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The Unbeatables: Animal Crossing: New Horizons [Switch]

Developer: Nintendo EPD
Publisher: Nintendo
Released: March 20, 2020
Completed: May 17, 2020*
Rated: E for Everyone

*This is the date I rolled credits, but this game is technically never-ending.

If ever there were a game that was perfect for its time, it's this one.  Released right at the start of the coronavirus pandemic that is still, more than a year later, raging on, the latest entry in Nintendo's cutesy life simulator provided everyone stuck indoors with some much-needed cheer.

I've played nearly every Animal Crossing game released in America, save the terrible Amiibo cash grab title, and I've always had the same reaction: "This is fun for an hour or so."  After that, I never go back.  It turns out I don't like doing chores in video games either, and that's what a lot of these games felt like to me.  Each and every time I told myself I wasn't going to fall for it again and I'd played all the Animal Crossing I needed, and each and every time I was proven a liar when fear of missing out - what the kids call FOMO - got to me.

But this time was different.  I'm a natural homebody, so I felt like I was built to survive a pandemic of this nature.  I had all the video games I could ever need (not necessarily want); why did I need to go outside?  Then I realized lockdown meant no concerts.  No hours spent scouring bins at a record store, or taking an entire afternoon to visit a bunch of game stores and hunt for finds.  It meant no movies in the cinema, no restaurants, and even my 41st birthday, which occurred just weeks after lockdown started in the US, was spent alone, unable to see my family. 

In lieu of all the things I loved to do, Animal Crossing finally clicked and became the escape I needed.

There came a deeper appreciation for the creativity and freedom of expression the game allowed.  Just like in real life, I began decorating my little house with all kinds of things that made it uniquely me.  I used the simple but effective editing tools to make a Prince symbol poster, and a Sierra logo t-shirt I wore around town.  As my house expanded, I turned one of the rooms into a game room, much like my real home, and another into a music studio.  I built a cute little park for me and my island residents to enjoy, visited my friends' islands for design tips, and spent hours hunting for new insects or fishing.  I finally understood why these games were so appealing.  With so much negativity in life, even pre-pandemic, Animal Crossing was a little bite-sized slice of joy. 

You can turn it on, play for fifteen minutes, and still feel like you accomplished something - even if it was simply weeding your island.  Or you could spend hours earning bells to payoff that dastardly raccoon loanshark Tom Nook to improve your home or the land itself.  Every visit to Blathers, the adorable owl who runs the city's museum, was exciting.  Had I dug up a new fossil?  If not, at least I got to hear him say "jolly good" in his little gibberish language. 

It wasn't always sunshine and roses, of course.  The game stuck me with a villager I just did not like right out of the gate, but I made the best of it by sending them threatening letters for my own amusement.  It doesn't actually do anything in the game, and in fact it was even funnier when the recipient would express happiness that I had sent them a letter that read "I don't like you.  Get off my island."  Later in the game, you'll also receive visitors, and finding ones I wanted to invite to live on the paradise I had created was tough.  First world private island problems.

The cheerful aesthetic and upbeat music add to the overall joy.  Day after day I'd login, visit my shopping district to see if there was anything interesting, dig up fossils, water the flowers, and weed the landscape.  Some days I'd have a goal in mind, and others it was just a way to pass the time in a beautiful, happy place.  I'd watch dazzling sunsets over the water, or look for shooting stars at night. 

This is to say nothing of all the content that has been added to the game since launch.  After about four solid months of playing every day, I haven't returned to my island in a while, but I keep meaning to so I can experience things like swimming and the change of seasons.  Nintendo has truly made an evergreen game that can last a real lifetime.  Most importantly, it got so many of us through those rough early months while we adjusted to our new lives as shut-ins, so much so a common joke was Nintendo created the virus to sell more copies of the game.

The game kept me connected with friends.  I couldn't see them physically, but we would text about our islands, share funny screenshots, and even visit each other virtually.  Sure, we texted regardless, but there was always an aura of happiness to the Animal Crossing conversations.  We weren't espousing our daily real world problems; we were sharing fun updates and forgetting about the state of the world for a little while. 

As I write this in March 2021 (and backdating the post), I look back fondly at my time on Mallardca, a duck-related play on Mallorca (or Majorca, depending).  New Horizons was a ray of sunshine in an otherwise dark time.  It became part of the daily routine that maintained my sanity, and the more I reminisce about it, the more I want to return.  I'll bet there's a lot of weeds to pull, for starters.  I'll leave you with a picture of my character stalking a friendly koala with an axe because I am the best at Animal Crossing.

The Unbeatables: NHL '94 [Sega Genesis]

NHL '94
Sega Genesis

Developer: High Score Productions
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Rated: GA for General Audiences
Released: 1993

Note: The Unbeatables are reviews for games with no definitive ending, such as sports, racing, or fighting games.  These titles may include story modes, but are geared towards endless replayability.

