It is exactly like the previous installments of Animal Crossing, which isn't a bad thing, but its a little dissapointing
If you've played any of the other installments of animal crossing you know the main point of this game, which is to just to live life. You live in a small town (which you can give it any name) and you basically just do daily tasks in the town. There are many things to do. For example you can: fish, go shopping, talk to your neighbors, dig for treasure, celebrate certain events and holidays, catch bugs, and even decorate your house any way you want. It can be a very fun game. if you've never played it, i recommend you pick it up. But for veteran players of the game, you might want to stick with the version you already have. The only difference in this game is the online ability (which i never used) and the ability to go into town to find more shops to buy stuff at.
If this game wasn't so enjoyable I would probably give it a lower score for being basically the same game as the Gamecube version. But things in your town constantly change. There are new bugs and fish to catch. New fossils to find and donate to the museum. New neighbors move in and out of your town. I mean you can play this game forever. Im sure it can get old after 3 or 4 months, but you can never beat the game, so it has the best replayability of any game I've ever played. It can also get kinda boring after playing for more than an hour each day. Each day there are new things to buy and look at and new things to talk about with your neighbors. So this is an excellent game to play along side an actual game you can beat. I play this everyday for 15-30 minutes, then I wait for the next day to play it again.
So, if you already own the DS or Gamecube version dont waste your money on this. If you've never played Animal Crossing before, you should probably pick up this version. It has the most to offer. It will easily keep you entertained for months.