If Animal Crossing: New Horizons’ reputation for posterity is going to be “the pandemic game” — which seems to be the case, if 2020 year-in-review articles are any indication — I hope people remember more than just its obvious utility as an escapist fantasy.

Nintendo quenched the fandom’s endless thirst for battling mascots on Friday when it released “Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS.” The game, which was already released in Japan on Sept. 13 — and...