To Buy or not to buy... that is the GameCube.

[goatdan]

Should I get a GameCube?

Here's why I ask -- I really want to play Mario Kart Double Dash. Beyond that, I'm not sure of what I would want on the system. I have an Xbox, and I can't keep up with the things that I want to play on it. One of the biggest GameCube selling points with me had been the fact that it had Super Monkey Ball exclusively, but that is about to end and the Xbox is getting a souped up version.

I have never really got into the Resident Evil series.

I liked Pikmin from what I've seen, but not enough to get the system.

Mario Sunshine looks kinda blah to me.

But I can get a new system with Mario Kart Double Dash and another game for only $99.99. At that price, it seems to me like I'm paying $40.00 for the console and two controllers and $30.00 for two games, including the one that I really want.

What else would I want. Is it worth it?

Thanks.

[max 330 mega]

i say yes, i parted with mine, and missed it so much i went and got another... its the only current gen system i own, that i actually play games on that arent 2D, the nintendo developed games are great, and some of my favorite games for gamecube are ikaruga,super monkey ball 1 and 2, mario kart double dash, pokemon colloseum, i also cant wait for mario baseball, it looks promising. get one, they are fairly cheap and have alot of fun games!

[chrisbid]

gameboy player
beach spikers (if you can find a cheap copy)
ikaruga

[goatdan]

I've already got Ikaruga on the 'Cast and I have all of one post original Game Boy game that I would play on the Game Boy Player :(

Now Beach Spikers is a tantalizing morsel of goodness. I love volleyball games for some reason.

[chrisbid]

i forgot super smash bros melee, more multi player goodness. billy hatcher is supposed to have this as well, but ive yet to play it.

[jerkov]

If you're looking for good multiplayer games, there are several great ones on the GC. If you have three friends that all have GBAs and have access to cables, Zelda: Four Swords Adventure is ESSENTIAL. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles is also decent, but nowhere near as good as Zelda. As you said, Double Dash is another must have. Bomberman Generations is another addictive multiplayer title, as is Super Smash Brothers.

How about the Metroid Prime games? Zelda: Wind Waker? I haven't really spent much time with these titles, but they seem to be held in high regard.

On Black Friday, I picked up Wario Ware (a classic on the GBA, can't wait to try out the 4-player modes on the GC), Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, Super Monkey Ball 2, and FZero GX. I've only gotten to play Super Monkey Ball 2 so far (which has some excellent party game modes), but the other titles also look very promising.

You may also want to give the remake of the first Resident Evil a spin.....even if you're not into the series. I wasn't much into the series either until I played this game. Just a totally different experience on the Gamecube - the horrific and suspenseful atmosphere combined with awe-inspiring graphics make it quite an experience.

[lendelin]

Metroid Prime...Metroid Prime...Metroid Prime... :)

also: Tales of Symphonia and Baten Kaitos, and if you are really wacky, Donkey Konga.

Metroid Prime alone justifies a buy of the GC for this price.

[whoisKeel]

i found mario kart:dd kinda ... meh, i actually enjoy f-zero much more but it's insanely difficult, so i don't play it much anymore. ikaruga's the reason i keep the cube around, but you can get that for dreamcast.

get a cube for the zeldas and the metroids. i'll say this tho, windwaker is an amazing game, tho doesn't match ocarina, and metroid prime (one) may be a bit disappointing if you've been hearing it is the best game of this console generation. i still need to play monkey ball and cubivore tho.

[ubersaurus]

Pac-Maaaaaaaaaan VS.!

That is the sweetest multiplayer game, I swear. maybe not THE sweetest, I admit...but it's up there.

F-Zero GX rocks hard too, one of my favorite games. Rogue Leader was pretty good, and of course, mario kart rocks (especially on a LAN, if you get the stuff together). Smash bros, Beach Spikers, metroid prime, wind waker, and more are all awesome titles worth checking out. I also hear Mario Power Tennis is sweet too, but I haven't tried it out myself.

[wufners]

I know whatcha mean about having too many games. Do you really need another system to get even more behind? Of course, the good thing about being behind in your gaming is that you never need to pay full price. Once you've caught up you can go back and buy all the games you wanted 9 months ago for cheap(er). Still, I think that's an important point to consider before commiting big bucks into another system.

What's a Gamecube running these days? $99 new, $79 used? Something like that? If yer working fulltime that's not too bad a pill to swallow.

A lot of folks have already suggested great games.

Metroid Prime (haven't tried the sequal) is definitely an experience worth having. While it's not my favorite, I'm VERY glad I played it.

And speaking as an immense Zelda nerd, Wind Waker certainly made the Gamecube worthwhile to me. It's not the best Zelda game, but it has some great moments and I totally dug the graphics style.

