Console Challenge Day 17: Top 7 best GameCube games!

Please understand, I am not trying to say technology is unimportant. But if we are just focusing on technology… we will not succeed.
-Satoru Iwata

 
 
Day 17 of our 30-Day Console Challenge is in the books, NPCs!
Today, I’m proud to present the longest-running active contributor we’ve ever had! At over 20 different articles contributed, the Midnight Mystic Mage (whose alter ego is Sublime Reviews) is a core component of TWRM and what makes us tick. He’s been here for so long that I can hardly remember when he even joined, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. He’s been a digital friend and conversationalist since forever, and today he’s sharing a part of himself with us, something less spooky than is in character for him.
Here it is: MMM’s top 7 games for the Nintendo GameCube!
-The Well-Red Mage
 
 

 The Nintendo GameCube has a very special place in my heart and is probably the most important console to me as a gamer. I spent more time playing it than any other console and I have so many incredible memories with it. I began gaming on the NES & SNES that were stashed away in my older sisters room. Nintendo 64 was the first console that I was able to move into my room and play most of the time without interference from my sisters. It was still not technically mine however, my parents had bought it for the three of us.
The Gamecube was the very first console that I opened up on Christmas morning for it to be mine all mine! What a feeling. I was inseparable from the thing, and since getting into collecting older games a bit it was the first system that I just had to have. There are still so many gems on it that I have yet to play and so many that I would love to play again. It is difficult to narrow down the top 7 games from this console, but I am going to give it my best shot and I hope that you all can at least understand where I am coming from with my answers.
Get your nostalgia sensors ready, because I am about to send them into an overload!
 
 

#7. Super Monkey Ball

OK, OK, I know, there are many of you who are not going to like this selection for being in a best games list for the system. It is an incredibly fun game though and I believe it definitely belongs in the top 10 for games that originated on GameCube. I know the one snub that I feel the worst for is Metroid Prime.
*Pauses for intense booing and hissing to cease*
Yes I know, both Metroid Prime games are now in my possession and I plan to play them as soon as I am able to, but I was not fortunate enough to play the legendary games before and have not been able to since getting them for my new GameCube. I apologize for this grave sin and assure you, Super Monkey Ball is an awesome game. The notches around the joystick on the GameCube controller just made the turns feel effortless and smooth. There was nothing like having a friend over and creaming them on some multiplayer as well, I rest my case, Super Monkey Ball deserves a spot.
 

#6. Super Mario Sunshine

Of course, this game has to be included, Super Mario IS Nintendo. My first clear memory of playing a video game is Super Mario Bros. on the NES, and the first time I was sincerely blown away with what video games were about to become was when I played Super Mario 64. Sunshine did not have as profound of an impact on me personally as the aforementioned games, but it did take the formula that the 64 version set up and really did some cool things with it. A cute little story, some fun tricks with the water, bright and happy, it’s Mario, man, whats not to like?
 

#5. Resident Evil

This game might have been one of my first real run-ins with the horror genre in gaming. It really is not a genre that I started to enjoy as much as I do today until much later in life. Needless to say, this game scared the crap out of my little preteen self. I had a blast with it though and it made a lasting impression. It is one of the better third-person shooter games that I can remember playing, and the scares were supplied plentifully.
 

#4. Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem

See now this is why I say there is still hope for me not having played Metroid Prime. Eternal Darkness is a game that I entirely missed out on when I was younger, though I heard great things about it at the time. I was able to redeem myself though when I got my GameCube and found a copy on the cheap in a nice little bundle while someone was selling off their old games. It really is a great game and I can see what all the hype was about. There are sanity effects and other Lovecraftian madness, you read tomes and go back in time to completely different areas other than the main mansion the game takes place in, it is a very well put together game with plenty to offer.
 

#3. Animal Crossing

I can not even begin to explain how special the Animal Crossing franchise is, but I am sure that many of you already know this to be true and why it is so. The concept of having a town that I could interact with which actually went by our real-time and days was just completely mind-blowing to me at the time. I would log back on and when they told me that they hadn’t seen me in a few days, or there would be a seasonal event happening that coincided with the holiday that it really was and my jaw would drop in disbelief. It sounds silly now with today’s technology and how vastly different the gaming landscape is. This version even had a feature where you could play old NES games that you collected throughout your travels. There was fishing, fossils, bug catching, the museum, and so much more to do in this free and open world where the possibilities were seemingly endless.
 

#2. Super Smash Bros. Melee

Super Smash Bros. What a concept huh? All of your favorite video game characters get together in one epic game where they can battle it out and finally settle the debates of which one could take down the other. It is every child’s dream come true, and we were all finally able to prove why Pikachu or Link was undoubtedly and objectively better than any other character. So nanny nanny boo boo.. You know the rest.
I personally had more experience with the N64 version of Super Smash Bros. than I did with Melee and also felt much more in awe of the idea of the game at that point. That does not change that this version is the one that has stood the test of time, probably more than any other game that I could think of to compare it to. People are still playing the GameCube version of Smash Bros. competitively at gaming conventions and at local game stores all over the place. It is a phenomenon like nothing else in gaming that I can personally attest to. All that being said it is not one of my personal favorites, but it deserves to be at the very top of this list. Wellll, not exactly the very top because there just so happens to be this one game. It’s kind of a big deal and I think you might know exactly what game I am talking about because no GameCube games list would be complete without it.
 

#1. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

That’s right, the best game on GameCube, and one of the best games of all time in general. I have a hard time deciding between this one, Ocarina of Time, and Breath of The Wild as to which one is my favorite Zelda game of all time, but Wind Waker is such an amazing game and to me, as a kid, it was just absolutely breathtaking. The cel-shaded graphics really stand the test of time and are able to still look just as good today as they did originally. This is always the benefit of going that route as opposed to a more realistic look with the ever-increasing capabilities of graphical engines. Having your own boat to sail in with Link was just the definition of cloud 9 and the game tantalizes you with its charm from beginning to end. I always loved to play the ocarina in Ocarina of Time and they did a great job of taking that idea and doing something that had the spirit of it but was very original and inventive at the same time. This game is just as good as it gets on the GameCube, and anyone who does not agree can arm wrestle me about it at high noon.
 

Well, I truly hope that I was able to do this beloved console justice with my piece on the top 7 games. I hold so many cherished memories with this system and I know that this is likely the case for many of you as well. The time spent and the joy that has been had is what pushes me to continue my journey with video games and blogging today.
There is something very special about gaming as a hobby and I believe it is that kid in all of us who sat up obsessively playing their favorite game for countless nights which drives us to continue to be a part of this thriving community of like-minded individuals. It doesn’t matter what race, religion, or political ideology we have because when we get together to talk about our favorite video games, we are all just gamers who are sharing our passion.
That may all be a bit sappy and played out, but this is a very special console to me personally and it really just gets me thinking about how much gaming means to me and what a huge role it has played in my life. I hope that maybe I was able to strike a bit of the same chord with you and that we can all come together and say cheers to Nintendo freakin’ Gamecube!

 
The Midnight Mystic Mage is the resident writer of sublimereviews.wordpress.com, a reviewer of games, books, and film, and a fan of all things horror and spooky. Follow the link… if you dare!
 

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