VGC Special: Top 10 Gamecube Games - News
by VGChartz Staff , posted on 16 April 2009 / 40,077 Views
Despite making money, the Gamecube will not go down in history as a success for Nintendo. Where the N64 lost Nintendo its market leadership the Gamecube lost Nintendo major third party support and even more marketshare. In addition, Nintendo's image among a large group of people was damaged. With its goofy appearance, purple color and handle, the Gamecube was dismissed as being for kids and Nintendo fans (which is probably the same for a lot of gamers). However, there is one thing Nintendo's purple box cannot be accused of: a lack of great games. It's easy to forget that the Gamecube had an amazing library, with a lot of exclusives. In this article we show you the 10 best games for Gamecube as picked by VGChartz' staff.
10. Animal Crossing
Welcome to Animal Crossing, Nintendo’s social simulator that lets you call the shots in a wholly unique world. In this imaginary world, you own a home, you work hard to get ahead, and you play even harder to enjoy the many challenges of each day and each season. The Gamecube entry was the first of the series to leave Japan. It is open-ended, and the player's character can live a separate life with little preset plot or mandatory tasks. The game is played in real-time-observing days, weeks, months and years using the GameCube's internal clock. Many real-life events and holidays span the year, including Independence Day, Halloween, the Harvest Festival (Thanksgiving), and Toy Day (Christmas). A wonderful game that can really swallow the player into the world of Tom Nook and his friends.
9. Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
Mario Kart: a fan favorite since its Super NES release. The formula is changed a bit in Double Dash!! though. No longer will you be racing regular karts, but strange vehicles ranging from an old pink Cadillac to a baby buggy. And that's not all. You'll be doubling the action with two characters in a single kart, also available in co-op. The front person steers the kart while the rider uses the items. Despite these changes Mario Kart: Double Dash!! holds true to the series' legacy as the best party racer around. The game is also compatible with the LAN adapter.
8. Tales of Symphonia
The Gamecube wasn’t exactly the JRPG console of choice, but Tales of Symphonia made up for a lot of that. With over 80 hours of gameplay, a great real-time 3D battle system, and a deep story, this game can stand proud among the best of JRPGs. The game begins in the world of Sylvarant, a land that is dying due to a steady loss of mana. The people turn their hopes to the Chosen, a servant and messiah of the Goddess Martel, who can reverse the ills of the world by completing the Journey of World Regeneration. The player takes on the role of Lloyd Irving who chooses to accompany the Chosen to her destiny. Sounds very generic, but the story consistently surprises and changes with every other event, keeping the player engaged throughout the game.
7. Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
"This isn't really happening!" One of the most under-appreciated games ever, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem is an epic psychological thriller where nothing is what it seems. You play as 12 different characters in different historic settings to unravel the mystery behind the murder of Edward Roivas. Among the locations you visit are the Forbidden City in Persia, a Cambodian temple in Angkor Thom, the Oublie Cathedral in Amiens, France, and the Roivas family mansion. Along the way you discover the dark plot of "the Ancients" which all starts with your ancestor Roman centurion Pious Augustus. The game's standout concept is the sanity meter. Once it's depleted the game starts to play with the gamer instead of the other way around, something that really amplifies the horror and feeling of delusion.
6. Resident Evil
Colloquially known as the REmake, this is the ultimate survival horror game for many. Shinji Mikami himself totally revamped the original PlayStation classic and turned it into a graphical powerhouse with good voice acting, a series first. The prerendered backgrounds allowed the power of the Gamecube to almost solely focus on the character animations, resulting in one of the most gorgeous games of its generation. The player controls Jill Valentine or Chris Redfield who arrive at a spooky mansion to investigate strange murders in the vincinity. Soon you'll be chased by Zombies created in weird biological experiments. But beware, there's a serious lack of ammo and the many puzzles can be mind-boggling. Survival Horror at its best.
5. Super Mario Sunshine
While genreally not regarded as the true succesor to Super Mario 64, Sunshine is still a fantastic game. On the tropical Isle Delfino, where Mario, Toadsworth and Princess Peach are taking a vacation, a villain known as "Shadow Mario" vandalizes the entire island with graffiti. Obviously Mario gets blamed for the mess. He's ordered to clean up Isle Delfino, while saving Princess Peach from Shadow Mario. Mario cleans up the island with a device called FLUDD, which he can use to spray water and hover in the air using its nozzles. But at heart it is plain old Mario platformer, which should say enough.
