The Nintendo GameCube was forsaken by its puny discs, its commitment to offline gaming, Shinji Mikami, and the wholesome family-friendly image Nintendo cultivated in a time when edginess was king. Despite this, the six-sided sex machine had a lot of things going for it: more powerful hardware than the PlayStation 2, a cute handle so you could carry it around with you, and a timeless selection of games that were the real core of the console’s identity. Here are 50 of them:
1. Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg – Melty
COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!
Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg is SO underrated! A 3D platformer from the Sonic Team that is all kinds of silly and awesome, Billy Hatcher is a game where you roll eggs and hatch creatures to help you restore dawn to Morning Land. The eggs are, well, giant; the true giant egg grants ultimate power to the one who hatches it. We also see a ton of fun eggs, which hatch things from other Sega games. These range from Sonic the Hedgehog to NiGHTS, but also Game Boy Advance minigame download titles, which you can download using the GameCube to GBA link cable.
There is also a multiplayer mode for up to 4 players. This. is. amazing. Duking it out with three of your friends and battling each other with the wacky creatures of Morning Land can get pretty crazy. Despite this, it results in belly-aching laughs. Growing up with three siblings at home meant that we were always reaching for this game to hash out our arguments and ending up in fits of laughter.
Billy Hatcher wasn’t well received on its release, however, I can guarantee that everyone who played the game adored it. In December of 2022, Shun Nakamura, designer for Sonic Team, stated that he would like to make a sequel; maybe we’ll see him return in Sonic Racing: Crossworlds.
2. Donkey Konga – Melty
Everyone shut up, you’re ruining my score!
We all know Donkey Kong as a grumpy ape trying to stop Mario from getting Pauline to safety*. We also know DK when he’s trying to retrieve whatever King K. Rool has decided to steal this week, be it his banana hoard or his family. But have you ever wondered what DK does on his downtime? Indulging in bananas. What does this have to do with Donkey Konga? Well, you see, at the start of this game, DK and Diddy Kong come across some magical bongos.
Initially, they play terribly. Eventually they realise that if they learn to play well and become successful, they can afford as many bananas as they like. Simple. How do we help? With the super-cool, exclusive, incredibly rare Bongo controller (at the time of writing, there is a boxed set, along with the GameCube and Wii version of the game on eBay for £27), you get to play along with popular music from our real world, and popular Nintendo tracks. Who doesn’t want to bongo and clap along to ‘Rock Lobster’? Oh yeah, the bongos have a built-in microphone for claps.
Alternatively, if you don’t need the authenticity of playing with the bongos, you can play with the standard GameCube controller, but that’s not as fun. How will you get sabotaged by your annoying little sibling just clapping constantly and absolutely decimating your score?
*aaaaaktually, that was DK’s grandfather Cranky Kong**, the original Donkey Kong. Except in Mario vs Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis – Ed
**aaaaaktually, Cranky Kong was named Donkey Kong at the time of this game <3
3. Pikmin – Melty
How quickly can you Progg-ress through this game?
Pikmin is an absolute show-stealer. As the first instalment in the series, Pikmin set a great precedent for the rest of the games. You play as Captain Olimar. Crash landing on a strange planet, your mission is to find all the pieces of your ship so you can return home to your wife and children.
The problem is that pieces of your spacecraft are scattered around the planet. This makes it difficult for you and your small stature to locate and bring everything back to your landing site. Luckily, Olimar finds these strange growths in the ground. Upon closer inspection, they pop out and reveal an ‘Onion’, emitting tiny little seedlings; seedlings Olimar names Pikmin.
These little guys are your key to success. They help you defeat enemies, carry back your ship parts, and help motivate you with their beautiful singing voices. Granted, they are essentially toddlers and are a pain to keep in line, but they’re mostly just vibing their way through the day, listening (mostly) to your every demand. A pure test of skill and problem-solving, Pikmin is great for developing cognitive abilities and strategies; perfect for young ones to play. Maybe even older people, if they need it.
The music in this game is so serene and whimsical that I find myself listening to the soundtrack often, even in my day-to-day life. You play Pikmin at your own pace, even though there is a time limit, and there are multiple endings, depending on how well you played throughout the game; this makes for fabulous replayability.
For a more in-depth look at Pikmin, check out my article here.
4. Pikmin 2 – Melty
Beware the Water Wraith
Arguably the best game in the franchise, Pikmin 2 is miles ahead of the first instalment, and the first itself was amazing. Focusing more on battle techniques, Pikmin 2 introduces two new types of Pikmin, both found in the world’s caves. These caves are dungeon crawlers, filled with little beasties, bosses, and, more importantly, treasure. The treasure in this game is fabulous, filled with Easter Eggs for both the average and the well-versed Nintendo fan. The bosses in Pikmin 2 are a step up from the bosses in Pikmin; whilst the most iconic bosses return, we also see bigger and scarier creatures, waiting to feast on our little army of babies.
A lot of lore is added to Pikmin 2. We learn that the planet Captain Olimar (and his new co-captain Louie) land on is likely our very own Earth. Speaking of Louie, though, being a new addition to the franchise, he makes a statement with his introduction. If you ask any Pikmin fan who the best character is, if they have taste, they will likely choose Louie. Louie is an absolute icon.
After this game, we also got blessed with the Pikmin Shorts from Nintendo These were initially available to purchase on the Wii U, but they are now free to watch on YouTube.
5. Pokémon Channel – Melty
Up Next: Your new favourite old cosy game!
