We reviewed the GameCube catalog to select its most significant titles, the 50 games that defined the console and gave it its personality. Exclusive games, others that were not, but all of them significant within the panorama of the videoJuegos of their time, and for the possessors of the console of Nintendo.

We have also limited ourselves to titles appearing in Europe, which leaves out some gems like the continuation of Baten Kaitos, and other titles unjustly denied to the public in this part of the world. But that is the Gamecube best games that was given to European users, and the one we want to remember.

Also, we discussed the projection that some of these games have had years later, especially in terms of Wii, and we hope for new installments of sagas that have not yet returned to bear fruit, such as 1080º Avalanche, or F-Zero. The complete backward compatibility of the Wii with GameCube, however, allows us to search the shelves of stores and go hunting for one of these games that, at the time, we may not enjoy.

This is our selection, but surely there are many more titles to discover and remember. Serve, then, as a sample button of the recent history of Nintendo’s home hardware.

The Best GameCube Games

 

50. Animal Crossing

He was born in Nintendo 64, adapted to GameCube, and it took him years to reach Europe. Animal Crossing was a unique game experience, partially linked to life simulators, but with a much more arcade tone, in which the character of the player is related to the villagers.

But everything revolves much more around the collection of objects of all kinds, collecting and decorating the home, hunting for insects, search for fossils, fishing. activities, and specific events at certain times and on some days of the year, forgo playing, little by little, in a continuous rhythm of short sessions. A rhythm of the game that is almost alien to the concept of video game, but that has worked well, especially in the very successful delivery for Nintendo DS.

With a collection of classic NES games to unlock, his proposal did not quite materialize in the GameCube market, restricted by the relatively low sales of the console, but showed great care for the European player intrigued by this product that had generated lines and lines of opinions both in Japan and in America. It cost him to arrive, but he did it from Nintendo’s hand and opened the doors to subsequent deliveries.

49. PN 03

Perhaps the ugly duckling of the games that Capcom announced as exclusive for GameCube, and the only one that ended up being it until the end of the days. Created under the baton of Shinji Mikami, opted for a stylized action in a minimalist world, which earned him plenty of criticism, and some praise for having on screen all the time to the asses of his protagonist, who took special prominence with any of the special suits unlockable.

Vanessa Z. Schneider faces series of robots in neutral environments, very much in line with what was later done in Portal and similar, with a gameplay in which you can shoot or move, but not both at the same time, which It makes the player look for a balance between his acrobatic skills and the shots to helmet, looking for an aesthetic experience in the annihilation of these machines, something that -with very different mechanisms- also made Viewtiful Joe.

48. Doshin the Giant

It is undoubtedly one of the few cult games on GameCube. Doshin the Giant is a pretty absurd game first and reserved for a few. But it is also one of the best GameCube games, and one of the few “god games” that have adapted well to a console. Broadly speaking, Doshin is a yellow giant with a good-natured face that can do good and bad deeds, changing his appearance according to how he behaved (in the style of the later Fable), and provoking different reactions in the inhabitants of the world, which we could modify to our cravings. The villagers came to build statues in our image and likeness if we helped them or to try desperately to attack us if we were really evil.

47. Battalion Wars

Nintendo had a completely unknown saga that was born with Famicom Wars. but when it was given the step to Game Boy Advance, Advance Wars exploded in Western markets, and the saga has recorded good numbers and garnered outstanding reviews in its portable deliveries. But it seemed that the domestics resisted him until this game came.

Launched already in the final part of the commercial trajectory of the console, and under development of Kuju for Nintendo gamecube games, betting on a much more direct action, regardless of turns, and with a very different approach, in reality, but correct. The action took everything, but kept certain features and a familiar touch, and, above all, marked the way forward in the delivery for Wii, a good step forward in this sub saga.

46. Wario World

Treasure is a team of development rather than the cult, and GameCube added several of its games, including the magnificent Ikaruga, one of those devilish Japanese martial artists. Wario World, on the other hand, is a platform with a more relaxed style, with a soft difficulty, and a restrained duration. that is, cortisol.

However, Wario World is an old-school platform full of charm and good work that in the shadow of other major productions, and a completely three-dimensional Mario, did not come together in the public. Of course, we believe that everyone who tried it remembers with a good taste the sensations of this title. And, after all, some teachers of the arcade-like Treasure was clear that they would know how to find the point to a platform where you did not have to go through each level eight times to get all the objects or do things like that, but simply move forward, jump and kick the ass to the enemies.

45. Luigi’s Mansion

Mario did not make the appointment with the premiere of GameCube. Neither the Wii. But instead, Luigi starred in a horror game as only Nintendo could: full of humor. And it is that Luigi walked one of those mansions full of ghosts that we took the pleasure with Super Mario World equipped with a sort of vacuum cleaner.

