A pocket-sized village inside a console that fits in your hand, with seasons rolling by in step with the real ones.

What comes out first is connection: Animal Crossing: Wild World sits ahead of more than eight games out of ten on that question of the bond you keep. That's its real strength, even if it rests on two votes, so take it as a lead. The art style follows, ahead of two thirds of titles, and the urge to rediscover it stays around the middle. One thing lags lower, the feel in hand, below average, ahead of four games out of ten, on a single vote. The picture fits the game: you don't come here for control mastery, you come to inhabit a place and grow attached to it.

Against other life sims, Wild World set down a particular gentleness, that blend of routine and presence. Few games create that feeling of having a corner of your own.

So, who's it for? You, if you love a tender world you return to like home, for the calm and the bond more than for the action. Much less so if you want energy and hands-on thrills.