Cube

Yeah, I somehow got the days/months mixed up for each region but the years correct. All-Star Baseball 2002 Where the stars play. NA release: 18th November 2001 JP release: N/A EU release: N/A Developer: Acclaim Studios Austin Publisher: Acclaim Sports NGC Magazine Score: 60% Mods Used: Widescreen Hack The All-Star Baseball series trundles onto GameCube but, despite better looking players during gameplay, lacks the presentation of FIFA. It all sounds very muted and unenthusiastic at all, like nobody in the crowd wants to be there. The calls for no ball or strike are also very quiet, with no big on-screen text, leaving the random numbers on the UI the only thing to help you try to follow the game. The batting also feels quite wonky. You have greater control over aiming, and can twist your shot upwards or downwards with the C-Stick, but actually swinging the bat seems to have a mind of its own. Holding A sometimes gets the player to swing at the right time, but other times he won’t swing at all, no matter what you do (I even used save states to test). I thought it’s some assist to do with no balls, but then it happened on pitches that were in, meaning you’ll get a strike no matter what you do. I had similar issues in other areas of the game, such as getting my players to run between bases and fielding. I managed to accidentally get the catcher to throw the ball behind him, resulting in the CPU getting additional runs. All in all, this just feels like a poor baseball game. By far the best part is being the pitcher and deliberately hitting the batsmen. Poor Remake or remaster? There are better baseball games out there. Official Ways to get the game There is no official way to play All-Star Baseball 2002.

There's still a time limit for each day, but no limit for how many days you can take in Pikmin 2. You can run out of days in Pikmin 3 if you do utterly terribly (like take four times longer than average).

FIFA 2002 Play EA Sports’ top selling version of the sport that makes the world go ’round. JP release: 15th November 2001 NA release: 21st November 2001 EU release: N/A Developer: EA Canada Publisher: EA Square (JP), EA Sports (NA) NGC Magazine Score: 78% Mods Used: None With how long it took the GameCube to be released in Europe, and how often FIFA games come out (especially in World Cup years), this version of FIFA 2002 never came to Europe, as the next FIFA game was a launch title over here. EA also managed to become masters of illusion with FIFA 2002, as I thought the game looked great when I played it, but the screenshots look really bad. During openings and replays, the game uses decent quality models, which are swapped by incredibly low poly models during gameplay. Because the game flows quite fast (especially if you up the speed in the options), and with the distance you usually sit from a TV, your brain seems to substitute the low quality models with the higher detail versions. It’s a strange thing to experience. The menus also look nice and clean, and hearing full length and good quality licensed music for the first time on a Nintendo console is a bit of a strange thing at first. As for the gameplay, it’s fine. It doesn’t have the fun of FIFA 98, and something feels a bit floaty with the passing. The new control scheme (where you hold A to charge a pass) seems to make it too easy to pass in the wrong direction, and I got tackled constantly on the easiest difficulty. It’s still nowhere near as bad as FIFA’s first outing on the N64, though. Fine Remake or remaster? Earlier and later FIFA games were better. Official Ways to get the game There is no official way to play FIFA 2002.

You don't really hear that the Dreamcast controller has better or longer lasting sticks than the other consoles of they generation. The Switch 1 sticks are just poorly designed. Also, would the big, very strong, magnets in the Switch 2 mess up the readings of a hall effect sticks?

I do wonder if the combat itself was inspired by Wind Waker. While it's not rhythm based, there is a musical element to the combat of the game, so it may have sparked the idea. I really like the look of Harmony. I want it more than the Switch 2 games.