It has been said that NHL '94 is the greatest hockey game ever made, and it's a very difficult claim to argue.  Hockey video games have become considerably more realistic in modern times, but with that realism comes a learning curve that will turn all but the most diehard of puck-heads off.  Gone are the days of simple arcade-style pass-and-shoot hockey games, and I've always found that EA's modern games contain horrible rubber-band AI.

Back in the 16-bit days, however, nobody was more adept at marrying realism and fast-paced fun like Electronic Arts.  In recent years they've become notorious for their roster update titles, though ironically it was probably a more valid complaint back in the 90s than it is today, but without EA's support, the Sega Genesis never would have captured the market from rival Nintendo.  It was EA's sports franchises that helped move systems.  Though many would later appear on the SNES, the Genesis versions were almost universally hailed as better, largely due to faster gameplay. 

NHL '94 was the first game in EA's venerable franchise that featured both the NHL and NHL Player's Association licenses.  Today it seems inconceivable to have a licensed sports title without real rosters and team logos, but back in the 90s when video games were still a niche market, it must have cost EA a lot to procure them both.  Their first hockey title only featured the team names and approximations of the official rosters by way of player numbers.  Everyone knew that #99 on Los Angeles was Wayne Gretzky, but without the license, his name couldn't appear in the game.  Contrarily, their second attempt, aptly named NHLPA '93, featured the reverse - player names, but no logos.  Teams were represented by their city, and had appropriate color uniforms and rosters from the 1992-93 season, but Detroit was just "Detroit," not the "Detroit Red Wings."

One of the concessions to make this happen was the removal of fighting, unfortunately.  Though injuries were still present, and still featured a player writhing on the ice in agony, the blood from earlier games was also removed at the NHL's insistence.  The loss of fighting is just about the only thing that hinders NHL '94, especially considering how much more physical the sport was back then.  Just a quick glance at my beloved Red Wings roster reveals names like Bob Probert, Brad McCrimmon, and Vladimir Konstantinov - a far cry from the team of small, speedy European finesse players that dominate their roster today.

What makes NHL '94 so successful is how much fun it is to play, while retaining a realistic hockey flow.  Goals are often hard-fought and worth celebrating with at least a fist pump.  Big goals, such as game-winners or even game-tying goals, may even elicit a jump and a cheer from the player.  Big saves get an equal reaction, whether you choose to play with manual or auto (computer) controlled goalies.  Conversely, every mistake causes you to tense up.  Few things are as exciting in sports games as getting caught on a bad line change, leaving your opponent open for a breakaway - just as it is in real hockey.  Goalies will occasionally mishandle pucks, and while some may think the computer is cheating, anyone who has watched plenty of hockey knows flukes like that are all too common.

What's more is the game features surprisingly realistic depictions of players.  Sergei Fedorov is a speed demon on the ice, almost impossible to catch, which makes him deadly on offense, and equally effective on rushing back to play defense.  Nicklas Lidstrom, arguably the greatest defenseman the sport has ever seen, retains the blistering shot that made him as valuable on the power play as he was on the penalty kill.  Even one of my hockey heroes, Dino Ciccarelli, is accurately portrayed as a player who crashes the net and pesters the goalie to rack up ugly goals.

The nature of video games means the shots on goal are inflated, as are the body checks, but there is still plenty of realistic neutral zone play and hockey knowledge on display.  Teams will play dump and chase, or they'll pass back to the defensemen on the blue line to set up.  The computer even seems to play dynamic defense depending on the situation.  If your goalie is getting peppered, don't be surprised if one of your AI teammates comes over and levels the puck handler in an attempt to clear the zone. 

Undoubtedly the most important addition to NHL '94's gameplay is the one-timer.  In certain spots on the ice, it's a guaranteed goal, making it easily exploitable provided you can get the pass through the defense. 

NHL '94 also introduced player records, a feature that would eventually expand to track individual player statistics instead of just win-loss records, but it was the forerunner to the eventual season modes that have become standard in modern sports titles.  Players can even play coach and edit their team lines, though the ability to trade players was still absent at this point.

For its time, NHL '94 was a revolutionary game, and more than 20 years later, it remains the most celebrated entry in the franchise.  NHLPA '93 laid the groundwork for which '94 was built, but it expanded upon its predecessor in so many ways with faster gameplay, better AI, more realistic hockey maneuvers, excellent animation, and even arena-accurate organ music.  The game's pacing and flow still feel as much like real hockey as any hockey video game has felt since, from battles in the corners for loose pucks, to standing up your opponent at the blue line, and breaking into the opposing zone on a 2-on-1.  For my money, no sports game is as exciting or entertaining.

NHL '94 was played on a real Sega Genesis with no cheats.