Animal Crossinghas become one of Nintendo’s most beloved franchises thanks, in large part, to its cozy atmosphere, adorable villagers, and compelling gameplay loop. However, not every game in the series is as fondly remembered nor as commercially successful, with particular entries ending up being flops comparatively. The majority of these unsuccessfulAnimal Crossinggames failed because of poor gameplay or for being uninteresting spin-offs.
However, one of them was a genuinely goodAnimal Crossingexperience, one that has a small following but is largely left an underrated classic deserving of more love. Fortunately, the perfect opportunity for it to make a return is looming on the horizon, as it could come back as afirst-party Switch 2 game, at least with a discount. While it may have failed the first time around,the Nintendo Switch 2 could end up being the best platform for it and see it finally get the recognition it deserves.
Animal Crossing: City Folk Isn’t As Beloved
It Isn’t As Innovative As Other Entries
Animal Crossing: City Folklaunched for the Wii in 2008, marking a return to the home console format. Unlike its predecessor,Wild World, and successor,New Leaf,City Folkperformed poorly, despite the Wii being the seventh best-selling console of all time.City Folksold 4.32 copies according toStatista, which, when compared to the 11.75 million copiesWild Worldmanaged a few years before, and the subsequent 13.05 millionNew Leafsold, feels meager at best.City Folkranks as the fourth worst-selling game in the series, just above the GameCube release and two spin-off titles.
Of course, sales aren’t everything, butAnimal Crossing: City Folkalso performed poorly with critics. Compared toNew Horizon’sglowing reviews,City Folkfeels like its from an entirely different series, garnering 73 onMetacritic, putting it just aboveAmiibo FestivalandHappy Home Designer. The biggest problem reviewers had withCity Folkwas its lack of innovation. While there were new features, such as the inclusion of the city - which made events that were once sporadic more easily accessible - for the most part,City Folkfelt like a port ofWild World.
It alsodidn’t help thatCity Folkwasn’t a portable experience.Wild WorldandNew Leaf- both handheld games -sold over 10 million copies each, more than tripling the lifetime sales ofCity Folk. Similarly,New Horizonswent on to sell 43 million copies, and evenPocket Camphas adoring fansand has generated a lot of revenue, despite a low Metacritic score. It is no surprise that, outside ofAmiibo Festival, the Wii U didn’t get anAnimal Crossinggame, nor that in the six years followingCity Folk’srelease, there wasn’t another release for the Wii.
The Switch 2 Would Be The Perfect City Folk Platform
It Would Finally Make It A Portable Experience
However, despite the low sales and poor critical reception,City Folkwas a greatAnimal Crossinggame. The introduction of the city helped make some of thebest parts ofAnimal Crossingmore accessible to players who had never played it before. Those who had playedWild World, and therefore had experienced a lot of whatCity Folkoffered, weren’t limited by just their small village space thanks to the new area. This was somewhat replicated inNew Leaf, but not quite to the same extent asCity Folkas its additional area, while expandable, never felt as impressive.
It is time thatCity Folkgot a second chance, especially on the Switch 2, as there are so many people who missed out on it the first time. Considering thatCity Folkis essentially the definitive version ofWild World, it feels like the best one suited for a Nintendo Switch 2 port. Its art style still holds up today, with an HD conversion being all that would be needed to make it more appealing to modern audiences. It also lacks the dual screen and touchscreen functionality of the DS titles, which may be harder to convert.
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Nintendo has a lot ofdormant games that need ports, fromWind WakertoStar Fox, butCity Folkwould be a good choice as an early title on the Switch 2 as it would help tide fans over. Its lack of sales is what makes it a perfect choice, as, much like the many Wii U games that found popularity when they were ported to the Switch, it would benefit from a bigger install base and a new generation ofAnimal-Crossing-loving fans. It also helps thatCity Folkhas a lot of features thatNew Horizonsis sorely lacking.
City Folk Has Upsides That New Horizons Doesn’t
The Villagers Are So Much Better
One of the main reasons why the Switch 2 could definitely do with aCity Folkport is that much of its core gameplay is significantly better thanNew Horizons'. That’s not to say thatAnimal Crossing: New Horizonsis a bad game, but rather thatCity Folkhas the benefit of the limitations the series once had, much of which pushed it to improve upon the life sim elements fans enjoy so much. For example, thebadNew Horizonsvillager interactionsare completely absent inCity Folk, replaced by genuinely compelling villagers with interesting things to say.
There’s also the aforementioned dynamically changing city, which adds a huge component to theAnimal Crossinggameplay loop thatNew Horizonslacks. While it introduced islands, they never felt as compelling as the city, especially thanks to their random nature.City Folk’scity was a defining feature, something that truly made it feel distinct, and filled with characters that never appeared inNew Horizons. Having access to this on the Switch 2 would demonstrate to those who’ve perhaps only experiencedNew Horizonswhat they’re missing out on.
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While it may initially seem like an odd choice for a Switch 2 remaster,Animal Crossing: City Folkabsolutely deserves it over the other titles. It combines the best elements of the first two games and adds in enough features to make it feel distinct. While it lacks some ofNew Leaf’schanges, its city is better. Nintendo is unlikely to port any of the older titles, especially if anewAnimal Crossinggameis on the horizon. However, should it decide to bring overCity Folkto the Switch 2, it will likely become anotherAnimal Crossingclassic.
