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Sep 26, 2017
The Most "Harvest Moon" You Can Get
[The cartridge came in perfect condition, right on time, and works perfectly! Absolutely worth the price!]
If you're looking for the best handheld Harvest Moon game in the franchise, this is it - pretty graphics (accounting for the era of the game, of course), detailed and busy gameplay, all the classic romance and social structure, and the simplicity of the franchise that we've all come to adore.
The major difference between "More Friends of Mineral Town" and "Friends of Mineral Town" is the sex of your character - in MFoMT, you're female and romance male bachelors, and in FoMT, you're male and romance female bachelorettes. Besides that, there are only minor differences in the overall impact of the game.
How this game stands out in the franchise:
Simple And In-Depth:
Unlike more recent HM games, this one relies a lot on your ability to discover. From the shipping cost of items to learning how to eat food, this game does NOT give you all the answers right off the bat, but does a good job in getting you just far enough to figure it out yourself. Despite the challenge of discovery, the game features more simplistic chores. Mining is no longer the long, tedious and day-consuming task it usually is, fishing is no longer the anxietous quick-draw spectacle it usually is, and everyday farming tasks are without frills and excess difficulty. Everything is simple and meshes seamlessly... once you get the hang of it.
Variety:
Unlike other HM games, MFoMT offers a number of long-forgotten specialties. One in particular is the Basket. Besides your rucksack, players can purchase and carry a basket around to throw up to 30 items into, and then dump the contents of the basket into the shipping bin. This sort of bulk shipping method makes for speedier chores and much less monotonous running-around. This game also features a very large jumble of festivals with genuinely enjoyable prizes and mini-games to keep you interested.
Good-Old GBA Charm:
The game isn't up-to-date, sure. There's no 3D graphics, it's all pixelated with chiptune music, and there are a few bumpy translations... but the game ages swimmingly! The classic 90's anime-esque features of each character artwork mixes right in with the turn of the Harvest Moon westernized style, meaning the nostalgia never goes away but the game never gets old. When you get down to it, the game is a definitive shining star for the franchise.
Highly recommended!