Look, we’ve got to be honest with you here. Making a list of the GameCube games that have aged well without it simply looking like a list of the best GameCube games is a bit of a daunting task. The venn diagram of both categories is a complete circle, and while you could jot down some Prime candidates on a Thousand Year Door, we wanted to focus on a couple of obscure picks for the sickos too. It’s us. We’re the sickos. These are our picks for the GameCube games that have aged better than Shinji Mikami talking about Resident Evil 4’s exclusivity. How many heads does he have?
1. Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II
We were going to open this entry up by saying some to the effect of being a Star Wars fan hasn’t aged too well, but somehow we returned that idea to the pile.
Anyway, the Star Wars franchise might have some of the biggest peaks and valleys when it comes to the quality of its tie-ins and spin-offs. Some are great, some are terrible, but we’re pretty confident in saying that Star Wars Rogue Squadron 2: Rogue Leader is among the greatest Star Wars games ever made. Perhaps it’s even one of the greatest licensed games of all time, but it’s definitely a contender for the most timeless Nintendo GameCube game ever made. Factor 5 and LucasArts cooked when they made this whipper.
Following on from the success of the original Rogue Squadron on the Nintendo 64, Rogue Leader once again follows both Luke Skywalker and Wedge Antilles as they wage war against the Empire. The campaign mode features many of the iconic battles from the films, including both Death Stars and the Battle of Hoth. However, Rogue Leader also throws in new missions and content in iconic locations, like Yavin 4 and Cloud City. As an aerial combat title, Rogue Leader manages to compete with the action and intensity you’d expect from a game like Ace Combat, only with the added bonus that you’re piloting X-Wings instead of regular fighter jets.
Even if you’re not a Star Wars fan, Rogue Leader is an incredible GameCube experience, and it looks gorgeous today.
2. The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is a widely beloved game, but if there’s one complaint anyone either had or still has with OoT, it’s the darned Water Temple. Nintendo weren’t deterred though, as they clearly decided to make a Zelda game based entirely on water just to spite everyone, and also to make it look exactly nothing like most people had imagined.
The result was The Wind Waker, arguably one of the best games ever made for the Nintendo GameCube and a genuine example of a game that’s aged like a fine wine. From graphics alone, which saw Nintendo deviate into a cel-shaded art style, complete with cartoonishly proportioned characters, Wind Waker’s aesthetic has managed to enjoy an almost timeless quality. Honestly, it’d probably hold up far better than the more “realistic” vision people were hoping for. An indie game could launch tomorrow with the exact same art style and people would consider it GOTY material, and it would honestly deserve it.
However, Wind Waker’s gameplay also needs plenty of praise, taking the crown of the best traditional Zelda game since Ocarina of Time. Sure, Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom might have taken the franchise in a successful new direction, but for those who love the classic dungeons, combat and puzzle solving of the older 3D Zelda games, it’s on full display here in Wind Waker. If that’s not enough praise for you, Wind Waker also manages to be one of the best sailing games ever made, beating out more modern titles like Skull & Bones. Sailing the open seas in Wind Waker gives the most calm vibes gaming has to offer 99% of the time. That 1% is when you manage to find those dreaded whirlpools.
3. Resident Evil 4
What can we say about Resident Evil 4 that hasn’t been said by everyone else over the years? Capcom put in some of their best work of their entire lifespan with the original Resident Evil 4, and while the various ports and new editions of the game have added new quality of life features and content, the core game in general on the Nintendo GameCube is still wonderful.
Sure, having to plant your feet in order to shoot some infected Spanish villager in the kneecap feels a bit archaic by today’s standards, but Resident Evil 4’s approach to action and gunplay, forcing you to face enemies head on and commit to attacks, allowed the game to keep some of that horror tension the series was known for. You know, in between Leon roundhouse kicking some chainsaw-wielding loons.
Six years after the horrendous incident in Raccoon City, Leon S. Kennedy has been promoted from rookie cop to personal bodyguard/aide to the President of the United States, which is one hell of an upgrade for the lad. Perks of the new job include dental plan, a company car (probably) and the privilege of heading to Spain to suplex some people unfortunately infected with Las Plagas. Of course, Leon’s here on official business, as the President’s daughter has been kidnapped by an evil cult, hoping to spread the Las Plagas parasite across the globe.
While the remake might have adapted Leon’s European adventure for a modern audience, that original trip is still as compelling and enjoyable today as it was back in the mid-2000s. And, most importantly, goofy as hell.
4. F-Zero GX
Oh boy, here we go talking about F-Zero GX again.
