in the form of a type of currency called "bells") and a variety of decorative paraphernalia for their own house. The game is open-ended in that there are no objectives to complete and no way to "beat" the game per se, though one may pursue goals such as collecting all available types of bugs and fish in the game world. The only "long term" goal for players to meet in order to access an unrestricted play experience is that they must amass enough wealth to regularly pay off their house's mortgage whenever the town shopkeeper and real-estate agent, Tom Nook the tanuki, upgrades the floor space of their house. Each game released in the U.S. tracks the real-world passage of time through the platform's internal calendar and affects the status of the player's village appropriately even when that village is not being played, and a player's avatar is able to visit the village of another player's copy of the game.
In Super Smash Bros. Melee
The Animal Crossing franchise was anonymously introduced to Western gamers through Super Smash Bros. Melee, a full year before Animal Crossing's actual release, but not as an established universe. The only appearances of the franchise in the fighting game are as three collectible trophies, each depicting one of Animal Crossing's staple characters.
Trophies
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Animal Crossing is recognized as its own universe by Super Smash Bros. Brawl. There are no playable characters to hail from it.
Stage
- Smashville: This stage is essentially a woodland town in the style of towns generated by Animal Crossing games in general and given a name undoubtedly appropriate to a Smash Bros. game. It takes place on a simply-laid-out pair of platforms that may be floating around above town, with several characters standing and walking around in the background of the lower platform. In homage to the Animal Crossing tradition of environmental effects based on time of the day, the stage will display its background based on the time of the day it is when a match is fought on it, such as battles at night looking dark. If the stage is played at 8:00 Saturday night, a concert-style performance by K.K. Slider will be playing in the background while the brawl is on.
Item
- Pitfall: In all Animal Crossing games to date (Called Pitfall Seed in Animal Crossing: Wild World), villagers would occasionally dig a trap called the Pitfall with a shovel. If they took the Pitfall and buried it, neighbors that walked over that part of the ground would fall into a hole and be temporarily trapped. This item has the same effect in Brawl, and translates to the Smash Bros. universe as a combination of Donkey Kong's Headbutt attack and the Motion-sensor Bomb.
Assist Trophy
- Mr. Resetti: A mole that appears in all the Animal Crossing series games. His name is a pun on the word "Reset," which is what causes him to appear. His job is to make sure the player saves the game. The more the player resets the game without saving, the angrier he gets, eventually reaching the point where he forces the player to perform a number of irrational, absurd actions, such as reciting specific lines word by word. In Brawl, he lectures the players endlessly, much like his role in the Animal Crossing series, but otherwise has no effect on the battle whatsoever (aside from blowing up occasionally and covering about half the screen).
Music
- Title (Animal Crossing) - Contrary to the title, this track is not merely a remix of the Title Screen Theme from Animal Crossing, but a whole medley of tracks from the game. This track includes the Title Screen Theme, Museum Theme, 3pm - 4pm Theme, Loan Paid Off Jingle, 6am - 7am Theme, Tom Nook's Store Theme and the Town Hall Theme, before looping again.'. It is the main song of the Smashville stage.
- Go K.K. Rider! - This track debuted in Animal Crossing, where it was one of the randoms songs K.K. Slider could sing at the train station, and in later games at Brewster's Roost. It plays on the Smashville stage.
- 2:00 a.m. - This track's in-game debut was Animal Crossing: Wild World, where it played between 2:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. In Brawl, the track has been heavily sped up, and has had K.K. Slider vocals added. It plays on the Smashville stage.
- Town Hall and Tom Nook's Store - A medley of both the Town Hall background music from Animal Crossing: Wild World as well as the music that plays in any of the variations of Tom Nook's store in all Animal Crossing games. It plays on the Smashville stage.
- The Roost - A soothing remix of the music track heard in The Roost in Animal Crossing: Wild World. It plays on the Smashville stage.