Sitting down and watching TV all day is overrated. Sitting down and watching TV all day with your best buddy Pikachu is not. This game is unlike any other Pokémon game—you’re a test audience for a new broadcasting channel, unlocking new channels throughout your adventuring with your trusty pal Pikachu beside you. With multiple interactive channels to enjoy, you can spend a good amount of your day flicking through, checking on the weather with ‘Slowpoke’s Weather Report’, shopping on ‘Shop ‘N Squirtle‘ to decorate your room and collect mini-games, or watch the exclusive episode ‘Pichu Bros. in Party Panic’.
Not only can you watch the TV and play mini-games on your in-game Pokémon Mini, but you can also venture through the world of ‘Mintale Town’, meeting the new Generation 3 Pokémon and discovering the secrets of visitable areas. This game also came with the ability to receive an exclusive Jirachi in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, but only in the European and Australian releases. It also had a chance of being shiny. Pokémon Channel is a fun way to pass the time if you have nothing else to do and don’t want to think too hard. It also doesn’t hurt that you get to see the adorable interactions between the wild Pokémon and your Pika-bestie.
6. Sonic Adventure DX – Riley
Open your heart, it’s gonna be alright
Now, you may have heard this damaging rhetoric that Sonic had a “rough transition to 3D”, but I respectfully disagree. Sonic Adventure captures what makes Sonic fun, pushes it into the third dimension and then opens up the world with a large hub to explore and a mystery to uncover: the being in the Master Emerald known as Chaos.
The Sonic and Tails levels feature high-octane platforming with multiple routes, shortcuts and obstacles to overcome, but the other stories are where the gameplay starts to drag, and I think where the reputation this game has was born from. Amy has a slow group of levels in which she has to run away from rampaging robots and solve puzzles with her hammer, Gamma shoots everything in a run-and-gun style gameplay, Knuckles has to search for Master Emerald shards by digging in a method that is way worse than it was in the sequel, and Big… fishes? Yeah, I don’t get why they had to put a homage to SEGA Bass Fishing here either, but it’s there, I guess.
Thankfully, Sonic gets far more stages than the other characters, so this variety doesn’t slow the pace down too much.
7. Sonic Adventure 2: Battle – Melty
Something, something, CHAO!
I’d be lying if I said I added this game to our list for anything other than the Chao Garden. The Chao Garden is the pinnacle of cosy gaming in the early naughties; looking after baby creatures, feeding them fruit, taking them to school, and making them battle to the death. Unfortunately, you need to play the rest of the game to do this effectively. Snore. I jest. The rest of the game is your average Sonic the Hedgehog game: fast-paced levels, collecting rings, and a couple of bosses here and there. That is, until you reach the Tails/Eggman and Knuckles/Rouge levels.
I, for one, am not a huge fan of the Tails/Eggman levels. I don’t enjoy following a linear level, constantly shooting in every direction. It’s just not my jam. That being said, they tend to have the most effective Chaos Drive to raise your Chao. The Knuckles/Rouge levels are my absolute favourite; hunting for pieces of the Master Emerald is especially fun to me, and the ability to explore the areas is fantastic. My favourite is definitely ‘Pumpkin Hill’, because whose isn’t? The music is such a vibe, and the game has a few songs I will listen to day-to-day.
This game plays much better on the GameCube than on any other platform; it’s like it was made for it. I find any other platform incredibly laggy in comparison.
8. Sonic Heroes – Riley
Let me show you who I am and what I have in store
In his first multiplatform adventure, Sonic Heroes decided to up the ante and feature one of the biggest playable character rosters for its time, with four distinct teams of three characters with special abilities that are split between speed, power and flight. Each team offers their own unique take on the same story, with Sonic being the normal difficulty, Dark being hard, Rose being easy, and Chaotix being a mission mode.
Once you’ve completed each story, you get to face off against one of the coolest final bosses in the series, Metal Overlord, and the fight itself features one of the other awesome elements of this game, the music. Each Team has their own awesome theme (I particularly like Team Chaotix), and the stage themes are catchy and add to their colourful and whimsical aesthetic. If you’ve played the PS2 version and didn’t get the feel for it, definitely try the GameCube version; it’s a much more optimised and pleasant experience.
9. Pokémon Colosseum – Riley
Oh! There’s a Shadow Pokémon!
The very first 3D Pokémon RPG was not X and Y, it was Colosseum back on the GameCube. This game took a radically different approach from the other games in the series up until this point: the entire battle system is only double battles, there are no wild Pokémon, and there are no routes, just towns and dungeons to fast travel back and forth to. While on the surface this sounds questionable, this game’s gimmick makes it worthwhile: Shadow Pokémon.
While more commonly recognised through Pokémon GO in the modern age, the story of Colosseum sees you steal Shadow Pokémon from evildoers and purify their hearts into their normal selves, but with bonus moves they wouldn’t normally learn. It has a notably darker tone than the light-hearted adventures on the Game Boy and is the only way to legitimately receive several Pokémon, including Ho-Oh in the GBA Pokémon games. It is well worth your time if you can snag a copy.
10. Spider-Man 2 – Hollyman
With great power, comes great swinging mechanics
Spider-Man 2 was a literal game-changer. While he already had a number of videogames under his belt, Spider-Man 2 was the first one to plonk him in a New York playground and let him swing loose. Though it’s obviously aged and doesn’t look as visually impressive as the more recent Spider-Man games, the web swinging in Spider-Man 2 has a surprising amount of depth, allowing players to use both trigger buttons to control their direction, as well as manually control swing speed and jump height. This adds a degree of skill required to master the traversal mechanics that more recent games have sadly been missing.
It has a story and combat too.