What We Want in Animal Crossing: New Horizons Anniversary Update

This week, April 14th, to be precise, marks the 20th anniversary of the Animal Crossing franchise. Nintendo has had a lot of anniversaries to celebrate lately, last year was Super Mario’s 35th anniversary, and this year celebrates milestones for both The Legend of Zelda and Pokemon. With last year being perhaps the biggest year for the Animal Crossing franchise (it’s sales actually put New Horizons as the second best selling Switch title to date), maybe Nintendo has some big plans for this anniversary?

Just last month, New Horizons celebrated its one year anniversary, but in such a small way that it left many fans disappointed. But hope has been kindled once again with the big anniversary for the game on the horizon.

Nintendo has yet to announce any such plans for the big day, but some fans still hope they will have a surprise announcement sometime this week.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons is certainly a great game, but any game has room for improvement. So without further ado, here’s our list of additions we hope will come in an Animal Crossing anniversary update.

The Roost

Brewster the Pigeon and his cafe, The Roost, have been dearly missed by long time fans of the series. Originally appearing in Animal Crossing: Wild World, and every subsequent title until New Horizons, where he is unfortunately absent.

In those old games players could drink hot coffee to impress the pigeon, and even start working a part-time job at The Roost, learning what kind of coffee your villagers enjoy. This is also a great way to earn coffee shop themed furniture.

Gyroids

Not just gyroids generally, as there are a few in the New Horizons already, but the wide variety of collectible gyroids that were present in past games. These strange dancing devices were a whole category of furniture on their own in past games.

In a game all about customization and collecting objects, having a unique and interactive object like the gyroids seems like a no-brainer. But unfortunately, only time will tell if the famous little guys will make it into New Horizons.

Tortimer Island

Since Tortimer Island was a tropical island, and New Horizons is already set on a tropical island, it makes sense that the tropical escape hasn’t returned yet. The island had a lot to offer though, from unique creatures to find, to mini-games you could play online with friends.

Giving players more to do with their friends online would be an excellent addition to New Horizons. Visiting an island is fun, but imagine if players could compete for medals in a few exciting mini-games? Players that had lost interest over the last year would flock back to try out the new games with their friends.

Maybe, since the old Tortimer Island was a tropical getaway, there could be a new island in New Horizons that is the opposite. If the game already takes place on a tropical island, why not escape to the mainland for a time? Or maybe just an island that’s more temperate.

Fruits

Strangely, several kinds of fruit still haven’t made it into New Horizons. Currently, the game has six fruit: apples, cherries, coconuts, oranges, pears, and peaches. After over a year in the game, it’s not hard to imagine the villagers are looking for some new flavors.

It wouldn’t even be that radical! Animal Crossing: New Leaf, the previous game in the main series, introduced Lychee, Durian, Lemon, Mango, Banana, Persimmon, and Grape as available fruits. It’s unclear why exactly these fruits haven’t made it into New Horizons yet, but it seems like it would be an easy way to mix things up.

Kapp’n & His Boat

The sailing turtle Kapp’n is a classic Animal Crossing character who has appeared in every main series game until New Horizons. Not only is his general presence as a character missed, but also his function as a transport.

Kapp’n, a true sailor at heart, would be a great addition to the island world of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Whether he’s taking you to the brand new Tortimer Island, its equivalent, or something else entirely, the addition of Kapp’n and his boat would certainly be a welcome one.

Something New

Animal Crossing: New Horizons has already brought plenty of new features to the series, such as terraforming. It would be great to see a lot of old features and characters return to celebrate the history of Animal Crossing, but it might be more exciting to see something completely new.

No one can predict for sure what that might be, but it would make sense for the latest installment of the franchise to push forward into new ideas. But, then again, it would be awesome to see some of that other stuff return too.

What are your hopes for the future of Animal Crossing: New Horizons? Do you think Nintendo has plans to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the series? Leave a comment letting us know your thoughts!