The 40 Essential Gamecube Games

[Flack]

As posted by GeekIdiot.com:

Resident Evil: RE
Resident Evil 0
Resident Evil 4
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
Metroid Prime
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Viewtiful Joe
Viewtiful Joe 2
Beyond Good & Evil
Mario Kart: Double Dash
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem
Pikmin
Pikmin 2
Animal Crossing
Tales of Symphonia
F-Zero GX
Super Mario Sunshine
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
Ikaruga
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour
Star Wars Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron 2
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
Killer7
Soul Caliber 2
Super Monkey Ball 2
Mario Power Tennis
Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean
Gladius
Sega Soccer Slam
Star Fox Adventures
Battalion Wars
Alien Hominid
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles
Mario Superstar Baseball
The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures

Discuss, argue, fling poo at one another.

[diskoboy]

The only game on that list I'd disagree with would be Super Mario Sunshine.

[Rogmeister]

I disagree. Super Mario Sunshine does belong on that list.

(Throws poo at diskoboy)

[heybtbm]

Add Twilight Princess and the list is almost an exact representation of my Gamecube collection. Not so sure about the 3 Mario sport titles (golf, tennis, baseball) as being "essential" though.

Edit: changed "soccer" to tennis...my bad.

[diskoboy]

I disagree. Super Mario Sunshine does belong on that list.

(Throws poo at diskoboy)

I just didn't enjoy it..

It didn't feel like a mario game, to me..

[aiko]

Needs more Chibi-Robo, Donkey Konga, and Super Mario Strikers.

[Rogmeister]

Add Twilight Princess and the list is almost an exact representation of my Gamecube collection. Not so sure about the 3 Mario sport titles (golf, soccer, baseball) as being "essential" though.

Actually, I don't see the Mario soccer game (or am I blind?). I do see Mario Tennis there, though, which I think is good enough to belong. I'm a big baseball nut but I'm not so sure Mario Superstar Baseball belongs on the list. I'd probably replace it with a real baseball game like one of the MVP games if the rosters on all of them weren't already so out-of-date.

And I'd probably remove Killer 7 from the list.

[RCM]

The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
Metroid Prime
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Viewtiful Joe
Mario Kart: Double Dash
F-Zero GX
Super Mario Sunshine
Soul Caliber 2

These are the only essential GC-only titles on my list (out of the source material). I know VJ and SC2 are on those "other" systems but I feel they are superior on the cube.

[Lothars]

Resident Evil: RE
Resident Evil 0
Resident Evil 4
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
Metroid Prime
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Viewtiful Joe
Viewtiful Joe 2
Mario Kart: Double Dash
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem
Pikmin
Pikmin 2
Animal Crossing
Tales of Symphonia
F-Zero GX
Super Mario Sunshine
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
Ikaruga
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour
Star Wars Rogue Leader: Rogue Squadron 2
Killer7
Soul Caliber 2
Super Monkey Ball 2
Mario Power Tennis
Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean
Gladius
Sega Soccer Slam
Star Fox Adventures
Battalion Wars
Alien Hominid
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles
Mario Superstar Baseball
The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
Super Mario Strikers
Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess

IMO I Think the Mario Sports games are easily some of the best games on the gamecube by far.

Those are the one's that also stand out to me on the cube, but it's all good.

[DigitalSpace]

I own:

Resident Evil 4
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
Metroid Prime
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Viewtiful Joe
Viewtiful Joe 2
Beyond Good & Evil
Mario Kart: Double Dash
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem
Pikmin
Pikmin 2
Animal Crossing
Super Mario Sunshine
Ikaruga
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour
Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life
Sega Soccer Slam
Star Fox Adventures
Alien Hominid

That's 20 games, half of the list. Not bad.

[slip81]

I'm surprised I didn't see Skies of Arcadia on there

[exit]

I personally couldn't stand Baten Kaitos, I despise the card system, so I disagree with that one. Why isn't the third PoP game on there? It baisacly fixed everything that was broke in the second, which was a lot.

[le geek]

Cubivore really should be on there...

Cheers,
Ben

[Kroogah]

Ones I've played:

Resident Evil: RE (I agree completely)
The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (Hated it. But that's because I hate 3D Zelda)
Metroid Prime (Couldn't get into it, but it's cheap enough I'm thinking of picking it up again)
Super Smash Bros. Melee (One of the greatest games ever made, dammit)
Viewtiful Joe (Pretty good.)
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem (Boooooooooring)
Pikmin (Really good, but time limit blah blah you know)
Animal Crossing (Good for a few months, then it's a chore)
F-Zero GX (Hated it, yes, too hard, I'm a casual gamer, shuddap)
Soul Caliber 2 (Good, but I can't play it with GC controller. Love the PS2 one)
Super Monkey Ball 2 (Damn straight)
Alien Hominid (Never played Cube, but loved this on PS2)

Only complaint: No Wario Ware? Yes, same games as GBA, but the GBA games are even more fun with 4 players. And "Listen To The Doctor" is the best thing ever.

[Querjek]

Personally I really enjoyed Kirby Air Ride... though I know many didn't like it. Definitely not worth $50, but for $20, I think it's great.

[xfrumx]

yeah we need more Geist, Chibi Robo, Odama, Donkey Konga

[-^Cro§Bow^-]

Yeap...Chibi Robo needs to be on that list...

[MegaDrive20XX]

Yes, I agree, Zelda Twilight Princess should be added.

Only one that I could question, is Resident Evil Zero. Sure it has the rich envirnoment of RE1, but it's akward gameplay (especially the item management) is what always bothered me.

[Frica89]

Personally I really enjoyed Kirby Air Ride... though I know many didn't like it. Definitely not worth $50, but for $20, I think it's great.

I picked up the Players choice version for $20 bucks for the sole purpose of playing City Trial in multiplayer. Top Ride is pretty fun, Air Ride mode sucks, but playing City Trial with a couple of buddies makes the purchase worth it.
I wouldn't put it on this list though.

[calthaer]

Crystal Chronicles? That game equalled sucks. I mean really, it was boring.

There were way better games out there that involve multiplayer coop, like X-Men Legends. Or even Warioware: Mega Party games, even though it's a slight re-hash of the GBA game - it had way cool multiplayer modes.

And I thought Geist was an amazingly solid FPS. Not quite as good as Metroid Prime, but way better than Crystal Chronicles. I completed it, which says a lot for any game nowadays - I haven't even finished Metroid Prime 2.