You already said yer not that interested in Resident Evil. But the remake was great fun I thought. I can hardly stand looking at a Playstation games, so I was never able to enjoy the series before. This time around it was absolutely beautiful. And RE4 is looking pretty darn nice too.

I also must put in a good word for Eternal Darkness. This one can be picked up for cheap and is worth it for the insanity effects alone.

You're right about Mario Sunshine. It actually is fun to play, but I never feel compelled to play it.

And finally, since you don't have a Gamecube already I must assume you aren't a huge Zelda dork. But man! That new Zelda that comes out next year is lookin awfully darn puuuuuuuuurty!

So should you get one? *shrugs* If you have the money and aren't saving up for something else than come on over to the Gamecube pool! The water's fine.

[Zubiac666]

Damn.....get one

where else can you play(exept DC):
Ikaruga
Paper MArio 2 (sooo great)
Metroid Prime
Metroid Prime 2 Echos
Tales of Symphonia (wonderfull and HUGE RPG)
Puyo Pop Fever
Zelda Wind Waker
Legend of Zelda (next year)
ZELDA COLLECTORS EDITION
Pacman VS
Star Wars Rouge Leader
Star Wars Rebel Strike
REmake
RE Zero
Eternal Darkness
Wariorware Inc
Donkey Konga
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (the most innovative game EVER....I love you N!)
F-Zero GX
Mario Kart DD
Mario Power Tennis
Mario Golf
Mario Baseball (next year)
Wave Race Blue Storm (you nearly feel the water)
Soul Calibur 2 (with Zelda's Link)
Super Smash Brothers Melee (the best multiplayer game in existance)
Skies of Arcadia Legends (god RPG)
Super Mario Sunshine (give it a try....it IS good)
Luigis Mansion (short but great)
Megaman Network Transmission (2D greatness BUT VERY hard)
Pikmin
Pikmin 2
Geist (next year)
and about 1000 2D games more via GameboyPlayer(maybe the best invention since electricity)
?

I now have 102 gamecube games and I have tons more on my purchase-list.
Cube has games that can't be missed.

[TRM]

I only wanted the GC for Mario Kart as well. I found it worth it, since I needed a new Mario Kart challenge. However, it all depends on how big of a Mario Kart fan you are.

[jdc]

Well.....mine sits and collects dust. It's my second one since I dumped it once before.

Yes, there's the Zelda games and the Zelda portovers. There's also promise of a new Zelda game, which in my opinion is reason enough to own one.

Metroid Prime was graphically awesome....but turned into a tedious game with annoying enemies and too much backtracking. The ridiculous true form of the final boss battle is NOT worth playing the game for. I was glad when it was over.

Mario Sunshine is not a very good game at all. Lofty ambitions with poor execution. If toying with cameras bothers you, stay away.It'll probably end up on your shelf unfinished.

I play PSO on mine. That game and the release of WindWaker were my reasons for rebuying one.

Mario Kart? I'm a Mario Kart fanatic.....on the N64. The new Cube game falls flat when compared to the other two Mario Karts. The tracks are far too short. The motocross track is a poor shadow of the joy of the N64 one. The game auto-powerslides now.....so that a 3 year old can fully powerslide any corner in the game. The fun in the N64 game was showing off your mad powersliding skills to your friends, as they gaped in awe and then went home to practice. Now.....anyone can do it. Multiplayer? Who wants split screen in this day and age? The game is playable......but wears thin really fast.

I say get one because when Nintendo are on, they're ON and the Cube has some phenomenal games, depending on your own tastes. Graphically the system can go toe to toe with the other two systems any time it feels like it. You can grab a Cube for a ridiculously low price these days and you're bound to find SOMETHING to please you, even if it ends up being one or two games. I just find that the games that people tend to crow about aren't necessarily the best that the system offers.

[joshnickerson]

GET ONE. :D

[YoshiM]

What, no one said Animal Crossing?! For shame! Animal Crossing is a unique and fun experience.

Beyond that I can't really say what's "great" as others have already covered 'em. The little Cube hasn't really impressed me this generation and for many of the N64 "sequels" I usually prefer the N64 versions due to that system's tighter controls (F-Zero is a good example). It IS a very capable system and I know I'd miss out on stuff if I got rid of it (and my wife would kill me as Animal Crossing is one of her favorite games).

[TRM]

Mario Kart? I'm a Mario Kart fanatic.....on the N64. The new Cube game falls flat when compared to the other two Mario Karts. The tracks are far too short. The motocross track is a poor shadow of the joy of the N64 one. The game auto-powerslides now.....so that a 3 year old can fully powerslide any corner in the game. The fun in the N64 game was showing off your mad powersliding skills to your friends, as they gaped in awe and then went home to practice. Now.....anyone can do it. Multiplayer? Who wants split screen in this day and age? The game is playable......but wears thin really fast.


