Wireframe – Issue 20, 2019

22 / wfmag.cc

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Tom Nook

Animal Crossing series

2001–on

We love Tom Nook not

because he’s nice – he’s

little more than a loan

shark with a cheery

demeanour – but he had such an impact on those

jumping into Nintendo’s life sim, it’s hard not to love

him. Welcome to Animal Crossing, it’s cutesy and

laid-back and everyone’s friendly and – hey – you

can pay me back at this rate, and if you don’t I’ll set

the Raccoon Goons on you. Ha ha, I’m only joking

• or am I? You’ve got to respect the kingpin of an
  idyllic hamlet, even if you are in debt to him.

Amaterasu

kami 2006

Not only is Amaterasu an elegant

and beautiful wolf, but she also has

a tiny little travelling companion doing

her speaking for her in the shape of the

artist Issun, and she has some pretty special

painting skills. Oh, also she’s the Sun Goddess, so

there’s that too. Ammy’s adventures in kami put

players in the paws of one of gaming’s greatest

animals, tackling a Zelda-like adventure as

good as anything else Nintendo itself produced.

Chibiterasu upped the cuteness ante with the

whole ‘is a puppy’ thing for sequel kamiden, but

our heart is also with the goddess of the sun.

Yoshi Mario/Yoshi series 1990–on

The long-suffering dinosaur with a taste for fruits,

Yoshi has been helping Mario for longer than the

nowhere-near-an-actual-plumber can remember.

Shigeru Miyamoto had the idea for a dinosaur

companion before the original Super Mario Bros.,

but it wasn’t until Super Mario World that the green

one made his first appearance. Since then, Yoshi

has popped up in dozens of titles, and brought

plenty more smiles. And been a bit annoying in

Super Mario Kart, let’s be honest. Still, Yoshi is

fantastically designed, and has cemented his

place in our hearts forever.

Dog Fable II/III 2008, 2010

Has there been a better in-game representation

of dogs before or since Lionhead’s action-RPG?

We would argue no. Your faithful companion

across each of the Fable sequels isn’t just a

useful tool in navigating the world, digging up

treasures, and fighting off enemies – it’s a dog that

fundamentally behaves like a dog. That is to say, it

is an adorable idiot. With that behaviour comes the

inevitable bonding, and with that bonding comes

the inevitable heartbreak – the choice to save

everyone or just your pooch should have been a

hard one. It was not. He’s just too good a boy.

Wireframe’s favourite animals

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e’re full of animals this issue,

so what better time than to

talk up some of our favourite

in-game beasties? None.

There is no better time.

Some might say this is a hasty decision taken

W

favourite animals

Sometimes you just have to list your favourite in-game

animals. Sometimes you get carried away with dogs

to fill a couple of pages we needed to fill,

while others will realise that’s only half the

truth and, in fact, a big reason for doing this

is because we enjoy both lists and animals.

Believe what you will. Regardless, here it is:

animals, lists, and words.

Wireframe’s