Happy 24th anniversary, Nintendo GameCube

[Prowler]

Yep, time flies.

What are your memories of the GC?

I got it for Christmas 2002 bundled with Mario Sunshine and also SSB Melee as a separate game. My brother got himself FIFA 2003.

The GameCube, imo, is one of the most underrated consoles of all time. Of all major ones it has to be the most underrated one alongside the Sega Saturn. it sold poorly(21M units worldwide), but the few of us who had one cherished it immensely. So many good games for it. And even though I have a solid collection, I'm still missing some big hits like Eternal Darkness and Resident Evil 4.

I was the only kid in the schools I went to that had a GameCube. It was hard to talk about games during my teenage years since no one else was playing the games I was playing at the time. This was the worst time to be a Nintendo fan, but oh well.

[neatoman]

Well, Metroid Prime got me into FPS games, a genre I had previously dismissed because of easy it is to get hit from the back in many FPS games, so that's a good memory. I also loved playing Smash, Mario Sunshine, RE4, Twin Snakes and many other games.

[Prowler]

Funny enough, I went to a Cash Converters today and there were a bunch of GameCube games for sale there. Twillight Princess for 115 euro and Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance for 148 euro or so. Fortunately, I own both games, but I sincerely feel sorry for those who missed out on the GameCube and have been trying to get into it in the last decade or so :lol:

Eternal Darkness is a big omission from my collection, though. I need to get that game sometime.

[Kold Pizza]

Even though the GameCube is over 20 years old now, my fond memories of it will never fade away. I still like to revisit it from time to time. Some of my favorite games from this era are Super Smash Bros Melee, Super Mario Sunshine, Luigi’s Mansion, Mario Kart: Double Dash, Wind Waker, Metroid Prime, Pokemon Colosseum, Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness, Star Fox Assault, and Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

Happy Anniversary, Melee Machine.

[Powder]

Super Monkey Ball 2 & Super Smash Bros. Melee got the most time outta me on this console. Wind Waker remains a classic, for which my pre-order earned me a GC port of Ocarina of Time + Master Quest, which was how I would play that title for the first time, never owning an N64. Super Mario Sunshine has its moments & certainly established a lot of mainstays for the series moving forward, but it suffered from physics & camera based issues, like its predecessor, that really put me off. Mario Kart Double Dash & Mario Party 5/6 are still among the best installments in those games, though. Star Fox Adventures always caught a lot of sh*t, but is still a favorite of mine. It was the last good Rare published title, IMO, & David Wise's work on the soundtrack is great.

I think it's fair to call it an underrated console, but at the same time, I feel like it never really hit its full potential. A decent amount of third party support, though. Metroid Prime, Twilight Princess, these I didn't check out until the Wii ports came along, & I think both are significantly better on that system, aided by the motion controls.

I had the black one, it was either a birthday or Christmas gift, don't recall. Sold it probably over a decade ago, but kept the games, controllers, & memory card since Wii was backwards compatible. Regret it, but my SO has one, so we're good. :)

[Prowler]

Super Monkey Ball 2 & Super Smash Bros. Melee got the most time outta me on this console. Wind Waker remains a classic, for which my pre-order earned me a GC port of Ocarina of Time + Master Quest, which was how I would play that title for the first time, never owning an N64. Super Mario Sunshine has its moments & certainly established a lot of mainstays for the series moving forward, but it suffered from physics & camera based issues, like its predecessor, that really put me off. Mario Kart Double Dash & Mario Party 5/6 are still among the best installments in those games, though. Star Fox Adventures always caught a lot of sh*t, but is still a favorite of mine. It was the last good Rare published title, IMO, & David Wise's work on the soundtrack is great.

I think it's fair to call it an underrated console, but at the same time, I feel like it never really hit its full potential. A decent amount of third party support, though. Metroid Prime, Twilight Princess, these I didn't check out until the Wii ports came along, & I think both are significantly better on that system, aided by the motion controls.

I had the black one, it was either a birthday or Christmas gift, don't recall. Sold it probably over a decade ago, but kept the games, controllers, & memory card since Wii was backwards compatible. Regret it, but my SO has one, so we're good. :)

I have the black one, too. My brother and I tend to love the colour black for video game consoles and electronical devices. The default purple colour for the GameCube was not appealing to us, I guess. But I'd have preferred for him to have bought the orange coloured GC instead haha :)

Ah I missed out on Super Monkey Ball. There were games of it on the Switch but I heard they're not as good as the GC games.

You're right that the GC has a deeper library than people gave it credit for. Thing is, it looked so barren compared to the PS2's library. And to be honest, the OG Xbox suffers from the same unfortunate circumstances as the GC. Lots of good OG Xbox games that faded into obscurity due to the PS2' existence basically "blocking" the competition at the time to the point people forgot it existed.

I have Assault, but not Adventures. I did want that game when I was a kid, but again, my brother was the one who had the priority to "decide" what games to get. The only GC titles we got based on my "input" were F-Zero GX, Metroid Prime, Pikmin and WWE Day of Reckoning 2. And I only got Prime when it was already a Player's Choice game selling for €19.99 around 2005.