- K.K. Cruisin' - One of K.K. Slider's songs taken directly from the Animal Crossing games, it only plays during one of his Saturday night concerts on the Smashville stage.
- K.K. Condor - One of K.K. Slider's songs taken directly from the Animal Crossing games, it only plays during one of his Saturday night concerts on the Smashville stage.
- K.K. Western - One of K.K. Slider's songs taken directly from the Animal Crossing games, it only plays during one of his Saturday night concerts on the Smashville stage.
- K.K. Gumbo - One of K.K. Slider's songs taken directly from the Animal Crossing games, it only plays during one of his Saturday night concerts on the Smashville stage.
- Rockin' K.K. - One of K.K. Slider's songs taken directly from the Animal Crossing games, it only plays during one of his Saturday night concerts on the Smashville stage.
- DJ K.K. - One of K.K. Slider's songs taken directly from the Animal Crossing games, it only plays during one of his Saturday night concerts on the Smashville stage.
Trophies
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Stickers
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In Super Smash Bros. 4
The Animal Crossing series has been given a lot of new content, not least of which is a playable character in the form of the Villager.
Characters
- Villager: The playable character from Animal Crossing, Villager, appears as a new starter character in the game, taking his design from the cover of Animal Crossing: City Folk. All eight of his costumes are based off of other possible appearances from Animal Crossing: City Folk, four of which are female. The Villager uses various tools from the Animal Crossing series to assist him in battle. Villager's signature Pocket allows him to catch various ranged attacks and items to store for later use. His side special, Lloid Rocket, allows Villager to either shoot Lloid as a rocket, or ride him as an effective horizontal recovery. His up special is Balloon Trip, which allows Villager to fly around with balloons. Timber is his down special, which is a three state move. First he plants a seed, then waters the plant, which then a tree grows out with massive knockback. The Villager's Final Smash, the Dream Home, involves Tom Nook and his nephews, Timmy and Tommy, trapping the opponent in a house being built, which then blows up.
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Stages
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS
- Tortimer Island: A stage based off a location of the same name in Animal Crossing: New Leaf. The layout changes every time the game loads it. Fruit can fall off trees, which can either serve as healing or throwing items, depending on the fruit in question. A large shark appears as a stage element as well. Kapp'n will sometimes drive his boat on the stage, which serves as another platform. However, players have to be careful not to get dragged off the stage.
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
- Town and City: A stage similar in appearance to Smashville. The main platform travels to a town and the city from Animal Crossing: City Folk. During each stop, a background platform with various villagers watching will hover behind the main stage.
Smashville: An unlockable returning stage from Brawl. It is essentially unchanged from the previous game.
Items
- Pitfall: A returning item from Brawl, that can bury and meteor smash opponents when hit.
- Beehive: If thrown at an opponent, a horde of bees starts attacking that opponent. Otherwise, it attacks the thrower if it hits the ground.
Assist Trophy
- Isabelle: The assistant from Animal Crossing: New Leaf throws random fruit out onto the stage to heal players, not just the summoner.
Music
- Title (Animal Crossing): A returning song from Brawl. It plays on the Smashville stage.
- Go K.K. Rider!: A returning song from Brawl. It plays on the Smashville stage.
- 2:00 a.m.: A returning song from Brawl. It plays on the Smashville stage.
- Town Hall and Tom Nook's Store: A returning song from Brawl. It plays on the Smashville stage.
- The Roost (Animal Crossing: Wild World): A returning song from Brawl. It plays on the Smashville stage.
- Plaza / Title (Animal Crossing: City Folk / Animal Crossing: Wild World): This song is a combination of two tracks: the city plaza music from Animal Crossing: City Folk and the title theme from Animal Crossing: Wild World and City Folk. It plays on the Town and City stage.
- Outdoors at 7 p.m. (Sunny) / Main Street: This mellow arrangement begins with the song from New Leaf that plays in the main town area between 7pm and 8pm in clear or cloudy weather, then transitions to the song that plays on the town's Main Street once it has developed enough. It plays on the Town and City stage.
