Harvest Moon: Boy & Girl for PSP Reviews by Gamers

Harvest Moon: Back to Nature was the very first Harvest Moon game I ever played. Expecting the game to be mediocre at best, I was blown away when I popped the disc into my Playstation. Now, many years and games later, Natsume has released the original game and its follow-up Girl version for the PSP. But how does it compare to the original?

First off this game is merely a port of the original Back to Nature. The graphics and music are the exact same. While both were outdated even when the original came out, they do a good job creating the atmosphere. All the characters have distinct personalities and there a slew of brides to choose from. Festivals are enjoyable and usually involve the player completing various mini-game like activities such as horse racing, cooking, or swimming. Where this game gets you, however, is the surprisingly addictive task of raising animals and crops. I found myself spending hours and hours farming with the original and the same still applies here.

The only drawback of this port is the surprising amount of slow down and delay. A simple action (such as sowing seeds or filling your watering can) can take more than a couple of seconds to be performed whereas the original PSX version never had this problem. The PSP is a much more powerful platform than the original PSX and it's confusing that a port has these problems. The slow down is also annoying in areas of the town that contain more than one building. Normally issues like this don't bother me but it was noticeable enough to put a slight damper on the gameplay.

Overall this is a great title for anyone who wants to kick back and play a game that puts no real demands on you. While Harvest Moon isn't for everyone, it's a title that is worth checking out.