I remember reading about Harvest Moon in Nintendo Power Previews as well, when I was in the 5th grade with my buddy. I remember dragging my mom out to Toys 'R' Us before Christmas to drop the $69.99 on it. My friend and I had already picked out the women we were to marry. I picked Nina of course. That game sucked away hours of time from me and I've just been waiting to spend the 2000 Wii points that I bought back in July...

COME STATESIDE DAMN YOU

Bowlynee41x

A Wonderful Life is the single worst Harvest Moon in the entire series. I've played just about every one and A Wonderful Life (and that PS2 one) are the only ones I seriously couldn't stand.

hansamurai

@ SixTail

Umm, the SNES did have upgradable tools, and time did not pass when indoors.

duderdude2

@Wuffles: You could eat weeds in AWL?

Wow...

Omata

People, please don't forget that the SNES Harvest Moon was -really- fucking hard and limited before you spend those Wii Points. It's gonna be painful when you remember the SNES version had no real upgradable tools, getting married was twice as hard and time passed everywhere, even within buildings.

The best Harvest Moon was Harvest Moon 64 and oddly enough the ONLY one in which your wife would do anything other then walk around the house when you married her and pretend to fix you food. (Ann would collect eggs, I forget what the others would do) The GC one focused way too much on having a brat for my liking and forced you to get married, something that was the biggest mistake ever, along with the whole point of the game mostly being how many friends you make of the townspeople so your brat grows up right.

After that, the Harvest Moon for Playstation it's port for GBA and last, Rune Factory. I'm really holding out hope for the Wii one, but Natsume has been infamously lazy when it comes to translations and such over the last few years and the result is not at all fun, one reason I can't get into Harvest Moon DS.

I really want a new Rune Factory, it balances out the RPG element that's been creeping into HM for years, they just need to fix cooking and focus more on farming, as you could hack and slash your way though most of the game and never farm a single thing.

Sixtail

HM:SNES was what got me into the harvest moon series. Every iteration after that felt like two steps forward and one step backwards. Good things included, good things removed.

Like for example cooking on the PS1 version was probably the best, but the movement sucked.

Movement on the 64 version was great, but it lacked in the cooking department.

Friends of Mineral Town for the GBA was probably the best harvest moon version I played, with Magical Melody for the GC being a close second.

I bought a GC JUST for a wonderful life when it first came out. I was very disappointed. I just couldn't get myself to progress past the second phase of a wonderful life as I was bored out of my mind and the mechanics were horrible.

Money making seemed to consist just of reselling tree seeds? Spend all this time growing a plant for no profit unless you worked on improving the quality of it. And 1 seed = 1 plant wtf am I doing something wrong? Mining was boring. Taking care of cows was ridiculous with the weather. The weather channel was never on, and changed constantly throughout the day. Cooking was horrible. Sprites had like no use. God I hated that game on so many levels I couldn't enjoy the whole game by playing it through to the end.

I just can't seem to get past a year and a half of any harvest moon game because the cutscenes (my favorite part) tend to drop off the table halfway throught the year, and you've done all the festivals after a year.

To those who have survived all what, 6? years of A wonderful life. Should I bother dusting off my GC?

Reiichi

Harvest Moon surprised me with sudden cut-scenes depending on how well I was doing with a girl. I was happy just making my farm awesome and making everyone I could happy and all of a sudden the game shows me a nice little seen that I wasn't expecting at all. It was nice. =)

The unfortunate thing about Harvest Moon is that it really could use a fast forward button at times when you're either waiting or stuck in tedium that more than likely involves waiting such as getting exhausted and having your character fall over repeatedly.

AcerBandit

Friends of Mineral town was the ideal Harvest Moon in my opinions.
A Wonderful Life was... wonderful, but it strayed too far from HM roots.
I definitely will buy this if/when it hits stateside.

Klink

Yes, I want HM to come to the States VC!!!!!!!!!!

I never played the SNES version. I heard it was really good. My hopes are for the N64 version coming soon. That was my favorite one BY FAR!

Though, I am enjoying their new spin on things with this DS game Rune Factory. That may become my 2nd favorite HM-type game.

Figcoinc

Harvest Moon: Magical Melody is my second favorite... right after HM:64. HM:64 is partially responsible for my being married (long story).

Even so, this had better come to American VC, or I will be distraught.

antialias02

Must...resist...buying..Darn you Harvest Moon!!! I spent way too many hours on that game back in the day.

sweetie55

I'm a little disappointed that no one has mentioned Harvest Moon: Magical Melody, which I think beats a Wonderful life and (from what I can tell) is very similar to the 64 version.