Compared with a lifetime Mario, the truth is that poor Luigi had nothing to do, but as a game in itself, without being conditioned by his predecessors, we find a game that surprised in his time for the graphics, animations and the always exaggerated expressiveness of a very scary Luigi in search of his brother.

A different proposal that, with a sucker for spirits and a flashlight, could well offer us a new, more extensive and more challenging installment on Wii.

44. Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II

The first online role-playing game in console had its continuity, once defunct Dreamcast, in the Nintendo gamecube games console. This was a risky bet because of the limited connectivity options of the Nintendo console, and the limited availability of its adapters, especially in Spain, but that was not an impediment for several thousand enthusiasts to be interested in this innovative experience and lived intensely, with a fidelity that should have surprised both Sega and Nintendo, and that had a monthly fee. Adapted from Dreamcast, it included all the content of the Sega console version plus some extras, with some graphical improvements. Besides, it intelligently included a game option offline to split screen for those who did not have a connection or who did not decide to make the jump to the network.

43. Super Mario Strikers

Mario and sports; Sports and Mario. It’s not that the guy is really lavish, but the truth is that his sagas of golf and tennis were already common. GameCube saw the birth of baseball (sport of little draft in Spain) and football (sport of many drafts in Spain); in addition to basketball years later in Nintendo DS, and hand in hand with Square Enix.

As usual in this type of games, the basic rules of soccer were taken, they were simplified, and instead of putting teams of 11 against 11 in which the matches lasted 90 minutes, we chose something much more arcade, closer to FIFA Street than normal FIFA. It adds a touch of fantasy, a lot of Mario atmosphere, some special powers, and to play.

And go to play. Because something else (for example, realistic) these games are not, but the fun they are a long time, and far exceed other concepts of game ‘party’ too little that the participants know how to take a command.

42. Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour

The direct antecedent, the delivery of Nintendo 64, left a high bar. And in GameCube, he did not disappoint at all, although he did have some things that seemed like they could play against him. We refer to the greater presence of elements of the Mushroom Kingdom, compared to a more “realistic” and conservative approach to the holes.

But that did not matter, because then its gameplay is as deep as you can expect from any game of this sport with a serious vocation, but with a control and design system that, in addition, make it fun. And is that Camelot has more than tables in the genre: signed the two previous installments (N64 and Game Boy Color), but they are also the parents of Everybody’s Golf.

In addition, this version has connectivity with the GBA version, Mario Golf: Advance Tour, which allowed us to transmit our characters and continue enjoying them.

41. Resident Evil Zero

It was the first Resident Evil created expressly for GameCube, and although Resident Evil 4 was a great innovator, it was a continued. The story took us to the past, to the events that preceded the first installment, and premiered the game system with two simultaneous characters, something that, as we have seen, has caught on in the saga.

But his story kept betting on the experiments, for Umbrella, and for the fat mutated bugs and the slow zombies. All this in pre-rendered environments, combined with polygonal characters, and a graphic quality to match (thanks to the inheritance of the remake of the first Resident Evil for GCN) and a classic playable design that has been more appreciated by fans of the saga after changes imposed from RE4.

In addition, it is the only game in the series that has been the best gamecube games, until its recent adaptation to Wii, since the others were either conversions or revisions and RE4 has gone through PS2, PC, mobile, iPhone and Wii.

40. Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance

One of the first sagas of struggle and in fact the only non-Japanese agonized after his fourth installment, which had not managed to penetrate well to the three dimensions, but this new Deadly Alliance got it on the second attempt. The developers of Midway resurrected the saga, turning it into a fighting game with 3D graphics that did not take much advantage of the extra axis, but it was just enough to give a new twist to a fighting system that maintained its strengths, such as fatalities and the long combos, introducing some novelties such as the different fighting styles. It did not become the standard of the fight, but in GameCube, it is one of the few 3D fighting games and one of the best, although at a great distance from Soul Calibur 2.

39. Super Monkey Ball 2

When Sega starts doing recreational, he has a lot to say, despite his finally failed (not for his fans) career in home systems. And, of course, that good work in the arcade world is also evident in console adaptations, or in games created directly for them. Super Monkey Ball put a challenge as simple as fun: tilt the floor, and the monkey that is inside the ball will follow what physics, inertia, and bananas dictate.

This second part added a lot of additional content, offering a much more complete package, so it was surprisingly more attractive to fans, even having their first part at home. His subsequent success served to get the series to more platforms and continue adding more and more deliveries, being an especially fruitful series on Wii, now also with support for the Wii Balance Board.

38. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Nobody expected something similar. Ubisoft decided to rescue the Prince of Persia saga from oblivion and, in collaboration with its original creator, Jordan Mechner, take it to the time of the three dimensions, and he managed to make it one of the best games of that year 2003. Ubisoft took the idea of the original and revolutionized it, creating an action and platform game set in Persia and featuring a prince, as expected, but with a sensational gameplay that included a great combat system, a fantastic level design, and an innovation ( that had already been seen in Xbox Blinx): the use of the sands of time to rewind the action and thus avoid dying. Surprising everyone, without many expecting it and “engendering” a new saga,

37. Donkey Konga

The world of music games has definitely exploded in the western markets with Guitar Hero, but in Japan Namco and Konami have a very long career in the field of bemani, rhythm games, whether with guitar, drum, dance. Donkey Konga, performed by Namco, is the vision of Taiko no Tatsujin taken to the world of Donkey Kong.

For this saga (three deliveries in Japan, two in Europe) the bongos were thrown, being able to touch the left one, the right one (also both) or to give pats, which gave of leftovers to follow the rhythm to the versions (of unequal quality) of some very popular pop / rock songs, and several classic saga songs from Nintendo itself.

Very direct, and with several levels of difficulty, although its continuation had more themes and options, the truth is that the freshness of this first game, especially due to the scarce presence of drum games outside of Japan, was an important addition to both to the catalog of the console as to the options of the European fans. Unfortunately, it has not had the desired continuity, nor has a version with the volume of “Japonesas” that the most passionate of the Japanese animation world, and j-pop, would have wanted in our market.

36. TimeSplitters 2

The first part did not meet expectations despite coming from the creators of Goldeneye, but this second installment, already multi platform, was possibly the culmination of the saga, and perhaps one of the last great multiplayer offline games, collecting precisely the witness of that legendary game of Nintendo 64. Free Radical created a fun adventure of time travel, with a graphics section as powerful as a caricature, and combined it with an impressive multiplayer, something really complicated to achieve with a game in the first person to split screen, but that was achieved more than. Today, unfortunately, Free Radical crashed with the exclusive game of PS3 Haze, although after its purchase by Crytek it is rumored that TimeSplitters could resurrect.

 

35. SSX 3

SSX was one of the few notable titles in the launch of PS2, a fun arcade of snowboarding that was not about any wonder but that managed to stand out in the mediocre catalog of the beginning of the console. It was not until this third part in which he made a quality jump and went from being a good arcade game to a great game, a very funny and spectacular title, that at no time pretended to be a simulator but not without a gameplay deep enough that you had to spend a few hours to master. Long and technically brilliant, one of the best arcades of the entire console and a saga that we do not explain very well because EA decided to leave, a few years have passed and it still seems to us of the best snowboard games ever appeared.

34. 1080 Avalanche

The snowboard games are still betting, mainly, for the acrobatics and the tricks in the air. When Nintendo opted for 1080 Snowboarding, on Nintendo 64, it did so by looking more at speed, and its continuation on GameCube followed that line. It is a racing game, more than tricks and impossible pirouettes in the air, but did not neglect that aspect at all.

The feeling of descending at full speed down the mountain was fantastic, and the avalanche, unfortunately, had little presence for the player. Ah, but when that avalanche arrived, the sensation was brutal, and no game has achieved that point of speed, tension, and absolute pressure in the descent through the snow of the mountain. An authentic sensation of speed on the board.

Wii has added related games within this sport, but Nintendo has yet to offer us this experience, return to the path, and take advantage of the tools that others have already used (such as the Wii Balance Board) to offer us such an intense experience in the world of skiing and snowboarding, as NST developers demonstrated that they know how to do it like few others.

33. Killer 7

 

Grasshopper Manufacture, the team led by Suda 51, is not a big known among the large mass of users, but much less was a few years ago, when Capcom produced this risky title for GameCube, which ended up being adapted to PlayStation 2. Visually risky like few titles in the catalog of the console, in a graphic line that has a certain spiritual follower in No More Heroes (Wii), its gameplay also went beyond the norm.

Its value perhaps lies much more in its rarity, in the singularity of its history, narrative and gameplay (focused on aiming and shooting, so it is surprising that it was not Wiimake meat ) than in its strengths in themselves, making him win over the years for the value of the experience he proposes, because he has given us a real successor, neither playable nor spiritual, for this story of assassins and shots.

32. Sonic Adventure 2

Directly arrived from Dreamcast, Sonic Adventure 2 has the relative honor of having been, to date, the last great game of Sonic, and one of the few that have managed to transfer well to the three dimensions the gameplay of Sega’s mascot. Launched in Dreamcast in June 2001, a few months later this conversion came to GameCube, already with Sega turned into a “third party”. The game combined action with platforms, allowing us to choose six characters, three of the good ones and three of the bad ones, and counting each one with their own style of game, achieving a great balance and without any part being very loose in comparison with the others. others In addition, it was one of the first games to take advantage of the connection between GameCube and GBA, allowing to raise our Chaos on the laptop and then transfer them to GameCube.

