Retro|Spective 196: The Final Tour of Gamecube

[Neon Ignition]

The Nintendo Gamecube - Turning 20 Years Old This September

The third system of the 128-bit generation is set in our sights and this time it's the cube that played games, the Gamecube. Announced for a still astonishingly low launch RRP the system was a more aggressive move against the market than it is remembered for being and initially it sold immensely well. With time that demand quickly drifted away but the system has long been a favourite for hosting many titles that simply didn't see the light of release on rival systems of the day. A system arguably so good Nintendo repackaged it, slapped the name Wii on it and resold it for £50 extra to great success.

Once again we'll be taking a look at batches of games that remain exclusive to the system, sharing our memories of the games and also if they are strong enough titles to leave the system with an enduring legacy of interest attached.

First - Where did the Gamecube stand in your appreciation of Nintendo systems of past?

[Asura]

Quite high. I didn't get one until around the launch of Resident Evil 4, but by then there was plenty to play cheaply second-hand. I have many great memories of it; I must have played hundreds of hours of Rogue Leader and Rebel Strike alone.

Retrospectively though... It's hard to say. Being truthful, it's the console I still own (well, via the Wii) which gets fired up the very least.

[Mayhem]

Aside from Sunshine, Nintendo's own titles were pretty strong this generation, but more of the focus was on third party for me, as the Cube version was often the best from the multi platform (or level with the Xbox at least) and there were some cracking exclusives (or were at the time of release). I used to have a complete US Cube set (555 titles) and whittled it down to the titles I wanted to keep, and that's still 120 odd games.

[chopemon]

This is the first Nintendo home console I owned, I was a Mega Drive, PS1 and PS2 kid. I bought the GameCube with my first pay from my first full time job with a copy of REMake. I loved it. What a masterpiece of a game. I dabbled with the Cube library a bit more but I mainly bought it for Resi 0 and 4. I also enjoyed PN03 and Viewtiful Joe though I never got very far in it. Also quite enjoyed Gotcha Force which I'm glad I kept hold of since it is rare now. Also loved Pikmin 2.

I've recently been playing GC games a bit more after buying a modded spice orange machine. Looking forward to finally giving Metroid Prime a go.

[Asura]

but more of the focus was on third party for me, as the Cube version was often the best from the multi platform (or level with the Xbox at least)

That's interesting, because that's actually what I would've said about the Xbox. The Xbox had better support for widescreen, surround-sound/high quality sound setups, and, most importantly, the best multiplayer implementation for that generation (that last one obviously no longer applies in 2021).

Plus the Gamecube's controller was bad. There. I said it. It was fine for Nintendo's own titles and obviously okay for third-party exclusives, but I still really hate it and wish they'd gone with a more conventional design. Shame too because the Wavebird was a fantastic step forward for wireless console controllers.

[Dogg Thang]

I like the Gamecube. It's a middle tier console for me. I bonded with it much more than I did the N64 and enjoyed a lot of games on it, like the Resident Evil remake, Monkey Ball and Phantasy Star Online. But It's not a system I'd treasure. I don't really have any special memories of it in the way I might with some other systems.

[Neon Ignition]

And here - we - go:


1080 Avalanche
Following on from the popular N64 title, the sequel continued the emphasis more on racing than the tricks component that other titles focused on more strongly. The games main issue was that it was more subdued than the SSX series which led to a struggle getting enough attention, in turn the 1080 franchise has since been one of Nintendo's many dust gathering franchises.





Amazing Island
Released by Sega and worked on in part by Hitmaker, this is a mini-game collection seeing you work to remove an evil presence from the Amazing Island. As such it has multiplayer options in addition to a character creator. Middling reviews and a generic look stopped this game in its tracks quickly however.





Baten Kaitos Origins / Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean
This pair of RPGs have developed a long running small fanbase and yet remain tied firmly to the fate of the purple cube. Turn based titles using a card system, the games were considered some of the best looking genre titles on the system but they couldn't quite gain the popularity to grow enough audience to continue.





Did you experience any of these Gamecube curios?

[phillv85]

For me the GC was a bit of an also-ran. I had a PS2, but more crucially at the time I had a PC and Championship Manager. I got the GC for Christmas a year or two after release and never really got into it. I own most of the first party games for the system but they never caught my attention. I don't think much in the way of console games caught my attention at that particular time other than PES on the PS2. I spent most of my gaming time on Championship Manager. My GC hasn't been set up for absolutely ages, certainly not in the 6 years I've been in the house I'm currently in.

