20 years ago, Nintendo released its fourth home game console, the GameCube, in North America. Although he was crushed in the numbers game for the next six yearsPlaystation 2Moloch still played host to many unforgettable gaming experiences for millions of people.
The GameCube looks like an odd duck in hindsight, with its modern controller, compact design (complete with carrying handle) and unique 3-inch optical media. It lagged behind in online functionality, and its relatively small capacity media (and lack of DVD player functionality) held it back compared to its competitors. Hardware highlights included the first viable wireless game controller, the WaveBird, which worked surprisingly well for its time.
Software has always been the star of the show on the GameCube, and Nintendo has continued its continued dominance of the market for the young at heart, releasing popular new games starring Mario, Link, Samus, Kirby, Donkey Kong and the Animal Crossing team.
In fact, there are plenty of great GameCube games - dozens of quality titles are included in the library of over 650 game software. But if you're looking for the best of the best, or maybe just exploring the GameCube for the first time, you've got to start somewhere. And that's where this list comes in.
When trying to determine the top 10 GameCube games, I found about six or seven undisputed masterpieces and about 10 to 15 really great games that could be swapped for several titles on this list. So don't be upset if you don't see your favorite games here. There are others out there, and these 10 hit an arbitrary threshold.
If this is your first time playing GameCube, I envy you. You are about to discover a magical gaming platform. And for anyone who knew and loved the console in its heyday, there it is.there's so much more out there to discover.
Editor's Note: This story was first published on September 26, 2019.
Chibi-Robo! (2006)
When I first played Chibi-Robo shortly after release, I expected a fluffy platformer without a lot of depth. What I got was an unexpected punch in the gut for my feelings. In a feat of game design, Chibi-Robo combines Japanese weirdness with 1960s American suburbia. You play as a little robot who cleans up trash, footprints, and grime around a house to make a family happy. But in doing so, you get to see the family (and toy characters) around you suffer and their lives slowly unravel into crisis. So early in the game, when that realization comes to mind, the player's functional role as a chibi expands dramatically, and you see that there's a lot more to it than a clean floor resting on its tiny metal shoulders. It's a masterpiece worthy of a modern HD remaster.
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II - Rogue Leader (2001)
I've never been a big fan of 3D space shooters, Star Wars games, or licensed movie games. But Rogue Leader breaks down all my personal preferences and pulverizes them into a cohesive Star Wars experience that I still can't believe is coming out of the GameCube 20 years after its release. Everything is right: the music, the sound effects, the graphics, the controls, the presentation. It feels like a "classic Star Wars trilogy" in a way that evokes my sense of nostalgia and turns this classic franchise into an experience that feels interactive and cinematic at the same time. Best of all, Rogue Leader was a day one launch title for the GameCube, so it's amazing for developer Factor 5 to release a technically mature title like this from the start.
Animal Crossing (2002)
Animal Crossing represented a dramatic break with traditional console game genres when it was released in 2002: it harbors no violence or suspense, and you can't lose or die. Once you've chosen a boy or girl and found a home, you basically take it easy, finding fossils, shaking trees, catching bugs, befriending animals of different temperaments, and upgrading your home over time as you move around taking care of a village. colorful. Best of all, the game world changes in real time with a constantly ticking clock and calendar, even when you're not playing. Seasons and holidays align with those in our human calendars to enchanting effect. Few video game joys will be as simple and pure as going fishing in your own pet village on a rainy day.
Resident Evil 4 (2005)
In sharp contrast to Animal Crossing, Resident Evil 4 proved that Nintendo's consoles aren't just for kids. This action-packed horror masterpiece deviates from previous Resident Evil games by dimming fixed camera angles and throwing the player into a brutal and grotesque third-person shooter. But it's the good kind of grotesque and part of a genuinely terrifying experience with excellent graphics, good voice acting and an interesting story. While Resident Evil 4 has been released on many other consoles, playing it in its original GameCube form remains deeply satisfying.
Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001)
Throw in equal parts action, nostalgia, variety and Nintendo fan stories and you've got Super Smash Bros. Melee, a bombastic 3Dfighting gamewho refuses to go. It's easy to learn and hard to master, and 18 years after its release, players still flock to conventions around the world to play melee in a tournament environment. As the second entry in the Smash Bros. series, it improves on its Nintendo 64 predecessor with more characters, better graphics and, most importantly, the GameCube controller itself - which has become the de facto interface for every Smash game released since.
F-Zero GX (2003)
F-Zero GX introduces gamers to the Riddle of Speed: how can a game look so incredibly fast and still be playable and fun? The answer lies in the skill of the designers - this game harnessed the talent of Sega subsidiary Amusement Vision, the developers of Super Monkey Ball (another excellent game). And just like previous F-Zero games, GX leaves nothing to be desired when it comes to increasing the difficulty. Still, it's a thrilling ride, and support for four-player local matches further cements this title as a futuristic racing masterpiece.