4. Resident Evil 4
After four Resident Evil games Capcom revolutionized the series with incredible results. The game takes on a much more action/shooter aspect as it leaves behind most of the jump from your seat moments of its predecessors for faster pacing, adrenaline rushes and challenging set pieces. Gone are the prerendered backgrounds and fixed camera angles. You play as Leon Kennedy, who arrives in a little village in Eastern Europe to rescue the daughter of the president of the United States, only to be confronted with strange biological mutations. The game looks stunning and features some amazing bossfights. The game has been ported to numerous platforms since its original form, but the first time...
3. Metroid Prime
Never before has an old 2D series made the transition to 3D so convincingly. Retro Studios did the impossible and made a first person Metroid that not only kept the atmosphere of the earlier games alive, but could even match them in quality. You'll again control Samus Aran, a female bounty hunter, through her adventures and battles with space pirates and their genetic experiments. Throughout the game Samus recieves numerous weapons and new suits of armor, upgrading her powers and abilities. With its enormous world to discover, which often takes a lot of exploration and backtracking, Metroid Prime is more a First Person Adventure than Shooter. Metroid Prime is the first in a trilogy, and was followed by Metroid Prime 2: Echoes for the Gamecube and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption for the Nintendo Wii, but this one is still the best of the three and gets a well deserved spot among the three best Gamecube games.
2. Super Smash Bros. Melee
What’s better than all your favorite Nintendo characters in a fabulous frenetic fighter? With Mario, Link, Samus, Fox McCloud and many, many more, Super Smash Bros Melee is pure heaven for the Nintendo fan. Super Smash Bros. Melee is not your average fighter though. Inflicting the most damage does not guarantee victory. Instead, opposing players must force their opponents out of the stage. Each character's health is measured by a meter that represents the damage received as a percentage. The higher the percentage value, the farther the player gets knocked back, and the easier they are to knock off the stage. Unlike other games of the same genre, in which moves are entered by button-input combinations, most moves in Super Smash Bros. Melee can be accessed via one-button presses and a joystick direction. Melee is Gamecube's best sold game. Gamecube owners sure had good taste!
1. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
What’s a Nintendo console without a great Zelda game? When Wind Waker was first shown fans didn’t exactly warm up to it. They demanded a realistic Link, not this cel-shaded toon figure. However, those who opened up to the artstyle discovered an amazing game, ironically owing much of its quality to its style. The Kingdom of Hyrule is long drowned under the sea and the world is made up of several islands. Link travels across this vast sea in search of his sister, while battling the evil Ganondorf, solving challenging dungeons, and helping out the inhabitants of the Great Sea. Sure the sailing can get a bit boring and that Triforce quest wasn't really that interesting, but one look at that gorgeous, vivid world is enough to make you forget all that and embrace Wind Waker as an amazing Zelda and Gamecube's best game.
By Benjamin Cornelisse
bcornelisse@vgchartz.com
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Wind Waker's anniversary was on the 24th.
yes best game
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GO WIND WAKER!!!!!
This should have also been a member vote, not just a staff vote.
i would have put metroid prime as number 1
and putting Paper mario number 3
F-zero GX should have been in there and pikmin 2
and also prime 2 should have been in there
MELEE SHOULD BE #1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why isnt Twilite Princes there? Or is there only possible for one game of a frnachise to score in the list?
To the two or three people that said 'vote for the best/better game, not your personal favourite', um... obviously there are exceptions, but in most cases, someone's personal favourite is probably the 'best/better game' in their opinion.
Anyway, I agree with most of the list, but if it were up to me, I'd remove Animal Crossing (fun game, but it got boring pretty quickly), Mario Kart: Double Dash!! (very fun, but I can think of ten GCN games I liked better), and Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem (only got about three quarters into it, but it just wasn't very compelling to me). I also think Skies of Arcadia: Legends, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, and most importantly, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess deserve to be on the list. Last but certainly not least, Tales of Symphonia deserves to be higher than number eight; it was my second favourite RPG of the last generation. In any case, my top ten would be something like this...