- Kapp'n's Song: This piece is a remix of the songs Kapp'n would sing to the player when ferrying them to and from Tortimer Island in Animal Crossing: New Leaf. This song is the alternative music for the Tortimer Island stage in the 3DS version and plays on Town and City in the Wii U version.
- Tortimer Island Medley: This track is a combination of two music pieces from Animal Crossing: New Leaf: the music that plays on the main island, and the music that plays during an island tour in the daytime. It is the main song of the Tortimer Island stage in 3DS version and plays on Smashville in the Wii U version.
- Tour (Animal Crossing: New Leaf): This is a combination of two songs from New Leaf: the Island Tour theme, which plays on most of the minigame tours accessible from Tortimer Island, and the Hide-and-Seek Theme, which plays during the Hide-and-Seek Tour as well as when playing hide-and-seek with the animals in town. In the middle of the song, "Look What I Found"-jingle that plays when catching a wildlife in New Leaf can be heard all over in the second portion of Island Tour's music segment. It plays on the Town and City stage.
- Bubblegum K.K.: This track is an arrangement of a song that was added to K.K. Slider's repertoire in Animal Crossing: New Leaf. It also incorporates the game's main theme. It plays on the Town and City stage.
- Victory! Villager: This track is a remix of the first few notes of the original Animal Crossing theme.
Trophies
Both Versions
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3DS Version
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Wii U Version
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Games with elements in or from the Super Smash Bros. series
Animal Crossing
Mr. Resetti, who debuts in this game, appears as a Assist Trophy in Brawl. 3 trophies in Melee (Tom Nook, Totakeke / K.K. Slider, and Mr. Resetti) also originate from this game, as does the Pitfall Seed.
Animal Crossing: Wild World
In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the Smashville stage draws primarily from Wild World. The overall aesthetic of the stage's background, the flat village, and elements such as Kapp'n's taxi, the Roost cafe, and some of the background villagers, originated in this game. The stage is simple; its biggest gimmick likely being how the stage changes depending on the time of day. Similar to both Animal Crossing and Wild World, K.K. Slider, also known as Totakeke, will appear on the stage at 8:00 PM on Saturdays for four hours.
Animal Crossing: City Folk
The Villager's appearance and alternate colours in SSB4 are based on the player designs from this game.
As well, the Town and City stage in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is directly inspired by City Folk (or Let's Go To The City in PAL regions). The town backdrop is large and has multiple cliffs, hills, and levels just like in that game, and also includes some of its original landmarks such as the fountain and bus stop. It is also the only Animal Crossing game in which the player could visit the big city (hence the name). The portions of the stage in which the central platform "travels" to the city's central plaza are a direct homage to this aspect of the game.
Animal Crossing: New Leaf
Super Smash Bros. for 3DS has a stage based on Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Tortimer Island. The stage changes layout every time it is loaded. Isabelle, who also appears as an Assist Trophy in Super Smash Bros. 4, made her debut in this game.
Trivia
- The Animal Crossing universe is the only universe in Brawl to have its own section in the Sound Test and Trophy Gallery that doesn't have a playable character.
- The Animal Crossing universe is the only universe with a playable character in the Super Smash Bros. series to have a stage before a character.
External Links
 Animal Crossing universe
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| Fighters | Villager (SSB4 · SSBU) · Isabelle (SSBU) |
| Assist Trophies | Mr. Resetti · Isabelle · Kapp'n |
| Stages | Smashville · Tortimer Island · Town and City |
| Items | Pitfall · Beehive |
| Other | K.K. Slider · Lloid · Timmy & Tommy · Tom Nook |
| Trophies, Stickers and Spirits | Trophies (SSBB · SSB4) · Stickers · Spirits |
| Music | Brawl · SSB4 · Ultimate |
