Nintendo’s sixth-generation console, the GameCube, remains, to this day, one of the quirkiest-looking gaming devices we have ever had the pleasure of playing on. The small, cubelike design didn’t need that large handle, it just didn’t.
Released in 2001 the GameCube was Nintendo’s direct competitor to the PlayStation 2, the Sega Dreamcast, and the OG Xbox. The N64 successor had a great library, a clever controller, and four ports for easy multiplayer action, but was unable to play other media such as DVDs which were the big new thing at the beginning of the new Millennium.
Ultimately then, the GameCube failed to stick around and was discontinued in 2007, but looking back on the library there are still a host of games worth playing today – and even if you don’t have a GameCube handy, you can still enjoy them easily thanks to the Dolphin emulator, which we will go into once we have looked at the library.
So let’s get going.
Just like we did with our Best PS2 games we will give you a choice of crackers across the genres, as well as some suggestions for others you may want to check out. These are in no particular order, enjoy them all at your leisure.
As is Nintendo’s way, many of these games are still being updated and kept alive with new versions for the Switch. Nintendo likes to keep a popular franchise going,
Metroid Prime 4 has recently been announced for the Switch but you can trace the lineage all the way back to the amazing original. Many will tell you on pain of death that Metroid Prime is the best GameCube game ever made. You could go further and say it is perhaps one of the best games ever made, that’s how good it is.
A 3D Metroid game, yes please, and everything is just so well executed it hurts. It’s as playable today as it was back in the day, and there are even bespoke versions of emulators out there specifically for it so that you can get the most from the experience.
This is where Zelda games took a tangent from the main series timeline and along came the concept of putting Link on a boar and letting him sail around the Seven Seas, discovering islands and the mysteries they all held. The Wind Waker would still be an amazing game if it had nothing to do with Zelda, but as it stands it is a unique entry into the anals of gaming time.
When the Switch version of Animal Crossing blew up a couple of years ago it helped a new generation discover that games didn’t have to be stressful to be super fun. But GameCube players already discovered this decades earlier.
Animal Crossing is now one of the most recognizable games ever, and its humble beginnings started right on the GC.
The perfect cozy game that many, many others have attempted to imitate.
It’s Super Mario but on vacation, but there was enough here to take the franchise in a different direction for just the shortest of times.
Here we got some new mechanics that really helped Super Mario Sunshine stand out from the crowd. The introduction of FLUDD as a tool and character really changed things up and gave Mario a variation on how to solve some levels. Sunshine is definitely one of the GameCube games you should gravitate towards if you have never played it before.
FIFA this is not, but this soccer game holds a special place in our household as it is the game that got our boy into playing video games – albeit an emulated version on the Wii. Super Mario Strikers brings all your favorite Mario characters and puts them in a fun football game that is so easy to pick up and enjoy, it becomes difficult to put down. The perfect introduction to sports games for young ones, it is on this list because of its power to engage kids.
Super Smash Brothers remains a great Nintendo franchise and one of the reasons many players stick with whatever console the company brings out. Melee is a slight variant of the format and it benefits greatly from that.
When it comes to fighting games on the GameCube there is a lot going for this to suggest in some quarters it is the pinnacle of the genre on the system
One of the best shoot ‘em-ups of all time. Still highly sought after today. The game mechanics are unique and although it was a Dreamcast game in spirit is the best example of the genre on the GameCube
Another game that has been revisited a few times by Nintendo over the years, the original Luigi’s Mansion took another character from Mario’s world and proved Nintendo could have a hit with it also in this scare ‘em-up.
Pikmin 2 improved the excellent original by making the game perhaps more cozier, and thus appealing to a wider audience. Another Nintendo franchise that has stood the test of time.
As with many of the systems of this period, the GameCube is now well and truly emulated to a high standard courtesy of the Dolphin Emulator – which due to similar technology, also does a great job of emulating the Nintendo Wii at the same time.
As with any emulator to keep on the right side of the law you need an original version of the game you intend to play, but if you are sorted on that front then installing Dolphin, pointing it at your games folder on your hard drive, and letting it do its thing will get you up and running in super quick time.
You can play GameCube games with virtually any modern controller, or pick up a USB version of a GameCube controller from somewhere like Amazon to make it even more realistic.
Much like the PCSX2 emulator for the PlayStation 2, game textures can be upscaled to make them look great on a 4K display, and if you get into modding the games themselves, then HD texture packs for many popular titles are easily located online.
Dolphin itself has undergone a huge range of improvements of late, including things such as the addition of achievements, so it is well worth checking out, even if you are still rocking an original GameCube box as part of your retro gaming setup.
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