31. Skies of Arcadia Legends

Make no mistake: GameCube had very few role-playing games; few of Japanese style (especially in comparison with PS2) and also of western style. But their representatives, although scarce, had great quality, and here we find one of them, and originally from Dreamcast.

The move to GameCube did not really bring about a notable change at a technical level – after all, Dreamcast was a great machine, despite launching substantially before – and we proposed, again, to sail the skies on very maritime style aircraft in a great adventure that combined a casual style (both for humor and graphic style) with a depth that many serious role-playing games would want for themselves.

A classic game system, texts in Spanish, and a dubbing in English with irritating tones (something that is still very common nowadays) were some of its features, all to become an aerial pirate of legend.

30. Resident Evil Remake

New graphics and an alternative control system that far exceeded the awkward system of the original. Few new features were included in this revision of the original (PlayStation, Saturn, PC) that was lost Nintendo 64, and yet enough and enough to make it a complete title. And the original was already, with all its charm of B series, hungry zombies, few bullets, and mutant bugs characterized by being, mainly, giants. Neither the Hammer could have made a production of more crappy terror in its forms, and that is the great charm of the saga, the charm that is lost to make way for other objectives, and action over the anguish and terror, something that, on the other hand, sat well with Resident Evil 4.

The other titles of the saga did not follow the same laborious process and were simple adaptations. With this revision, the foundations of Zero were laid, the first Resident Evil created expressly for GameCube (and, in fact, until its adaptation to Wii, the only truly exclusive one). A title capable of attracting fans of the series, eager to enjoy their new charms.

29. Mario Power Tennis

Mario took advantage of his step by GameCube to star in new installments of his sports series of golf, tennis, and also premiere in football, and baseball, something that Wii has a little forgotten, except for the review of this game adapted to the command of the console, and a new delivery, specific for Wii, of his soccer game, and another of baseball.

Interestingly, the tennis has not stepped on Wii Mario’s hand with an original delivery, although there are plenty of representatives, for obvious reasons. This Mario Power Tennis, very much in the line of Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, combined many more elements of fantasy than its predecessor of Nintendo 64, and bet on the multiplayer four bands more than ever, with a very careful gameplay, aimed at making of this title a very accessible game, but capable of offering great fun, combining elements of both the sports genre and the fantasy of the ‘party’ world that combines in its formula.

28. Burnout 2

 

One of the “orphan” genres of GameCube was always driving, and Burnout 2 is probably the best exponent of the genre on the console along with R: Racing. It was also the last installment of this series of Criterion Games in it, reserving the third part only for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Burnout 2 was much more game than the first delivery, just as frantic and arcade, but with many more cars and circuits. As it continued to happen later in the saga, the demand for collisions was softened, which did not lose its spectacularity, and the use of the turbo was becoming more frequent, one of the most satisfying sensations of the first installment. Despite not being exclusive to GameCube, nor be the best of the series, it occupies a notable place in the catalog of the console.

27. Billy Hatcher

From the creators of Sonic came this curious platforms in 2003, combining several styles of play and the original and relatively absurd idea of saving the world thanks to the magical power to control our whim eggs. Starting from that base, the game combined action, platforms, and egg manipulation, allowing us to control Billy and his skills, but also the eggs, which we had to move and grow until the creatures inside were hatched, which also served as help Billy. It was not the most prominent game in the catalog, nor was it able to overshadow other platforms of the moment such as the Rayman or Mario, but it was one of those games with a certain special personality, where the hand of the Sonic Team was noticeable.

26. Beyond Good & Evil

As if it were a documentary from La 2, Beyond Good and Evil was acclaimed and admired by everyone, but its sales were so disappointing that what seemed like a promising saga was cut short, although in theory now, years later, there is a second part in progress. This action adventure was the work of Michel Ancel, creator of Rayman, and had a great variety, with a great story that combined very well with his action, exploration and infiltration design. Clearly ahead of his time, which, as expected, has put him in his place as a great classic of the past generation; completely unknown to the general public, but probably one of the most interesting titles and whose best playability stands the test of time.

 

25. Star Fox Adventures

Fox McCloud got off his ship to live an adventure very much in the Zelda line, and it was also the last Rare Nintendo gamecube games for home console since then the company became part of Microsoft. The title was visually striking and continues to look great today, something that is not surprising considering that at Rare they have always been characterized by knowing how to squeeze the circuits of a console.

The adventure was linear in excess, and the combat system somewhat simplistic, but the experience, in general, is more than good, and the game has won over the years. He was criticized very harshly at the time by those two defects, and by the situation of Rare, something that could not avoid being seen as a “betrayal” among the most passionate followers of Nintendo.

We must also remember that the project was born as Dinosaur Planet for Nintendo 64, but moved to GameCube, introduced the protagonist of the series Star Fox / Starwing, spatial phases of shooting, and some changes in its development.

