by majormitch
As of the day of this writing (September 14, 2021), the Nintendo GameCube is now officially 20 years old. It remains one of my favorite video game consoles: it was a powerful and reliable piece of hardware, its controller was comfortable, and most importantly, it had a whole lot of games I really, really liked. To that last point, I want to honor the GameCube’s 20th anniversary with my own list of my 20 favorite games for the console (in order). Perhaps unsurprisingly for a Nintendo console, over half of these games were exclusives to boot, but it’s sobering just how many great exclusives the Cube had. And compared to most Nintendo consoles, it maintained decent third-party support too. As such, limiting this list to 20 certainly couldn’t contain all of its worthwhile games; give a shout-out to any favorites I didn’t squeeze in here.
So, happy birthday GameCube. Here’s to you <3
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I've written enough about Metroid Prime on this site at this point, so I don't need to elaborate yet again what it means to me. The short version is that it’s on the short list of contenders for my favorite game: it’s gorgeous, its soundtrack is fantastic, it plays well, its world is brilliantly designed, and it successfully transitioned the Metroid fundamentals to 3D in a way that, at the time, seemed impossible. Yet it pulled off that magic trick with aplomb, and remains a game that is as dear to me as any other.
This many years later, it's still wild just how high Resident Evil 4 raised the bar in 2005. It completely revamped a series I had no affection for, creating one of the most exciting and intense third-person shooters I’ve ever played, and one that became the genre standard for years. And for as much as its endless re-releases are easy to joke about today, Resident Evil 4 holds up remarkably well. It simply had no business being this good.
For many, no game defined the GameCube as much as Smash Bros. Melee. It took the magical idea of the original, gave it a real facelift thanks to better hardware, and added in tons of extra content to throw one hell of a party. It was my multiplayer game of choice through my high school and college years, and the center of countless get-togethers and late nights. It’s almost certainly the GameCube game I spent the most time playing, and it was always a blast.
I actually didn’t play Freedom Fighters on a GameCube, but from what I gather it ran perfectly well on the console, and was a great example of the Cube’s un-Nintendo-like third-party support. And more importantly, it was a fantastic game: a legendary soundtrack, solid shooting, simple but effective squad mechanics, and a host of incredibly clever ideas around its semi-open-ended mission design. It took me by surprise, and I got super into it.
The Wind Waker was a great follow-up to the behemoth that was Ocarina of Time. Its art style was gorgeous, its characters were unbelievably expressive, its soundtrack was a treat, and its large, watery world was a joy to explore. It captured that classic Zelda spirit of going on an adventure, but translated it to a different type of world than we were used to. It managed to carve its own path while remaining undeniably a Zelda game, which was great to see.
The original Rogue Squadron was a lot of fun, but Rogue Leader took advantage of the GameCube’s beefier hardware to give it the facelift it needed to become a true classic. Its audiovisual presentation was incredible at the time, and it ran and played very smoothly. This empowered its fun arcade missions to reach new heights, and I spent lots of hours chasing medals and unlockables. This remains one of my favorite Star Wars games to date.
I was kind of in awe when I first played The Sands of Time. Its high-flying acrobatics were a whole new look for platformers at the time, and I had so much fun flipping through the air and running on walls. Its buttery smooth animations made pulling off such stylish feats extra satisfying, and the level design was superb too. I also enjoyed the charming characters and narrative, which combined for a highly enjoyable adventure from start to finish.
I share the common sentiment that the first two Paper Mario games remain by far the series’ best, and The Thousand-Year Door in particular reached a really high mark. It deftly implemented everything the series (and Mario RPGs as a whole) is known for: battles were tense and exciting, the world was well-crafted and endearing, and the writing was charming and witty. The whole adventure came together super well, and I wrung it for everything it was worth.
I know Metroid Prime 2 was hit-or-miss for a lot of folks, but as a Metroid fan, it landed for me in many of the same ways its predecessor did. In fact, its world remains one of the most densely intense ones in the entire franchise. I enjoyed being in the thick of it, exploring its oppressive world and soaking in the darkly beautiful atmosphere. It introduced some clever ideas of its own, and the overall adventure grabbed me in a way few games do.
The original Pikmin introduced a great new IP for the GameCube, and its sequel upped the ante across the board. I always felt like Pikmin 2 did everything a sequel should: it ironed out many of the original’s quirks, while expanding on the concept with fresh ideas of its own. The new Pikmin types added just enough depth to allow for some clever environmental puzzles, and the level design itself was strong. It looked and sounded wonderful too.
