# How Would You Rank the Main Series Animal Crossing Games and Why?



## baconhwang (May 22, 2018)

I've been playing a lot of Pocket Camp recently and it's made me realize how well Nintendo did with New Leaf. With that said, how would you rank the main series Animal Crossing games in order from best to worst? And tbh there's no such thing as a bad Animal Crossing game (well... maybe we'll turn a blind eye to Amiibo Festival, although I actually enjoyed that game since I bought it for five bucks).


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## MapleSilver (May 22, 2018)

New Leaf > Gamecube > City Folk > Wild World


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## baconhwang (May 22, 2018)

Just wondering, why would you rank Wild World as last? I've been meaning to try the other main series AC handheld game, is it not as fun as Gamecube and City Folk versions?


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## MapleSilver (May 22, 2018)

baconhwang said:


> Just wondering, why would you rank Wild World as last? I've been meaning to try the other main series AC handheld game, is it not as fun as Gamecube and City Folk versions?



This post explains it pretty well.



MapleSilver said:


> Wild World vs City Folk is like comparing a vanilla game to the same one with all the expansion packs. Once you play the complete version, the vanilla just feels empty. City Folk is very similar to Wild World but is superior in almost every way. Also in Wild World you need to have a friend visit your town to unlock Nookingtons. If you don't know anyone else who plays the game, you're stuck with Nookway forever.



Basically, as someone who played City Folk first, Wild World simply feels like a downgraded version of that game.


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## Lady Timpani (May 22, 2018)

MapleSilver said:


> Basically, as someone who played City Folk first, Wild World simply feels like a downgraded version of that game.


That's interesting! I'd never thought about how you might prefer one over the other due to the order you played them in. I guess I prefer WW over CF because I played it first, and having CF be so similar to WW after waiting for a new AC game was disappointing. CF is the AC game I've spent the least time on (probably less than a year).

My ranking would probably be NL = GC > WW > CF. Ngl GC is probably partially so high due to nostalgia, but there are a lot of things it does right that the other games don't (the music, the large town, villager dialogue, festivals). NL was incredibly innovative and introduced a lot of great features, though, and it was a breath of fresh air after CF was basically a retooled WW. I just wish the animals had more personality.


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## baconhwang (May 22, 2018)

MapleSilver said:


> This post explains it pretty well.
> 
> 
> 
> Basically, as someone who played City Folk first, Wild World simply feels like a downgraded version of that game.



Thank you, very insightful!


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## Sakura625 (May 22, 2018)

New Leaf > Wild World > City Folk

Something about city folk never really stuck with me, I think animal crossing is better on mainly a handheld ^^
(and I've actually never tried out the gamecube version, should I play it?)


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## ILikeFroakies (May 23, 2018)

New Leaf
Wild World
City Folk

Never played the gamecube version


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## MapleSilver (May 23, 2018)

I would definitely recommend playing Gamecube. It's probably a good idea to emulate it on your computer, since Gamecube disks can be incredibly expensive.


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## ForgottenT (May 23, 2018)

New Leaf > Wild World > Gamecube > City Folk.


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## deuces (May 23, 2018)

new leaf, happy home designer, wild world
cant rank city folk and gamecube bc i never played aha


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## Stackhouse (May 24, 2018)

I've only played Wild World and New Leaf. 

New Leaf is better than Wild World, but also is lacking in Wild World humor and dialogue.


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## Apriiil (May 29, 2018)

New Leaf > Wild World > Game Cube > City Folk

DISCLAIMER *never played City Folk*


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## ESkill (May 29, 2018)

I'd say New Leaf and Gamecube are tied, or really close to being tied if the GC version was updated. There's so much about GC I love, but it's limited by the capabilities of its time. I hope they implement some of GC into the Switch version, or just port it to Switch and update some stuff. Then it'd City Folk, then Wild World. I remember getting bored with WW after one year. Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't it lack holidays? 
Not mainline, but HHD is super fun, I love it. Amiibo Festival isn't bad, it's fun to trash talk with friends, but yeah, can get old quickly.


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## tiffanistarr (May 29, 2018)

GameCube
New Leaf
Wild World
City Folk


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## jvgsjeff (May 29, 2018)

New Leaf > GameCube > City Folk > Wild World

When City Folk's online play was still supported, I saw GameCube and City Folk as roughly equals because I had so much fun playing online. But with that gone (officially at least), I give the edge to GameCube.

As for City Folk vs. Wild World, they are both similar of course. But City Folk is superior in most ways (graphics/frame rate, holidays, analog controls, the city), although Wild World had better dialogue and more backstory events.

All four are very good games, though.


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## Quaint (Jun 1, 2018)

New Leaf > Wild World > GCN > City Folk


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## Magpiecrossing (Jun 2, 2018)

New leaf-Gamecube-City folk-Wild world


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## JCnator (Jun 3, 2018)

*Animal Crossing: New Leaf -* The role of mayor is now fully relevant, has plenty of things to do on both solo and multiplayer, completing that game is a nightmare, overall better designed game.
*Animal Crossing -* Plentiful of things to do in single-player, somewhat long-winded dialog that has a lot of personality, the acre-loading system can render certain tasks more difficult to perform than needed.
*Wild World and City Folk -* These games share the same rank, because they're heavily similar. Simplicity makes their gameplay more accessible, but the lack of things to do in single-player hurts a lot, considering the online multiplayer is no longer officially available.
*Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp -* The Animal Crossing experience at its most accessible, yet greatly suffers in the long run. Tasks are incredibly repetitive, many events requiring to spend a lot of free time within a limited time-frame are stressful.