Look, we could talk about how F-Zero GX’s 3D graphics stand among the best of the era, despite the fact that the game boasts 30 vehicles bombing it around an anti-gravity race track at over 1000 kmph. The variety in the levels, from classics like Mute City and Big Blue to absolutely stunning landscapes like Fire Field, Port Town and Lightning, offer some incredible visuals that still hold up today. The fact that the sheer chaos and amount of crap on screen at one time doesn’t stop the game from running at a smooth 60 frames per second helps ensure the F-Zero GX stands toe-to-toe with even the best antigravity racers released these days. Yes, that includes Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, if you want more proof that the ideas of F-Zero GX have aged beautifully.
If we were to finally get our wish and receive an F-Zero GX port for modern Nintendo systems, some might find issues with the game’s extreme difficulty. While the physics and handling take a lot of getting used to in the first place, ensuring that players need to practice before they can become a true F-Zero champ, the game’s AI and expectations of the player are unrelenting, especially during the Story Mode. F-Zero GX is blisteringly hard, but over time, people have welcomed games that are uncompromising in their design and difficulty. We’re not trying to say that F-Zero GX is the Dark Souls of anti-gravity racing games, because that wouldn’t convey how hard F-Zero truly is.
Miyazaki lies awake at night in fear of playing F-Zero GX’s Story Mode on Very Hard.
5. Viewtiful Joe
From one brutally hard game to another, Viewtiful Joe perhaps launched a bit too early. Now that it’s become more mainstream to desire a challenging video game again, Viewtiful Joe could have found a much bigger audience. We’re not saying that it would have done, considering how niche the game’s genre is or how weird the overall story, characters and aesthetic are, but there’s perhaps the possibility that Viewtiful Joe would have had a bigger platform to succeed from.
Despite that though, Viewtiful Joe’s loving homage to movie culture and 2D beat ‘em ups have ensured that the gameplay is just as incredible now as it was back in the early 2000s. You know, if you can get past the roadblock that is the very first boss fight, anyway. Who knew helicopters could be so tough?
Like Wind Waker earlier in this list though, it’s the graphics of Viewtiful Joe that have really stood the test of time, as the cel-shading gives the game an almost anime/manga quality. It’s also a beautiful tribute to the world of cinema, specifically the sentai and kaiju genre, with Joe himself fighting giant monsters, using massive transforming laser guns, and and egregious close-ups of his feet to pay homage to Tarantino. Maybe not that last one. Perhaps that’s why it wasn’t more successful.
The ability to manipulate the film too by slowing time, hitting fast forward or zooming in for your close up help keep the action fresh, as you solve puzzles and batter goons across the game’s various levels. Capcom are deep in their remaster/remake era at the minute, so if we can convince them that Viewtiful Joe is still a real viewty, maybe we will get another one.
6. Luigi’s Mansion
Nintendo took a huge swing by not releasing the Nintendo GameCube with a dedicated Mario release. Super Mario Sunshine might have been yahoo’ing down the warp pipe of course, but new Mario games are events unto themselves. Instead, Nintendo opted to take a risk by having Mario’s brother Luigi take the spotlight in his first proper solo game. The result, Luigi’s Mansion, has arguably aged infinitely better than Super Mario Sunshine has, and we’re not just saying that because Luigi’s Mansion doesn’t have a pachinko level. It’s definitely a huge part of the reason, but there’s more to it than that.
Graphically, the original Luigi’s Mansion does a lot with so little, nailing the spooky tone and aesthetic without delving into full horror. That’s what the GameCube remake of Resident Evil was for. The combat approach of the game, which essentially translates to Ghostbusters with a vacuum cleaner, remains a unique yet totally Nintendo way to do fights with the supernatural, and something that’s still incredibly fun today.
However, the real quality of Luigi’s Mansion that’s aged well is how it’s elevated the stock of Mario’s green-loving brother. Before Mansion, Luigi was going to be a forever sidekick, but now Luigi is a genuine protagonist in his own right, and given equal billing in the Mario & Luigi RPG series. We probably wouldn’t have had the Year of Luigi without the success of Luigi’s Mansion, and also obviously not Luigi’s Mansion 3 — the greatest game of all time.
7. Super Smash Bros Melee
This one speaks for itself, surely. The original Super Smash Bros. on the N64 felt like gaming’s first steps into the world of massive collaborations, with some of Nintendo’s biggest hitters gathering together for a massive scrap. Sure, fighting games were crossing over with each other or, in the case of Capcom, teaming with Marvel, but Smash almost opened the door for all games of all kinds to start mixing it up with each other.
Cut to now with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which includes characters and icons from all corners of gaming, while games like Fortnite gather IP like a British schoolkid gathering conkers on the last week of the summer holidays. Is that too much of a specific reference for this video? Do kids even gather conkers anymore? Or do they just chuck their old iPhones at each other? Try to drown their enemies in Prime?
Anyway, Smash Bros. Melee’s improvements over the core formula outlined in the first Smash game have made Melee one of the most successful fighting games of all time. Name another game that has people lugging CRT monitors and original hardware GameCube across the world just to ensure that the highest level of players can compete for everyone to watch. Melee is far from the only fighting game over 20 years old with a dedicated competitive following, but the fact that Melee has managed to succeed, almost in spite of Nintendo trying to suppress the community at every turn, has to be commended.