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
Thousand-Year Door, the third in a series of Mario-related RPGs for Nintendo consoles, expands on the 2D paper-in-3D space aesthetic of Paper Mario (Nintendo 64) with better graphics, eye-catching illustrations, and a good-natured humor. written history. While it's true that Mario platformers have never taken themselves too seriously, Intelligent Systems' Paper Mario series allows the famous Mushroom Kingdom franchise to laugh at itself in a healthy way. It's a rare achievement to create an excellent turn-based RPG that's suitable for kids, yet deep enough for adults to enjoy. Considering its status as a GameCube exclusive and its incorporation of Mario's playful lore, this might just be the best RPG on the system.(Another great RPG: Tales of Symphony)
A Lenda the Zelda: O Wind Waker (2003)
Nintendo whet the appetite for the next generation of Zelda with a Space World 2000 demo that showed detailed and relatively realistic Link swordsmanship with Gannondorf. A year later, when Nintendo released a new Zelda game with dramatically different design graphics, some fans found itloudly protested(opens in a new window)on the Internet. Fortunately for all of us, their concerns were unfounded: Wind Waker is an absolute masterpiece of art design, pacing, gameplay, interface and story. Set in a world covered by endless oceans, it sets the stage for epic adventures as it interprets the classic Zelda mythos with an unexpected twist. Nintendo later remastered Wind Waker in HD for the Wii U, but the GameCube's original pure cel-shaded look has aged quite well. It will always be a classic.
Metroid Prime (2002)
Metroid's transition to the 3D world could have gone very wrong. After skipping thenintendo 64, fans worried about the fate of the franchise - and they worried again when they learned that the Super Metroid sequel was turning into a first-person shooter. But developer Retro Studios has worked a miracle and put so much detail into this new world that Metroid Prime feels more like a first-person adventure game than a shooter. The classic sense of exploration present in previous Metroids has remained intact. And in a move that delighted tech-savvy fans, Metroid Prime not only boasted the most stunning visuals of any GameCube game to date, but its visuals were compared to titles across Xbox and at the top.Playstation 2. After two competent sequels and a Wii re-release, none feel quite as satisfying as Samus' first foray into the third dimension.
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2006)
With Twilight Princess, critics of The Wind Waker finally got what they wanted: a technically impressive "realistic" Zelda title with a much darker theme. The resulting game, Twilight Princess, was critically acclaimed for its depth, beautiful graphics, compelling new characters, and interesting twist with Link transforming into a wolf. It crossed generations of consoles, reaching the end of the GameCube's life and the beginning of the Wii's life. Nintendo released Twilight Princess on both platforms, but many gamers prefer the GameCube version for its traditional motionless controls. Nintendo later re-released this title in HD on the Wii U, but it's still great to play in 4:3 on the GameCube.
More top games for retro consoles
Top 10 Game Boy games
The 10 best Sega Genesis games
Top 10 NES games
Top 10 Super NES games of all time
Top 10 Nintendo 64 games
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FAQs
What is the most popular GameCube? ›
The most popular franchises on GameCube include Sonic the Hedgehog (3.1 million combined sales), Resident Evil (4.2 million combined sales), The Legend of Zelda (5.75 million combined sales), and most notably Mario (26.68 million combined sales).
What is the most beautiful GameCube game? ›1 Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Developed by Retro Studios, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes is the Nintendo GameCube's most visually pleasing game. The graphics are oozing with atmospheric effects that add subtle shade to tone. Retro Studios, the developer behind the Metroid Prime trilogy, is back on the Metroid Prime 4 project.
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GameCube.
| An indigo controller and GameCube | |
|---|---|
| Generation | Sixth |
| Release date | JP: September 14, 2001 NA: November 18, 2001 EU: May 3, 2002 AU: May 17, 2002 |
| Lifespan | 2001–2007 |
Animal Crossing is the longest GameCube game by far
You might think that the best-selling GameCube game "Super Smash Bros. Melee" would be the longest on the console – however, it only takes about 68 hours on average to complete.
- Ghost of Tsushima. IGN. ...
- Red Dead Redemption II. Rockstar Games. ...
- Call of Duty Mobile. Call of Duty: Mobile. ...
- GTA V. ...
- Death Stranding. ...
- Control. ...
- Cyberpunk 2077. ...
- The Last of Us: Part Two.
