Recommended GameCube games

[Nester the Lark]

I don't want to drag the Star Fox thing out too far, as there isn't much point to it. But I brought it up, so I might as well explain myself.

We've all played the same game, but I enjoyed Star Fox Adventures for many of the same reasons that other people didn't. I think we've all agreed that it had terrific graphics, but I thought it had great sound, too, with decent voice acting and absolutely wonderful music (from the underrated Dave Wise). It combined to create a wonderful atmosphere and world with some nice level design. I also thought the puzzles were interesting and really well balanced. The shooter sections (all of them, not just the Arwing levels) were really fun distractions. It also had some really cool boss fights. I also liked the various characters and their personalities. Overall, it was a worthwhile journey to take.

I did not like the Krazoa spirits' ridiculous challenges, and the lack of a certain boss fight was disappointing. The combat is overly simple, but that boils down to Rare design. (Battletoads was the same way.)

The game initially got some pretty good reviews. I don't know if the backlash came from Rare's purchase by Microsoft, but most people have jumped on board since then.

Star Fox: Assault is OK, but I got tired of it fairly quickly. I'm not sure why Nintendo resists simply making a straight forward rail-shooter. But as far as free-roaming environments and sloppy on-foot levels are concerned, I think Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike is a much more satisfying game for my money.

I guess, in any case, either Star Fox game warrants a rental before purchase. Or a purchase at the same price as a rental.

[Fryguy64]

I made up my mind about 30% into the game (which I bought at release), but I stuck with it in case I changed my mind. Don't get me wrong - it has a few good moments - and the music and graphics ARE very atmospheric.

The Rare sale came as a surprise, but I never let it change my opinion of the company - one that made some excellent games (mostly on N64) and a handful of ill-considered flops (mostly on Game Boy).

[kirbychu]

I enjoyed StarFox Adventures, but there was really no need to ever play it again after finishing. There weren't any sidequests. Everything than can be done is something you have to do to progress. At least, as far as I can remember.

Then there's the fact that, once you reach the final boss, the game flat-out refuses to let you go back and do anything else.

[Fryguy64]

Oh God, I HATED that!! I mean, that was completely unnecessary. There was ONE wishing well I needed to find to get the final secret, and part of me wanted to just wander around and get pretty screenies of the game for the site. But the fact you're locked in at the end of the game? What a crock! Rare really rushed this late in development.

[Deleted]

Rare leaving Nintendo never really affected my point of view on Adventures. I was more glad to see them go than anything else--Rare's games were usually Hit-or-Miss with me. When they Hit, though, the Hits were average at best; when they Missed, it was a really big stinker. The DKC series, Perfect Dark, Banjo-Tooie and Star Fox Adventures, when stacked up against Goldeneye and Banjo-Kazooie? Yeah, I really didn't mind them going over to the XBox. At the time--since I didn't have an XBox then--I figured they could make games I didn't want to play on a console I didn't own and it wouldn't really bother me.

And yes, getting caught in the Final Boss fight forever sucked! They should have at least allowed the story to loop around or something; there was no need to stick you permanently on top of the Krazoa Shrine.

EDIT: Also, 1000th post ;D ;D ;D

[Nester the Lark]

I always got the feeling that there was a general backlash against Rare after the sale. Maybe some people were angry because Rare, once considered a vital asset to Nintendo, was now aligned with "the enemy." Or maybe a lot of people (as indicated here) already felt that Rare wasn't such a great company to begin with, and suddenly it was OK to say so publicly.

Anyway, I bought Adventures upon release, and I've played thru it about 3 or 4 times. To each his/her own, but considering the tongue lashing it often gets around here, there really are much worse games out there.

[kirbychu]

My opinion of Rare was never changed by the sale... I absolutely loved Donkey Kong Country 2, the Banjo-Kazooie series, Donkey Kong 64 and Conker's Bad Fur Day, and I'm currently highly enjoying Viva Pinata, and looking forward to Banjo-Kazooie 3. But, they've made some stinkers in their time.

[Wildcat]

I like some of Rare's stuff, but I got burned a lot by their N64 games, too. I'd love to remake Jet Force Gemini and take out the repetitive "let's go back to every single planet and exploit each character's new move...but you can't switch on the fly" parts and make new planets that capitalized on each character's strengths instead. And Diddy Kong Racing bored me after a while. *shrugs*

Anyway, as for recommended Gamecube games...here's my Top 15 favorite GC games from my site.