10.) Soulcalibur II
9.) Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
8.) Resident Evil 4
7.) Skies of Arcadia: Legends
6.) Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
5.) Tales of Symphonia
4.) Metroid Prime
3.) The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
2.) Super Smash Brothers Melee
1.) The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
@jozanovic:
This list is a result of the voting of the staff, not just BengaBenga.
"Never before has an old 2D series made the transition to 3D so convincingly."
Um, have you played Mario 64 yet? Yea, that was a pretty convincing transition, imho.
If you have to say "Sure the sailing can get a bit boring and that Triforce quest wasn't really that interesting," then it's it really the best the GC has to offer? Jesus, why would you call this list VGC Special: Top 10 Gamecube Games", instead of "one persons favorite gamecube games in random order?"
What? Who the hell made this list? RE4 @4? You've got to be effing kidding me. The greatest game of our generation at 4? Whatever. Maybe you should look up Nintendo Power's list of the 40 best GC games, which has RE4 listed as the single greatest game. And no Twillight Princess of Pikmin games? This list is a fraud.
Animal Crossing and Eternal Darkness are good games but they dont deserve to be here, these games were better, Fire Emblem Path of Radiance, Pikmin 2, Resident Evil 0, Baten Kaitos, Twilight Princess, Killer 7,
What the hell? Why some people says here that Tales of Symphonia is a bad game. Have you played the game? Because is a great game, 80 hours of gameplay, great story, great graphics, and best battle system in the rpgs.
Wind Waker definitely deserves it. Would have been nice to fit Twilight Princess in there. Re4 should be higher and Eternal Darkness should be much higher. But got the right games in there.
The Wind Waker is one of the poorest Zelda games, The Twilight Princess beats it in every way.
I got 7 games from this list, amazing....
Thanks for including Mario Kart DD!! I never understood why people hated that game. Is great, fast, addictive and incredibly fun!
1 - Baten Kaitos origins (2)
2 - Zelda
3 - Baten kaitos (1)
4 - Resident Evil 4
5 -
.....
watching this list and the xbox top 10 i can't understand why Gamecube sold less tan the first xbox... inmy opinion the little cube has more great games and most versatil catalogue
Hmm. I owned 6 of these, and I'd only place 3 of those in a list of any sort. Where is Skies of Arcadia? Rogue Squadron? Pikmin?
Glad to see Eternal Darkness in there, one of the best games ever. TimeSplitters 2 should be in there too. Wind Waker is overrated, which is something serious when such a core Zelda fan says that. Wind Waker is one of my least favorite Zeldas
@ bouzane, I seriously couldn't agree more.
WW over RE4 and MP? hahaha. Zelda bias obviously. Sunshien shouldn't even be in the top 10. As much as i think TP is a dissapointment it should be in the GC top 10.
Oh yeah. Viewtiful Joe was a good one, but it reminded me of a better one: Prince of Persia - Sands of Time. Pretty key game.
wow, I just realized how awesome the Cube was. Hell yeah I still play it by the way but damn there were just so many great games. This list is impossible to make if you ask me. There's just way too many games that I couldnt put over the other. MGS: Twin Snakes was incredible. Simply incredible. As was F Zero, TImesplitters, damn just so so many. Great reminder of my favorite console of the last gen.
this list need two great games :
The Legend of ZELDA - Twilight Princess - at the second place
and Prince of Persia - The Sands of Time - in the top ten somehow.
no Soul Calibur 2 ? that's the game I played the most on my GC
Pikmin should be on that list!
No Pikman no list
Don't forget Zelda TP...
I feel like Super Smash Bros. is so overrated. It was just an ok game on the N64, but shouldn't even be on this list.
I agree the Twilight Princess is easily a better Zelda title then Wind Waker and should also be on this list.
I would have liked to see Super Monkey Ball 1 or 2 on this list somewhere, me and my wife used to play part 1 almost every night all night for months when we first got married.
I don't agree with RE4 being number #1 over WW because while it was good it also had the small problem of controls. I'm sure to 10 wii games will have re4. pikmin and viewtiful joe should be it'll be hard to replace those already there. Tales of symphonia had a great story and being able to play co-op helped. It was like the gc version of SoM or very close to it.