[Powder]

I actually wanted the purple one, but I'm not sure if I ever specified that to my folks. I dunno if they chose black or just got what was available, but I wasn't gonna fuss about it. I actually hate black electronics, personally, as they're always dust magnets. Smudges & stuff too are especially obvious. That kinda thing bugs me. So, naturally, I wound up with a black 3DS & black Wii-U & so forth. :tlol:

Super Monkey Ball 2 on GC is hands-down the best entry in its series, but if it's difficult to get or emulate, I would highly recommend the most recent installment, Banana Rumble, for being the next best thing. SEGA was never able to make one that feels as good as 2, but I think they're finally getting there.

[Prowler]

I actually wanted the purple one, but I'm not sure if I ever specified that to my folks. I dunno if they chose black or just got what was available, but I wasn't gonna fuss about it. I actually hate black electronics, personally, as they're always dust magnets. Smudges & stuff too are especially obvious. That kinda thing bugs me. So, naturally, I wound up with a black 3DS & black Wii-U & so forth. :tlol:

Super Monkey Ball 2 on GC is hands-down the best entry in its series, but if it's difficult to get or emulate, I would highly recommend the most recent installment, Banana Rumble, for being the next best thing. SEGA was never able to make one that feels as good as 2, but I think they're finally getting there.

Well, I don't see why it would be difficult to emulate. ;)

Oh I googled Banana Rumble and looks like it came out less than 2 years ago. I completely missed the news about it.

There's 3 Monkey Ball games on the Switch and when I was researching opinions on them, there were only 2 games yet. This was around 2021-2022 still.

I'll keep that in mind about Banana Rumble. I might buy it, then. Thanks.

As for black electronics... well, I can see what you mean about the dust but our Wii is white, surprisingly enough, especially since there's black Wii models as well, and it always got dusty fast as well. Same for my PS2 Slim Platinum model.

As for the 3DS, mine doesn't really get dusty ever except for the occasional dust on screen which can get quickly wiped. But that's because I keep it stored in a drawer inside an Ocarina of Time pouch.

[CyberCubed]

The Gamecube had plenty of games, and big games like Resident Evil 4, REmake, RE0 and Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes debuted on it too. Not to mention Tales of Symphonia.

The problem is the Gamecube didn't get the other big third party games at the time, like the GTA trilogy, all the Final Fantasy games on PS2, Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3, Silent Hill 2 and 3, Devil May Cry 1-3, Dragon Quest 8, etc. All these games should of got Gamecube ports back in the day but did not.

[Prowler]

The Gamecube had plenty of games, and big games like Resident Evil 4, REmake, RE0 and Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes debuted on it too. Not to mention Tales of Symphonia.

The problem is the Gamecube didn't get the other big third party games at the time, like the GTA trilogy, all the Final Fantasy games on PS2, Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3, Silent Hill 2 and 3, Devil May Cry 1-3, Dragon Quest 8, etc. All these games should of got Gamecube ports back in the day but did not.
And Microsoft acquiring Rare in 2002 also must not have helped either. Nintendo probably initially expected Rare to help carry the GameCube outside of 1st party Nintendo games just like they did for the N64.

As a GameCube kid, I liked the games I had, but I was so jealous I couldn't play GTA, Metal Gear Solid, Tekken, SmackDown games, Pro Evolution Soccer games, Final Fantasy games, Kingdom Hearts, etc. on it. I got a PS2 in late 2005 and was able to play Vice City, Tekken 5, Final Fantasy X, Bully, PES 5 and a few SD games, still. But missed out on other classics. I finally got the chance to play Dragon Quest VIII on the 3DS around 2017-2018 and it's become one of my all-time favourite games.

Anyway, the GC library seems a lot richer than N64's. What does Nintendo 64 have beyond Nintendo 1st and Rare games?

Turok? I got the 1st one and disliked it.

International Superstar Soccer 98 by Konami? Great football game for its time but why play it in 2026?!

WWF and WCW games? No point in playing them unless you're a wrestling fan. And even if you are, those games are quite outdated by now and you'd have a better time playing several other games that came out after those.

That 007 game that's not Goldeneye and not made by Rare? It got good reviews iirc...

The 3D Castlevania games and Mega Man 64? Symphony of the Night on the PS1 is better and I've never heard any Mega Man fan calling Mega Man 64 their favourite or one of their favourite games of the franchise.

..Sin and Punishment is good, I guess. That's the only good N64 game that somehow didn't make it outside of Japan. Saturn players got it WAY worse in that regard.

Haven't played the Mystical Ninja games or Michief Makers, so can't say. But they seem well-regarded as well.

[CyberCubed]

Gamecube did have better third party support than N64 due to going with discs instead of carts. I have no idea why MGS2 and 3 didn't get Gamecube ports, or Devil May Cry, or at least Dragon Quest 8. I imagine the Final Fantasy games were too big to fit on a Gamecube disc, and GTA was just more popular on PS2/Xbox to bother with.