Purple. “It wasn't that you couldn't bring out hardware that was a different color, it was just a very… 'female' looking color. It just didn't feel masculine,” said Perrin Kaplan, former vice president of marketing and corporate affairs for Nintendo of America, in a 2021 interview with Video Games Chronicle.
What was the final GameCube game? ›The last title released for the GameCube was Madden NFL 08 (which was also released for the Wii and DS) on August 14, 2007, though first-party development ended six months earlier.
Do GameCube games rot? ›Some batches of discs are far more susceptible to disc rot than others. For instance, the Gamecube game Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes suffers far more disc rot problems than other games of the era.
What was the first GameCube game? ›Luigi's Mansion (Nintendo)
Why are GameCube games so small? ›The GameCube Game Disc is a 1.46 GB, 8 cm miniDVD-based technology which reads at a constant angular velocity (CAV). It was chosen by Nintendo to prevent copyright infringement of its games, to reduce manufacturing costs compared to Nintendo 64 Game Paks, and to avoid licensing fees to the DVD Forum.
What was the original price of a GameCube? ›
The company announced Monday it will price its GameCube console system at $199, a price that's $100 lower than Microsoft's Xbox or Sony's PlayStation 2. Games for the system will retail for a more standard $49.90 each.
Did the GameCube have the best graphics? ›The console boasted some of the best graphics for their time, only slightly edged out by the Xbox. Still, in much the same way we look back on, say, Tomb Raider and Goldeneye, some of these GameCube games don't look quite as epic as we remember. Some still seem to bear the hallmarks of N64 crudeness.
Why did the GameCube not sell well? ›Lack Of DVD Player. It may seem trivial today, but the Gamecube's lack of a built-in DVD player caused the console to take a huge hit in sales. The PlayStation 2 launched as an attractive game console that could also play DVD movies, a new technology that would replace VCRs.
Will Gamecubes be worth money? ›What is this? A used GameCube is worth anywhere between $59 -$405 depending on size and whether it comes boxed with additional peripherals. The GameCube remains one of my most used Nintendo consoles of all time.
Is GameCube coming back? ›A popular Nintendo GameCube is getting a remaster on February 17, 2023. The Nintendo GameCube didn't sell very well, especially compared to Nintendo machines like the 3DS and Nintendo Switch, but it also didn't sell as poorly as the Wii U, and like any Nintendo console, it had lots of great games.
What is the shortest game ever played? ›The shortest game ever registered between two grand masters, was in four moves. Lazard defeated Gibaud in a chess cafè in Paris in 1924.
Which console last longer? ›Sega's Master System doesn't have the same recognition as its successor, Sega Genesis, but it has the distinction of being the longest-living system ever made. Its library lacks the company's trademark mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog, but the influential RPG franchise Phantasy Star got its start on Sega's premiere console.
What is the longest game to exist? ›The long-awaited sequel to Beyond Good & Evil has overtaken Duke Nukem Forever as the game with the longest-ever development period.
What game has the biggest map? ›The largest video game map belongs to No Man's Sky.
There's almost no limit to what you can and can't explore in No Man's Sky. Aside from the planets and moons themselves, you can also traverse the vastness of space.
As well as a 'G', it seems the logo also contains a 'C'. The negative black space inside the 'G' forms the shape of the letter – and many had never spotted it before.
Is there an orange GameCube? ›
Although the orang spice GameCube was only released in Japan, it has been modified to play NTSC USA games.
Was there a White GameCube? ›Pearl White Gamecube System (PAL Gamecube) Details
Was only released in Europe, bundled with Mario Smash Football. It is actually a different white then the Final Fantasy version.
The GameCube was officially the first console to fully support internet play. This meant people could play together without the use of wires. This made the gaming console more advanced and convenient for the user. This also allowed the console to connect to the Game Boy Advance.
Can you burn GameCube games? ›Around the time the GameCube hit shelves, your basic home computer started getting DVD burners, and you could walk into Circuit City and buy those tiny little DVD-Rs. But you couldn't do it. You couldn't burn GameCube games, at least without advanced soldering skills.
Did GameCube have Pokemon games? ›Pokémon Colosseum is a role-playing video game in the Pokémon series developed by Genius Sonority, published by The Pokémon Company, and distributed by Nintendo. It was released for the GameCube on November 21, 2003, in Japan; March 22, 2004, in North America; and May 14, 2004, in Europe.
Can you clean GameCube disc? ›Dampen a clean, soft, cotton cloth with water. Use straight strokes and wipe the disc (non-labeled side) from the inside rim to the outside rim. Using a dry part of the cloth, repeat step 2 to dry the disc.
Can DVDs last forever? ›Research studies, anecdotal information and manufacturers' literature suggest that the lifetime of recordable optical discs can range from a couple of years to more than 200 years.
