Gamecube Games

Mario Kart Double Dash is a must, as is The Legend of Zelda, the Wind Waker. I also highly recommend Paper Mario: The Thousand Year door it's a brilliant, tricky game that's really different from any other Mario game.

 

I'll echo Wind Waker. It's my favorite Zelda game. So much so that I find it hard to play any others.

Other than that you should check out Tales of Symphonia for a good long RPG, or Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg for an interesting 3D platformer.

 

Mario Kart Double Dash and Super Smash Bros Melee are my recommendations. Superb titles. There's probably more, but my experience with the GameCube is limited at best and I could suggest more titles that would be deemed classic, but many, only I can't, because I haven't really played them.

 

I'll echo my support for The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, Tales of Symphonia, and Super Smash Bros. Melee. In addition to those, definitely look into:

Metroid Prime
Many people call this one of the best games of the GCN/PS2/Xbox generation of consoles, if not the best, and it's well deserved. It's something of a hybrid of a first-person shooter (though the control scheme more closely resembles a platformer) and an adventure game that maintains the spirit of the original side-scrolling Metroid games very well. It has wonderful atmosphere, fun and intense gameplay, and graphics that have aged exceptionally well. It can also be exactly as immersive as you want it to be. Most of the game's story and background is taken in through what's called the scan visor, so if you just want a brainless action game, you can just run through the game's world without scanning anything, and if you want rich, detailed information on the story and the world you're in, scan everything and you'll get it. It's also not a frustrating game; it errs on the easy side, but without becoming any less satisfying for it. Definitely check it out.

Resident Evil 4
Another one that often gets called one of the best games of that generation, if not the best game, and also for good reason. It's a challenging game, without a doubt, but that's because the action/third-person shooter gameplay demands more strategy and forethought than your typical shooter game. It's predecessors were in the survival-horror genre, but this one could be better described as action-suspense. The environment and atmosphere is also top-notch, and changes as you move through the plot. I've played through this game at least 30 times, and thoroughly enjoyed every play-through. Personal, it's my favorite game that I've ever played.

 

I'm going to have to agree with:

- Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
- Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door
- Super Smash Bros. Melee (bolded for favorite)
- Metroid Prime 1 + 2

And I'm going to add:

Animal Crossing: Population Growing
It may seem like a kiddie game, and it is, but it's meant for people of all ages. You basiaclly live in a small village with animals as neighbors and as time goes by, seasons change, holidays, etc, you befriend them or they move away. You can fish, catch bugs, donate fossils to a museum, upgrade shops and meet special visitors to the village. It's a great game to just relax in.

Luigi's Mansion
Despite being a Gamecube launch game, this is actually really good, despite not featuring Mario. You go around as Luigi in a haunted mansion and catch ghosts and solve puzzles to catch ghosts. It's great fun, I replay it once a year.

Super Mario Strikers
A Mario take on soccer that is actually a lot of fun to play with friends. Especially incompetent friends because that's just hilarious.

 

^ What he said plus Super Mario Sunshine. I know some didn't like it, but I found it enjoyable.

 

I'll agree with Tales of Symphonia - fantastic if you're into RPGs. Skies of Arcadia is another good one but i think it can be hard to come by these days.

 

Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door... I'm playing that at the moment. Great game!
Luigi's Mansion... also a great game. 'w'
Super Smash Bros Melee
Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventure

GameCube will always be my favorite gaming platform. 'u'

 

I'll agree with Cascade on Animal Crossing: Population Growing. The best game ever! Despite its childish looks, the people say some pretty mean things (that kids should not be called), and it is all around fun. There is no real objective to the game, but you can also do whatever you want. Decorate your house, fish, catch bugs, donate to the museum, dig up fossils, and lots more.

 

Starfox Adventures! A pretty good action game starring Starfox himself. But this game isn't all blasters and tanks...it's got DINOSAURS. There's action, adventure, puzzles, and a great story. Pretty good pick up.

 

OH BOY! Now you're in my wheel house. Ok, here's just a handful that I'm going to break this down in terms of what prices you should be paying, because right now, Gamecube is really starting to get hot on the market so the game prices are going to sky rocket in the near future, if not already. I'm going to try and skip ones that were already said.


$1 - $9.99

Alien Hominid - One of the best 2D action platformers. It's cartoony, silly, fun, and cute.

Odama - Pinball mixed with feudal era Japanese military combat strategy and tatics. This IS the hardest game on the Gamecube. It's also one of the few that uses the microphone, but it's not hard at all to find this game or microphones for the Gamecube.

Mario sports games (Golf, Soccer, Baseball, etc.) - all of them are fantastic and fun, and this is coming from a guy that hates all sports games that don't have "Mutant League" in front of them.

Donkey Konga / Konga 2 / Jungle Beat - all are worth it, but you do need the Bongos... which are fairly common and also under $10 typically.

Veiwtful Joe - another 2D action beat-em-up that is really really fun. Tight Mario style controls and fun little mini games and action sequences makes this a really fun game.

Baten Kaitos - I can't say much about it, having never played it, but it's an RPG with what I'm told is a very good plot and fun gameplay. Maybe a fellow ECer can expand.

$10 - $19.99

Chibi Robo - You are a little adorable robot that needs to clean up after dirty humans... trust me, it's a lot more fun than it sounds.

Beyond Good & Evil - Basically Zelda for adults. You play as a young investigative journo investigating the alien leaders who rule the planet now and are implicated in kidnapping people for nefarious reasons, but deny involvement and try to keep an uneasy calm through an iron fist. It's a really fun interesting game with familiar controls.