If you had to pick one game to sum up the Nintendo GameCube, it’d be Super Smash Bros. Melee.
8. Super Monkey Ball
Ever since gaming’s earliest days, players have longed for the ability to roll balls around levels that become steadily more complicated as you progress. First, there were games like Marble Madness, released in the arcades in the 80s, but then fast forward quite a few years and SEGA released their almost spiritual successor in Super Monkey Ball. Like Marble Madness, SMB started life as an arcade game before being ported to the Nintendo GameCube, where it quickly became notorious as being both incredibly addictive and punishingly difficult. In truth, all of that comes down to the game’s genuine simplicity, as all you’re doing is tilting a stage to roll a ball around. Because it’s so simple though, you delude yourself into thinking you can actually complete the ludicrously precise levels you’re thrown into, only to fall off again and again.
We love Super Monkey Ball so much.
Because Super Monkey Ball isn’t a complex game, SEGA and AV were able to really put a lot of work into the lighting, textures and backgrounds, making Super Monkey Ball one of the most graphically impressive games on the entire platform. Given some of the heavy hitters that the GC boasted, that’s a pretty high bar to clear. However, the real reason that the original Super Monkey Ball has aged well has to do with the series itself, as games like SMB: Banana Blitz tried to reinvent the formula by adding features like a jump button and boss fights, tainting the core mechanics as a whole.
We’d say that SEGA learned their lesson after releasing Banana Mania as a flat remake of the first two games, but then SEGA had to add some weird online multiplayer mode to the latest game, Banana Rumble. All you needed to do was just give the party games online play. That’s all.
9. Soulcalibur 2
How do you top the greatest reviewed fighting game of all time? Throw in the Hero of Time as a playable character apparently.
Not including the Dreamcast, or Super Smash Bros. Melee, the sixth console generation didn’t enjoy the best run of fighting games. The Mortal Kombat games were commercially successful, but played like crap, while offerings like Capcom Fighting Jam were basically considered trash. Fortunately, Namco had it covered, with Soulcalibur 2 arguably being the best fighting game of the entire generation. Again, the Dreamcast doesn’t count. You can’t compete with that fighting game library.
Technically the third game in the series if we’re counting Soul Blade (which we are, cos it rules), Soulcalibur 2 took the franchise to new heights, with improved graphics, faster gameplay and bigger single-player modes. Weapon Master Mode was miles ahead of its time, honestly.
What’s helped Soulcalibur 2 to age extremely well though, aside from how good the graphics were, is how much Namco embraced guest characters. Each version of SC2 across PS2, Xbox and GameCube were blessed with their own guest character, and while Xbox and PS2 had decent guests, they weren’t quite up to the GameCube’s level.
I mean, the PS2’s Heihachi appearance is just Namco lifting a character from one series and putting them in another, while the Xbox’s Spawn appearance came about because Namco were already working with creator Todd McFarlane to put his original creation, Necrid, into the game. Quite how Namco managed to get Nintendo to agree on Link’s appearance for the GameCube is anyone’s guess, but Link mixing it up with Nightmare and the gang has become a genuinely wonderful memory for most GameCube owners.
10. Go Go Hypergrind
Has Go Go Hypergrind aged well because of its gameplay? Almost certainly not, though this obscure curio’s approach to skateboarding feels like a weird cross between Looney Tunes and Jackass. The game sees a bunch of original cartoon weirdos all competing for a shot at glory by steering their character via skateboard into a variety of cartoon blunders, comboing as many of them together as possible to score points. Imagine Sideshow Bob was an anthropomorphic wolf and he hit a McTwist in between every step on a rake and you’re about there. Admittedly, the gameplay is kind of ropey and weird, and if you want a better skateboarding game, the GameCube offers plenty of Tony Hawk titles to choose from. At least Hypergrind doesn’t have Eric Sparrow in it though.
What makes Go Go Hypergrind a game that’s aged incredibly well for the GameCube is all to do with the cel-shaded graphics and overall aesthetic. Despite using the same kind of technique that other games mentioned so far used, Hypergrind still manages to stand out from the crowd, and a lot of that is because the developers ATLUS worked with Spumco, the creators of Ren & Stimpy, in order to create the game’s roster of characters. They look like parodies of Looney Tunes characters and that’s completely intentional, but it gives the game an almost timeless quality. Add on to that the fact that, again, this was developed by ATLUS before they became a proper gaming powerhouse with the release of Persona 3 and 4, and you’ve got a game that offers a rare glimpse into what else ATLUS are capable of.
Remaster or even just port it then gang, just so we don’t have to pay those absurd second hand prices, yeah? Completely unrelated question: if you’re reviewing science, do you rate pi or pi rate?
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