Pros: Lots of stuff to do and figure out.
Cons: none for us
The bottom line: We love this game. It was bought for the youngest but played by everyone.
This game is played by all the kids and my husband. The graphics look pretty cool to me. I actually enjoy watching them play this game.

There is a post office, a museum, a store, houses, villagers, visitors, etc. There is even a train station. Our family is quite new to the gamecube and haven't mastered the memory card useage yet. So we only have one town and have no real need for the train station.

I will explain below what we have figured out.

You get on a train, you name your town, you pick a name for yourself, and then you stop at your town. Ours is Rainbow. It was picked by our 4 year old daughter. But in a house with 5 girl children it works really well. No-one complained at least.

Once you get off the train you meet Tom Nook. He's the store owner. He takes you to around to the houses you get to pick from. You can choose from one of four houses. All quite small to start out with, but don't worry, you get to expand later. In order to pay off Tom Nook he starts you out with tasks. First you have to meet EVERYONE in town. Then you go back to him. Once you finish the tasks he makes you complete you are free to play any way you wish.

You can buy shovels, paper, fishing poles, axes, furniture, etc. You get to decorate your house with anything you can get your hands on. In fact you can even put fish in your house that you catch in the streams, rivers, and sea. They will each be put in their own tank in your house. If you chose not to keep them you can sell them to Tom Nook or donate them to the museum if they haven't been donated already.

You can also dig up and interesting items through out the town. Fossils, money, misc. items and unfortunately garbage. Donating items to the museums is quite fun. There is a little plaque that tells everyone it was donated by you. You can donate fish, bugs, fossils (after you send them away to get them identified) and art work.

You can also shake trees to find money, fruit, and bees. Watch out though, the bees will sting you. It actually makes your face swell up for a while. About a day.

There is a police station where lost items are kept. You can pick up anything you find there as your own.

The seasons and the time change as in real world time. This gets a little frustrating if you only have time to play very late. As the store will probably be closed and it is the only place to sell your items.

The post office is used for mailing letters and paying off you debt to Tom Nook. Once you pay him off you can expand your house. Once you get the largest house (my 4 year old who is helped by her father has a basement, a 1st floor, and a second floor.) you get a statue to yourself put up in the town.

There are many things to figure out and many different people to talk to during this game. You can shake trees and dig and fish and donate. You can catch bugs with your net or just talk to villagers. Some of who will give you items.

There is alot to do and figure out. This game should keep you interested. It has worked for us.