Retro|Spective 196: The Final Tour of Gamecube

[Neon Ignition]

Filling out your Thursday with gaming goodness? It's the right thing to do!


Phantasy Star Online: Episode III C.A.R.D Revolution
It's amazing to think PSO has survived all these years from its humble Dreamcast origins and through its Gamecube focused years. Here lies Sega's attempt to mix things up in a frankly odd way as the series pulls a Yakuza and drops action based gameplay for turn based. Picking up 21 years after Episode II, this game saw players battle online using a card based RPG system. It was reasonably well received but a little over three years later went offline.





Pokémon Colosseum
Pre current gen it wouldn't be a Nintendo console without an attempt to cash in on Pokemons popularity without having an actual main line entry on the system and here we have Colosseum. The game was the closest attempt at the time of giving players a console scale RPG in the brand.





Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness
The other Pokémon exclusive on the system is this put simply, the sequel to Colosseum and can be connected to the GBA entries of the time. Giving a new region this is a continuation of the same kind of experience.




Where you a please Poke fan or were these games a ruined Phantasy for you?

[Neon Ignition]

Pokemon we don't choose you it seems! Time for the next batch:


Road Trip: The Arcade Edition / Gadget Racers / Choro Q!
This title added weapons to the Choro Q formula in order to lean it into its arcade angled sales pitch. Starting with 10 cars players can unlock their way up to 100 but as is common the mix didn't ignite sales and a mixed reaction saw this as another quiet entry in the history of the series.




Starfox Adventures
Born of Rare's attempt at tackling the Zelda style of game, Starfox Adventures was considered a mis-step for the franchise but in hindsight does have its fans. The game doesn't perfect but does perhaps hint at one potential route the franchise could have pursued in an effort to keep it relevant today. Third person adventuring coupled with the occasional classic style shooter sequence in the franchises biggest entry.




Starfox Assault
Like F-Zero, this collaborative effort was an attempt to bring the franchise back to its roots and also to the arcade. However, only this console version arrived which narratively follows on from Adventures but with a return of emphasis on shooter action. It was reasonably well received but failed to gain the acclaim and recognition the first two entries had leaving both GC era franchise entries locked to the system to this day.




Did any of these Foxy entries leave you with fond memories and deserve to be experienced beyond the GC audience?

[Nu-Eclipse]

Starfox Assault is/was nowhere near as bad as it was made out to be when it was originally released.

It leaves Starfox Adventures (which is genuinely crap) and Starfox Zero (which looks to have killed the franchise with dreadful controls unless Nintendo/Platinum reconsider and do a Switch rework) absolutely standing.

At the very least, it is the third-best game in the franchise, with Starfox 64/Lylat Wars and the OG SNES/SFC game in at numbers one and two respectively.

[importaku]

I'm interested to hear from anyone who played Odama. It always sounded like a nice idea that wouldn't actually work. Was yelling into the mic to direct troops actually effective?!

I'm guessing not, considering with billions of dollars and ten years invested Siri still frequently messes up an egg timer.

I acually have that one, it took a little while to figure out what the voice commands were to control in the japanese version i then wrote them all down on a post it and kept it in the game box so if at a later time i wanted to play i'd remember what the voice commands did. They actually work pretty well, good enough that it was figuring out my botched japanese pronunciation so it gets points for that alone it's a very unusual spin on pinball, i liked it a lot hence it having permanent space in my GC collection. It is tricky to play though as you had to keep the ball in motion while also keeping an eye on what your troops were doing, sometimes you'd be paying the troops too much attention & let your ball slip through the flippers and other times the opposite while you are focused on the pinball part you forget to keep your troops alive and attacking.

[wakka]

Intriguing, thanks. I'd like to try it as I love pinball games and interesting spins on pinball.

[Neon Ignition]

Starfox Adventures is a strange one. I kind of recall it slightly fondly but the rational part of my brain knows it's not that great either. If it was the same kind of intented design but originated as a Starfox game it might have been better but it still reeked of Dinosaur Planet with a Starfox reskin and that really drags the experience down. It would have been interesting though to see it take hold and have Nintendo blend it into something a bit more Mass Effect like on foot in a sequel.

Starfox Assault is also a strange one. Definitely better than most entries but it also feels loose and clunky at times, there's too much emphasis on deviating from the classic design as the series often makes the mistake of doing. It's short and easy and kind of just there but in a way that was enough at the time.

[Mayhem]

Adventures I enjoyed, Assault less so for some reason.

