The GameCube is a fabulous console ain’t it? Despite not selling well, it contained some of Nintendo’s greatest hits – Luigi’s Mansion, Super Mario Sunshine, Wind Waker, Animal Crossing – just to name a few. That small little cubezoid console might not have had the same processing power as its competitors, but boy did it have one fantastic roster of games.
Some of the games we’re going to be looking at today were good, maybe even great at one point in time. But looking back on them, they’ve either not held up as well as we might’ve liked or they were outdone by a later sequel.
10 SSX 3
SSX 3 was a dang good game when it came out, but in all honesty it wasn’t even the best SSX game on the system. If SSX 3 was the Madden of snowboarding games then SSX Tricky would be the NFL Street, and boy were those street games more fun than the sterile Madden games. It’s sad that they don’t make snowboarding games like SSX anymore, but as nostalgic as we may be for fun unrealistic snowboarding games, SSX 3 isn’t even the best of that bunch. Regardless, this is still one franchise that we hope EA will one day stop neglecting and revive.
9 Pikmin
The first Pikmin was such an exciting and creative addition to the GameCube back in 2001. It was an ambitious game even for a company that was already known for making some of the boldest decisions in the industry. Unfortunately, everything that was good in the first game has only been improved upon in the later sequels. It’s much like the Grand Theft Auto or the Call of Duty franchise where its earlier games were once revolutionary, but have since become artifacts with time. Pikmin 2 is a great place to get into the series, and Pikmin 3 is a masterpiece that is often slept on.
8 Pokémon Colosseum
Now as we eagerly wait for the first mainline Pokémon game to be released on console, we can look back on it’s past, less significant outings.
Pokémon Colosseum is the king of the console Pokémon games, and it was the first time that you felt you could battle in some sweet looking graphics. But that’s just the thing, that’s where most of the fun ends with Colosseum – graphics that were once awesome, that now hurt our eyes. Battling with friends was no doubt a good time, but it’s something that’s available in all the games at this point. Plus with the new game around the corner, this title will fall even further into obscurity.
7 Sonic Adventure
All the 3D Sonic games suck, there’s no good ones, nope, nadda. Oh, what of the Sonic Adventure games you ask? Because you remember them being so good in your adolescence, well, go fire up your GameCubes and your PS2’s because these games aged like milk. The controls are janky, story a mess and so much of it so very memeable, and not in a good way. If you look at the timeline of Sonic games you could very easily attribute this game as the start of its very steep downhill fall. It’s no bueno, and it’s sequel isn’t that much better…
6 Sonic Adventure 2
Sonic Adventure 2 has some redeemable qualities – a killer soundtrack (Escape From the City alone is the bopiest of bops), the introduction of Shadow, one of the series most iconic characters and a fun race and battle mode. While it’s better than the first, it still suffers from it’s biggest flaws. Sonic just wasn’t made for the 3D world, his manic speed makes it near impossible to move through any of the levels with any sort of precision. Sonic is basically anti-Mario in the sense that our favorite mustached plumber is the perfect character for 3D platforming while the youthful hedgehog will never be.
5 Mario Superstar Baseball
The GameCube is loaded with some of the best sports games Nintendo has ever put to code. It even found a way to make a golf game fun – like, excuse me – but even Nintendo should’ve failed when it came to that. Superstar Baseball by no means a bad game, stands out as the worst of the bunch. It’s just the least creative when compared to the others, and feels like a standard baseball game with Mario characters.
The power-ups are no doubt fun, especially when you’re putting some heat on a pitch, but compared to the ones in Golf and Strikers, they pale in comparison.
4 Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life
Harvest Moon is a slept on franchise in general, but with the exception of Friends of Mineral Town, these games have been a lot better in concept over execution. I’ll probably be hung by my toes for this, but take A Wonderful Life for example, there’s so many fun aspects of the game that have been improved upon by the titles it’s inspired. Resources are much more immense in Terraria, townspeople are much more charming in New Leaf and Stardew Valley is basically the perfect version of all of it. There’s so many games that A Wonderful Life has rubbed off on, and as of today we’d recommend playing those first.
3 Mario Party 5
Just how Sonic Adventure was the start of a shaky trajectory for the Sonic franchise, we think Mario Party 5 could’ve been the flint that started the fire for this once beloved series. Luck, it’s what old Mario Party heads hate most about the modern games and it only increased as the years went by, to the point where every character was moving as the same piece. It started with the fifth edition of the game, when Nintendo began going in a much more casual direction with easier mini-games and the introduction of the dreaded orb items.
2 Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix
Nintendo really does prove to be the Victor Frankenstein of the gaming world, making creations that even defy the wildest of imaginations. This was one of them, and while it was knowingly gimmicky at the time, it was still plenty of fun. Just seeing Mario character break it down and bust out their best moves was enough to warrant getting this game. But at this point it’s a relic, one that isn’t worth buying unless you’re willing to go through all the trouble of getting everything you need. Save your money and head down to your nearest arcade or Dave and Busters to get the same experience.
1 Smash Bros. Melee
The Library of Congress does induct video games, and this should one day be there. Melee isn’t the prettiest in the Smash franchise, or the most riddled with content, it’s an accident. But it’s most likely the best accident that has ever happened in gaming, and its active competitive scene is proof of the that. With all that being said, this game only holds up to the small individuals who know how to extract the game’s true potential. The 95 percent who play it casually are better off playing Ultimate, or heck even Brawl. Yes, it’s hard to fault the game for all of this, but it’s the reality that it’s lived in and will continue to live in.
NEXT: 10 Hardest To Find GameCube Games (& What They’re Worth)