Third party N64 games that were popular were Turok 1 and 2, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, Rayman 2, many of the realistic arcade racing games, Mortal Kombat Trilogy and 4, etc. But yeah outside of Nintendo/Rare there wasn't much.

[sdp]

Animal Crossing on Gamecube is easily the best game on the system, and no sequel has ever come close to matching the original's feel of living in the game. Sadly the series has basically become a sim city like game where you play god and that's just not what AC was.

I might be one of the few but I loved the whole GBA to Gamecube link cable extras in games, few games did it but the few that did were great. Pacman Vs, Zelda Four Swords Adventures, AC, Sonic Chao Garden, Pokemon Colosseum of course.

Eternal Darkness is another game that was excellent. I also liked Star Fox Assault, it's a short game and not as replayable but it's fun. Same with Mario Baseball and the Donkey Konga gams were suprisingly fun.


Oh I googled Banana Rumble and looks like it came out less than 2 years ago. I completely missed the news about it.

There's 3 Monkey Ball games on the Switch and when I was researching opinions on them, there were only 2 games yet. This was around 2021-2022 still.

The other two Monkey Ball games are remakes, one of the Wii game and the other of Monkey Ball 1&2. They're ok but the physics are different from the original.

Banana Rumble I can agree is the best Monkey Ball since the original 2 games on Gamecube. Underrated.

Nintendo probably initially expected Rare to help carry the GameCube outside of 1st party Nintendo games just like they did for the N64.

Turok? I got the 1st one and disliked it.


Nintendo actually got first dibs in buying Rare, they could've done it but instead sold their shares to Microsoft. And the excuse that they didn't want to spend money is a lie since they bought Retro studios for around the same amount it would've cost them to fully acquire Rare.

Well if you like FPSs I recommend you check out Turok 2 and 3, they're very different games from the first one. 1 is more like a doom style FPS, 2 is more objective based like GoldenEye, and 3 plays like Half Life. You can easily like one and hate the others. The remasters are usually cheap, steam/switch/ps etc.

I have no idea why MGS2 and 3 didn't get Gamecube ports, or Devil May Cry, or at least Dragon Quest 8. I imagine the Final Fantasy games were too big to fit on a Gamecube disc, and GTA was just more popular on PS2/Xbox to bother with.

I'm guessing MGS Twin Snakes sold poorly so we never got MGS2/3. Capcom games sold badly so there goes most of that catalog, definitely no DMC after the Resident Evil games were underperforming. I think Maximo could've acutally done better on Gamecube though. I think DQ8 would've been too big for Gamecube as well not to mention that came out late in the life of the Gamecube, would've made more sense as a Wii launch game

[Andrew NDB]

Gamecube? Mario Sunshine, which I never finished. I think the rare Gamecube versions of Ocarina of Time is the only one I've ever played all the way through. Also I know I played Resident Evil 0 and the remaster of Resident Evil 1 on it, which I believe I recall were Gamecube exclusive, at least for a time. I don't think I really played anything else on it.

*edit: Wind Waker, of course.

[Prowler]

Gamecube did have better third party support than N64 due to going with discs instead of carts. I have no idea why MGS2 and 3 didn't get Gamecube ports, or Devil May Cry, or at least Dragon Quest 8. I imagine the Final Fantasy games were too big to fit on a Gamecube disc, and GTA was just more popular on PS2/Xbox to bother with.

Third party N64 games that were popular were Turok 1 and 2, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, Rayman 2, many of the realistic arcade racing games, Mortal Kombat Trilogy and 4, etc. But yeah outside of Nintendo/Rare there wasn't much.
The Star Wars games, right. I never had those. As for racing games... I already had Mario Kart 64, Wave Race, Diddy Kong Racing and F-Zero X as a kid. I didn't need or want any more racing games. That's plenty.

I had moved on Mortal Kombat after they went 3D. We got Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 on the Sega Saturn. I'd not get back to the MK series until MK9 on Steam as an adult. It's a bit of a shame since I was always curious about the GC/PS2/Xbox era of Mortal Kombat games, but oh well.


Animal Crossing on Gamecube is easily the best game on the system, and no sequel has ever come close to matching the original's feel of living in the game. Sadly the series has basically become a sim city like game where you play god and that's just not what AC was.

I might be one of the few but I loved the whole GBA to Gamecube link cable extras in games, few games did it but the few that did were great. Pacman Vs, Zelda Four Swords Adventures, AC, Sonic Chao Garden, Pokemon Colosseum of course.

Eternal Darkness is another game that was excellent. I also liked Star Fox Assault, it's a short game and not as replayable but it's fun. Same with Mario Baseball and the Donkey Konga gams were suprisingly fun.



The other two Monkey Ball games are remakes, one of the Wii game and the other of Monkey Ball 1&2. They're ok but the physics are different from the original.

Banana Rumble I can agree is the best Monkey Ball since the original 2 games on Gamecube. Underrated.


Nintendo actually got first dibs in buying Rare, they could've done it but instead sold their shares to Microsoft. And the excuse that they didn't want to spend money is a lie since they bought Retro studios for around the same amount it would've cost them to fully acquire Rare.