The exclusion of games like Pikmin, Killer 7, Soul Calibur 2 and Paper Mario: TTYD in favor of Sunshine and Animal Crossing is almost offensive.
F-ZERO'?????
Wow I had 9 of those.
I probably supoprted the Gamecube more than any other console I've ever owned.
Great list. I probably would have had one of the Pikmin games on there, and my list would have had Tales Of Symphonia at the top, with RE4 2nd and Paper Mario: TTYD as 3rd. Tales of Symphonia remains to this day my favourite game of all time. My 4th playthrough has just let me pass the 175 hour mark and i don't think i will ever bore of the game. Every single Gamecube and Wii owner needs to play that game, it's the best RPG ever made.
I LOVE DOUBLE DASH.
My list would definitely include Mario Power Tennis, and possibly Beach Spikers.
That is all.
Where is Zelda:Twilight Princess? The gamecube version is just as good as the wii version. which imo is the best wii game to date.
WW shouldn't be on top
Almost agree. Replace #2 with "Paper Mario: TYD" - and its a lot closer.
Happy to say I own all those titles (bar Smash...).
My top#5 would probably be:
1: PM:TYD
2: RE4
3: Zelda
4: Metroid Prime
5: Tales of Symphonia
Then DoubleDash, Sunshine, Pikmin, Luigis Mansion, Viewtiful, FZero, ... and the rest.
This List is missing Viewtiful Joe, F-Zero GX, and Metal Gear Solid Twin Snakes. Also I think Resident Evil 4 was the Best Game on Game Cube. It was the only game I beat it many times on Game cube it.
Great list. If I was to add one it would be a Baten Kaitos or Skies of Arcadia Legends.
Mostly agree, though I would drop SSBM (just a button masher), AC (not a fan of "virtual life" simulators), and include Twilight Princess (remember, it was a GC game by design), and Pikmin 2. Though 10 is too short of a list - StarWars: Rogue Squadron II & III, Phantasy Star Online II (still playing it on a private server to-date), Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes, Paper Mario, etc. should receive an "honorable mention"
ohhh Battalion wars too
i have all this 10 games in my collection but I' not agree at all with the selection
F-zero gx
Baten Kaitos
Luigi's mansion
Fire emblem
Paper Mario
Metroid prime 2
Metal gear
Beyond good & evil
Skyes of arcadia
Ikaruga
Viewtiful joe
Killer 7
All of these are games to recognize
Metroid Prime definitely should have been number one. Still a good read though.
tales of symphonia? but no pikmin 2, skies of arcadia, or veiwtiful joe? meh terrible list
Good list
Lol there's too many great games to make a definitive top 10. :p
But WW definitely deserves to be #1.
two of my favourite games from that generation weren't exclusives but i had a damn good time with them
Metal arms:glitch in the system
Freedom fighters
They would be in my top 10
Not a bad list. I would remove Animal Crossings and add F-Zero GX. Also personally would switch wind waker out for twilight princess. Also change the list order a little and well I guess change the whole thing ;)
wind waker was gorgeous, but i never got to complete it as it froze on me and the same stage every single time. It really pissed me off, so i would have to put monket ball or meellee
No Sonic Adventure 2 Battle! Fail.
Dungeon design and overall lenght were much more accomplished in Twilight Princess than Wind Waker, but the overworld and general enjoyment of the second make it the best of the pair. Had WW overcome the feeling of being rushed and its dungeons not as tedious, it would have been the perfect Zelda game.
Where is Monkey ball???
STEUPSE wind waker is never a #1 game.
Bias confirmed.
4 should be #1. #2 should be the Twin Snakes. Paper Mario belongs on the list.
Other than that, stellar list guys some heavy hitters in there.
Wow, that's a pretty crappy list. Where's Twilight Princess, Pikmin, Paper Mario?
yeah. Pikmin 2, Skies of Arcadia, or Metroid Prime 2 are all better than Tales of Symphonia.
Resident Evil 4 should be #1 and WindWaker #2
The more I look at this list, the stranger it gets.
Rogue Squadron didn't have enough support to make it.
(read: it's another game where I was the only person who voted for it)
@ Okey: Wow... Was it that bad? The Wind Waker probably has the best plot twist I've ever seen in a video game (not counting Xenogears...cause that's a real RPG, lolulz). ^^
No Star Wars Rogue Squadron?
