
Ahh, life on the farm. The sweet taste of buffalo milk, sheep and crocodiles playing together... OK, perhaps My Australian Farm isn't the most realistic agricultural simulator, but at least it makes for a decent money-management time-waster.
This, along with My Farm, My Exotic Farm and the upcoming My Asian Farm, all coexist in the 2009 retail release My Farm Around the World, now divided up into themed downloadable slices. That means that this is just a palette swap of its predecessors, but on the upside, it adds the charm of trading stock with your friends' farms in any of the game's iterations.
You can say g'day here to emus, opossums, kangaroos, crocodiles, sheep and buffalo, but beyond that the setting is as drab as its exotic counterpart and the storyline is basically nonexistent, unlike the dead relative-centred iterations. Finally, Uncle Bob's soul can rest.
There's nothing more complex here than buying the correct food and medicine for each animal and keeping in mind that different animals have slightly unique needs, like the temperamental crocodile. Some animals are for fattening up and selling at a higher price; others produce goods to sell at market. Knowing your livestock is crucial to success, then.
A few bonuses pop up along the way to keep things interesting, you'll have to invest in a few special purchases to keep your herd from fleeing and the game circulates between night and day. You must also keep your farm and animals clean, the latter of which is still plagued by the problem of shaded artwork making dirtiness slightly more difficult to detect. It's a small problem, though, and overall the game looks decent, though you'll want to mute the cacophony that quickly accumulates when enough livestock is present.
Conclusion
My Australian Farm, like its predecessors, is a serviceable if somewhat flawed money management game. You won't want to throw your DS on the barbie, nor will you come flying back to it like a boomerang.
Comments 22
Wow. Those were just...
Nice review Zach.
Buffalo? I know they probably weren't going for accuracy but still that seems a bit strange. Why not Camels, Alpacas and (obviously) Cows? Lots of animals to pick before Buffalo (esp considering I don't think I've ever heard of an Australian Buffalo farm)
Throw in a 'roo shootin' minigame and this could've been a lot better
i just got it only had 10mins play looks basic but ok for price got with the change i had after getting pacman and the lost town so cant complain im a happy bunny
yeh, green kangaroos, neat
Ahh yeah... that'll be the Lesser Red-breasted Green Tree-Wallaby, as you can clearly see in the second pic.
Second most ferocious animal in Australia after the Drop-bear....
Hmm, this seems more about money than animal....
Not interested in this after reading the review, just came here to say: Caption of the year ! Easily !
Why would you raise Kangaroos on a farm? If someone who lives in Australia could explain this to me, that would be great.
I was never a fan of vurtual pets get goldfish or a pet parrot.
A tip my hat to you good sir for the caption.
Er, i'm pretty sure our farms are almost nothing like that.
The only thing worth reading was the Crocodile Dundee reference.
Haha I expected a 3/10! Anyway, I must credit all the writers on nintendolife on their incredible captions/tag lines on articles and photos. Keep up the laughs
greatest tagline ever.
@akacesfan: Guess you've never eaten kangaroo meat then?
I'm also 99% sure we don't have any opossums in Australia. Just possums without the o.
you can get My Farm Around The World for around 7 on cart so might be better to go that way (cart has all 4 downloads on it)
Bad thing people said the cart can be beat within 3 hours meaning these single downloads can be beat in around hour>
@akacesfan I don't know about "kangaroo farms" but they're definitely kept in captivity and eaten..... just not at the same time I don't think. Keep injured or orphaned ones in captivity and hunt the wild ones which are pretty plague like. Emu farming? Yup. Kangaroo farming.... I don't think so.
Oh, and while I'm hear again. Possum farming? Really? Does anyone actually EAT possums let alone farm them?
@Usagi-san and @skywake
Thanks for the info, at least I now know this game is somewhat realistic.
@17 In new zealand possums were introduced from australia and are now a pest which is hunted. Last time i was in new zealand i bought possum fur nipple warmers back as a present for my partner... suffice to say she found it far less amusing than i did.
If you want to eat kangaroo you need to eat the farmed ones. The wild kangaroos are full of parasites like worms which would make them a risky meal, especially if it wasn't cooked properly.
And just some trivia, a full grown 'big red' kangaroo can cover 8 metres in a single bound (that's about 9 yards)
Won't be getting another DSiWare game unless It turns out 10/10. I don't like having it piled up on my 3DS. But this game looks okay.. I think the screenshots look disgusting.
@timp29 Hey. If it's just lying there in the middle of the road, who wont pick it up. Free meal!
i'm joking. that's awful. kangaroos are awesome.
ive had it a few days now its a bit to basic unfortunately might have a job getting an hours playtime to be able to review it
First game I've ever heard of that has something to do with Australia
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