NES game
NES games are furniture items in the first-generation Animal Crossing games that can be interacted with to play an emulated Nintendo Entertainment System or Famicom game. In Doubutsu no Mori and Doubutsu no Mori+, the items appear as either Famicom consoles with the cartridge of its game inserted, or a Famicom with a Disk System attached; in Animal Crossing and Doubutsu no Mori e+, the items appear as an NES console with the box of its game set on top of it. The games available differ between games, as do the methods to obtain them.
In addition to the playable NES games, in all first-generation Animal Crossing games there is an empty NES (Disk System in Doubutsu no Mori and Doubutsu no Mori+) item available from Crazy Redd's that, when interacted with, brings up a dialog that says, "I want to play my NES, but I don't have any software." Additionally, in Animal Crossing and Doubutsu no Mori e+, on April Fool's Day, Tortimer gives the player Super Tortimer, an item that looks like an NES game, but when interacted with, brings up a dialog that says, "Heh heh hehhh hoorf!! April Fool! Super Tortimer isn't an NES game!".
Functionality
Controls
Below is a table of how the NES controller's buttons are mapped to the Nintendo 64 and GameCube controllers:
| Button (NES) | Button (N64) | Button (GCN) |
|---|---|---|
| +Control Pad | Control Stick, +Control Pad | Control Stick, +Control Pad |
| B | B | B |
| A | A | A |
| SELECT | Z | X, Z |
| START | START | START/PAUSE, Y |
An NES game can be exited by pressing the L, R, and Z buttons simultaneously.
Save data
In Doubutsu no Mori+, Animal Crossing, and Doubutsu no Mori e+, after the player stops playing an NES game, the game saves the high score (or saved game progress in the case of Legend of Zelda) to the Nintendo GameCube Memory Card, taking up one Block in a separate save file from the town data.
NES data cannot be saved if the Memory Card containing the town's data is not inserted into the GameCube.
Advance Play
In Animal Crossing and Doubutsu no Mori e+, the player can choose the "Advance Play" option when interacting with an NES game to download the game to a Game Boy Advance that is connected to the Nintendo GameCube. The game can then be played on the GBA until it is turned off, even if it is disconnected from the GameCube. The GBA can be reconnected to the GameCube to save the NES data. When playing on the GBA, the graphics are compressed to fit within the GBA's much lower vertical resolution compared to the NES. Multiplayer modes are not available during Advance Play, and Clu Clu Land D, Legend of Zelda, Punchout, and Wario's Woods cannot be played via Advance Play as they are too large to be stored in the Game Boy Advance's RAM.
Unused functionality of the NES item
In 2018 it was discovered that when the empty NES item is interacted with, the game scans the Memory Card (Controller Pak in Doubutsu no Mori) for NES ROM data. NES ROMs, including those not already in the game, can be patched and placed on a Memory Card, where they can be loaded and played by interacting with the item.[1] Interacting with the item with multiple NES ROMs on the Memory Card displays unique text that is normally unused: "Should I play my NES software?", followed by a list of games.
In Doubutsu no Mori only, if the Controller Pak has NES ROM data on it, selecting the "てがみをほぜんしたい" ("Save a letter") option at the post office brings up a normally unused menu titled "コントローラパックのきろくをけします" ("Erase Controller Pack Records"), where the NES game data can be viewed and deleted. In the iQue Player version, the Chinese title text for the menu is corrupted and the original Japanese text is left untranslated for all other text in the menu.
Appearances
In Doubutsu no Mori
A total of seven Famicom games appear in Doubutsu no Mori:
All of the items have the same name, ファミコン (Famicom), and can only be distinguished by their cartridges. All of the games' cartridge colors correspond to the actual cartridge colors from their respective games' original releases. Additionally, all seven games feature the pulse line labels included on the first fourteen first-party Famicom titles, even though Clu Clu Land and Balloon Fight were released after the design had been retired.[2]
In Doubutsu no Mori+
A total of 19 Famicom games appear in Doubutsu no Mori:
All seven games from Doubutsu no Mori return, alongside 12 new games. All of the items now have unique names, and the labels on the cartridges of Clu Clu Land and Pinball are changed. Clu Clu Land's label is changed from the pulse line to a graphic to represent the original Clu Clu Land cartridge more accurately. Pinball's label is changed from a white pulse line on a yellow background to a yellow pulse line on a gray background, despite the former being more accurate to the actual Pinball cartridge.
