Animal Crossing started its life as Animal Forest, a game that released exclusively in Japan on the Nintendo 64 that would eventually find its way to the United States on the GameCube. Since then, it’s become one of Nintendo’s flagship series, with an entry being available on every Nintendo system since then, with the exception of the Switch 2, at least for now.
Animal Crossing has even been able to spread past the main titles and create some spin-offs, like Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. While they offer different experiences, they’re still worth ranking alongside the other entries. Some applications were also released for the DS, 3DS, and Wii U shops, like Animal Crossing Clock and Animal Crossing Plaza, but these aren’t considered full games in the series. For players who only have time to revisit some of the old classics, here’s an overview of what’s worth their time.
Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival Doesn’t Feel Like Animal Crossing
Released For Wii U In November 2015
Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival for the Wii U doesn’t resemble a traditional Animal Crossing game, and in changing the formula to be a board game, comes out worse than the other entries. The board game itself is overly simplistic and requires the use of Amiibo to continually roll the dice.
The most salvageable part of the game is a minigame called Desert Island Survival, but these smaller modes don’t add up to a full Animal Crossing experience. Add that to the fact that the Wii U didn’t get a traditional Animal Crossing game and it becomes one of Nintendo’s most disappointing titles in recent memory.
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp’s Turbulent History
Initially Released For iOS And Android In November 2017
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp has gone through several iterations now. Previously, it was an app with online servers and an overwhelming amount of microtransactions. Then, at the end of 2024, it was replaced by a new offline-only app called Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp Complete which has an upfront cost but no microtransactions.
Losing the live service element both helped and hindered it. Players could enjoy playing the game without constantly being faced with microtransactions, but there also is no new content being added. The gameplay itself remains cute and simple with decorating a campsite and more, but it can also feel like much more of a grind than the console games are.
Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer Is Limited
Released For 3DS In September 2015
Happy Home Designer for the 3DS is far from a bad game, and it has some advantages over the traditional formula that Animal Crossing has established. Collecting furniture is fun, and it can be hard to find some furniture in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Happy Home Designer solves this problem by instead tasking players to design multiple houses with corresponding furniture items.
However, without the collection aspect of the game and a lack of both villager and multiplayer social aspects, the game does compare poorly to the rest of the mainline games. This is made doubly apparent now that Happy Home Paradise replaced it in New Horizons, and the 3.0 update to ACNH offers much of the same gameplay thanks to the new Resort Hotel. Ultimately, ACNH now offers a better Happy Home experience than Happy Home Designer.
Animal Crossing For GameCube Is A Classic Worth Replaying
Released For GameCube In September 2002
The basic formula of fishing, conversing, collecting furniture, and doing chores has proven itself to be fun and no matter what version of Animal Crossing someone plays, they’re bound to have a fun time. Of course, the first game to solidify this formula was Animal Crossing for the GameCube.
Returning to Animal Crossing GameCube might result in a shock for some, as many of the quality of life features from the newer versions like quick saving, crafting, and online play are all missing. What keeps the game from feeling basic is actually its unique game modes. Animal Crossing comes with around 18 NES games that players can collect and also has functionality with the Game Boy Advance link cable, similar to ACNH 3.0's update added with playable consoles. Along with many cheats to get furniture, the GameCube version of Animal Crossing set a strong foundation for the rest of the games to build upon.
Animal Crossing: Wild World Is Simple But Fun To Play
Released For Nintendo DS In December 2005
It's safe to say that Animal Crossing works really well in a handheld format, as it’s harder to keep up with a save file that has to be played on a TV screen. Animal Crossing: Wild World was the first game to realize this. It added online multiplayer with minigames as well as new modes to the DS version of the game, making it easy for people to toy with their village whenever they wanted to.
The aesthetics of Animal Crossing: Wild World are still nice, especially for a handheld as low-powered as the DS. The villagers are much more interactive than in the GameCube version, making this a preferable experience.
Animal Crossing: City Folk Added Content To Wild World
Released For Nintendo Wii In November 2008
The Wii version of Animal Crossing, City Folk, isn’t that much better or different from its DS counterpart, but has the added problem of being tethered to the TV. There’s not too much more that hasn’t subsequently been done in New Leaf or New Horizons and its defining features like Wii Speak functionality and the City don’t have as much appeal to many players.
However, being on a more powerful console does give it a graphical edge over the older games, and makes it easier for players to play it today.
Animal Crossing: New Leaf Gave Players New Control
Released For Nintendo 3DS In November 2012
For a lot of people, despite New Horizons being better, Animal Crossing: New Leaf is where the series really found its footing. It has a lot of content and finally gives players even more freedom to customize the village itself rather than just a house or an outfit. Plus, it built upon the idea of the city and gave players the handheld format again.
Many of its features, like the player being able to work for Brewster, the return of islands, and the ability to construct public works, and more, make it easy to see why this game has gained a reputation for being one of the best in the series. The 3DS ended up being a great platform for the game as well, having fairly high graphical quality while still being handheld.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons Is The Most Creative AC Game
Released For Nintendo Switch In March 2020
Animal Crossing: New Horizons quickly became the best experience players can have with the franchise, and its launch right at the start of the global pandemic certainly helped make it the most popular. ANCH has many unique items, events, and offers game mechanics like terraforming, slumber islands, Happy Home Paradise, and so much more that gives it almost endless replayability.
Even so many years after its original launch, ACNH continues to be played on a daily basis by many players, with others having recently returned to the game with the latest update.
The story of Animal Crossing has always been one of iteration rather than major changes — every game has built upon the last, nearly making each previous entry obsolete. It’s nice that Nintendo is trying to innovate with spin-off titles, but none of them have truly found a groove yet. Still, with the massive success of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the future looks bright for more experiments with Animal Crossing side games as well as the main series.
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