Animal Crossing: Wild World is one of my favourite Nintendo games. In my mind it successfully takes some of the best multiplayer features around and combines them with a solid single player game. An extremely solid single player game, as they’ve basically crammed the entire Gamecube console version into a handheld cartridge.

Does it really have decent online credentials though? I think so. How many other games feature four player co-op where friends can easily drop in and out of your single player experience? How many games allow you to show off your progress in the main game? What about titles that allow players to carry back items or “experience” from online sessions to their own single player “campaign”?

The towns in Animal Crossing are persistent worlds that link together online. Friends have the ability to make a real impact on your game. They can dig holes in your town, chop down your trees or steal fruit and other items from your garden. They can even convince your animals to move to their town. Eat your heart out, Fable 2.

The game’s multiplayer experience includes social elements (text chat, emotes), competitive events (such as fishing) and informal co-operative play (you can work together to look after your town).

Online play can really help your single player experience which gives you a good reason to visit other people’s towns.

To get what you want in the game you’ll often have to trade and share items online. You’re initially given a single variety of fruit tree in your garden. If you want a different crop then you’ll need to swap your native fruit with someone else.

Different towns have different items in their shops. You’ll have to visit others to collect all the items. You can also use time zones to your advantage. If it’s late and your shop is closed you can go and visit a friend in a different country where their shop is still open. How many other games let you use multiplayer to help you make progress in your solo game?

There’s also a lot of data exchange behind the scenes. Messages in bottles, animal residents, phrases and other information spread from town to town like a viruses. Clever stuff.

I’m not saying that Animal Crossing DS is a perfect online experience. Nintendo’s friend code system makes everything more difficult than it needs to be. You’ll either need to know someone else with the game or use a site like Animal Crossing Community to exchange your code with other players.

It’s still a great, groundbreaking title and I can’t wait for Nintendo to improve on it. My perfect sequel would involve both a DS and a Wii game that can communicate with each other. Come on Nintendo, you know you want to make it. There’s no need to turn it into a Massively Multiplayer Online game, though. It’s fine as a Marvellously Miniature Multiplayer game.