Well if you like FPSs I recommend you check out Turok 2 and 3, they're very different games from the first one. 1 is more like a doom style FPS, 2 is more objective based like GoldenEye, and 3 plays like Half Life. You can easily like one and hate the others. The remasters are usually cheap, steam/switch/ps etc.


I'm guessing MGS Twin Snakes sold poorly so we never got MGS2/3. Capcom games sold badly so there goes most of that catalog, definitely no DMC after the Resident Evil games were underperforming. I think Maximo could've acutally done better on Gamecube though. I think DQ8 would've been too big for Gamecube as well not to mention that came out late in the life of the Gamecube, would've made more sense as a Wii launch game

You know? I agree. GC Animal Crossing was awesome. It's pretty dated by now, but it has a lot of cool stuff in it that hasn't been in any game since then.

Overall, I'd say that New Leaf combines the best the series has to offer and is the perfect blend between outdated and modern mechanics.

But anyway, back to GC Animal Crossing... best game on the system? Hum... not sure about that. It's a top 10 game, definitely, but number 1? There's plenty of contenders for that number 1 spot. My gut says Super Smash Bros. Melee. But again, this is subjective.

Eternal Darkness is the GC game that got away from me. I must play that game one day.

I remember the Donkey Konga hype online very well, but I slept on rhythm based games until I played Ouendan on the DS. And besides, even if I wanted Konga, convincing my mum to buy me a new game plus the drums accessory was gonna be twice the headache, so I let it pass. Nowadays I bet the game and the accessory can set one back quite a bit...

Ah I never had the GBA player that connected to the GC. Only the Super Game Boy for the SNES. I don't think I was ever particularly interested in the GBA player, though.

Turok 2? That's also a n64 era game, so no, not playing it ever. I can't really pick up N64 games in 2026 that I have not grown up with and enjoy them properly. Turok 3? I get it that's on the Switch but I'm not a big FPS guy anyway...

Resident Evil games coming out on the GC was a big surprise back then. They ended up coming out on the PS2 as well, anyway. Whether the GC versions are better or not, that I don't know.

[CyberCubed]

It's weird how so many people here don't know the Gamecubes library, here's a full list of good games from Nintendo:

Super Smash Bros. Melee
Super Mario Sunshine
Luigi's Mansion
Mario Kart: Double Dash
Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door

Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (yes it also came out on Gamecube)
Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (fully playable in single player without a GBA, just use the Gamecube controller)

Metroid Prime
Metroid Prime 2

Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat (the Wii port lets you play without the bongos, I recommend getting the Wii port)

Starfox Adventures
Starfox Assault
F-zero GX

Pikmin 1
Pikmin 2

Pokemon Colosseum and XD

Fire Emblem
Eternal Darkness

Kirby's Air Ride
Chibi Robo

Wave Race: Blue Storm
1080 Avalance

Animal Crossing


Nintendo's Gamecube lineup was great. Some games aren't as good as other entries in the series but this is a solid lineup. I recommend all of these games.

[sdp]

The entire Turok trilogy got remasters by nightdive studios, basically modernizing the controls, so the games are very playable today, at least the remasters are and as I mentioned they're usually dirt cheap during sales.

Eternal Darkness hasn't aged that well over the years, but man what a great experience it was back in the day. Graphics and controls aren't great but if you can get over that, it's still a game with a great atmosphere.

Donkey Konga I would have never bought it but my mom found it on sale and bought it and it was just fun to play, might not be the best rhythm game but it was unique. Jungle Beat plays better with drums than the wii remote too.

Can't wait to see most of these games get added to NSO on the Switch 2.

[Prowler]

It's weird how so many people here don't know the Gamecubes library, here's a full list of good games from Nintendo:

Super Smash Bros. Melee
Super Mario Sunshine
Luigi's Mansion
Mario Kart: Double Dash
Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door

Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (yes it also came out on Gamecube)
Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (fully playable in single player without a GBA, just use the Gamecube controller)

Metroid Prime
Metroid Prime 2

Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat (the Wii port lets you play without the bongos, I recommend getting the Wii port)

Starfox Adventures
Starfox Assault
F-zero GX

Pikmin 1
Pikmin 2

Pokemon Colosseum and XD

Fire Emblem
Eternal Darkness

Kirby's Air Ride
Chibi Robo

Wave Race: Blue Storm
1080 Avalance

Animal Crossing


Nintendo's Gamecube lineup was great. Some games aren't as good as other entries in the series but this is a solid lineup. I recommend all of these games.

No one here is denying that? We've all been quite complimentary to the GameCube in this thread. I don't disagree with you saying that's a pretty good lineup, even if I am not a big fan of Sunshine and Wind Waker myself.

Paper Mario and Luigi's mansion can be played on other systems too. Paper Mario got a Switch remake and Luigi's Mansion got a 3DS port. I missed out on Luigi's Mansion originally, so I bought the 3DS version instead. Sunshine is also part of the 3D Mario All-Stars version for the Switch. Wind Waker and Twilight Princess got HD remasters on the Wii U, but I'd not recommend getting a Wii U in 2026 just to play those 2 games alone. The rest of most of Wii U's exclusives either got Switch ports or better sequels on the Switch. Nintendo should just port WW HD and TP HD to the Switch 2. What's stopping them? I'm sure they'd sell much better on it than they did on the Wii U...

