Ok so I'm not sure if this game qualifies for "retro" but it is pretty old at this point, so I'm busting it out for Retro Tuesday.

If you're unfamiliar with the Harvest Moon franchise, this series of games usually revolves around working on a farm and turning it from a rundown field of rocks and tree stumps into a profitable ranch, all while trying to get married and make friends with your neighbors. It sounds really lame but the games are actually a lot of fun. It's one of those rare games that is fun without any kind of fighting at all.

This was the first Harvest Moon game I ever played and from what I've read on-line it's considered by a lot of fans to be the best in the series. Growing your crops and raising your animals is surprisingly fun and so is trying to squeeze as much activities into each day before either time runs out or your character collapses from exhaustion. The pacing in this game is really done well. The days are just long enough to let you accomplish several tasks each day but short enough to keep you rushing from one activity to the next and keeping the game moving quickly.

There's also a constant feeling of progression which is nice. Whether your expanding your house, adding more animals to your barn, leveling your tools, increasing your characters energy, training your horse and dog for their respective races. or wooing the eligible ladies in the village you constantly feel like you're accomplishing something to improve your character or your farm. It's also very easy to get wrapped up in the game and not realize a couple hours have gone by.

Unfortunately this game hasn't made it to the Virtual console, so if you want to give it a shot you'll have to track it down on amazon or eBay for the N64. Of course there are other means to acquire the game, but you probably already know that. :)