Animal Crossing: Wild World's Enduring Appeal 20 Years Later

After 20 Years, My Favorite Animal Crossing Keeps On Giving Tom Nook from Animal Crossing: Wild World in front of fireworks

By Ben Brosofsky Published 17 minutes ago Ben Brosofsky has been writing for Screen Rant since 2022 and editing since 2024. He graduated from Vanderbilt University with a Bachelor's in Cinema & Media Arts. Writing serves as a much-needed distraction from tackling a backlog of Steam games that will never be surmounted. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

Ever since its Japanese debut on the Nintendo 64, Animal Crossing has been a shining example of Nintendo's trademark consistency. On both home consoles and handhelds, every entry has had a lot to offer, and even the mobile game Pocket Camp has its fans. My favorite, however, has always been Animal Crossing: Wild World, which debuted 20 years ago in Japan before making its way stateside a couple of weeks later.

Compared to more recent games, Wild World is quaint in some regards, but it still has a lot to offer. I've written before about how it represents the peak of the franchise's best elements, even if not everyone agrees on what those elements are. On its anniversary, I feel obliged to expand that argument. Wild World isn't just great, but enduringly so, and there's a reason why it still calls to me 20 years later.

Animal Crossing: Wild World's Limitations Are Its Strengths

Striking A Subtle Balance

Animal Crossing Wild World art showing characters in a spring scene.

If you're returning to Animal Crossing: Wild World in 2025, you might be struck by how much is missing. Some of these limitations are mechanical, like the small inventory without item stacking. Others lose out on more flavorful elements. Holidays were in the original Animal Crossing, but they were cut for Wild World before returning in every subsequent title. Unlike New Horizons, Wild World was released long before game updates became commonplace, so the limited scope of the game at launch will define it forever.

These shortcomings can chafe, but the more time you spend with Wild World, the more you'll adjust to its balance. Not being able to stack items is less annoying in Wild World than it would be in New Horizons, for example. The pace of gameplay and progression isn't built to escalate to the radical island makeovers that New Horizons supports. When the casual daily life is the whole point of the game, you can lose the lust for picking up piles of apples at alarming rates.

Pace can be subjective, but Wild World guides players towards a naturally sustainable cadence. Small progress matters more, whether you're acquiring a new cabinet or planting a flower garden. Over time, you can gradually carve out a personal stake in the world, but it never becomes clay in the player's hands.

Adversity Makes Wild World Special

Ornery Obstacles Are Afoot

Wild World also features adversity, even if it's less aggressive than Goombas in Mario or Moblins in Zelda. Instead, you'll find yourself locked into lengthy conversations with figures like Resetti and Lyle, eager to push their agendas or insurance forms upon you. Run around haphazardly, and pitfall seeds are sure to trip you up. Rafflesia flowers spawn when you let your weed situation get out of control, and they don't go away without some hard weeding work.

It's not surprising that Animal Crossing has pulled back on a lot of these deliberate annoyances over time. The willingness to needle the player contributes to Wild World's innate longevity, however. In Wild World, the Villager has something to prove, and progress comes with a sense of overcoming resistance. In New Horizons, the only standout element of perseverance is the mandatory tolerance for tools breaking.

Wild World's best balance of joy and adversity is found in the animal villagers, who are delightful, charming, and occasionally vicious. Villagers have real, striking personalities, which New Horizons unilaterally mutes. Conversations can still eventually repeat themselves, of course, but Wild World's dialogue is sharp and varied in a way that's been completely lost.

Animal Crossing: Wild World Has True Longevity

Villagers Last Forever

Animal Crossing cat Rosie being rude to the Villager in Animal Crossing: Wild World.

More than anything else, villagers give Wild World its eternal staying power. If I booted up New Horizons right now, there would be little point in chatting up my villagers. Few of them had anything interesting to say to begin with, and now that I've pretty much heard it all, their canned responses and remarks about visitors only serve to emphasize the hollowness of the island simulacrum.

In Wild World, on the other hand, I'll never tire of conversation. I'm thoroughly familiar with Poncho's jock braggadocio, but his gusto prevents it from ever feeling like a drag. If someone new moved into my village, it would feel like a new world of social opportunity, not a minor change in scenery.

New Horizons has another big update coming soon, and I'll definitely dive back in when it arrives. A few months later, though, I'll likely find myself drifting back to Wild World. No matter how many furniture items or NookPhone apps are added to the game, none of the content has the staying power I'm looking for.

My Wild World village will never achieve the splendor of the best New Horizons creations, but that's fine. It's a meaningful creation in smaller ones, ones that continue to pay dividends decades later. Animal Crossing: Wild World packs a special experience into a small package, and it's just as good 20 years later as it was the day it released.

Animal Crossing: Wild World

10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Adventure Simulation Released November 23, 2005 ESRB e Developer(s) Nintendo Publisher(s) Nintendo Multiplayer Local Multiplayer Franchise Animal Crossing

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