24. Ikaruga

From recreational to Dreamcast, from Dreamcast to GameCube. and then, later, to the digital distribution of Xbox 360. Treasure is a group of experts in this area of killing martians, and their games (and their console adaptations) are highly appreciated by the players who enjoy this genre the most, both for its spectacularity and its proverbial difficulty.

His approach, vertical development, was simple, even minimalist, by proposing a ship with two colors, and therefore two affiliations: black and white. That made you invulnerable to a type of projectiles, but it killed you a contact with the others, and also gave you more power over the enemies of the opposite color. This, so simple, taken to a frantic matar marcianos like this one, transformed it into a demanding and ingenious title, that continues moving players all over the world, in any of its versions.

23. Metroid Prime 2

 

Samus Aran, after a long break from Super Nintendo, added two deliveries in Gamecube best games. It was the first time that he starred in two games in the same system, and Retro Studios, responsible for the return of Samus to the first line of video games, bet to do something very different, within the bases that they had established.

A specular world, playing with the passage to the other side of the mirror, within a planet on the verge of collapse by this duality, raised a whole new playable concept within the saga (although nothing new in video games everything is said). The alternative world was much darker, but going from one to another extended the game excessively when it came to pass through the sites.

However, the interaction between both dimensions, and the sensation of the weakness of Samus by the corrosive atmosphere of this parallel world was very successful. Also, for the first time, the shots were limited by the ammunition, and new sights were introduced, among which stood out -more out of curiosity than anything else- a sonic one.

Perhaps the biggest problem, in terms of perception, was “competing” with the-by then-new Halo, which affected the perception of the action game, because it bet much more exploration, the labyrinth, and the melancholy, that in the case of the Master Chief.

22. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles

Final Fantasy returned to Nintendo. but not as many craved, but with a game of adventure and action focused on multiplayer. But it did not curdle for very obvious reasons then, and more now. And to enjoy the game needed a GameCube, but also four Game Boy Advance consoles.

The concept is very good, and really fun in multiplayer, but it costs so much to access it that few could take advantage of it. And if we add that the game alone is little more than a dungeon crawler sosainas. Such is the strength of the multiplayer, and such the weakness of the mono jugador.

The connectivity allowed to have a menu, individual, for each player, but in the implementation, the truth is that it was not so difficult to have done something much more traditional, and maintain a very similar multiplayer style, without losing much. Of course, nobody takes away the good that we had in the – unfortunately, few – parties to four bands handing out his huge bugs.

21. Pikmin

Nintendo has so many sagas in the drawers, hoping to add more deliveries, that one, in a way, feels surprised when a new one arises, but how to complain when one of these creations is Pikmin, a whole new concept within the huge field of strategy.

Olimar landed in a strange world, with his ship shattered, and only 30 days of autonomy to survive. Either fix the ship and return to its planet or die. And what if I did it. The time limit was a sword of perpetual Damocles: every day it is executed in a few minutes, and you know that the total time limit is limited, without turning back.

But Olimar found the pikmins beings who responded to his orders, becoming his small army. Weak, vulnerable, and at the bottom of the local food pyramid, these little pack-bugs become terrible: they face predatory creatures, move very heavy objects, and, ultimately, become tricolor ants, each with specific abilities.

The time limit, and its restrictions, the intrinsic basis of its playable concept, did not convince many players, and that is why the second part was renewed, and the concept improved substantially.

20. Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader

Star Wars moves mountains, or else a Jedi does like Master Yoda. This GameCube launch game was, for years, the greatest exponent of it (not in vain, in Factor 5 are some masters of engineering), and of course, it is still among the most spectacular that has been seen in the console.

It showed important battles of the original trilogy, such as the classic attack on the Death Star, and put us at the controls of lots of ships drawn from this large universe created by George Lucas. The spectacular, the scope of all technical finishing, their voices all that did not make up a gameplay that was far from perfect, but at least it was solid and constant, something that his successor could not boast.

19. Paper Mario: The Military Door

Super Mario RPG (Square) opened the ban on Super Nintendo, and Paper Mario (Intelligent Systems) on N64 gave an interesting twist to this adventures with dyes roles with the plumber as the protagonist. The Millennial Gate was one of those cases in which the continuation exceeds the original.

On the one hand, he had much more humor; on the other, the gameplay was more worked, but it did not renounce any of the precepts established in the first delivery, combining turns, skill, and item management.

Visually, he strongly reinforced the touch of paper, two-dimensional characters literally in three-dimensional environments, and the script made people laugh out loud while surprising us with a game that, in reality, was much deeper than it seemed at first glance. And is that he also knew how to feed the work that AlphaDream did with Mario & Luigi in the GBA laptop (the saga is still today in Nintendo DS), so the result was unbeatable.

