I’m fond of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and the series as a whole. The game got me through the worst of COVID and became a much better title with future updates. It’s back in the gaming consciousness thanks to the Nintendo Switch 2. You can buy an inexpensive update to your original copy for $4.99, or the full Nintendo Switch 2 Edition (minus Happy Home Paradise DLC) for $64.99.

I’m not going to delve into what New Horizons is, the second-best-selling game on the Nintendo Switch, with nearly 50 million copies sold at the time of writing this. Let’s face it, if you’re reading this review, you likely know the game and have probably sunk hundreds of hours over the past six years. If you wanna learn more, check out our well-written (if scored slightly higher than I would’ve) review from March 2020. I’ll be focused on what’s new. 

Sad as I am to say it, the amount of genuinely fresh content is extremely light, barely justifying even $4.99. The expected resolution bump (a given for most old games played on Switch 2) is subtle and nothing to write home about. The megaphone isn’t even new to the series – it was on 3DS – and if you’re starting fresh, it’ll be a while before you can even access it. Having 12 resident friends on your island is a minor upgrade to the minuscule portion of the game’s audience that would fully take advantage of said feature. Make sure your Nintendo Switch Online paid membership is up to date.

Arguably, the only compelling new feature is the optional mouse controls. However, the novelty quickly wore off once I started using them. They seem laggy in the very few specific instances where they can actually be used. A capacitive stylus on the touchscreen in handheld mode is still superior by a wide margin. Also, both Joy-Cons need to be detached from the Switch 2 for mouse mode, yet only the right one can be used. If there is an explanation for this awkward implementation, I’m unaware of it, but it undercuts the already niche appeal. I suppose if you play fully docked, the token mouse controls (and visual bump) are better appreciated, but the series is best known on handhelds.

That’s really about it for the paid new stuff, and it’s a bummer. Now, some may think that since the original scored a 9.5, and this Switch 2 version has more content (including free content available across both versions), it earns a 10. But that’s not how things work. Besides the reviewers being different, expectations are also different due to the new hardware and the passage of six years. Does New Horizons excite you half as much in 2026 as it did in 2020? With little in the way of fresh content, my answer is a decisive no. 

Playing this game, I can’t help but think of a classic Simpsons exchange, where Lisa is imploring people not to be fooled by “just a regular Malibu Stacy with a stupid, cheap hat.” This is regular Animal Crossing with its “new hat.” The Smithers among us will have some excitement.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, while still good fun overall, is a letdown, both as paid DLC and a standalone release. The upgrade pack, though inexpensive, is underwhelming and of questionable value, with most additions feeling minor and unpolished. And if you somehow missed the original game, you’d best have a strong answer to the question “Why start now?” The time for a new entry is here, and Nintendo is bound to see diminishing commercial and critical returns with each subsequent Nintendo Switch 2 Edition port, even for games as good as Animal Crossing: New Horizons was.