• Publisher: Natsume
  • Release Date: Nov 12, 2009
Harvest Moon DS: Sunshine Islands Image
Metascore

Generally favorable reviews - based on 9 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 8 Ratings

  • Summary: The islands are in peril! Years ago, a powerful earthquake struck the Sunshine Islands. In Harvest Moon: Sunshine Islands, it's up to the player to raise the sunken islands by finding the magical Sun Stones. Raise the islands to meet new characters, harvest new crops, and befriend animals such as ducks, monkeys, and badgers. In Harvest Moon: Sunshine Islands, players rejoin all of the beloved characters from Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness, and get to meet a number of new friends as well. Players grow and harvest crops, care for animals, mine, fish, and compete in festivals in their quest to restore the Sunshine Islands to their former glory. With a little luck, they may even find true love and start a family along the way. [Natsume] Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 9
  2. Negative: 0 out of 9
  1. 91
    But be patient, put in the dedicated time, research, and strategic planning, and Sunshine Islands will reward you satisfactorily.
  2. Jan 3, 2011
    85
    Sunshine Island is one of the most enjoyable Harvest Moon, maybe the most, and at the same time has a very high difficulty, which can chop newcomers' aspirations. We could even say it is game made for veterans of the series.
  3. With a few tweaks it could've been a classic. [Jan 2011, p.82]
  4. Fortunately, Sunshine Islands has a better understanding than previous handheld Harvest Moons of how to efficiently use the DS platform. [Dec 2009, p.85]

See all 9 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 2
  2. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. Maxte
    10
    This is game is freaking awesome. First of all it fixes all the previous problems from the last installment (namely the relying too much on the stylus problem). It also has the best introductory sequence in a HM game period. And most of all it is fun AND addictive which is a rare combination in a ds HM considering the last two ds games. So go out and buy this game, you wont regret it. Expand
  2. The game is by no means 'bad.' It is fun to watch your farm grow, the slow pace makes progress feel all the more rewarding, and it is certainly nothing if not addicting. The downsides, however, are many. The events feel few and far between, as well as their actual impact seeming generally trivial. Taking care of everything between events falls into a sense of tedium instead of fun. Just because you're raising crops, and the pace is intentionally slow doesn't mean you should feel like you're doing a menial task instead of playing a game.

    There are other flaws. The game feels sort of like it's kind of cobbled together. There are visual glitches and hiccups here and there that make this evident, especially regarding item screens and cooking in particular. In terms of mining, you have to learn that you can turn without moving while charging, because you will find yourself falling to your doom if so much as your little toe touches a pitfall. Aesthetically, I personally find the graphics inexplicably bothersome. In generally, the whole production, while fun to an extent and a good way to pass some time, feels vacant and lacking.
    Expand