18. F-Zero GX

With the inestimable collaboration of Sega, Nintendo created for GameCube a new version of one of the most missed games in this generation, especially by Wii users. Probably the best futuristic racing game of the past generation, considering also that its rivals in the previous one, those who had taken the original idea of the Super Nintendo classic and had taken it one way or another, crashed, almost compulsively, with bad quality games. Next, to the decadent Wipeout Fusion or the last throes of Extreme-G, F-Zero GX was impressive, with a great sense of speed that was combined with the spectacular scenarios where dozens of cars ran at full speed, about centimeters of the ground, jumping, crashing and sometimes crashing.

17. Soul Calibur 2

Possibly, the best gamecube games fighting. OK, there was not much choice, and the main sagas bet on PS2 or Xbox mostly; only Mortal Kombat took the Nintendo console seriously (during this generation). And then Namco arrived, and multi plataform made this game of swords, which had already succeeded remarkably with their previous deliveries.

Direct, fast, and very spectacular, betting on an arcade gameplay away from the more technical approaches that are still a mark of distinction in Tekken or Virtua Fighter. In addition, Nintendo loaned to Link and broke the cord as no one. Xbox received Spawn (yes, the comics) and PS2 Heihachi, but it was clear that the one that was best suited to the game, and who really was going to set the tone was the hero of green.

An extensive story mode, very balanced and different characters for the multiplayer, and unlockable contents and extras to give and take, also endowed it with a duration well above the average in the genre.

16. Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes

Metal Gear had not been lucky on Nintendo. The saga was born on MSX and the adaptations to NES were questionable, at best. And then he went into hibernation until his resurrection, in style, on PlayStation. The success was confirmed on PlayStation 2, and Nintendo made a move in this regard. Thus, the Canadian studio Silicon Knights (then, Nintendo was a partial owner of the studio) was in charge of taking Metal Gear Solid, apply the playable novelties that were created for Metal Gear Solid 2, and add new scenes, under the direction and supervision of Ryuhei Kitamura, an experienced filmmaker.

The game had some problems with the rate of images per second, but it captured all the Metal Gear essence and took it, finally, to GameCube. The new scenes were controversial, especially for the level of “ghosts” that were presented by their new visual style, and the unbridled action of them, but the fact is that Kojima is not exactly a restrained type in this sense, and never has opted for sobriety or realism in these scenes.

It was an interesting revision of the classic that, unfortunately, has not had continuity.

Unfortunately, the saga has moved away from Nintendo, except for the little more than mediocre Legends, since even Soul Calibur 3 was launched only on PS2, and Soul Calibur IV bet only on Xbox 360 and PS3.

15. Fire Emblem Path of Radiance

Although Advance Wars had worked well in Western markets, Nintendo seemed to have reservations with Fire Emblem, the other great saga of the strategy of Intelligent Systems, which in this case combines multiple elements of the role. But in GBA the saga showed that it worked in our lands, and the next step was to take it back to the domestic world.

The delivery for GameCube maintained the very classic gameplay of this saga, which really has not changed in excess since its birth in Famicom (the Japanese NES), and betting on a new story, more character classes, and a more elaborate staging, with careful illustrations, and many visual effects on the screen.

In addition, it worked well enough to add a direct continuation, already on Wii.

14. The Legend of Zelda: Four Sword Adventures

Another multiplayer-oriented title around the combination of GameCube and multiple Game Boy Advance portable consoles. But this time, the single player mode could be enjoyed, and the multiplayer really took advantage of the presence of an individual screen for each of the players, especially when entering caves, houses and the like, where the rest of players did not know what was happening in there.

It came later than Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, and without a doubt, it was learned from its mistakes, but the basic concept already gave problems, because of the necessary requirements to play it in its entirety. Of course, if you met the players and had the whole team, the experience was fantastic again, and it is clear that Zelda has multiplayer potential to explode, but the most important thing is that, although not so successful, the experience for Lonely players remained entertaining, something that had not been achieved in other similar projects.

In addition, it was nourished by a classic visual style, halfway between Minish Cap (it came out at that time, in Game Boy Advance), the huge A Link to the Past of Super Nintendo, and touches of Wind Waker, so with retro dyes- it was a pleasure.

13. Mario Kart Double Dash

Mario climbs back to the karts, but this time in the company. Two characters per vehicle, and different vehicles, giving multiple possible combinations, to which the unlockables had to be added. Reviewable news in a title that, however, failed to convince everyone.

In full fervor for the online game thanks to Xbox in the field of consoles, the game only supported massive games in LAN (local mode), but did not bet on the online, which is still a pending issue in Nintendo.

In addition, many players claimed a style closer to the Super Circuit (GBA) or Mario Kart 64, its direct predecessor. But the truth is that it is a game that is enjoyed without palliative to four bands, and if you managed to organize a game on LAN the thing became crazy.

12. Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem

A new world of terror taken to video games, betting on madness and the psychological. Eternal Darkness introduced us to multiple characters throughout history in a world inspired by Lovecraft’s narrations but with one thing in common: sanity effects. Or put another way: madness took over the character.

The screen could be turned off, the character was dismembered and left us helpless, disk reading failures, desperate screams, the volume of the television going down alone. all false, breaking the fourth wall on multiple occasions to knock out the player with these elements of impact.

The truth is that it was technically a little discreet, although artistically it worked very well, both visually and for its music and sound effects. And, besides being long, it was rejuvenable: the runes, the colors, marked playable elements, changed things, and the game could be enjoyed from those three nuances, complementing each other.

11. Tales of Symphonia

The saga was born in Super Famicom with Tales of Phantasia, but we did not enjoy that first installment until its revision for GBA arrived in Europe even years after it was launched in Japan. Tales of Symphonia was born as an exclusive delivery for GameCube, after the appearances on PlayStation and PlayStation 2, and really took all the essence of it to the Nintendo gamecube games console.

Classic Japanese role, which was distributed by Nintendo in Europe (in other regions was also launched on PS2, a year later), and since then it has been building a name in our market, have been arriving more deliveries for multiple platforms, and even the second part of this game for Wii.

10. Baten Kaitos

Tri Crescendo entered the role of GameCube through the front door. It’s a pity that the editors will then leave us without their equally outstanding second part in one of those creeping stab wounds to the European consumer. Baten Kaitos had a retro feel, with its pre-rendered scenes and polygonal characters on them, and an air of kitsch touch that made it artistically sublime, especially the game, when the biggest creative licenses were taken.

Their combats combined turns and cards with the most classic flavor of the Japanese role, a unique proposal in our market, where there are still few games that choose this style of fights, and history took us through the intricate destinies of a group of heroes that it would face a difficult and complex final destination.

A pedigree role-playing game, marked by the creative freedom of those responsible, but limited commercial success.

9. Donkey Kong Jungle Beat

GameCube added several platforms, but this is one of its best representatives, and that was played with the bongos launched for the musical game Donkey Konga and then it was adapted to Wii with a somewhat looser result because the truth is that giving the bongo had its point. The team responsible was the then new group of Tokyo (remember that Nintendo is based in Kyoto), which just a few years later signed the overwhelming Super Mario Galaxy.

The most curious of his proposal was the combination of pure and hard platform, with two-dimensional development, with the most marked musical rhythm, something that later moved to the combats against the final bosses. To blow of bongo and palmate, we moved to Donkey Kong by the scene, in a title that had the most classic arcade spirit: short, but intense, and immensely rejuvenable. He lacked a bit of effort in the variety of common and final enemies, yes, but his playable formula was magical.

8. Pikmin 2

The first Pikmin (also present in this selection) created a saga and laid some strong foundations that this Pikmin 2 broke in everything that was necessary. He created a multiplayer mode where it seemed that there would be no room for it, eliminated the total limit of days, and added much longer games thanks to some caves (that were generated ex prof ) huge, difficult and full of dangers. Challenges, greater difficulty, more enemies, and devilish replay.

Pikmin 2 lost that temporary tension, that tragic destiny that lurked, and here we find an Olimar looking for treasures, with two new types of pikmin a much more hostile environment, but with more possibilities, and showed that the second parts They can be more than good.

In fact, the progression was so obvious, and it is so clear that it could benefit from the use of the remote (in fact, both games have been adapted to Wii) that we can only ask how it is possible that Nintendo gamecube games have not already given us its third delivery.

7. Viewtiful Joe

When we learned that Hideki Kamiya, the creator of Devil May Cry, was going to work on Gamecube best games in a new action games, the surprise was huge, almost as much as a singular name, which already presaged that we were not going to find a video game on the line of Dante’s action. And almost better: Viewtiful Joe is a game full of humor and two-dimensional action.

The initiator of the saga, which has been left in limbo after the dissolution of Clover Studio and the departure of Kamiya from Capcom (now has its own company, along with other ex-Capcom: Platinum Games), establishes a strong foundation, among which stands out its spectacular visual style, but simple in its strokes, thanks to the cel-shading, and the constant game with the rules of cinema and video games. It takes us, as well, to the world of low budget productions with disguised heroes (the sentai genre), which spoofs, ridicules and takes to the extreme, together with special filmic powers.

His second delivery gave us some news and refined the formula, but the charm of this first part, its originality, and intense action left us a much more intense mark.

6. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker

The horror: Miyamoto was turning Zelda into little cartoons. That, more or less, many fans thought when they saw the first videos of this release. Criticism came years before even the game was launched on the market.