The seven Famicom games from Doubutsu no Mori now all have different methods to obtain them.
In Animal Crossing
A total of 19 NES games appear in Animal Crossing:
All games from Doubutsu no Mori+ return, with the exceptions of Gomoku Narabe and Mahjong, which are replaced with Excitebike and Soccer, due to the former two games only releasing in Japan. Additionally, all the items are now modeled after NES consoles rather than Famicoms.
The methods to obtain the NES games are changed again in Animal Crossing.
In Doubutsu no Mori e+
A total of 15 NES games appear in Doubutsu no Mori e+:
All games return from Animal Crossing, with the exception of Ice Climber, Legend of Zelda, Mario Bros, and Super Mario Bros. The items retain their North American designs.
The methods to obtain the NES games are changed again in Doubutsu no Mori e+.
Within the data of version 1.01 of Doubutsu no Mori e+ are references to NES games that do not appear in the game: Famicom Grand Prix: F-1 Race, Wrecking Crew, VS. Excitebike, Kaettekita Mario Bros., Dr. Mario, and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.[3]
Methods to obtain
The following table compares the methods to obtain each NES game in Doubutsu no Mori, Doubutsu no Mori+, Animal Crossing, and Doubutsu no Mori e+.
| Item | Obtain via (DnM) | Obtain via (DnM+) | Obtain via (AC) | Obtain via (DnMe+) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
  Balloon Fight |
 Crazy Redd'sTree (good luck) Treasure hunt  Nintendo (Controller Pak Grab Bag) |
 Animal Island Jingle (letter on Dec 25) |
 Raffle Jingle (letter on Dec 25) Animal Island Fishing TourneyTree (good luck) Treasure hunt  Wisp Nintendo (Memory Card 59 Grab Bag)Secret code (send villager their own e-Card code) |
Crazy Redd's Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Wisp Nintendo (Move-in Grab Bag) |
  Baseball |
Raffle Animal Island Fishing Tourney Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Wisp Nintendo (Memory Card 59 Grab Bag)Secret code (1/8 chance from regular e-Card code) |
Animal Island |
Islander | |
   Clu Clu Land |
Crazy Redd's Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Nintendo (Controller Pak Grab Bag) |
Secret code (generated limited-time on the game's website) |
Crazy Redd's Animal Island Fishing Tourney Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Wisp Nintendo (Memory Card 59 Grab Bag)Secret code (send villager their own e-Card code) |
Crazy Redd's Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Wisp Nintendo (Move-in Grab Bag) |
  Clu Clu Land D |
Crazy Redd's Animal Island Fishing Tourney Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Wisp Nintendo (Memory Card 59 Grab Bag)Secret code (1/8 chance from regular e-Card codes) |
Secret code (generated limited-time on the game's website) |
Raffle Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Wisp Nintendo (Move-in Grab Bag) | |
  DK Jr MATH |
Raffle Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Nintendo (Controller Pak Grab Bag) |
Animal Island Secret code (generated limited-time on the game's website) |
Raffle Animal Island Fishing Tourney Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Wisp Nintendo (Memory Card 59 Grab Bag)Secret code (send villager their own e-Card code) |
Raffle Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Wisp Nintendo (Move-in Grab Bag) |
  Donkey Kong |
Raffle Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Nintendo (Controller Pak Grab Bag) |
Animal Island Any villager (birthday gift) |
Raffle Any villager (birthday gift) Animal Island Fishing TourneyTree (good luck) Treasure hunt Wisp Nintendo (Memory Card 59 Grab Bag)Secret code (send villager their own e-Card code) |
Crazy Redd's Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Wisp Nintendo (Move-in Grab Bag) |
  Donkey Kong 3 |
Raffle Animal Island Fishing Tourney Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Wisp Nintendo (Memory Card 59 Grab Bag)Secret code (1/8 chance from regular e-Card codes) |
Secret code (generated limited-time on the game's website) |
Secret code (Doubutsu no Mori Photo Club) | |
  Donkey Kong Jr |
Crazy Redd's Animal Island Fishing Tourney Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Wisp Nintendo (Memory Card 59 Grab Bag)Secret code (1/8 chance from regular e-Card codes) |
Secret code (generated limited-time on the game's website) |
Crazy Redd's Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Wisp Nintendo (Move-in Grab Bag) | |
 Excitebike |
Raffle Animal Island Fishing Tourney Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Wisp Nintendo (Memory Card 59 Grab Bag)Secret code (send villager their own e-Card code) |
