Which Game Do I Want?
Not sure which game to buy? Here are some of the pros and cons of each game in the series.
If a feature is listed under a specific game, assume it’s a console or game-specific feature and was not continued into the next game, i.e. traveling to the island with GBA link cable, unless specified.
GameCube:
- Biggest town (15 neighbors)
- Four individual houses for players in one shared area
- Acre system
- The most amount of holidays/celebrations out of all games
- Neighbors actually participate in holidays (not just walking around/talking)
- Tom Nook runs a raffle on the last day of the month
- Ask neighbors for jobs
- Cooper and Booker have a police station
- Train station
- Igloos/tents neighbors set up during specific months
- Island you can visit if you have a GBA link cable
- Original town charm
- Most varied/creative conversational content
- Can take a train between games saved on memory cards
Wild World:
- Smallest town (8 neighbors)
- Updated graphics
- One house shared by four players
- No more acres
- Holidays are not related to the real world/barely any at all
- Don’t have to mail fossils away to have them checked
- Able Sisters sell clothing instead of Nook
- Accessories/hairstyles added
- More bugs/fish/fossils
- Players can now learn emotions from Dr. Shrunk
- Wi-Fi
- Portable
City Folk:
- Larger town (10 neighbors)
- Upgraded graphics
- Four individual houses for players scattered around town
- Decent amount of holidays are back
- DLC items from Nintendo
- Neighbors will not have something new to say unless you leave the area
- More clothing/hair/accessories
- Player can go to the city
- Auction House lets you sell things to other players
- Grass disappears with wear
- Essentially Wild World for the Wii with upgrades
New Leaf (this will be continuously edited)
- Megaphone feature (allows you to find neighbors)
- Player is town mayor; town projects allow you to customize town (shrubbery, benches, lamp-posts, etc.) town projects can be funded by player or friends over wi-fi
- Can visit other towns through StreetPass/”Dreams”
- Grass wear (improved from City Folk)
- More ability to decorate interior/exterior of house
- Important buildings have been moved to “Main Street”, similar to City Folk’s city feature, meant to separate player’s uniquely designed town from necessary buildings
- Can sell unwanted items through town’s Re-Tail shop
- Can create your own individualized exhibits in museum
- More than four emotions
- More villager interaction (going into buildings, doing activities)
- The island returns, with the ability to go diving for more fish and summer insects year-round
- More than six neighbor personalities
So what do Population Growing, Wild World and City Folk have in common?
- Nook’s store upgrades
- Nook has Stalk Market
- Player must pay off debt to upgrade house
- Neighbors ask players to do errands
- K.K. Slider plays music on Saturdays
- Player can complete collection and donate fish/bugs/fossils to the museum
- Player can make custom clothing designs
- Same fruits in every game
- General look of town stays about the same
- Towns all have individual layouts
- Many of the same NPCs in each game
- All games begin with preconceived story (Train/Cab, work for Nook… etc.)