(I'm not counting spin-off titles, like Rune Factory)
Best selling: Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life ...supposedlyIt may be because it was the next Harvest Moon game to come for Nintendo home console gamers after Harvest Moon 64, and was the first 3D HM game on a Nintendo console.It may also be because that people played Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland on PS2 and were disappointed. I was one of them, and thought that A Wonderful Life was going to be THE 3D Harvest Moon game that gets it right.
Best Grahpics: Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life (without a doubt)It makes me wonder why doesn't the Wii games look as good, or better.Then I look at the rest of the Wii game library, and can see that most of everyone who develops for the Wii just doesn't try as hard to please those attracted to nice graphics.
Best Music: Harvest Moon: Magical Melody (Gamecube Version)
My personal opinion. While the other games will have you hum a tune all season long, Magical Melody actually have more of its tunes in my head that I actually love. (I can also play them on piano and bass guitar.)
Worst in the series: Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life (read below), Followed by Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland.
Best in the series: Harvest Moon: Harvest Moon: Animal Parade, Followed by Harvest Moon: Magical Melody (This is REALLY close to a tie, in my opinoin.)
Magical Melody and Animal Parade felt the most complete, with everything that you would normally find in a Harvest Moon game, and more. A Wonderful Life was an empty shell of it all.
Animal Parade is a much-improved, updated version of Tree of Tranquility, and the largest of all Harvest Moon games.
Here are some of what makes Animal Parade better than Tree of Tranquiliy:
-Larger cast of characters
-More side quests
-Seed sowing is easier (no longer forced to do 1x6)
-More marriage candidates (with 4 more than Tree of Tranquilty: Witch, Wizard, Harvest Goddess, and the Harvest King).-Can have TWO children (can be either boy or girl)
-Better pets system
-More clothes and accessories to buy (you can even buy stuff for your kids)
-More character interactions with everyone, including more cutscenes-You can now carry around small animals that you own. (this coudn't be done Tree of Tranquility for some stupid reason.)
-There's much more to be seen. Even subtle ones make a difference
Now.....as for that turd, Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life:
-No Fesitvals
-Not much at all to buy, which makes farming/ranching almost a complete waste of time and energy. Even house upgrades are automatic.
-Only 3 girls to woo, and you're forced to marry by the first year's end.....or it's GAME OVER. No wedding. No Rivals.
-No seasonal songs (can only hear BGM in people's houses and from the records you play on your farm)-No special goals. There really isn't a reason to play. I wanted to give up part-way through chapter 2. By the time I got to chapter 3, I was just sleeping without doing anything with my farm and animals.-The bum won't leave! Moi.-No Harvest Goddess (she'd dead.)-Another Wonderful Life isn't much better (you play as a girl).When Magical Melody was released on Gamecube, it was a TOTALLY DIFFERENT STORY!!
-Lots of villagers with character who can move in/move out depending on what you do
-Can have multiple houses/barns
-Can own multiple pieces of land
-More people to marry
-AWESOME MUSIC
-GOALS! You have a reason to actually continue playing the game once you've started
-Achievement System to awaken the Harvest Goddess. Stuff like, ship X amount of crops, stand in the rain for X amount of hours, catch X fish, get X amount of steps on your pedometer, etc.
-A rival who's ranch is always in competition with yours
-You can marry your Rival (who's always the opposite gender as you), but....
-The return of festivals!
-While everything in the game is 3D, the gameplay is that of your traditional 2D Harvest Moon game.
After playing Animal Parade and Magical Melody, you'd NEVER want to ever want to play A Wonderful Life EVER again.