The entire Turok trilogy got remasters by nightdive studios, basically modernizing the controls, so the games are very playable today, at least the remasters are and as I mentioned they're usually dirt cheap during sales.

Eternal Darkness hasn't aged that well over the years, but man what a great experience it was back in the day. Graphics and controls aren't great but if you can get over that, it's still a game with a great atmosphere.

Donkey Konga I would have never bought it but my mom found it on sale and bought it and it was just fun to play, might not be the best rhythm game but it was unique. Jungle Beat plays better with drums than the wii remote too.

Can't wait to see most of these games get added to NSO on the Switch 2.

Maybe Turok's remasters are very good games I'm missing out on, who knows. But I'm not really interested. Look, I gave N64 Turok 2 chances. One back in the early 2000s on my brother's N64 when I was a kid. And another one some years later (2007 or so) as a teenager on my brother's N64 again. It didn't click with me that time neither. So my impression of the game is "ruined" forever. Not to mention I cannot buy and play every single decent/good video game ever made. Therefore, Turok games are not on my plans at all.

It would be a shame if Eternal Darkness did not age too well. I decided to never play Shenmue due to similar feedback. "Yeah it was awesome back in the day, but it doesn't hold up well nowadays". What makes you think ED did not age well? I know you said "graphics and controls", but could you be more specific?

[CyberCubed]

Most Gamecube games never got remasters back in the day. Just the two Zelda's, Sunshine on the All-star collection, Metroid Prime 1 and 2, Jungle beat on Wii, Paper Mario 2 on Switch, and Pikmin 1 and 2. Luigi's Mansion got a 3DS port.

But most Gamecube games never got re-released and there was never any Virtual Console for them either, so Nintendo Switch Online is the first time these games are being made available in 20 years. For example F-zero GX and Fire Emblem that were added have never been re-released since 2003 and 2005 respectively on Gamecube, so to most people these are all new games they've never played.

[Prowler]

Most Gamecube games never got remasters back in the day. Just the two Zelda's, Sunshine on the All-star collection, Metroid Prime 1 and 2, Jungle beat on Wii, Paper Mario 2 on Switch, and Pikmin 1 and 2. Luigi's Mansion got a 3DS port.

But most Gamecube games never got re-released and there was never any Virtual Console for them either, so Nintendo Switch Online is the first time these games are being made available in 20 years. For example F-zero GX and Fire Emblem that were added have never been re-released since 2003 and 2005 respectively on Gamecube, so to most people these are all new games they've never played.

Sunshine on All-Stars was not a remaster. Neither was Galaxy or 64, for that matter. ´

Metroid Prime's trilogy got released on the Wii. They made a Prime 1 remaster for the Switch, but I didn't know they made a Prime 2 remaster?? Or are they making one??

Yes, Fire Emblem POR iss one of the most expensive GC games out there. I imagine F-Zero GX is rather pricey as well. Since those 2 games are from Nintendo properties, it's easy to put them on the NSO service.

I don't have a Switch 2 yet, but looking at the GC NSO games available so far, the only one I want to try is Super Mario Strikers, since I never had it. OK I never had Chibi Robo either, but doesn't interest me.

They better put Eternal Darkness on it.

[CyberCubed]

They should all be there. Only games I don't think will be there is the bongo DK konga games since playing them with a normal controller would be bad.

Also they'll probably hold off on Metroid Prime and Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door since those got remakes.

[Prowler]

They should all be there. Only games I don't think will be there is the bongo DK konga games since playing them with a normal controller would be bad.

Also they'll probably hold off on Metroid Prime and Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door since those got remakes.
I agree about that.

Anyway, Nintendo is illogical at times. They haven't added any of the mainline Pokémon games to the NSO. No RBY; no Ruby, Sapphire or Emerald; no Gold, Silver or Crystal... the only Pokémon games that Nintendo adds to NSO apps are spin-off titles, for some reason.

Also, why no Diddy Kong Racing or Donkey Kong 64 on the N64 app, still?! They added both Banjo games and GOLDENEYE. Surely there's nothing major stopping them from adding games or IPs they own?! And why not ask Rare to let them add Perfect Dark as well? If Goldeneye is possibly, then any N64 game by Rare should be, surely?

[CyberCubed]

Well those Rare games are coming, they were leaked.

Pokemon games would never be there, simply because they're not compatible with current gens.

[sdp]

they're very protective of mainline pokemon games. We are going to get them eventually but it might not be NSO, perhaps they make them as a collection or individual games you buy at a premium price.

What makes you think ED did not age well? I know you said "graphics and controls", but could you be more specific?
The thing is, many of the things were new and unique at the time and are now common place and have been done better by other games. So what might seem something every game has at one point only ED had done it and it felt special since it was the first time you had done it.