Damn...that was quite harsh. Your fun may have been the powerslides, but that was always small potatoes in my book. Double Dash is far superior to the other games (I hated the original SNES game). The play control is really smooth, much improved over the N64 version (which I loved dearly back in its day).

[Kejoriv]

Yea i would get one. I like the Gamecube exclusive games alot more than the Xbox and Ps2 exclusive games. I find the gamecube games have more replay value.

[rbudrick]

Metroid Prime
Ikaruga
Gameboy Player

No go to the store and get them!

-Rob

[K3V]

UNITY

[Predatorxs]

Get one, it's a sweet system to have.. Starfox Adv, Winder waker, Splinter cell (1 and 2) Metroid Prime, F-zero, Resident evil (series) etc, etc, just to name a few of my favs.

http://www.xs.dsl.pipex.com/avator/ms_ufo.gif..XS

[slip81]

Get the Double Dash bundle you were talking about. Like you said it's cheap and DD is a great game. Beyond that check out some of the first party games (all of them are good and worth $20 IMO) along with Eternal Darkness, Ikaruga and Alien Hominid. Baeten Kaitos also looks pretty good.

[blissfulnoise]

Yeah, Eternal Darkness is seriously good gaming, I definitely second that. If you're even remotely interested in H.P. Lovecraft's or E.A. Poe's work, or a real horror style game (not so much a "BOO!" game as an atmospheric one) it's a must own. Very brilliant title.

Mario Sunshine is quite good, and very underrated IMO.

Other than that, there's already a great list of very good titles on this thread. The MK:DD/GCN deal is just awesome right now at Gamestop. I'd recommend getting one stat!

[buttasuperb]

There is absolutely nothing on GC that I want to play, that I can't get on another system.

Make a 2D Mario platformer and that changes in an instant.

[le geek]

Dan,
I say go for it.

For you I recommend...

LOZ: Windwaker, Cubivore, Metroid Prime and Animal Crossing. :)

[briguy578]

Luigi's Mansion? anyone???




[silence]



Guess I was the only one who liked that game :embarrassed:

[scutters off back to mysterious dark corner]

[Kamino]

Howdy Dan!
I'll reccomend F ZERO GX first off. That is the one game that completely blew me away on cube. AWESOME gameplay, AWESOME create a racer mode.....
Also will reccomend Ikaruga, P.N.0.3., and the game boy player. wario world is a good speed run.....
I would NOT reccomend wave bird controllers though.

[Raedon]

the Super Monkey Ball games are party gold.

[Crush Crawfish]

Super Smash bros. Melee alone justifies the purchase of a Gamecube. Also, Tales of Symphonia and Mega man Network transmission are great exclusives.

[K3V]

I would NOT reccomend wave bird controllers though.

Can I ask why? I think the Wavebird is a fantastic controller and was the deciding factor for me to get many multi-platform games on the Cube over the other 2 consoles. Logitech makes very nice wireless controllers for the other consoles, but the Wavebird is the best of the bunch I'd say.

Once you go wireless you never go back :D

[Zing]

My advice is to not get a Gamecube. If you want to play Mario Kart, bust out the SNES or N64 version. :)

I don't see how naming off a list of dozens of "good" games for the Gamecube should convince someone who already admits to having another system they are content with, along with many unplayed games, to buy a system that is barely propped up by first party releases.

Use the K.I.S.S. method. Keep It Simple, Stupid. Play the games you have and already enjoy. Don't worry about what you may be missing out on have fun.

[Beefy Hits]

There's really nothing wrong with the Gamecube; however it suffers from three tragic fates:

1.) 75% of its catalog of games can be had on other systems
2.) Most of the games for it are mediocre, at best
3.) The really good games are 2-4 players simultaneous, and how often do you have 3 friends around?

I can't really name 1 game that I'm so psyched about for the gamecube that would get me to run right out and buy it. However, I can name a handful of games I'd at least like to try:

Donkey Konga (there again, there's always Taiko Drum Master on the PS2, done by the same team I think)
Pikmin 1&2
Monkey Ball 1 & 2 (Biggest strength and weakness of this game is that the true fun of it is multiplayer)
Cubeivore (Haven't even seen screenshots, but it looks like a cult hit)
Mario Tennis (Waiting for $19.99 price drop)
Eternal Darkness
Smashing Drive
Animal Crossing

Most of the other games for it are either bleh to me, or are already out on other systems (Ikaruga on DC, for example).

