Sixth Console Generation Retrospective: Nintendo GameCube

Today we’re going to look at the Nintendo GameCube with its highs, lows and everything in-between.

Brief History

Released on November 18th, 2001 in North America in black and indigo colors, the Nintendo GameCube (formerly known as the Dolphin) was the first Nintendo home console to not launch with a traditional Mario game. Instead, it launched with Luigi’s Mansion, with a brief cameo from Mario.

The GameCube launched with the following titles in North America, listed alphabetically:

All-Star Baseball 2002
Batman Vengeance
Crazy Taxi
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 2
Disney’s Tarzan Untamed
Luigi’s Mansion
Madden NFL 2002
NHL Hitz 20-02
Star Wars: Rogue Squadran 2: Rogue Leader
Super Monkey Ball*
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3
Wave Race: Blue Storm

* It should be noted that Super Monkey Ball’s console debut was on the GameCube.

Instead of using regular CDs and DVDs as its main source of media for games, the GameCube used 1.5GB, 8-cm miniDVDs as a means of fighting piracy. Ultimately, this harmed the console due to its low storage capacity compared to its competitors, the Playstation 2 and the Xbox. Natively, it did not have DVD playback, though there was a redesign released only in Japan which could play DVDs, known as the Panasonic Q.

Early Games

In terms of support, the GameCube saw a steady release of console exclusive games since its launch in North America. Pikmin and Super Smash Bros. Melee were simultaneously released on December 3rd, 2001, less than a month after the GameCube launched. Pikmin ended up selling over a million copies, and Super Smash Bros. Melee would end as the GameCube’s top selling game along with Mario Kart: Double Dash!!.  Sonic Adventure 2: Battle was released on February 12, 2002 and was the first Sonic game to ever be released on a Nintendo home console.  The game would end up selling over one million units in North America alone.

Sonic featured on an issue of Nintendo Power, a surreal moment in gaming history

The console would not see another big release until August, when Super Mario Sunshine launched. As the spiritual successor to the Nintendo 64 smash-hit Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine was met with a lot of mixed reactions. Some praised Super Mario Sunshine for its new gameplay mechanic; the FLUDD. The FLUDD allowed Mario to utilize water to accomplish various missions in each world, reminiscent to the mission structure in Super Mario 64. However, others criticized its art direction and asinine story.  November saw the GameCube’s main holiday title when Metroid Prime arrived. Metroid Prime was the highly anticipated next installment of the Metroid franchise, which skipped the Nintendo 64. Despite initial skepticism from Metroid enthusiasts, Metroid Prime released to unanymous praise, and was considered an instant classic. As it stands, Metroid Prime is considered one of the greatest games of all time for its streamlined gameplay and isolated atmosphere. The next blockbuster hit came out in the following year in March: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Much like Super Mario Sunshine, The Wind Waker was met with mixed reactions, though they were mostly positive. The most obvious change in The Wind Waker was its art design. Unlike the previous two Zelda games on the N64, the Windwaker featured stylized cel-shaded graphics. This, along with the fact that the game had a big emphasis on sailing, was the main source of criticism.

Connectivity

A feature that Nintendo tried to push was the connectivity between the GameCube and the Game Boy Advance. For the connectivity to work, one would have to have a GameCube, a Game Boy Advance and a link cable that would connect the two pieces of hardware. Though this was not the first utilization of connectivity between a console and a portable system (the Dreamcast did it first with the Neo Geo Pocket Color, though King of Fighters was the only game to use the feature), it was the first time that any hardware manufacturer pushed the feature to the extent that Nintendo did. Despite this, the feature never caught on in any significant way. The connectivity was used in cases such as uploading Pokemon from Ruby & Sapphire to Pokemon Colosseum and using the Game Boy Advance as a play selector in the Madden NFL games. There were a few games that used the GBA connectivity as a main component. Pac-Man Vs. was a pack-in game with Pac-Man World 2 among other Namco titles, focusing primarily on the Game Boy Advance. The player holding the Game Boy Advance would control Pac-Man, while up to three other players would control the ghosts on the television screen in hopes of catching Pac-Man. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles and The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures also utilized GBA connectivity, but were criticized due to the fact that each person had to have a GBA and a respective link cable if he or she wanted to play. Overall, the GBA-GCN connectivity laid the ground work for the succeeding generation, but was ultimately a failure for the GameCube.

Wavebird Controller

An overlooked innovation Nintendo brought to console gaming with the GameCube was the Wavebird wireless controller, created by Nintendo and released in 2002. In contrast to a standard first party GameCube controller, the Wavebird was a bit bigger and had a battery pack on the back of the controller. Rumble was taken out of the controller, due to the fact that it was seen as a battery-sink.

For the controller to work, a wireless port would have to be plugged into the GameCube controller slot. The “channel” on the controller and the controller slot, which could be changed in the form of a dial, had to match.

Game Boy Player

Released on June 24, 2003, the Game Boy Player was released as a means of playing Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance games on a television set, using the GameCube. Released only in black in North America, the hardware itself had to be placed under the GameCube using its hi speed port.

