For racing it had Fzero GX, Wave Race, and Mario Kart. In retrospect I think those are the most solid racers of the generation that have held up extremely well. There hasn't been a game that has topped Fzero or Wave Race since (even though I prefer 64)--if you want a game like that, you NEED a GameCube.Heirren
I would give it to you that F-Zero GX is superior to both Wipeout Fusion (PS2) & Quantum Redshift (XBox), as well as the multiplatform Extreme G 3, but that's about it.
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Reading through my GameCube mags I find it funny that they refer to Burnout 2 as "the best realistic racer on GameCube" I think that pretty much tells you everything. GameCube has no realistic racing games in its entire library, nothing even remotely approaching Forza, or Gran Turismo. There's not even any Colin Mcrae's, or TOCA's, or Sega GTs.
Look to the arcade style games and Burnout 2 is way out in front, followed by multiplatform Need For Speed games. Burnout 2 isn't even the best Burnout game! XBox and PS2 have Burnout 3, and Burnout Revenge, both big improvements. GameCube has none of the excellent Midnight Club games, or MX Vs ATV, both series of which feature prominently on XBox and PS2, no Outrun 2, another fun game that's dated excellently. XBox has the Project Gotham Racing series, of which the 2nd is a total classic, as well as the Rallisport Challenge series as exclusives.
Does the GameCube even have one good Motorbike racer on the entire system?! I don't think so, XBox has the Moto GP series.
I think its fair to say that any racer with a car in it on GameCube is uncompetitive, or an inferior multiplat, Whether its focusing on realism and detail, or going for wacky, unrealistic, and/or bombastic gameplay such as games like Burnout 3 or Outrun: Coast 2 Coast.
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When you move to other types of games -
I like Blue Storm but I don't consider it to be particularly out in front. That game did not progress at all over the original in any aspect apart from graphics in my opinion. I'd consider saying that even Hydro Thunder isn't that far off from it (which was on all four of that gen's consoles in Midway Arcade Treasure 3), outside of that both systems have Splashdown (not quite up to standard), but PS2 also has Splashdown 2, which was actually very good.
You know by now how I feel about Double Dash, I certainly do not hold it in very high esteem, but I'll concede that it could be considered the best kart racer of that generation, mainly because kart racers at that time were in very short supply (the Crash games are the only competition I can think of and they were not up to the standards of the earlier PS1 game). Xbox has Mad Dash Racing which I prefered in single player, and enjoyed maybe a little less than Double Dash in multiplayer (though thankfully Mad Dash doesn't have anywhere near the handicapping of DD), but that game plays more like Sonic R (albeit it does actually have more focus on random pick-ups, and powerslide boosts than Sonic R, making it feel a bit Mario Kart-esque.)
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Those three you mentioned are literally the only exclusive racers on GameCube worth bringing up, outside of maybe 1080 Avalanche if you count it (which is widely considered inferior to the multiplat SSX 3 anyway). So in closing you got one game which is a big exclusive (F-Zero GX), one that is one of the better of its type but is not without equivalent's on other systems (Blue Storm), and one disappointing Kart Racer that's at the top due to lack of competition.
On the other side you've got far fewer racers and poor variety in general, weak arcade racers, and nonexistent realistic racers.
The likes of Gran Turismo, Forza, Burnout 3, Project Gotham Racing 2, Rallisport Challenge 2 & Midnight Club 3 are all on a par with F-Zero GX as far as I'm concerned.
Then there's Eternal Darkness and Resident Evil Remake. Genres the Xbox didn't really even have.Heirren
XBox had two Silent Hill games, two improved Fatal Frame ports, an improved Onimusha (which is Capcom ripping off their own Resident Evil), and The Suffering. If you're talking about horror games in general there are many more, Call of Cthulu is very similar to Eternal Darkness in theme, both are pretty much based on HP Lovecraft storytelling.
Then it had the best adventure games in Windwaker and Twilight Princess.Heirren
Windwaker starts off well but the second half of the game is 90% padding.
PS2 has Okami, Shadow of the Colossus, Metal Gear Solid 3
Both have Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City, San Andreas (all better on XBox)
Pikmin is another unique identity to the console.Heirren
You're being vague here, there are many unique games on all three consoles, especially the PS2 which is full of weird as hell games.
The GameCube was home to the groundbreaking Resident Evil 4.Heirren
Again, vague, loads of groundbreaking games all over the place, many people consider Halo to be groundbreaking.
GameCube had the best adventure platformer in Mario Sunshine.Heirren
Mario Sunshine doesn't stand up to Ratchet and Clank, as in no way, no how.
Ratchet and Clank is significantly longer, is significantly more polished, has significantly more variety and ideas in the gameplay mechanics, has a far better camera, has a far meatier plot, has tons more environments, controls a lot better, is more in-depth (all the weapons, shops etc), and is smarter with puzzles too.
Mario Sunshine is a textbook 8/10 game, it needed a few more months in development so they could add a couple extra levels (hopefully some with actual different environments) instead of padding it out with blue coin challenges, and tighten up the camera and controls.
As I said in the other thread, the XBox version of Psychonauts also has numerous advantages over Mario Sunshine, that game also has much more variety, is more in-depth (learning new abilities etc), has more interesting environments, and a more interesting plot.
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