1. Skies of Arcadia Legends
It shouldn't come to be a surprise to most anyone who knows me that this leads my Gamecube list...since it leads my Top 30 list. This updated port of the DC classic adds in more subquests and battle options into an already rich and rewarding RPG, making it the definitive version of Skies (despite those who say the music took a little blow, which to be honest I haven't noticed ).

2. Resident Evil 4
RE4 is certainly one of the greatest games of all time, an excellent reinvention of the Resident Evil franchise, and a delightful gaming experience all the way around. The modifications to the camera, enemy designs and gameplay make RE4 a fantastic experience that I heartily recommend. It's also $20 now, which is a steal, or snag the new RE 10th Anniversary Collection which has RE4 plus the RE remake and RE0 for $40 that's now available.

3. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
A fitting end to the Gamecube's lifecycle, Twilight Princess learns from Wind Waker's design flaws and instead offers up a world easy to travel, explore and discover. The game pulls a lot of influence from Link to the Past (light and dark worlds, a mirror to traverse them) and Ocarina of Time (the races of Hyrule, the overall layout of the world), but manages to mix them up into being a unique experience all its own. The game is rich in art design and detail, has the great controls Wind Waker pioneered, has the best storyline the series has ever had, and introduces one of the most intriguing characters into the series yet - Midna. Despite it also being on the Wii, I heartily recommend it as a GC title as well. It's a great game either way.

4. Metroid Prime
Metroid Prime is a perfect example of not judging a game before it comes out. It silenced most of the doubters, won over the gaming populace and stands as one of the best GC games you can own. Retro masterfully converted the Metroid feel from the 2D realm into 3D with very few transition errors. They created an excellent game world to explore, with plenty of enemies to blast, secrets to find and clues to scan. The power-ups are all well-implimented (and if you're like me, you love the Ice Beam and Grapple Beam), the game still is one of the most impressive looking GC games, and offers nice rewards to persistent players. Great work Retro.

5. Tales of Symphonia
RPG fans, here is another fantastic gaming experience for you. The battle system is set in real time, but the combo system is well done and fun to use. With 9 characters to play as, there's something for everybody. You can even get friends to join you as you battle!...granted, they don't get the chance to do much anything else, but the option is nice. ^^ The game looks great, has a wonderful voice cast, a mildly cliched but overall well told storyline, offers up tons of sidequests and replay options, and the aforementioned battle system makes fighting more of a joy than a bother.

6. Beyond Good & Evil
This overlooked gem is one of the best multiplatform games ever done. The GC rev looks as good as GC-only games do, the musical score is incredible, the gameplay takes a basic Zelda-like core and tweaks it to fit its own gameplay mechanics, the dungeons (although few) are delightfully polished and challenging, has one of the best narratives I've ever experienced...and simply is a game that needs to be played. It's one of the greatest tragedies in gaming that I can think of that BG&E died in the stores the way it did.

7. Super Smash Bros. Melee
HAL took the N64 concept and really shook it up for the better. Doubling the playable characters, tripling the amount of stages and heavily increasing the amount of cameos through new items and the awesome trophies was ingenious. This was the reason to buy a GC at launch for me. The graphics were spellbinding, the gameplay mesmerizing, and the Nintendo factor has never been so prominent. This game launched the SSB franchise into the stratosphere, putting it along Mario, Zelda and Metroid as one of the keys to Nintendo success.

8. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
The last of the three great RPG's (Baten Kaitos fans, you can begin throwing tomatoes now...I didn't like it) on the GC, Intelligent Systems took what they started with in the N64 title and improved upon every single facet of it. Offering up inventive levels, crazy dialogue, awesome partners in Mario's quest, better battles thanks to the improved battle engine that takes place on a stage, and some gorgeous graphics that feature some of the nicest spritework I've witnessed, they all add up into a wonderful game. Ignore Game Informer's "It's too easy and kiddish" garbage and pick this up. It's great.

9. Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
Miyamoto considers the relative commercial failure of FSA as one of the disappointments in his career. I can see why, because this adventure is fantastic and is overall superior to Wind Waker. Granted, the Zelda formula is mixed around significantly here, removing the usual keeping of items and hearts in favor of more competitive resets for every chapter. But with one or two players (I've yet to take on the game with four people), this game is really enjoyable. I have no gripes about it at all.

10. Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction
The best superhero game ever? You betcha. Radical finally nailed the difficult superhero license title with this fantastic game that lets you go on a rampage with the big green Hulk. This is what Midway's classic Rampage done in 3D should feel like - sheer chaos. The control scheme is perfect, the gameplay is delightful and the game has a solid plot following it too. It's sheer joy to plop this into the GC and totally destroy stuff. A great stress reliever.

11. Metroid Prime 2 Echoes
Retro's second stab with Metroid is a fantastic title as well, but a few design faults cripple it. The new ammo system, for one. This is Metroid. There's never been a cap on beam ammo. There shouldn't be a cap on beam ammo. Also, the game's increase in difficulty may alienate newbies to the franchise (go with Prime first to get a grip on the controls). Lastly, the multiplayer mode is a gimmicky add-on that shouldn't have been put in over a more lengthy single-player quest. Outside of these gripes, the game exceeds Prime in graphical detail, has a nice musical score and offers up more solid gameplay. It just has some design flaws.

12. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
This will more than likely climb up when I get deeper through it, but the wonderful FE gameplay is here in spades. It's a fun game, has a great musical score, breath stealing movies and the plot is pretty good so far. The graphics are passable, but it's certainly not the prettiest game in the GC lineup. However, if you're not wrapped up in graphical prowess and want a large adventure with tons of strategy, here you go. I'm not finished with it yet, so I can't go into too much more detail.

13. Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Like Echoes, Wind Waker suffers from some design issues that muck up the great parts. The sailing is novel for a while, but once the Tingle Triforce Shard Parade starts, you'll be wishing for more dungeons and less oceans. The partner setup here is also clunky (BG&E pulled it off much better), somewhat crippling two of the dungeons. Even with these two problems though, Link's first GC game is still fantastic. Link has never controlled better (Twilight Princess notwithstanding) before in 3D. The versatile battle engine offers players tons of ways to take on the enemies seamlessly. The game's look is one of the best cel-shaded offerings ever. And, most of the time, playing as Link is a blast. Twilight Princess has fixed these shortcomings with a lot more dungeons (9 in total, although two of them are rather short) and minimized boat use (only when fishing or in a minigame).

14. Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
UBI Soft's relaunch of the old Prince of Persia franchise is among some of the best 3D platforming you'll ever encounter. The game lets you fly around like an acrobat better than any other game I've touched (except for maybe Sly Cooper...but that's an incomplete argument at this point), and the game's puzzles and traps make for some skillful maneuvering that makes one proud to get through. The game's best part however is the awesome Dagger of Time, which lets you rewind those nasty screw ups, rip through enemies and provides the focal point for the game's excellent storyline and voice work. However, the game isn't perfect. A level near the end takes away your dagger for a time, testing your patience with some of the more dangerous platforming in the game. The combat engine is adequate, but the enemies never seem like they stop coming sometimes, and they get in cheap hits when you can't do much about it. But the sweet platforming grace this game offers you makes up for these shortcomings.

15. Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
Konami's premiere franchise's one stop on the Gamecube is a great ride. MGS purists may scoff at some of the new additions, like first person shooting making the game easier or the new superhuman clips replacing the more realistic ones, but I, as a newbie to the series with this title, loved both of these features. My argument for the first person part is this - don't use it. You don't have to. As for the movies...I love them. Over the top with violence and sheer impossibility, they have made me drop my jaw more than once. Silicon Knights revived the game quite well from what I can see, giving it a nice graphical polish, subtle gameplay tweaks, re-recorded dialogue that sound excellent, and leaving the slealth-fueled excellence for the most part alone (I could be wrong...). Alas, MGS has flown back over to Sony's camp, so for now this may be the only way to enjoy a modern MGS title on a Nintendo system.

Hope that helps. BTW, I have no issue with Tingle. Just really disliked that part of Wind Waker.

[nocturnal YL]

Oh, for preference of games... not much for single-player, I'd say.

GC is more of multiplayer fun for me!

kirbychu said:

younglink said:

That looks more like a problem with your Gamecube's graphics processor than the game itself. It happened with my computer's ATi graphics card shortly before it broke down. It was caused by overheating...

Oh...?
So I will be playing it properly once I finally get myself a Wii? Good!

And this story tells me to stay with nVidia even ATi means expandability and nVidia is relatively more "stable but you're locked to this performance".