You bought the farm, so now it’s time to roll up your sleeves and try living off the fat of the land.

Harvest Moon was one of the later SNES releases in 1997. It's a Role-Playing game themed on the noble professional of farming! If you are not familiar with this series, stay with me - it is not as bad as it sounds on paper! This is basically The Sims on a farm. So, if you're a fan of simulation and RPG elements, this is definitely worth considering for download on the VC.

The story starts with you playing a young boy who has been left in charge of his grandparents’ farm. In just over two years you must rid the farm of weeds, rocks and stumps to turn it into a beautiful, blooming and money making farm. But that's not all. You are also tasked to get married, have some kids and upgrade your house. At the end of the game you get a score which is the tally of the number of things you completed.

Life begins on a beaten up, ugly farm and you have to make it all beautiful. To the cynic this might sound like a boring game but if you give it a chance you will likely find the gameplay is relaxing and extremely addictive. You start out running to town all the time buying veggies, plowing the fields from 6am until 8pm every day, and starting over in the morning. This goes on for about a week. Then you start harvesting small, crappy veggies and selling them in a wooden crate. Eventually, you'll have spare time to go into town and meet up with some of the ladies. To win their hearts you can read their diaries! Break in, read them, and leave. Just don’t tell them until the divorce!

When you've charmed your woman and made her love you, you can buy a blue feather in order to propose to her. If you are lucky and she accepts, you will get better meals at home, have babies and experience other fun stuff, like divorce!

Summing it up, you go through the seasons planting the right stuff, going to festivals, getting married and hoping you get a cool ending. To some this will sound pointless but it’s a game that is greater than the sum of its parts and very addictive once you get started. This is a shining example of the RPG genre and at the time of release it was unique and original. With all the secrets in this game there is lots of scope for replayability so you will get your value for money here: even more so when you consider that a unboxed cartridge of this game sells on eBay for around £30 / $60 due to its rarity!