Just started replaying it in the midst of holidays, as I have yet to birth a baby. But who has time for romance when you have so much work to do on the farm.

EphNE

@Brimful: overruled! (see, you wrote council instead of console)

Nice. Very nice. I might get it when I remember how many points I have. Actually forget that, I still have Link to the Past and F-Zero and Super Metroid and Paper Mario that I've barely scratched the surface of. It'll keep for a couple of months.

awkward91

In the distorted logic of my mind this brings us one step closer to Animal Forest... oh glee. I would melt if AF/AC hit the virtual council

Brimful

Well Harvest Moon is great, but even THAT is no reason for nintendo-europes laziness, really hope nintendo america would take over the marketing in europe and fire all of those pathetic lazy morons of nintendo europe.

Yas

@ZenGrenadier:

*pouts* I was reading it, then I freaked out, then realized it was for PAL.

Then I got mad. ;(

Hitokage

A Wonderful Life? I thought it was rather 'lite' on all accounts and didn't have the patience to get involved in the (what I took to be) INSANE seed-breeding.

Harvest Moon 64 needs to come out POST HASTE, however. I enjoyed the heck out of that one. It would be nice if we got the PSX port somehow, as I guess it was like HM 64, but had some fixed bugs as well as new content.

HM64 was one of the 64 games I most wanted to have on the VC (also: Space Station Silicon Valley) Here's hoping we somehow see the 64 version pop up soon!

Klaymen

Aw man! No way! Just the other day I was thinking when they'd transfer this...I gotta buy it! Now to try and get the Wii Point transfer on a good day... :\

Btw, it is blasphemous to think AWL > SNES Harvest Moon. I had high hopes for AWL and it sucked so much ass. You couldn't move 3 feet without having to eat weeds to survive - it was pathetic! :(

Wuffles

@D_DubDSU: 23rd!!! oh wait....NO ONE CARES!

@others: One game may seem a bit stingy, but just think! What they're really doing is ensuring that you have enough time to sow ur seeds properly, chop ur wood for those cold nights, and milk the cows til ur wrists ache - thanks for caring Ninty, we love you too, u happy-go-lucky scamps

Gypsie

OMG the snes version of Harvest Moon was my all time favourite Harvest Moon. Must... resist... hours of my life will be wasted D:

nya-chama

Man, I remember reading about the first Harvest Moon in Nintendo Power previews and just falling in love with the series. It was one of the very first games I ever pre-ordered.

XD Guy at the store told me he hadn't seen any other preorders in the entire state in the computer list. All worth it, still have my copy. Damn good game, damn good series.... and yes Harvest Moon 64 is the best. :D

Mookie

Hmm, might get Harvest Moon if I ever finish the gazillions of unfinished/unplayed games I got. Remember that it was fun back in the day.

Alazar

awwwww yeah....... so when is the release on this side of the pond..... i want it now!

YaMissed2

Oh man is that harvest moon I see? Back in the states (Hawaii) during the snes era that game was so fucking hard to find it wasnt funny for some odd reason.

Would be nice to be actually able to play it for once since I always heard good things about that game.

Witzbold

I've been playing through Rune Factory, actually, and I'm enjoying the crap out of it.

The SNES and N64 versions are the only REAL Harvest Moon games I remember playing. I wish I had more experience with the N64 version. I only rented it and when I look back, that was a horrible idea. But I was young and I didn't know any better.

Other than that, my girlfriend loves the original Harvest Moon on the DS.

I may be tempted to get this one for myself, or wait/hope for the 64 version to come out. It's monotonous, but it's oh-so fun!

Konatsu

Well, I know where my Wii points are going. I love HM, and this was the game that started the obession for me.

Since the discussion turns to faves, I'm personally inclined to go with FoMT, mainly for its "return" to classic style. The PS2 and GC versions both departed a bit too far for the games to be enjoyable for me, and FoMT really brought it all back. All the best elements of the previous games rolled into 1.

I haven't played the DS one as much, but my wife tells me it's quite similar. Maybe one of these days I'll work on it, but the layout being so unfamiliar throws me off. I don't know where any of the shops are off by heart.

beeawwb

I love the Harvest Moon series. I can play for hours straight.

But I never get very far infrastucturewise. I suck at it.

Actaeus

I have always had a hard time with Harvest Moon, first time I had a go was on the SNES but I just couldn't get the hang of keeping the farm going. Not that I didn't spend hours trying.

Gamernator.Com

...I'm sorry. I think I screwed up.