Killer 7 - Ever hear the case that video games are art? Well, this is the evidence, the case, and the proof all in one. Killer 7 is an on-rails shooter where you play a schizophrenic who uses his multiple personalities to battle invisible demons. If you like way out-there stories, really interesting gameplay, and anime... I can't recommend this one more. It's best on the Gamecube since it was originally meant as an exclusive, so the controls were developed to best use the unique shape of the Gamecube controller.

Resident Evil remakes - while some (Code Veronica and Resident Evil 2) are rarer and will run you over 20 dollars, most are under $20 and even under $10. If you were a fan at all of the series, it's worth taking a look.

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem - by far and away, the best survival horror on the Gamecube... for sure in the top 5 of best survival horror of all time. You play as the niece of a murdered uncle who goes to his US East-coast mansion to investigate. While snooping, she finds a book bound in flesh that contains the history of her family. You play each chapter of the book that takes place in different historical periods. Early Roman Empire, the era of Constantine, US colonial period, WWI, etc.. Now, that sounds well and good, but what really makes this game shine is the sanity meter. As you encounter enemies, your sanity will go down and... um, "things" will start to happen that will make you question your own sanity. I don't want to ruin it for you, it's something you have to experience yourself. This is my favorite game on the Gamecube... aside from Super Mario Sunshine.


Over $20

Zelda games - Ok, so there are 3 unique Zelda adventures (Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Four Swords) on the Gamecube and 2 re-releases of previous ones (Ocarina of Time/Master Quest and a compilation set that has Zelda 1, 2, Ocarina, and Majora's Mask). All are going to run you way over $20, usually over $30... sometimes up to $40. If you just have the means to get only one, I'd suggest Wind Waker since it's unique to the console and probably the most entertaining of the Zelda games. Majora's Mask is still my all time favorite Zelda game, but Wind Waker is a close second.

Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes - another remake, but I really liked it. Sure some MGS purists bash this game for having Snake do things like kick flips off of missiles and changing the voice and tone of some characters... but it's MGS so it's always fun and engaging. New controls from the original really help this game enter the 21st century... which I'm still of the opinion that the original MGS did not age very well.

Cubivore - If you're familiar with Atlas as a company, then you know the crazy heights their games can take. This is one of only a handful of games I can think of that deal with the subject of evolution (E.V.O. on the SNES, Spore, and Seamen on the the Dreamcast). Basically, you are a box that must consume other boxes to evolve. You could grow big fangs, long legs, short legs, a tail, a fin, claws... whatever, it all depends and who you eat. Then comes the best part of having great traits... passing them on Baw chicka whaa whaaaaaaa. It's a cute game, really interesting style and presentation.

Ikaruga - The shoot em up to end all shoot em ups. This IS HARD!!!!!!! OMG! I've never gotten past the third level but it is fun and addicting and unique. It's hard to explain, but what color your ship is determines what bullets you are immune to. You can switch color on the fly so, as you can imagine, it gets really hectic. Since it got re-released on PSN and Live the price has dropped significantly from what it used to be (around $50) to you might even be able to snag a copy for under $20 these days... but $20 is about the norm.

Alright, and that's just off the top of my head! I am a huge huge nerd

Good luck, happy gaming with one of the best consoles ever.

 

How could I forget The Twin Sankes!? Definitely check that one out.

 

Oh, and when you do, have other Silicone Knights brand games saved on your memory card... Psycho Mantis will have some things to say about that

 

CHEEZIT'S PENAZZ! ALMOST FORGOT.

Soul Calibur 2... definitely the best game in the Soul Calibur series, with SCIV beinf a clise second. However, SC2 is the ONLY soul calibur game that is for the Nintendo GameCube. The rest of the series is for the PlayStation and XBox.

 

Or, here's a cool little thing to keep and eye out for too. The preview disc for Rouge Squadron III (which, I also recommend the Rouge Squadron games) has the original Star Wars vector arcade machine game on it as a bonus. It's the only port I can think of that tried to approximate vector graphics as closely as possible (screw you Atari 2600).

Bee tee dubs, vector machines are the shit.

 

Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door. If you are going to get ANY gamecube game, get that one! It's amazing

 

Like Just Passing, I haven't played all that many Gamecube titles, but of the ones I own or have played, I'd recommend Super Smash Bros. Melee, F-Zero GX, and Mario Kart Double Dash. I've also heard many good things about the Zelda titles and Paper Mario.

 

As a whole bunch of people have already listed:

- Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
- Paper Mario: TTYD (bolded for awesomeness)
- Super Smash Bros. Melee
- Luigi's Mansion
- Super Mario Sunshine
- Soul Calibur 2
- Metroid Prime series (1, 2: Echoes, 3: Corruption, whichever are for GC, I can't remember)

Games I'd suggest I didn't see listed:

- Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
- Fire Emblem (whichever one is for the GC, I forget, either Path of Radiance or Radiant Dawn)
- Super Mario Strikers
- Mario Power Tennis (I really dislike sports games, but Mario Strikers & Tennis I both find super fun)
- MARIO PARTY! ANY OF THEM! Especially if you have other people to play with!

Games I've never played but heard good things about:

- Whatever Star Fox is for GC
- Tales of Symphonia
- Animal Crossing

Also, I really really really dislike Mario Kart: Double Dash. I might be the only one advocating against getting it, but compared to all the other Mario Kart games I find it really silly. I personally can't stand playing it (particularly after playing MK: Wii), but a lot of people do enjoy it.

 

Pretty much all of the best games have been said. One game that hasn't been said is Pikmin, and it's a pretty good game. My personal two favorite games on the Gamecube are Luigi's Mansion (they're making a sequel to it on the 3DS) and Paper Mario.