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## Vonny (Jun 3, 2018)

MapleSilver said:


> New Leaf > Gamecube > City Folk > Wild World



Spot on pretty much. New Leaf feels like the best version of what CF/WW were while GameCube stands out because it feels so different. Wild World is the worst because it feels so bare bones.

My best memories were with Wild World and the GameCube version though.


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## LambdaDelta (Jun 3, 2018)

new leaf wins out by far in terms of user creativity options
wild world wins out in terms of having an actual (and the best) personality
cube crossing is certainly far more nostalgic than being the best at anything. lacking plenty of qol improvements from later games makes it clunkier to play, but it also has plenty of touches and benefits removed from later games. so it sort of balances it out to be probably the most unique. also, its back and forth for JP/NA releases is prob one of the neatest game history things
city folk is knockoff wild world whose only addition of note was the gyroid storage. also, it removed the villager pics. so honestly, **** it


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## TiredStudent (Jun 4, 2018)

The only main series games I've played are Nl, and pocket camp (If considered)

Not a fan of Pocket camp, It got too repetitive and I only ever play games on the subway, where I have no data avaliable.

Love Nl here, it is what introduced me to the series!


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## Halloqueen (Jun 5, 2018)

1st Place: *Animal Crossing: New Leaf*
I give the 1st place spot to New Leaf because it's just so chock full of content and potential. The base game had a ton of things to do and collect, and that got even more expansive with the release of the Welcome Amiibo update. It's quite fun to be able to play with friends online and that functionality is also great in that you can adopt villagers from other players, purchase furniture from them, and visit Dream Towns from around the world. The ability to not only customize your town with Public Works Projects and your own custom-made designs, but also to share designs with the world through the use of QR Codes is awesome. It's just an all-around great game, one I've put many hours into and hope to continue to do so, and if the next installment can keep all of these positive aspects while improving upon that groundwork, we should be in for a real treat.


2nd Place: *Animal Crossing: Population: Growing! (GameCube game)*
I have fond memories of playing this game back in my younger days and even now, when I return to it once in a blue moon, it's still just as enjoyable. I never played Wild World, so I can't say how much was similar between the two, but this game had a unique feel and character all its own. I miss the ruder dialogue from Cranky and Snooty villagers that was present in this game. I miss the little things like morning aerobics and going inside and turning on the lighthouse. I miss working at Nook's shop when you first come to town. And of course, I also miss the few villagers who did not make the journey with the rest of the cast and didn't even get included in the Welcome Amiibo update.  Oh, and it's pretty nice to be able to play some old school games on the NES consoles in this game. Overall, just a great game.


3rd Place: *Animal Crossing: Wild World*
I've never played this game, but it seems to be well enough regarded. Why is it given this rank? You'll see in just a moment.


4th Place: *Animal Crossing: City Folk*
What a disappointment this game was. I could never get into it. The navigation was wonky and you had to use a Wiimote & Nunchuk with no option for the GameCube controller, the dialogue was limited compared to the GameCube game, and _grass deterioration_. Goodness gracious. I also feel like it was a bit more difficult to earn bells, but since I disliked the game as much as I did, that perception might just be because I ultimately played so little of the game. The city itself was the only good part about it.


As far as the others are concerned:

*Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer*
Never played it. There were some aspects that interested me upon learning more about the game, but not enough for me to actually want to purchase it. 


*Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp* 
I've never played it and have no interest in playing it, but I like some of the new clothes and items I've seen pictures of. Seems that many people I know enjoy it, so that's cool.


*Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival*
I would have liked this game if they didn't have the ridiculous idea of tying characters to amiibo figures you actually had to buy separately. That made it go from "Looks neat, I might get it sometime" to "Nope." The gameplay was not good or interesting enough to waste that kind of money on top of what you're already spending on the main game. A really awful concept overall that spoiled what could have been a fun enough party game experience. If we were ranking all AC games, this would be in last place just for scummy business practices.


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## Mr. Cat (Jun 6, 2018)

New Leaf: So many things were added, it was a giant leap in the right direction.

Population Growing (GC): The character personalities, events, and game as a whole was incredibly charming. Charming enough to have you hooked on the series for life.

Wild World: Mainly because it was a step-up from the GameCube version with the wireless play. It didn't have the same charm but the character personalities, collecting new catalog items, filling the museum, and wireless play could entertian me for a few years.

City Folk: Just... meh. I tried it and couldn't get into it, it just seemed as if the only reason it existed was because they wanted to bring it back on a television console. Not much changed. I know it added the main street, which I guess should be exciting, but meh.


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## calamitybot (Jun 8, 2018)

MapleSilver said:


> New Leaf > Gamecube > City Folk > Wild World



This right here. Gamecube is so much more different than the other games, and wild world and city folk are basically the same, city folk being slightly better.


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