[Neon Ignition]

It's Tuesday and time to grab some 'member berries as we take a look at the next trio of GC exclusives time has left behind


Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader / Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike
'Member Star Wars? 'Member the Millennium Falcon? Oo, 'member Chewbacca? Yeah, I 'member! A long, long time ago in videogame stores not so far away the system launched and the second entry in Factor 5's Star Wars Rogue Squadron series launched with what was considered at the time to be phenomenal graphics. The third game added on foot missions and the entire second game as a multiplayer whilst also having a limited run bonus of the old arcade game on a separate disc as another exclusive nugget for the system. Factor 5 attempted to move on though and it being a licensed game also pinned the entries down where they remain to this day, in the GC's library.





Super Mario Strikers
The final Mario themed game released on the system in Japan and America, this sports entry was noticeable for its striking art work that wasn't at all reflected in the games graphical style. Essentially a football game with a charge shot, this remained on the Cube due to a sequel that would follow.





Super Smash Bros Melee
There's not much to say as to why this is only on the Gamecube, the reasons are obvious but it still remains a title with a weirdly strong influence on the fanbase to this day and the primary reason Nintendo fans won't let the Gamecube controller drift away into the night three generations later.




Did any of these three games Strike you fondly?

[Asura]

It's Tuesday and time to grab some 'member berries as we take a look at the next trio of GC exclusives time has left behind


Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader / Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike
'Member Star Wars? 'Member the Millennium Falcon? Oo, 'member Chewbacca? Yeah, I 'member! A long, long time ago in videogame stores not so far away the system launched and the second entry in Factor 5's Star Wars Rogue Squadron series launched with what was considered at the time to be phenomenal graphics. The third game added on foot missions and the entire second game as a multiplayer whilst also having a limited run bonus of the old arcade game on a separate disc as another exclusive nugget for the system. Factor 5 attempted to move on though and it being a licensed game also pinned the entries down where they remain to this day, in the GC's library.




Did any of these three games Strike you fondly?

As a big Star Wars fan at the time, I loved these, along with their predecessor, as well as the less-well-regarded Battle for Naboo and LAIR, which are essentially part of the same series from a gameplay standpoint.

I think it's a real shame we've never seen a follow-up for newer hardware.

[Mayhem]

Smash Melee is arguably best of the series imo, better than the later Wii titles.

[Neon Ignition]

Nearing the end now...


Swingerz Golf
One of five entries in this arm of sports games, this is the only Gamecube exclusive entry that see's players playing golf as one of 14 goofy characters. Receiving average reviews the game made little impact.





Tube Slider
Not even a footnote, this game was originally pitched to be an F-Zero sequel but the failure of that push saw it rebranded into its own thing. Only released in the US, the game is fairly bareboned and features hover vehicles racing through tubes though the mechanics of the racing are pretty much the same as F-Zero.




Universal Studios Theme Parks Adventure
A mini-game collection featuring rides based on Back to the Future, Jaws, Jurassic Park and more, this was another opening title for the Gamecube and adorned many a second hand section throughout the systems life. Essentially a poor mans version of the experience the Kinect focused Disneyland game would try to deliver down the line, it was poorly received but always lurking on the shelves.




Was there enjoyment to be gleened from these or did they deserve to go back... back to the store!

[charlesr]

Still love playing the Rogue Squadron games. I used to have the N64 version too. Not sure where it has disappeared to. Probably sold a like a noob.

[Neon Ignition]

The final round of games to bring us to the end of our journey with the Gamecube are here:


Wario World
Developed by Treasure, this entry attempted to adapt the Wario series gameplay into a 3D adventure. The result was a simple platformer that was fairly well received but had fairly low sales. It was pulled up for its short length but unlike other short GC titles like Luigi's Mansion this had less identity to stay in gamers minds.




WarioWare Inc: Mega Party Games!
The second entry in the series, this sequel brought the same kind of gameplay mini-games experience as the handheld original to the console arena. The game expanded a focus on multiplayer but also recycled quite a bit of content too.




Wave Race: Blue Storm
Often thought of in the same way as 1080's sequel as both were Cube follow ups to well thought of N64 titles that aimed to expand and hone what the predecessors had but both failed to recapture the appreciation of their forebearers, brining their series to an end. Wave Race makes the tone of the series less relaxed and introduces tougher, stormier weather to the experience.




What were your thoughts of these final three games and how overall does the Gamecube's private collection hold up in retrospect?

[charlesr]

Waverace was excellent. Really enjoyed it. Lush visually too.

[wakka]

Yeah, Blue Storm is underrated. I'd like to play it again. It's a fun game.

WarioWare was basically a multiplayer version of the GBA game, but that was OK considering how great the GBA game was. The multiplayer modes they devised were really fun, too. I played a lot of that back in the day with a mate.