Then he was criticized for his visual style, his low level of difficulty, and a somewhat tedious development in the last third. Actually, the game does not keep pace, something that is accentuated by its huge seas and few islands, but that precisely endowed it with its great virtue: the sensation of navigating in dangerous seas sometimes, but inaccessible, a world desolated by the sea, which hid in its bottom the distant remains of a Hyrule buried by the waters before the impossibility of defeating Ganondorf.

He also offered us a Link very child, and the most expressive of the story, along with a visual style that, like it or not, is virtually indisputable: the color, the designs, and all the visual experience still carries us to a world of cartoons, and that, too, has made him have aged with an iron health.

His visual style has been kept alive in Nintendo DS, but we hope that all the charm of Wind Waker will return to the domestic consoles in all its splendor, to enhance, more if possible, the expressiveness, vitality, and charm of a world like East.

5. Super Mario Sunshine

In many times insulted without contemplations, Mario left the Mushroom Kingdom to take us to a paradisiacal island that, unfortunately, they were leaving made foxes. So Mario threw the Aquapack on his back, a backpack loaded with water, which gave him new skills, and he lived his game platform adventure of Gamecube best games.

Perhaps they had deposited unattainable expectations, and it was expected that the game would assume something as brutal in video games as it was Super Mario 64, but those things only happen vary from time to time and associated with paradigmatic changes of great depth, that possibly still it will take years to repeat itself.

But if we stay in what Super Mario Sunshine offers we find a platform game that was once again one of the greats of his generation, with many challenges to come, coins to find, and the always evil Bowser willing to make things difficult for us. His summary carefree touch reduced some variety in the environments during a good part of his development, but the general set is even better than what was perceived at the time, and it is clear that the passage of time has put him in the place it deserves.

4. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

The swan song of GameCube, and the powerful cry of Wii’s birth. Zelda returned to what, for many, is her fundamental base: Ocarina of Time. But more than that, elements were rescued, in the form of winks, to other deliveries as dear as A Link to the Past. An adventure in which Link showed us a more melancholic world, a Ganondorf more determined than ever to impose his will, and a mysterious companion that would guide the steps of a Lycan Link.

It’s simultaneous launching in both consoles placed it in a complicated point, and its references to the past of the saga, and its more compact world came to respond to some of the most outstanding complaints that the fans poured on Wind Waker. Finally, Twilight Princess was criticized for offering what was asked of her. But the great sagas are like this: they have so many passionate followers, that you can never please them all.

But the team of Aonuma, although conservative, confirmed an outstanding title, and a starting point that promises to offer us – let us hope that this same year – a new delivery that, for sure, will also leave us speechless.

3. Super Smash Bros. Melee

It is true that GameCube (as Wii) did not have a Mario – although a Luigi – in its premiere, a few days later we got this Super Smash Bros. Melee, and it is not surprising that it was one of the most played titles by the owners of the console. The saga was born perhaps a bit by chance on Nintendo 64, and although funny few believed that his continuation would take such a big leap. And boy did he give it. A tribute to the Nintendo Universe, a devilish gameplay, and the ability for hours of play to be counted by a few hundred, thanks to a very comprehensive and exciting mono jugador mode, and a multiplayer that is synonymous with pure fun. The Undisputed leader in the sales of GameCube, only lacked the game online, the great unfinished business of the console.

2. Resident Evil 4

Resident Evil had been one of those absences (relative, but patent in comparison with the other consoles of the previous generation) in Nintendo. So the exclusivity agreement signed by Capcom and Nintendo was one of those amazing moves early in the life of the console. The remake of Resident Evil, the adaptations of the rest of deliveries, and the creation of Resident Evil Zero paled before what was Resident Evil 4: under the direct tutelage of Shinji Mikami, the father of the creature, the saga was redefined completely.

Change perspective, enemies (goodbye, zombies), a turn to action much more intense, a new story. a whole new start for a series that added fans but also detractors, for its archaic control, and was reborn now in GameCube with one of the most compelling graphics aspects of the moment. Many games saw in him the way to follow, and shortly after Mikami would leave Capcom, next to others.

1. Metroid Prime

Samus Aran came out of hibernation by the hand of the American Retro Studios. The bounty hunter left the guardianship of her parents to face new challenges, and she did it by redefining herself. If Mario and Link were already clear examples of how to move to 3D in the previous generation, there were doubts about the Metroid universe due to hesitation, delay, and absence. But the wait was well worth it, and we found an action game in the first person that injected as never before the adventure and exploration, as well as all the classic elements of nonlinear development of the saga, taking us to the first person after the helmet of the space suit of the veteran heroine of video games.

The bases were seated, and from here two more deliveries have emerged, each with a strong and different personality, but always under the basic scheme established here. Rarely redefines how to deal with a whole series, and Retro Studios gave full in its goal with this great video game.