Um, in short try Harvest Moon DS or Friends of Mineral Town for a traditional Harvest Moon experience. Hell, even Back to Nature, which is my favorite.

I'll stop talking now...

ZenGrenadier

=0 Really? This never got a UK release! I'm there!

Android18a

Oh damn,

ZenGrenadier

A Wonderful Life is fun, but it'

ZenGrenadier

I tried playing the Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life (Gamecube) and found it to be too hard. Guess I just never found my flow in the game. I really did try to like it tho. Maybe I'll dust it off and give it another shot.

dead_red_eyes

Yes, the ban hammer is (hopefully) striking him as we speak. And I've never actually played a Harvest Moon game, there's something about the series that makes it seem like work- should give it a go one of these days though.

PurpleMonkey

H-h-h-holy crap! If Harvest Moon for the SNES is on the American VC, heh, then I'm going Wii hunting. (Which I'm doing anyways)

ZenGrenadier

@D_DubDSU:

Hey n00b, we don't take well to dribblecups like you who post "First!" here on Kotaku. You're bound to get your ass banned for such a thing.

dead_red_eyes

My favorite? Gamecube. I'm sorry to say but i like the gamecube one the most and keep the snes one and a wonderful life on my psp.

myd12

@Erwin211: Sorry. That first message makes no sense.

Erwin211

@D_DubDSU: If you're not banned by the time you read this message it's too late. Don't do "First" if you want to post more than 3 times. Kotaku is strict about crap like that.

Erwin211

A Wonderful Life over the SNES original? I can't pretend to understand it, but I'll respect it.

With that said, this game is categorically my favorite in the series, with perhaps its one competitor being Harvest Moon 64. Beyond that, I also dug Friends of Mineral Town on the GBA, but the ones that minimized/dumbed down the farming totally lost me (GCN and PS2, I'm looking at you).

duderdude2

This is certainly not going to help me impress my girlfriend. "Why are you chopping wood in a game when you could be washing real dishes in the sink"

Connoisseur

First!

D_DubDSU

This is great news! As many have said, this and HM64 are my favorite titles of the series by far. I'm eagerly awaiting the stateside release of both of those games.

KnightOfElcar

Jesus Christ, this thing is out for the VC? Great! Even though I'm in the states, it makes me glad to see something this hard to come by, and by proxy expensive, in production again. I recall paying $90 for the game a little over two years ago, and being happy to have merely found it. Congrats Europe, for once you aren't getting a large stick shoved up your ass!

This makes up for all of Natsume's mistakes in the past with the glaring exceptions of 64 and the DS, where they fucked up their own name and the entirety of the game respectively.

Also, Sixtail has a valid point, this game is going to be a kick to the nutsack of your pride when you start playing it. Try and recall that this was the first game in the series, and thus lacked the common comforts of the later games, like oh- the Rucksack.

This, the 64 version and Friends of Mineral town make up the Holy Trinity of Harvest Moon, with the DS version being left to eat the shit at the bottom of the barrel for being an epic disappointment on par with Superman 64. Even for Natsume, that was an unacceptable amount of errors in the translation

Bardock44

@Bardock44: "with the DS version being left to eat the shit at the bottom of the barrel for being an epic disappointment on par with Superman 64. Even for Natsume, that was an unacceptable amount of errors in the translation"

Don't forget a critical error that makes it in some copies of the game imposable to marry the Witch Princess due to a missing item. I think i'll be trading in HM:DS once I pick up my own copy of Rune Factory, it's simply not worth playing at all.

Natsume's gotten disgustingly lazy from it's SNES glory days.

Sixtail

@Sixtail: I meant to include a comment on the errors in my original post. I guess it got lost when I copied and pasted this from word.

And you cannot marry either the Witch Princess or the Harvest Goddess because the game does not keep track of your dead animals and because two specific items are unavailable to us in the US (respectively). I have heard things about the Mermaid, but cannot verify them.

Also, above anything else, this is a game where we NEED a tour from the mayor. We take the tour for granted nowadays. It is greatly needed in DS, and was not given to us.

Bardock44

@Bardock44: I want to know why in only one Harvest Moon does your wife ever try and help you do chores, yet for some reason it could not be done in any other HM.

The HM for Wii is really going to be a test for me if I keep following the series. I liked having a kid and watching it grow up. I liked getting married, I liked cooking and I even like the RPG element of dungeon crawling, but I have yet to find a HM that does all of these right and it's pissing me off.

Also, I want my guy to change clothing before jumping into bed, a night shirt, something, lol.

Sixtail