What an insult to the Gamecube, putting Wind Waker at number one. You might as well call it the worst console of all time.
Metroid Prime or RE4 should have been first. The Triforce pieces fetch quest in Wind Waker is enough to prevent it from being #1.
@Saicho... I didn't own it till the Wii version.... Having said that, the GC version which I have sampled by pulling out the nunchuck on the Wii version I would have put behind REmake, probably in 8th or 9th.
We got 2 Resident Evil games but no F-Zero GX!!!! What the hell this list needs to be remade!!!
This is blasphemy NO BATEN KAITOS!
I haven't played a lot of these, but IMO PM:TTYD should be #1, in front of melee and sunshine
Any top 10 GC games list is bad if it doesn't include Pikmin.
Substitute: Resident Evil 4 whit Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door please.
RE4 it's not in the top 20 favorite GC games.
It's a pretty good list, but I heavily disagree with this statement.
"Never before has an old 2D series made the transition to 3D so convincingly."
Fuck you RE4 should be number 1. And I am a Zelda WHORE.
Super Monkey Ball is also pretty good
7/10 I own. But played all of them. ToS for 10 mins but it counts :D
Terrible list though, not blaming anyone.
Ah, Tales of Symphonia: The game that made boys into men! I spent hundreds of hours playing that game!
I would have put Double Dash in the top five, but I'm biased and biggoted.
As for the list, where is the love for Pikmin and Viewtiful Joe?
@TWRoO
it's a sin that RE4 is not on your Top 10 list or you don't own it on Gamecube ;-)
if a gc list does not have melee as #1 it does not deserve the right to have it on the list.
the game is constantly changing due to new techniques and many greats have come and gone. first there was ken, then there was the flood of great players that changed the game. cant wait to see who takes down mango
My list would be a bit different:
- Metroid Prime
- REmake
- RE 4
4.Super Monkey Ball 2 - Pikmin 2
- Sonic Gems Collection
- RE 0
- Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
- Sonic Mega Collection
- Starfox Adventures
what a great list, well done!
Pikmin 2 should probably replace ED, and TTYD Animal Crossing. If TimeSplitters 2 made the list instead of either I could live with that too.
For myself, going by play time, the top three would probably be RE4, SSBM, and MP1, in that order. I really couldn't get enough of RE4.
I must say i'm not impressed with this list, you guys should vote for best games, not which you liked most.
I would swap LoZ:tWW with Melee and Metroid Prime with Metroid Prime 2!!
Good list though
All the people who is saying that Windwaker should not be there or lower, or that Windwaker is worse than Twilight Princess... should really rethink that.
Twilight Princess is ok, but doesn't top the epic feeling and twists of Windwaker.
AAAAND Metroid Prime should have been #1.
Super Mario Sunshine should be third!
wind waker should not be on the list but luigi's mansion should be on the list
this list is awful
- resident evil 4 and metroid prime should be 1 and 2 order of them doesnt matter
2.tales should not be on this list, not when games like viewtiful joe, beyond good and evil, and ikaruga are ignored - wind waker was good but twighlight princess is way better
What happened to Skies of Arcadia, why is WW number 1. Thia thread feels like I've tripped up.
Take out MKDD and put in pikmin and I'd be happy. Either way I own all ten of this list but definitely needed some pikmin love in there
7/10 games i own
Unless the list is "Top Ten Jaguar" or other such crappy system, a top ten is too small to not have great games ommited. Solid list though.
This list fails because there's no excuse for Metroid Prime not being #1. It was the best game of last gen hands down!
i buy the gamecube just to play zelda and metroid, after those, re4 was relased, so, i just played thos 3, and i have to say than:
1.- wind waker
2.- re 4
3.- metroid prime
I'd add in Rogue Squadron II definitely, as well as probably Pikmin 2, Fire Emblem and Viewtiful Joe. Take out overrated stuff like Animal Crossing, Resident Evil and Metroid Prime.
Looks like I have all ten games listed. I disagree with The Wind Waker being number one
@Khuttra... probably because F-Zero GX, while great, didn't live up to the greatness that was F-Zero X.
i would say WW or RE4 deserves number 1, both were epic games. fire emblem should of definately made the list. i prob enjoyed that one more than radiant dawn