Raffle Jingle (letter on Dec 25) Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Wisp Nintendo (Move-in Grab Bag) | ||
  Golf |
Raffle Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Nintendo (Controller Pak Grab Bag) |
Secret code (generated limited-time on the game's website) Secret code (1/8 chance from regular e-Card code) |
Crazy Redd's Animal Island Fishing Tourney Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Wisp Nintendo (Memory Card 59 Grab Bag)Secret code (send villager their own e-Card code) |
Crazy Redd's Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Wisp Nintendo (Move-in Grab Bag) |
 Gomoku Narabe |
Raffle Animal Island Fishing Tourney Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Wisp Nintendo (Memory Card 59 Grab Bag) |
|||
 Mahjong |
Secret code (generated limited-time on the game's website) |
|||
   Pinball |
Crazy Redd's Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Nintendo (Controller Pak Grab Bag) |
Secret code (generated limited-time on the game's website) |
Crazy Redd's Animal Island Fishing Tourney Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Wisp Nintendo (Memory Card 59 Grab Bag)Secret code (send villager their own e-Card code) |
Crazy Redd's Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Wisp Nintendo (Move-in Grab Bag) |
  Punchout |
Crazy Redd's Animal Island Fishing Tourney Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Wisp Nintendo (Memory Card 59 Grab Bag)Secret code (1/8 chance from regular e-Card codes) |
Secret code (generated limited-time on the game's website) |
Unobtainable | |
 Soccer |
Secret code (generated limited-time on the game's website) |
Crazy Redd's Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Wisp Nintendo (Move-in Grab Bag) | ||
  Tennis |
Crazy Redd's Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Wisp Nintendo (Controller Pak Grab Bag) |
Animal Island |
Raffle Animal Island Fishing Tourney Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Wisp Nintendo (Memory Card 59 Grab Bag)Secret code (send villager their own e-Card code) |
Raffle Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Wisp Nintendo (Memory Card 59 Grab Bag) |
  Wario's Woods |
Animal Island |
Animal Island |
Islander | |
 NES |
Crazy Redd's Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt |
Crazy Redd's Animal Island Fishing Tourney Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Wisp |
Crazy Redd's Animal Island Fishing Tourney Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Wisp |
Crazy Redd's Tree (good luck) Treasure hunt Wisp |
 Super Tortimer |
 Tortimer (April Fool's Day) |
Tortimer (April Fool's Day) |
Forbidden Four
The Forbidden Four is the colloquial name given to the Ice Climber, Legend of Zelda, Mario Bros, and Super Mario Bros items in Doubutsu no Mori+ and Animal Crossing due to the nature of their availability. All of these games do not appear in the catalog, are specifically excluded from the secret code system in Animal Crossing,[nb 1] and are completely removed in Doubutsu no Mori e+. Of the Forbidden Four, only Legend of Zelda is truly unobtainable in either version through official means. All of the others are or were obtainable in some official form:
| Item | Obtain via (DnM+) | Obtain via (AC) |
|---|---|---|
  Ice Climber |
Placed in the player's house if they used the Data Moving Service to transfer their data from Doubutsu no Mori to Doubutsu no Mori+.[nb 2] | Obtained in a letter from Tom Nook after the N01 Ice Climber Animal Crossing-e card is scanned at the eTM in the post office.[nb 3] |
  Legend of Zelda |
Unobtainable[nb 2] | Unobtainable |
  Mario Bros |
Unobtainable[nb 2] | Obtained in a letter from Tom Nook after the N02 Mario Bros Animal Crossing-e card is scanned at the eTM in the post office.[nb 3] |
  Super Mario Bros |
Contained in special letter data on a Nintendo GameCube Memory Card that was sent to 30 winners of a Famitsu sweepstakes.[nb 2] | Unobtainable |
Gallery
The game explaining how to exit an NES game in Animal Crossing
All the NES games, alongside the NES item and Super Tortimer, displayed in a room in Animal Crossing
Notes
- ↑ These are the only items in Animal Crossing to have this restriction.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 This item can be obtained via a secret code, although an official code generator was never distributed.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 This item is unobtainable in the European version of Animal Crossing due to the removal of all e-Reader functionality.
References
| NES/Famicom games | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||
