Nintendo Gamecube

Say what you will about the Nintendo Gamecube but there is no denying one thing: Nintendo has delivered the best 1st party games throughout this console war. The biggest proplem for Nintendo is the lack of 3rd party support. They didn’t even get NCCA Football 2006 this year for there system. They have however received a few good third party exclusives such as Tales of Sympohnia, Battalion Wars, and Resident Evil 4 (comes out for ps2 at the end of the year.)

2001: Nintendo started out the console war ahead of Microsoft by quite a bit. They had a solid launch line up including 3 top games in Super Monkey Ball, Luigi’s Mansion, and the highly acclaimed Star Wars Rouge Leader: Rouge Squadron 2. The downside of the Gamecube launch was that it marked as the first time Nintnedo did not launch a home console with a Mario game. You could argue Luigi’s Mansion would qualify but the unfortunate truth was it was a solid but very short game.

However despite the somewhat weak launch the best was yet to come in December. Nintendo was putting out the sequel to the Nintnedo 64 top seller Super Smash Bros. This sequel would be called Super Smash Bros Meele. Which would go on to be consistently one of the top selling Gamecube games even into the current year. The other game everyone wanted to get there hands on was brand new franchise from Mr. Miyamoto himself. He Imagined the game Pikmin while in his garden one day. Pikmin was a very unusual game and full of Nintendo personality. It sold strongly and helped cap off a great year for the Gamecube.

2002: The year 2002 was huge one for the Nintendo Gamecube, probably it’s best year. The Gamecube saw pretty much nothing worth buying in the first half of 2002 but in the second half the started to get some amazing games. Eternal Darkness which was released July 23rd made a huge impact for the Gamecube. A lot of people called the Gamecube a kiddy system, and unfourtunently many still do without giving it a chance. Eternal Darkness not only was an amazing game but it was the Gamecube’s first Mature rated title.

 In mid August Nintendo also came out with the game Animal Crossing. A sim type game where you live in a world of Animals. You have your own house and you have the freedom to go and do anything you like. While many wrote the game off because of its kiddy image. Those that gave the game a try found a deep and addictive game. Also in August was Mario’s return for the Gamecube. The game was being called Mario Sunshine and took place on a island. Although the game sold very strong and continues to sell strong, it was a huge disappointment when compared to Mario 64. Mario 64 was in many people’s opinion a better game then Mario Sunshine.

In September came Star Fox’s return for the Gamecube. The game was called Star Fox Adventures of Dinosaur Planet and would turn out similar to Mario Sunshine. It was a solid game but failed to live up to the quality of the Nintendo 64 version. Later on in the year we would see Phantasy Star Online which put the Gamecube Online. To play online you needed a modem or a broadband adapter both of which where to retail for 34.99. PSO was a excellent re creation of the Dreamcast version of the game which featured to original episode one as well as a brand new episode 2. Super Monkey ball also saw an impressive sequel in August, and Mario Party made its way to Gamecube with the release of Mario Party 4.

While all the games I mentioned above are great the year 2002 for the Gamecube will be remember best for one game: Metroid Prime. Metroid Prime was the first Metriod game since Super Metriod back in the Super Nintendo days. Many people doubted Metroid would translate well into the 3d era but they where all proven wrong. Not only did Metroid translate well, it translated better. Metroid Prime was at the point of it’s release in November of 2002 probably the Gamecube’s greatest game. It received rave reviews including a lot of 10’s and pretty much nothing below a 9.

2003: 2003 was another solid year for the gamecube, again a lot of sequels where coming out. Big sequels to the Mario Kart and Zelda franchises with Mario Kart: Double Dash and Zelda Wind Waker. A lot of people where skeptical of the new Zelda game because of its new art style. The new game used a new graphical style called cell shading. Seen below.

This graphical style wasn’t what a lot of people expected after the amazing showing at the 2000 E3. The game however still turned out amazing receiving a 9.5 average from game rankings and widely believed to be the second best game in the series behind the legendary Ocrina Of Time, which also made an appearance on Gamecube with a remixed version called Master Quest. Master Quest came free when you preordered Wind Waker. However now it the only way to get it is to buy it for around 30 on ebay, or at eb games, gamestop, ect.

Another big name title released for the Gamecube in 2003 was the sequel to the incredibly popular Mario Kart series: Mario Kart: Double Dash. Although the reviews weren’t exactly the best and there wasn’t all that much new from the previous versions the game still sold strong and goes down as one of the Gamecube’s best multiplayer games.

The last big Nintendo game was Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour. Like the previous game in the series it combines a fun game a golf with plenty of Nintendo originality. The game received rather nice reviews and was an excellent choice for any Gamecube owner with friends interested in the game of golf.

Nintendo also received a fair amount of third party support in 2003. Some big name titles included the 3rd game in the popular F Zero franchise: F Zero GX, as well as other games such as Viewtful Joe and Prince Of Persia Sands of Time. F Zero was a game a lot of Gamecube owners where looking forward to and it didn’t fail to impress. However Prince of Persia and Viewtful Joe turned out to be superior games. Prince of Persia actually one of the top 10 games ever according to gamerankings.

2004: 2004 was really the last year Nintendo showed a high amount of support for the Gamecube. It featured the sequel to the highly acclaimed and visually dazzling Metroid Prime: Metroid Prime 2 Echoes. Although Echoes didn’t turn out to be quite as good as many people where hoping for. It featured a brand new multiplayer mode, but unfortunately it wasn’t very well done. In fact most would actually say it was worse the the original Prime.. Of course keep in mind that Metroid Prime one is arguably one of the greatest games of all time. It was still a good game none the less.

Two other notable games for the Gamecube in 2004 where Pikmin 2 and and the sequel to the highly successful original: Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. Pikmin 2 featured a brand new co-op mode, which was a lot of fun to play. Also it did away with the day limit to the game. The new Paper Mario game was a long, fun, and unique RPG type game.

Also released in 2004 where two excellent RPG’s: Tales of Sympohnia and Baitien Katios. These where both excellent games, although most consider TOS to be slightly better. Mario Tennis made it’s first appearance since the N64 game with the arcade style Mario Power Tennis. Viewtful Joe also saw a sequel with Viewtful Joe 2. Joe 2 featured new charcters and expanded gameplay. The original Metal Gear Solid for Playstation was also remade. The game was called Metal Gear Solid Twinsnakes, and featured some solid improvements.

2005 and beyond: 2005 really isn’t shaping out to be a good year for the Gamecube. It started out with a bang however. In early January Capcom released the HIGHLY anticipated Resident Evil 4. The game flew off the shelves and is easily one of the Gamecube’s better in not best game. The game featured non stop run and gun action with plenty of scary moments. The only must have game thus far in 2005.

The only other game currently worth much of a mention in 2005 is Mario Superstar Baseball. Although the reviews weren’t all that good, my personal experience with this game has been a pleasant one. It features over 30 charcters from the Mario universe including some from the NES days and some as recent as Super Mario Sunshine.