Graphics as I mentioned at the time they felt good and realistic and well now look like PS2 era graphics, controls aren't as tight as you'd expect them from modern games. Story aspects have been done by other games since. The insanity aspect if it's already been spoiled to you it won't feel as unique. Also the insanity meter things took into consideration you were playing on a fat CRT TV, so when you're playing it on a modern HD TV, it clearly feels like it's part of the game since it's rather obvious instead of ****ing with your head. But give it a shot, it's still a cult classic for a reason.

[Prowler]

Well those Rare games are coming, they were leaked.

Pokemon games would never be there, simply because they're not compatible with current gens.

Oh were they? What about Star Fox Adventures on the GameCube?

You're right, but that didn't stop them from putting the Gen I and Gen II games on the 3DS' virtual console in several different languages, to boot.

they're very protective of mainline pokemon games. We are going to get them eventually but it might not be NSO, perhaps they make them as a collection or individual games you buy at a premium price.


The thing is, many of the things were new and unique at the time and are now common place and have been done better by other games. So what might seem something every game has at one point only ED had done it and it felt special since it was the first time you had done it.

Graphics as I mentioned at the time they felt good and realistic and well now look like PS2 era graphics, controls aren't as tight as you'd expect them from modern games. Story aspects have been done by other games since. The insanity aspect if it's already been spoiled to you it won't feel as unique. Also the insanity meter things took into consideration you were playing on a fat CRT TV, so when you're playing it on a modern HD TV, it clearly feels like it's part of the game since it's rather obvious instead of ****ing with your head. But give it a shot, it's still a cult classic for a reason.

Protective in what sense?

As for Eternal Darkness... I don't play horror games in general. The only one I've played was Resident Evil's Remake on the Switch during the pandemic in 2020. And that game is from around the same time Eternal Darkness came out. So it's not like I had any modern day horror games to compare it to.

Yes, ED is definitely a game I want to give a shot one day.

[CyberCubed]

Donkey Kong 64, Diddy Kong Racing and Smash Bros. 64 were all leaked when Nintendo put out that blurred N64 games which had all the boxart shown, that's how people knew Rayman 2 and Forsaken 64 were added. So far only Conker's Bad Fur Day is not confirmed. All the others people figured them out through the blurred boxart comparing them.

We don't know about more Gamecube games yet, we still have to get Sunshine and the two Pokemon games through the initial announcement. We've been getting roughly 1 Gamecube game a month so we'll get there.

[Prowler]

Donkey Kong 64, Diddy Kong Racing and Smash Bros. 64 were all leaked when Nintendo put out that blurred N64 games which had all the boxart shown, that's how people knew Rayman 2 and Forsaken 64 were added. So far only Conker's Bad Fur Day is not confirmed. All the others people figured them out through the blurred boxart comparing them.

We don't know about more Gamecube games yet, we still have to get Sunshine and the two Pokemon games through the initial announcement. We've been getting roughly 1 Gamecube game a month so we'll get there.

I didn't mention Conker anywhere. What about Perfect Dark? Was it blurred too? Also, let's not forget Blast Corps and Killer Instinct made it as well. And again, if Goldeneye can make it, so can any Rare game. So yeah, DKR and DK64 will be there eventually, I'm sure. Probably Conker and PD as well...

[CyberCubed]

Perfect Dark has been added already. M rated N64 games are on a separate app.

[Prowler]

Perfect Dark has been added already. M rated N64 games are on a separate app.

https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/nintendo-64-nintendo-classics-switch/

I didn't see it here. My NSO sub has run out a year ago and I'm yet to renew it. Goldeneye was in the same exact app as the other N64 games. So what separated app are you talking about??

[sdp]

It's this app that has M rated N64 games
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/nintendo-64-nintendo-classics-mature-17-plus-switch/

Perfect Dark got added like a year ago or more, last game added was Shadowman. It also has Turok 1 & 2 now that I think about it since we were talking about those earlier, though it's the old N64 versions and not the remasters obviously.

[Prowler]

It's this app that has M rated N64 games
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/nintendo-64-nintendo-classics-mature-17-plus-switch/

Perfect Dark got added like a year ago or more, last game added was Shadowman. It also has Turok 1 & 2 now that I think about it since we were talking about those earlier, though it's the old N64 versions and not the remasters obviously.

Again, I very well remember seeing GoldenEye on the regular N64 app. That's a mature rated game too, is it not? How come it doesn't seem to be on this "Mature" app like Perfect Dark and the Turok games are? It has blood and you shoot people to death in it. Is PD more violent than Goldeneye or something? And does it have coarse language?

[sdp]

Goldeneye was always rated T for teen so it came out on the regular app. Perfect Dark had more violence hence M rating.

[Prowler]

Goldeneye was always rated T for teen so it came out on the regular app. Perfect Dark had more violence hence M rating.

Ah ok. I didn't know that. Makes sense.

I've never gotten that far in Turok, but I honestly don't remember finding it more violent than GoldenEye. It had blood, sure, but killing monster and dinosaur enemies surely is less controversial than killing human enemies.

I don't think the ratings of PD, Turok and KI are "wrong", per se. More like, I don't understand why GoldenEye's rating was Teen in the US. It was rated PEGI 16 here in Europe, for example... Teen is more like 12 and above, no?

