Review by Ethereal Blue

"What do crack, alcohol and HM64 have in common?"

All three are EXTRMELY ADDICTIVE! Although HM64 isn't totally perfect, it's well worth the 80 bucks i paid for it frm an online shopping webpage.

Graphics (System-Wise) 9/10

Although the hills look kinda of...uh...odd (Flat walls), the graphics are beautiful. Unfortunatly they stay the same all the time and there aren't any cut scenes or anything. It's all quite satisfying though and the graphics fit the mood of the game. I'd also like to note in this section that spelling wasn't exactly a high priority for natsume when trasnlating this game. Here are some examples...
-Wellcome home, dear!
-May tommorrow will be a good day too.
-Just mind you own business.
-Everything speeded (It's sped, by the way) up when I turned 30.
-Carpenters House. Closed on Wednesdays
(Yes the exclamation point is the error, some words or symbols trail off onto different lines. I pity the guys who had to work with this system to make this game)

Sound (System-Wise) 7/10

It's all somewhat of a toss-up here. I've said it before, I like it when weapons, tools, etc. in RPGs sound different and HM64 has that quality. Every single tool sonds different...though the milker sounds a bit...weird. The unfortunate part is the music. Some is memorable(The summer theme) to so-so (spring theme) to just plain annoying (The nerve-grating winter theme). This inconsistancy doesn't take away from the gameplay, but makes wintertime tedious. If only they could've put something to the effect of a christmas jingle...

Gameplay (Genre-Wise) 10/10
Wins the Infinity's Choice Award for N64!

The concept may seem a bit weird at first (Run a farm for a living eternity, get a wife, start a family and so on) but once you get into it, you'll have a blast, especially when you're courting a girl to be your wife. Some guys might find themselves becoming infatuated with one of the 5 girls to choose from, all of them are really quite charming...except for Karen, who seems to be complaining 60% of the time. I think Elli's the best wife but ne ways!
Although courting a girl is by far the best part of this game, you can also amass a fortune by any of the following means...
Growing Vegetables, Selling herbs, winning certain festivals, raising animals, selling animals, selling animal products or all of the above!
You can also upgrade your house, just like in the Super NES version, except this time, you get more than 2 upgrades and you can decide which order they come in. From a baby bed to a porch that goes behind your house, you can get it all!
Once you're married, you can also do a number of things, having a child being one of them. To go with that, you can also have some of your close buddies get married! For example, become close friends with Cliff and he will marry Ann, or become friends with harris the mailman and he'll marry maria. The list of reasons to keep playing go on and on. Once you play this game, you'll be indefinately hooked for all eternity...or at least until you've done everything, although that takes a LONG LONG time!

Story (Genre-Wise) 6/10

Sorry, but thats how it is. Although this is kind of an open Sim-RPG that isn't story driven. The basic idea is that your jolly old grandpa just died. (Cool fact! You played as this gradnpa in HM for SNES and some of the girls you'll be courting as the granddaughters of the girls from the original HM, meaning this storyline is going as if Gramps married a woman who didn't live in Flower Bud Village when he was your character's age.) A really weird part of this is that the dog, who is almost as old as your grandpa, never dies...hmm. Anyways, you inherit the farm and must return it to it former glory. As you can see, the house upgrades from the first HM have melted away from the jolly old shack and the field is full of weeds and stones. All the animals have also long-since passed away. it's up to YOU (points large godly finger at the reader) to save the farm! YOU must rally the horde! err...wrong game...
Anyways, don't be taken aback by this lack of story, because you make the story as you go along.

Replayability (Genre-Wise) 10/10
Wins the Infinity's Choice Award for N64!

There are 5 girls to marry, 5 kids to be had each, 5 guys who get married, many crops the harvest, tons of items and accessories to attain, many herbs to gather, tons of races to win (Horse and Dog) Many slots in the stable to fill, many eggs to sell, much cash to be earned! It never ends! Hurray! This is why I give HM64 the Infinity's Choice Award for Replayability on the N64! (In case you're wondering, check my profile to discover that my writer's name is ''Infinity's Edge'')

Overall 9/10

Though not without its flaws, This game won two of my Infinity's Choice awards and that can't go unnoticed. This game is more fun than watching every episode of DNA2. Indeed! It never gets old! NEVER EVER EVER! Though I always reccomend renting before buying, (Everyone has different tastes) 90% of people should skip the rental and seek out this gem. Sadly, it's nearly impossible to find in stores, try electronics boutique. If that doesn't work, look to the internet. They'll be sorely overpriced, but you'll get more than what it's worth in this wonderful game!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10 | Originally Posted: 09/01/03


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