Virtual Console – Harvest Moon review

I remember the fond memories of seeing Harvest Moon in an issue of Nintendo Power. It’s unique premise of running a farm had never been done before. While everyone else eagerly awaits Mario Kart 64, I was drooling over Harvest Moon. What was once a tiny niche title coming out at the twilight of the 16 bit era has become a full fledged big time franchise. With a gentle squeeze of those Marvelous udders came fresh milk in the form of Rune Factory. Today, we’re going to take a look at this Virtual Console release of the game that started it all.

Sadly, time has not been kind to this old cow. In a way, this is a good thing. It shows that the series did indeed make progress, and fixed quite a few problems from the first game. At the very least, the new releases always attempts to try something new in order to spice up the formula. By no means are the new HM games perfect, but then we still have lots of time to perfect it.

Unlike many of the newer Harvest Moons, this game has a very short day cycle, and unlimited nighttime. While you can accomplish much at night, some tasks must be completed during the day. This makes things quite hectic and fast paced, but other problems slow the game down. Instead of having time to mingle with the locals, you feel like they’re just a sideshow for your important shopping trips. None of the villagers possess any personalities either, so dating feels like nothing more than an extra obstacle in your path. Although there are still some love events happening in this game, they are nothing more than a throw away plot.

The farming itself works well enough, although the strange umbrella sprinkler feels awkward to go back to. The farm seems far too big for a game with so little time. While you can do lots at night, you won’t get paid if you harvest your crops after 5PM. I was able to make a million bucks by making use of roughly 1/10th of the available farmland. Running around in your own property would probably end up wasting the entire day anyway.

Cows — the lumbering behemoth of cash. These black and white monstrosities will bring you good fortune, and ill omens. They range from magical cow merge, to graphical slow down. The cow merge problem happens due to their ability to wander around inside the barn. Sometimes two or more cows can walk together and merge into a single animal. The it’s good luck trying to tend to the ones you’ve missed. More often than not, I wish they couldn’t walk at all. Then there’s the issue of slow down when you have eight or more cows. When you have twelve, it’s unbearable. Every action slows to a crawl. Just thank god you have unlimited time in buildings. The amount of time spent in there causes the otherwise decent music to become tediously annoying. I was so sick of the music that I had to turn it off. Of course, all this can be avoided if you don’t own too many cows.

Visuals and sounds are nothing special. They get the job done, and that’s all I can ask for. As I said before, the music can get very annoying due to their being only one track each season. Unless you leave your farm, you’ll be hearing the same track quite a bit. The lack of music at night can also be unsettling. The least they could have done is give us something new to listen to.

Going back to this game is like squeezing a pair of old udders. They would fun at first, but the magic is all but gone. The overall package is still above average, but in this day and age, I want something more than just above average. And so I set off to new pastures in search of a fresh pair of udders, leaving behind what was once the cream of the crop.

Graphics: 60%
Pros: They’re not ugly…
Cons: …but the slow down really hurts the gameplay.

Gameplay: 65%
Pros: Lots to do, and 20 different endings to see.
Cons: Can be repetitive, especially the slow down. It’s one of the graphical issues that effects gameplay.

Sound: 44%
Pros: It’s not annoying if you didn’t have to listen to it throughout the entire season.
Cons: Lack of variety.

Controls: 80%
Pros: Everything works when you press it.
Cons: The speed of the horse is hard to get the hang of. You’ll either overshoot, or undershoot.

Story: 34%
Pros: It was one of the first games where you’re entrusted with the welfare of a farm.
Cons: Other than that, there’s not much worth talking about.

Recommendation: For those looking for something different and never played a Harvest Moon game before. Although you’re probably better off waiting for Harvest Moon 64 to hit the VC.

Overall: 63%