[CyberCubed]

N64 had some M rated games so Nintendo is trying to protect the kiddes by putting it in a separate app. The funny thing is there probably won't be that many M rated N64 games to begin with, so they'll probably be less than 10 games there overall by the time its done.

[Andrew NDB]

N64 had some M rated games so Nintendo is trying to protect the kiddes by putting it in a separate app. The funny thing is there probably won't be that many M rated N64 games to begin with, so they'll probably be less than 10 games there overall by the time its done.

The funny thing is that the only people who would remotely want to play a N64 game in 2026 are people who used to play N64 games when they were a kid. i.e., people in their 30s and 40s now. So who are they protecting, exactly?

[Prowler]

The funny thing is that the only people who would remotely want to play a N64 game in 2026 are people who used to play N64 games when they were a kid. i.e., people in their 30s and 40s now. So who are they protecting, exactly?

This, honestly.

Look, as cool and important as the N64 was back in the day... I wouldn't really recommend playing it in 2026 to anyone who was either a baby or not born at the time it was the latest console. You wanna play the best N64 games? Play the remakes on the Nintendo DS, 3DS and the Xbox 360 instead, if you have any of those consoles. If you don't or don't want to/can afford getting them, then just sail the high seas, I guess.

Ditto for the Sega Saturn and the PS1 in general, imo. Most of those games have not aged that well for obvious reasons.

[IMJ]

It's very interesting how people hold the Gamecube in some level of reverence nowadays but that seems to be a completely missing foundation from the Wii.

I have some "Wii experience" and basically zero Gamecube experience, and the last Nintendo system I personally owned was an N64. I sort of look at the Wii as a novelty toy rather than a "gaming system".

[CyberCubed]

The most popular Wii games are remastered on other systems.

Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 are on Switch.

Zelda Skyward Sword is on Switch.

Donkey Kong Country Returns is on Switch

Metroid Prime 3 is missing, but it and 2 should get remastered eventually.

Most of the tracks from Mario Kart Wii were remade in either 8 or World

Xenoblade 1 has a remake on Switch.

Kirby Return to Dreamland is on Switch


The only Wii exclusive games are Super Paper Mario, Metroid Other M, Punchout Wii, Wario Land Shake It, and a few minor games. Even Smash Bros. Brawl is rather obsolete these days.

[sdp]

N64 had some M rated games so Nintendo is trying to protect the kiddes by putting it in a separate app. The funny thing is there probably won't be that many M rated N64 games to begin with, so they'll probably be less than 10 games there overall by the time its done.

It has more to do that the app needs to be rated by the ESRB, so if they want to include an M rated game it would make the whole app be rated M. So yeah, Nintendo wants people to be able to play Mario 64, Pokemon Snap and other games without having ot be 17+.

The funny thing is that the only people who would remotely want to play a N64 game in 2026 are people who used to play N64 games when they were a kid. i.e., people in their 30s and 40s now. So who are they protecting, exactly?

You underestimate how much Gen Z enjoy retro gaming, youtubers and tiktokers have made them big fans of how "the old games were good" since they grew up watching Millenials playing games SNES/N64/Gamecube games on twitch and youtube.
You can usually tell they are Gen Z when they ask retarded questions online about a game that anyone growing up in that era would know.

[Andrew NDB]

You underestimate how much Gen Z enjoy retro gaming, youtubers and tiktokers have made them big fans of how "the old games were good" since they grew up watching Millenials playing games SNES/N64/Gamecube games on twitch and youtube.
You can usually tell they are Gen Z when they ask retarded questions online about a game that anyone growing up in that era would know.

I could see a kid today being like, "What was all the fuss with Goldeneye, anyway?" and idly trying it out. But I can't imagine much else.

[Prowler]

Well when I was a teenager in 2003-2007 and I'd mention NES games to my classmates they'd usually be like "that's so old!" and not care. The older games they'd care about were the ones they played when they were little kids. Usually Mega Drive, PS1 and Game Boy games. So, Sonic, Crash, Pokémon, etc.

Keep in mind most kids I knew back then were casuals and thus weren't looking for emulators or anything online to play games from systems they never had. Of course there were also "nerds" like me who did that, but we were in the minority.

I know "geek culture" is more socially acceptable nowadays than ever, but are most people aged 25 and under nowadays really watching retrogamers on Youtube and Twitch instead of watching those big channels that play modern popular games like Fortnite?

The N64/PS1/Saturn are to those kids the same thing the NES and the Master System were for people of my generation (1990) when we were kids. Unless you grew up with a significantly older brother(born in 1983) like me, you'd never get to play the NES as a kid. Even though I loved the NES when I was 5-6 years old and was introduce to it, by then it was considered a pretty old console. And the majority of kids are not exaclty open minded when it comes to older stuff, let's face it.

Ofc some people aged 25 and under might be curious about Ocarina of Time, GoldenEye and Super Mario 64. Occasionally you see someone on Reddit sharing that they're playing OOT for the first time ever, whether it's on the N64 NSO app or the Nintendo 3DS or something. But I seriously doubt those people are the majority. They would rather be playing the latest hot Switch or PS5 or Steam game instead, surely?