[Habeeb Hamusta]

Yes. GameCube has many fun games that you never get tired of. :)

Xbox is getting Super Monkey Ball?! When the hell..? Wha? Huh? Why? Ugh. O_O

[goatdan]

Xbox Super Monkey Ball is supposed to be released on 1/11/05 - http://xbox.gamespy.com/xbox/super-monkey-ball-deluxe/551336p1.html

As for the decision to get one: I've decided to hold off... for now. I know that I'll end up with one at some point (Hell, I got and still have a PSOne, and that wasn't intentional -- not that I don't like it, just that there was never too much I wanted to play for it until I was given the console.) I expect I'll end up with one sometime in 2005. And thanks for the reminder about Cubivore -- I'm going to start looking for that, as I've always been interested in it.

I am curious to hear more about Mario Kart: DD. I *hated* the N64 version with a passion (UNFAIR AI!), but loved Diddy Kong Racing (fair AI! Fun modes!). Is MK:DD worth it?

[Howie6925]

Gamecube, although i dont play it that often I enjoy when i do. Playing games like Mario party , Mario kart when ppl over are great games (sober or drunk :) ) , even when it is just you games like metriod prime and zelda are fun. But I like the system, I have no complaints.

[CHEESYPIZZA]

I love that system and I have the Xbox and the PS2 out of the 2 i like Gamecube Zelda is really good Super Monkey Ball is awsome and wat else Super Smash Bros Melee 3rd party games r not that good on it but they have some really good games. It may look kiddy but to tell u the truth it always been that way Super Mario Bros.? Remember Super Mario Sunshine is really good its fun to play u may have just not played it as much dont worry u will have so much fun to play that system

[imanerd0011]

For $100 and two controllers and two games (including the one you really want), how could you not buy it. That is the best deal out there in gaming if you are looking to buy one of the current consoles. I also suggest Mario Sunshine, LOZ WW , and SSBM.

[calthaer]

There are so many good games for this system that it's hard to know where to even begin. Most of the ones I'd recommend have already been mentioned...the 'Cube is really beefing up its library this holiday season with MP2: Echoes and Paper Mario and other goodies. Wario Ware: Mega Party for the GC, Pac Man Vs., Super Smash Melee and more are all reasons why the GameCube is *the* system to have if you want to have friends over and play.

[retroman]

yes...get one

[Ernster]

Honestly I have a GC and I dont like it at all. Apart from SSBM, and the new Zelda there really isnt any point getting it over a N64.

[goatdan]

My opinion on this matter has been reopened a little...


Honestly I have a GC and I dont like it at all. Apart from SSBM, and the new Zelda there really isnt any point getting it over a N64.

I don't much care for the new Zeldas (I know, I'm crazy) or Super Smash Brothers, and if I'm going to be honest, I didn't like too much about my N64. There was Conker's Bad Fur Day... F-Zero... GoldenEye... and Perfect Dark... and a few other games that weren't N64-exclusives. I know that I wouldn't feel burned if I bought a GameCube, but at the same time I'm trying to figure out what I would actually purchase for it.

I do thank everyone for the help. You are moving me closer to getting one again...

[whoisKeel]

look, just ask yourself....are you going to play it? if you are then get it, if not, wait a year or two and pick it up for used dreamcast prices. i know it's only $100 with a game, but you could get 2-10 games you really want for that price for your other systems.

[Fuyukaze]

GoatDan wrote-

I've already got Ikaruga on the 'Cast and I have all of one post original Game Boy game that I would play on the Game Boy Player

Now Beach Spikers is a tantalizing morsel of goodness. I love volleyball games for some reason.

Personaly, I havent felt a reason to buy the GC. There are a few good looking games for it, but so far none have met the criteria I have for a system. That is that there are 5 games released for it in the market I live that I belive to be must haves. If you realy like Mario Doubledash, and for the price you are paying, I guess it wouldnt be such a bad deal. Actualy, I do hope you get one. I hope you get Ikaruga as well cause I know your going to want to replace your DC (hint, hint, trade me! :D ) copy. Even if your not a resident evil fan, there is still the Nintendo first party games (zelda, metroid, mario, and pikmin). One game I did enjoy that I didnt think I would was Animal Crossing. It was cute, it was fun, and somehow did what ever it was intended to do, just right. Enough that I'd like to get the soundtrack for the game. Actualy, almost enough I wished I owned a GC just for this one game. I wana play it again.

[kainemaxwell]

How hard is it getting used to the GC controller?

[Cantaloup]

How hard is it getting used to the GC controller?

I think the standard GC controller is really comfortable. I do have a couple of issues with it though. The +-pad is too small and the Z button is no substitute for an actual trigger button. Other than that, it works well. I like the L and R triggers which "click" when you press them down all the way

[whoisKeel]

the 'c' stick is pretty meh also...i didn't notice playing metroid or zeldas, but when i fired up my midway arcade classics, it became a real pain (ie, robotron, smashtv)

overall its comfortable, and has a pretty good analog stick (better than ps2 imo, but not as good as box's)