To run the Game Boy Player, software packed in with the hardware would have to be in the GameCube’s disc slot. It is compatible with most games, including the e-Reader device. Officially, it cannot connect to a Game Boy Micro. The Game Boy Player is not compatible with the Nintendo Wii.

The Capcom Five

Capcom famously promised five exclusive games for the GameCube: Killer7, Dead Phoenix, P.N.03, Viewtiful Joe and Resident Evil 4. Of those five, Dead Phoenix was cancelled and three of the four games ended up being ported to the PS2 eventually, with Viewtiful Joe and Resident Evil 4 having extra features in the PS2 versions. This hurt the GameCube in terms of mindshare and exclusivity, though Resident Evil 4 went on to sell over a million copies on the GameCube. Director Shinji Mikami even went as far as saying that he would “cut his own head off” if RE4 appeared on any other console except the GameCube (he no longer works at the company).

Legacy and my own thoughts

The GameCube ended up in third place during its generation, selling roughly 22 million units worldwide. To date, it is Nintendo’s worst selling home console of all time. Personally, I think the GameCube is the most underrated console among the masses outside of the Sega Saturn. I lined up to get a GameCube at Best Buy during launch, and never regretted my purchase. I enjoyed Luigi’s Mansion at the time as well as Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 (I didn’t have a PS2 at the time). I was really hyped for Super Smash Bros. Melee. I had screenshots of the game pasted on my door in excitement (I was a nerd even back then!). I ended up sinking over 1000 hours into SSBM. I had my first taste of the RTS genre with Pikmin, which came out on the same day. I played that a lot with my sister. Sonic Adventure 2 was the first Sonic game I ever bought (and ironically, the last good Sonic game to hit a home console!), and played it to death. I could go on and on about my experiences with every game I’ve bought, but that would take up a few pages. The Wavebird controller is still, in my opinion, the most comfortable controller to hold. The button layout itself is suspect (come on, that d-pad is microscopic!), but I feel that the Wavebird has the perfect shape and size to fit comfortably in my hands. Thanks to the Wavebird, wireless controllers are a standard in current generation consoles. Overall, I think the highs of the GameCube are higher than those of the PS2, though the PS2 had more consistently good releases.

Top 10 GameCube Games

1. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

My favorite GameCube game and possibly one of my top 10 games of all time. The stylized graphics are vibrant and the game still has some of the best cel-shaded graphics to this date. The gameplay features classic Zelda-style gameplay, however, one of my very few complaints is that the game is too easy.

2. Super Mario Sunshine

A game that did not get the respect that it deserved. Some people couldn’t look past the FLUDD, but other than that, the game was pretty much Super Mario 64 in a tropical setting. The non-FLUDD bonus stages are among the most fun pure gameplay experiences one could ever have.

3. Metroid Prime

As a guy who is not a huge fan of first-person shooters, I love this game. It offers more than just “shoot the dude in front of you” gameplay mechanics. It has a sense of exploration and platforming that other shooters simply don’t have.

4. Pikmin 2

This game could be described as an RTS For Dummies, which is perfectly fine, because I’m not a very big fan of the RTS genre. Pikmin 2 edges Pikmin 1 because it took out the 30-day cycle which was a major complaint in the first game.

5. Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes

A controversial game among Metal Gear fans due to its updated graphics and cutscenes. Personally, I appreciated the significantly better graphics and improved mechanics (such as being able to open doors without equipping security cards). In context to the original game, I can see why people get turned off by this game, because it conveys Snake as a superhuman. However, in context to the latter MGS games, I feel that Twin Snakes fits in better.

6. Sonic Adventure 2: Battle

The definitive Sonic Adventure 2 game. It cuts the load times and glitches that the original Dreamcast version had and adds a few features such as Chao Karate. After beating both the Hero and Dark modes, I spent TONS of hours raising my chaos in the Chao Garden.

7. Super Smash Bros. Melee*

In my opinion, the SSB franchise is the best multiplayer series of all time. Among hardcore fighting game fans, SSBM is seen as a casual-friendly brawler, but it has enough depth to have a fairly large competitive battling scene. I spent hundreds of hours getting all the trophies, and several hundred more hours battling my friends.

8. Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem

A conventional survival horror game with a few twists. The Insanity Meter was a great addition, because it got into the player’s psyche. It would pretend that your saved data was corrupted among other things.

9. Resident Evil

A heavily updated remake of the original Resident Evil game. The graphics are among the best that the GameCube has to offer. Unfortunately, the tank controls remain intact.

10. Donkey Kong Jungle Beat

Developed by the same team that would eventually create Super Mario Galaxy, DKJB was a game that utilized the Donkey Konga drums in an incredibly fun platformer. Even though the game is extremely short, it demands more replay with its high score system.

* Would have been much higher if not for the release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

I did not list multiplatform games, which is why Twilight Princess and Resident Evil 4 aren’t present on this list.

Next time we’re going to take a look at Microsoft’s original Xbox.