The GameCube may not have been Nintendo’s most successful console, but it is beloved decades later, with a significant cult following. It may have failed to offer what gamers in the 2000s were looking for as a whole, but it was an absolute triumph when it came to the pure quality of its games.
From landmark first-party titles like The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess to formidable third-party games like Viewtiful Joe, the GameCube had a nearly unmatched library. In the case of those two games in particular, and ones of similar quality, they have aged so well that they feel like they could have been released today.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Is One of the GameCube’s Best RPGs
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door features two distinct plot lines. The first has Mario, with the aid of the many eccentric characters he comes across along the way, trying to rescue Peach from the X-Nauts. Meanwhile, Peach is trying to escape her X-Nauts-induced imprisonment, accompanied by the alien group’s other prisoners.
It goes without saying that Paper Mario did not get any better than this. Between Mario’s busy plot line, Peach’s action-packed plot line, and Bowser’s surprisingly playable role, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door has a lot going on that will keep players entertained and busy for hours on end. In truth, the only thing better than this is the game’s Switch remake.
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance is a Near-Perfect Tactical RPG
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance sees mercenary Ike, the game’s main protagonist, helping Princess Elincia of Crimea reclaim her throne. Much of her family has already been killed by Crimea’s main rival, Daein, which is ruled by the ruthless king Ashnard.
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance indeed carved out a gameplay approach that has remained well-preserved since it came out. The battle system is easy to follow, making encounters smooth, and the streamlined stratefy RPG gameplay helps make the title one of the best in the Fire Emblem franchise.
Viewtiful Joe starts with Joe and his girlfriend Silvia out at the movies. Suddenly, Silvia is sucked into the movie itself, with Joe following suit. Together with the movie’s protagonist, the mysterious Captain Blue, Joe fights to rescue Silvia by becoming a superhero and beating up everyone in his way.
Hard as it may be, Viewtiful Joe’s quirky premise does help to make it feel like something that could’ve been released ten years later. The beat ’em up mechanics have also aged gracefully, with it being easy to get lost in the excitement of the action.
Resident Evil 4 Turned a Survival Horror Game Into an Unforgettable Action Title
Resident Evil 4 sees former cop-turned-agent Leon S. Kennedy in Spain as part of a special mission to rescue Ashley Graham, the President’s missing daughter. There, he discovers a cult that is holding Ashley hostage. The cult members appear to share a hive mind and follow a nefarious leader.
Originally released on the GameCube as part of the Capcom Five games, the Resident Evil franchise did not get better than this. The game set a blueprint for future action-horror games, especially with its over-the-shoulder presentation and inventive weapon system.
The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess Closed Out the GameCube Era on a High Note
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess has Link doing two things at once. For one, he must again rescue Zelda from her sedated state. For another, he must stop a parallel universe from converging with his native world. Moreover, he has to confront and defeat Ganondorf once more, as if things can’t get more stressful for him.
Twilight Princess manages to be even better now than it was twenty years ago when it was first released. It barely looks or plays any different from its Wii release, and in fact, the GameCube version is considered to be the preferable way to play it.
Animal Crossing Exploded Into One of Gaming’s Biggest Franchises
Animal Crossing sees the player character moving into a village inhabited by all sorts of hospitable anthropomorphic animals. However, things are off to a rough start when it turns out that the player must also do all sorts of errands and sell enough to pay off their debt to Tom Nook, who purchased the player’s house.
The Animal Crossing franchise had its real start on the GameCube, and other than the strange Zelda-esque scrolling to the next acre, the first game in the series feels just like modern entries. In fact, it might be more timeless and comforting to play than some later installments, which can ask too much from the player.
Eternal Darkness Remains One of Nintendo’s Only Mature Games
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem has main protagonist Alexandra Roivas arriving at her grandfather’s estate to investigate the cause of his death. There, she finds a myriad of documents pertaining to a nefarious supernatural force who wants to enslave all humanity.
The only things dated about Eternal Darkness are some of the touted sanity effects, which presume players are still using CRT television sets and memory cards. Even so, the horror proves to be enormously effective today, and the sanity effects make for a terrifying experience unlike any other.
Luigi’s Mansion Gave Mario’s Brother the Love He Deserves
Luigi’s Mansion sees the title character winning a mansion from a contest, only to discover that the entire place is full of ghosts. His brother, Mario, is trapped in the confines of the mansion, and Luigi must work to collect enough energy to bring his brother back.
As a launch title for the GameCube, Luigi’s Mansion is surprisingly effective as a comedy-horror game. Even today, the game provides a great mix of action, charm and horror that few other games, including the other entries in the Luigi’s Mansion series, can replicate.
Metroid Prime Changed One of Nintendo’s Main Franchises Forever
Metroid Prime sees Samus Aran having to take on the Space Pirates once again, but not in the usual sense. Rather, she must fight against parasite-ridden versions of the pirates, who are now under the command of Meta Ridley, a cybernetic version of the franchise’s perennial antagonist.
Developed as Nintendo’s answer to Microsoft’s Halo: Combat Evolved, Metroid Prime has aged just as well as the flagship Xbox title. The first-person perspective helps make everything feel intimate, and the action is more intense than in any of the previous 2D games.
Super Smash Bros. Melee Is Still One of the Best Fighting Games
Super Smash Bros. Melee is a crossover fighting game that pits Nintendo’s characters from its many franchises against each other. The game has a classic mode, which has players fight through randomized stages, and an adventure mode, which has players trying to reach Bowser, who may take on a more chaotic form.
Needless to say, Super Smash Bros. Melee has remained the gold standard for crossover fighting games for the last 25 years. No matter how many characters Super Smash Bros. Ultimate added to its roster, it’s no match for Melee’s intricate fighting controls and memorable stages.