The best Harvest Moon! Period!
--Graphics--
What's to say? Amazing? I think that's the word. For the GBA, Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town has great graphics. The characters, animals and scenery have great looks. The animation of the animals and characters are great and everything about the way it looks is amazing. There isn't much else to say.
10/10
--Gameplay--
The game consists of everything all the Harvest Moon games should have. It has the regular animals, cows, sheep and chickens along with "pet" animals like a dog and a horse. There are many different varieties of crops for every season. There are also other activities like fishing and mining that are always fun to do. Taking care of your farm is always fun because there is so many things like construction and appearance to make your farm the best farm ever. Getting money to do these things takes a while so it will keep you entertained for a long time. Marriage is another "side quest" to do while running your farm. There are a total of 6 bachelorettes, one of which is a secret girl, which takes a lot of work to get. Getting a girl to accept your proposal for marriage takes maybe 2 in-game years (minimum), which makes it another task that will keep you, entertained. This game is so long that even after your 50th anniversary, new things are still happening in Mineral Town. This game is great and I am still playing it as we speak.
10/10
--Music--
FOMT has a nice track of themes for each area of the land. The forest, your farm and even the village have catchy tunes, which are always nice to hear. After the release of A Wonderful Life, FOMT was able to connect your Nintendo Gamecube, which would make characters from A Wonderful Life come into your GBA game. One of these characters would sell you a record player and so records so you can listen to other Harvest Moon tunes from the other games.
10/10
--Story--
The story for FOMT is basically the same as the rest, but there is something about it that makes it enjoyable. It starts off with you as a little kid getting lost while on vacation with your parents. You stumble onto a farm and the old farmer there calls your parents to tell them where you are. You spend the rest of your vacation on the farm, playing with the animals and such. Then one day, a small girl meets you while in the forest and you become very good friends. Once you leave the farm and grow up, you and the farmer keep in touch by mail, but when he stopped responding, you decide to visit the farm. You figure out he passed away and now you decide to take over. The story is cliché, but there is some mystery in it. Who was that little girl? Does she live in town? Is she the girl that you married? I've always wondered this and that is what made me enjoy this story.
10/10
--Overall--
Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town is THE best Harvest Moon game I've ever played. It's always fun to play and it's a great game to take on a long trip. I don't think I've ever spent so much time with a video game. Any DS or GBA owner should definitely check it out. I guarantee, if you like these types of games, you won't be able to put this down.
10/10