My main memories of the system are playing that crappy Turok game on Christmas Day, being disappointed with Mario Sunshine but absolutely loving that Sonic Gems Collection or whatever it was called. I also didn't like Windwaker, but remember my brother playing it a lot.

[Hirst]

I never had a GC, but I recall it having lengthy periods where barely any games were being released. I've actually got one that was given to me (less power cable) and I'm wondering whether I should have a try. I'm aware there's a region unlocking device for it, but are there any problems playing imports on a PAL system?

[Asura]

I never had a GC, but I recall it having lengthy periods where barely any games were being released.

I mean, it was a Nintendo system

[charlesr]

1080 Avalanche was excellent. It missed some of the fitness of the original controls, but made up for it in speed and level design.

[danstan21]

The Gamecube was a pretty poor choice compared to the competitors, and I'm unsurprised it failed to capture imaginations. But as a retrospective library of games, it's pretty much my favourite Nintendo console. An absolute deluge of first-party series were either born here or had some of their best entries - Smash Bros, Metroid Prime, F-Zero, Pikmin, Chibi-Robo, Fire Emblem, Luigi's Mansion, Animal Crossing to name a few. Baten Kaitos, Gotcha Force and Kururin Squash are also some fantastic GC-exclusive games that are criminally overlooked in the Nintendo canon.

It also remains a go-to for local multiplayer. The previously mentioned SSBM and F-Zero along with Mario Kart Double Dash, Soul Calibur II, Super Monkey Ball and WarioWare are well-known highlights, but even some of the more obscure stuff gets an occasional showing, e.g. Star Fox Assault (the main campaign might be knob but the PvP is really good), Pac Man Vs. (which definitely should've had a Wii U port) and Nintendo Puzzle Collection (which is to date the only way to play 4P Panel de Pon). I also had a cracking New Year's party in my uni graduation year which, through no pushing of my own, devolved into a stonking great Donkey Konga drum-off feat. 99 Red Balloons and Tubthumping.

[wakka]

The GameCube for me is a difficult second album with a library that features a collection of difficult second albums.

I always think that much of the first party output is the product of thinking 'Where do we go next?', and that resulted in a series of attempts to essentially put different spins on established properties.

So you've got Celda, much beloved now but totally controversial at the time, the FLUDD, the Double Dash mechanic, Star Fox Adventures, and so on.

I think they all worked and didn't work to various degrees, but I think while at the time some of these new ideas were met with confusion or outright disappointment, going back to the console it's kind of a fascinating Galapagos of Nintendo first party development. What Nintendo have become very good at since the GC is doubling down on the core elements of what makes their flagship franchises great, and focusing on refining those.

While that's resulted in some truly wonderful games (Mario Kart 8, Odyssey and certainly Galaxy are much better than the equivalent GC offerings), it is in some ways a little bit less interesting.

It means, for me, that I'm a bit like @danstan21 above. I didn't absolutely love the machine at the time, but it's a fascinating library to go back to.

[Hirst]

What's good on the GC from third-party developers? Anything unusual? Seeking suggestions as truthfully I'm not into that many of the big Nintendo franchises.

[Mayhem]

What's good on the GC from third-party developers? Anything unusual? Seeking suggestions as truthfully I'm not into that many of the big Nintendo franchises.

Many of these aren't going to be exclusive but...

Alien Hominid
Baten Kaitos
Beach Spikers
Beyond Good and Evil
Billy Hatcher
Burnout 1/2
Capcom vs SNK 2 EO
Chaos Field
Cubivore
Custom Robo
FF Crystal Chronicles
Freedom Fighters
Go Go Hypergrind
Gotcha Force
Ikaruga
Killer 7
Lost Kingdoms
MGC Twin Snakes
Mystic Heroes
Pacman Vs
PSO 1-3
PN03
PoP Sands of Time
Resident Evil 4
Rogue Squadron 2 Rogue Leader
Second Sight
Sega Soccer Slam
Skies of Arcadia Legends
Soul Calibur 2
SMB 1/2
Tales of Symphonia
Timesplitters 2
Ultimate Muscle
Viewtiful Joe
XIII

And that's just the US titles I can think of... then there's Star Soldier, Nintendo Puzzle Collection, Giftpia etc on Japanese exclusive.