Why is GameCube a failed console? ›The reason behind the GameCube failure was its limited features because there was no online gaming or third-party support during the early 2000s. According to Martin Hollis, the console was not unique enough as compared to its competitors, like PlayStation 2 and Xbox.
Is Nintendo 64 older than GameCube? ›Time named it Machine of the Year in 1996, and in 2011, IGN named it the ninth-greatest video game console of all time. The Nintendo 64 was discontinued in 2002 following the 2001 launch of its successor, the GameCube.
Why is GameCube called GameCube? ›When Nintendo unveiled its next-generation beast they wanted the press to write it as NINTENDO GAMECUBE. This is a pretty standard public relations trick to get the name of your product noticed.
What was the last Wii game? ›
On November 19, 2006, the Wii launch was accompanied by 22 launch games. The last game releases for the Wii, Retro City Rampage DX+ and Shakedown: Hawaii, were released on July 9, 2020. Nintendo issued re-releases for key retail Wii games with the Nintendo Selects label, but those do not count as new releases.
Why is GameCube only black and white? ›A GameCube can display black and white when the video cables aren't hooked up correctly. Most GameCube cable harnesses have composite cables, component cables, or some combination of the two. If you inadvertantly mix up these connections, the video will display incorrectly.
Did GameCube have movies? ›The GameCube is the first Nintendo console to use optical discs as its primary storage medium. The discs are in a miniDVD-based format but the system was not designed to play full-sized DVDs or audio CDs unlike its competitors, and mainly focused on gaming instead.
How much RAM do I need for GameCube games? ›This is copied directly off of Wikipedia: 43 MB total non-unified RAM 24 MB (2x 12 MB) MoSys 1T-SRAM @ 324 MHz (codenamed "Splash") as main system RAM3 MB embedded 1T-SRAM cache within "Flipper" GPU (2 MB framebuffer /Z-buffer , 1 MB texture cache )16 MB DRAM used as I/O buffer for audio and DVD drive.
Why was the GameCube a failure? ›It may seem trivial today, but the Gamecube's lack of a built-in DVD player caused the console to take a huge hit in sales. The PlayStation 2 launched as an attractive game console that could also play DVD movies, a new technology that would replace VCRs.
Which GameCube Super Monkey Ball is the best? ›1 Super Monkey Ball: 2001 - Gamecube
The first console game in the Monkey Ball series is arguably the best one there is. Although the more recent editions of the game have brought the series up to modern gaming standards, there will always be something perfect about having a nostalgic and original version of a game.
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Worldwide sales standings.
| Console | Units sold |
|---|---|
| Xbox | 24 million (as of May 10, 2006) |
| GameCube | 21.74 million (as of September 30, 2010) |
| Dreamcast | 9.13 million (as of September 6, 2002) |
The GameCube was officially the first console to fully support internet play. This meant people could play together without the use of wires. This made the gaming console more advanced and convenient for the user. This also allowed the console to connect to the Game Boy Advance.
Why was GameCube purple? ›Purple. “It wasn't that you couldn't bring out hardware that was a different color, it was just a very… 'female' looking color. It just didn't feel masculine,” said Perrin Kaplan, former vice president of marketing and corporate affairs for Nintendo of America, in a 2021 interview with Video Games Chronicle.
What is the most sold console ever? ›Sony's PlayStation 2 is the best-selling game system overall with over 155 million units worldwide.
What is the best Mario game on GameCube? ›
- Game Features.
- Gaming.
- Luigi's Mansion.
- paper mario.
- Super Mario Sunshine.
Sonic and Tails are known for rolling into balls, but now they're going to be rolling around in a giant ball. Sega is adding the pair as playable characters in Super Monkey Ball: Banana Mania.
What's the difference between banana mania and banana blitz? ›They are different games. Banana mania has some of the same functions as banana blitz(like the option to turn on the jump feature), but banana mania is a mash up of monkey ball 1, 2, and deluxe and only has stages from those games.
Who won the console war? ›However, the Game Boy ultimately won out in this battle, selling over 118 million units over its lifetime (including its future revisions) compared to 10 million for the Game Gear and 3 million for the Lynx.
What is the best console of all time? ›The best-selling video game console of all time is Sony's PlayStation 2 (PS2). More than 157 million systems have been sold around the world since its launch in March 2000.
Why did PS Vita fail? ›Lack of Third-Party Support
Since the PS Vita was such a beefy handheld console with high-quality specs, making games for the system was difficult, time-consuming, and expensive. But the PS Vita wasn't selling well. And since it was so expensive and difficult to make games for, many third-party developers just didn't.
In November 2006, the GameCube was succeeded by the Wii (with models released before November 2011 being fully compatible with GameCube games and controllers).