[CyberCubed]

All the Gen-Z kids need to be educated.

[Original TMNT Cartoon Fan]

All the Gen-Z kids need to be educated.

About what? The Nintendo Gamecube?

[CyberCubed]

Yes, I will educate them all if I could.

[Prowler]

The GameCube is, more or less, Nintendo's Sega Saturn. Ignored at the time, but its legacy grew as time went on and people realised there's plenty of good games for it.

And a lot of both systems' games require you to sell your a kidney in order to be able to afford them these days :lol:

[Storm Eagle]

The GameCube is, more or less, Nintendo's Sega Saturn. Ignored at the time, but its legacy grew as time went on and people realised there's plenty of good games for it.

And a lot of both systems' games require you to sell your a kidney in order to be able to afford them these days :lol:

The GameCube seemed to be more relevant during its time of activity compared to the Sega Saturn. When Saturn was active, I don't believe I've ever heard it mentioned. It seemed to be all about the PlayStation, and the N64 to a lesser extent.

[Prowler]

The GameCube seemed to be more relevant during its time of activity compared to the Sega Saturn. When Saturn was active, I don't believe I've ever heard it mentioned. It seemed to be all about the PlayStation, and the N64 to a lesser extent.

Right. It's not a direct comparison, but there are no perfect comparisons, anyway.

[CyberCubed]

Gamecube only sold about 3 million consoles less than the original Xbox. Now the PS2 sold 155 million consoles so it was the clear winner, but Gamecube and Xbox were pretty close. It's only Halo and the push of online that Xbox did better. Around 21 million Gamecubes were sold compared to 24 million Xbox's.

[sdp]

The whole Nintendo is for kids was just too much for the Gamecube, it couldn't compete with that stigma. Being a kid and liking Nintendo was like saying you liked Barney the Dinosaur. Super Nintendo was so good that despite the Sega ads of how it was cooler, it didn't work for sega to beat nintendo but it did damage that helped the Playstation over the Nintendo 64 but it was still going strong with the ineartia of the SNES. By the time the Gamecube came out it was just impossible to escape the idea that Nintendo was for kids, no matter how hard nintendo tried to market itself as the "cool kid".

Xbox was a newcomer and from a boring adult company like Microsoft. It basically only had one good exclusive game and online gaming going for it, but the millions of dollars MS dumped on marketing helped to make it sell more than Gamecube. The Nintendo brand was so Toxic the next console dropped any references to NIntendo and just called it the Wii. If you look at pre-release footage of Wii Sports it used to say "Nintendo" over the courts but they removed it and put "Wii" instead, changed their logo to silver/grey to look classy and their brand change worked and they sold millions. The Wii is really just a Gamecube with motion controls, in fact the motion controls were originally going to be an adapter for the Gamecube.

[Prowler]

Gamecube only sold about 3 million consoles less than the original Xbox. Now the PS2 sold 155 million consoles so it was the clear winner, but Gamecube and Xbox were pretty close. It's only Halo and the push of online that Xbox did better. Around 21 million Gamecubes were sold compared to 24 million Xbox's.
The difference might just have been 3 million units sold, but the Xbox had a bigger mainstream presence. You're forgetting how big Halo was back then. And also, the fact the console was made by Microsoft.

The whole Nintendo is for kids was just too much for the Gamecube, it couldn't compete with that stigma. Being a kid and liking Nintendo was like saying you liked Barney the Dinosaur. Super Nintendo was so good that despite the Sega ads of how it was cooler, it didn't work for sega to beat nintendo but it did damage that helped the Playstation over the Nintendo 64 but it was still going strong with the ineartia of the SNES. By the time the Gamecube came out it was just impossible to escape the idea that Nintendo was for kids, no matter how hard nintendo tried to market itself as the "cool kid".

Xbox was a newcomer and from a boring adult company like Microsoft. It basically only had one good exclusive game and online gaming going for it, but the millions of dollars MS dumped on marketing helped to make it sell more than Gamecube. The Nintendo brand was so Toxic the next console dropped any references to NIntendo and just called it the Wii. If you look at pre-release footage of Wii Sports it used to say "Nintendo" over the courts but they removed it and put "Wii" instead, changed their logo to silver/grey to look classy and their brand change worked and they sold millions. The Wii is really just a Gamecube with motion controls, in fact the motion controls were originally going to be an adapter for the Gamecube.

That mentality is still alive today in parts of the world where the Super Nintendo lost to the Mega Drive... like Europe. Or Eastern Europe where video games have a different history than the rest of the continent. For a lot of Eastern Europeans, consoles did not fully establish themselves until the PS2. And they're priced out of Nintendo systems. Hell, in Poland you couldn't even find a GameCube or a Wii in major retail shops from what I've been told!

People who've never played Nintendo games or only played Pokémon on Game Boy when they were kids, tend to have the worst takes on the company, calling it "kiddy" and such. I used to think it was just bitterness of their precious Sega Mega Drive losing to the SNES, but perhaps it's more than that.