Pikmin You’ve gotta get home, but you can’t make it alone… Meet the Pikmin! JP release: 26th October 2001 NA release: 3rd December 2001 EU release: 14th June 2002 Developer: Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo NGC Magazine Score: 85% Mods Used: Widescreen Code, Texture Pack I think Nintendo always planned Pikmin as an extra game for just after launch, considering it didn’t become a launch title in any region. Pikmin is an incredibly charming take on the RTS genre of games, where you command a troop of adorable little critters called Pikmin and try to not send too many to their doom as you play. You play as Captain Olimar, a tiny spaceship captain that crashes on a strange planet (which is Earth after humans are extinct, something Nintendo have also done in Kirby and Splatoon). You need to find the parts of the starship, and the only way is to utilise the skills of the Pikmin. The Pikmin are cute little creatures that come in three colours: Red, Yellow and Blue. You call them to get them to follow you, and then throw them to where you need them to act, usually breaking down a wall, carrying objects or attacking enemies. While they follow you in a group, they all act independently, such as some occasionally tripping then rushing to catch up. It gives them a bit of personality that truly makes the game special. It also makes it upsetting when you lose a pikmin and see their little spirits float up into the sky with a sad sound. The colours aren’t just for looks, though, as they have unique properties. Red pikmin are tougher and are fireproof, yellow pikmin can be thrown higher and can carry bombs, and blue pikmin are the ones surviving underwater. You’ll need to use their abilities to get around the levels to solve puzzles, and you’ll need to quickly learn to multitask and run around to manage multiple smaller groups. Time management is crucial to Pikmin, as you can’t survive on the planet’s surface at night time as many enemies come out. At the end of the day, any Pikmin under Olimar’s control or near his ship will flee safely, but any loose ones throughout the level will be eaten. If one set of pikmin is close to breaking a wall and another is unfolding a bridge, you may have to decide which one to grab at the end of the day. You also only have 30 days to collect 30 ship parts. This feels extremely stressful and is a double edged sword in that it does add a sense of urgency, but it can be needless anxiety. The limit is very generous as you can generally get two or three parts a day, and you can always quit to restart a particularly bad day. Pikmin, like Luigi’s Mansion, is a short game, so has a few leaderboards to help encourage replays. I think the length works really well for the game now, especially with the limited time aspect of the game. It’s an absolutely wondrous experience. Fave Remake or remaster? Pikmin deserved more than the mild upgrade it got on Switch. Official Ways to get the game The game is available on Switch with some extra control options.

I liked the idea of including it, although it didn't take too long to get to a game that didn't have one, so for those I used the blurb from the back of the box.

Super Monkey Ball Call your friends and warn your neighbours, it’s time to have a ball!! JP release: 14th September 2001 NA release: 18th November 2001 EU release: 3rd May 2002 Developer: Amusement Vision Publisher: Sega NGC Magazine Score: 88% Mods Used: Widescreen Patch With their long rivalry during previous generations, there’s something special about Sega being the only third party to release a GameCube game for its Japanese launch. Sega’s first big third party game wasn’t one of their classic icons, but instead based on a very recent arcade game, all about rolling around monkeys trapped in balls. The core concept of Super Monkey Ball is that you don’t control the monkey directly, instead, the analogue stick tilts the stage itself. It’s such a simple concept, but pulled off extremely well. A lot of this is due to the brilliant level design, creating an immense amount of addictive challenges. The game isn’t afraid of giving your near-impossible levels that require a ton of skill and practice to get past. There are also additional risk factors you can take, such as collecting more bananas (which give lives) while some levels can have special gates that are incredibly tough to reach, but let you skip levels. With 110 levels to get through – some that need to be unlocked by not using any continues, the main mode will keep you busy for a long time. One thing I especially love are all the extra details that aren’t needed, but help so much. While the tracks are simple check designs, the backgrounds are lovely, having some simple 3D elements that are nice to look at, but aren’t too busy to be distracting. Another nice touch are the life icons wincing as you get near the edge, hoping that you make a risky jump to skip part of a level. But that’s not all, Super Monkey Ball also includes extra minigames which are good enough to talk about on their own. Monkey Race This is a simple Mario Kart-style racing game with six tracks (so only one fewer than Wave Race) and a few items to use. It features a single race, grand prix and time trial. It’s a lot of fun, and at the start of the GameCube’s life, was a decent little racing game. Monkey Fight There’s a giant boxing glove on a spring hovering in front of your ball, and you use it to bash your opponents off the side of the level. There’s a few power-ups and levels and it is good, senseless, fun. Monkey Target This is probably the most skill-based game of the lot. You go down a massive ski-jump-like slope then open the ball up into wings. You need to pilot your monkey and close the balls so you land and stop on the targets to score points. This is easier said than done, although all control is in the hands of the players. There are a few different layouts of targets, and wind conditions will change how you fly. You can also get bananas and power-ups from the sky to help you, and there’s an optional “Wheel of Danger” that adds additional obstacles in your way. If you can get a few friends to practice, it can become highly competitive. Monkey Billiards It’s 8-ball pool, and a surprisingly good version of it. While some additional pool types would have been nice, this is still simple to play while being a lot of fun. Monkey Bowling Probably the weakest of the party games, mainly due to how aiming works – the direction metre swings wildly from side to side and you have to press A to stop it. If you do like it, then there’s an extra challenge mode with some tricky setups. Monkey Golf An 18 hole mini golf. Some courses are boxy minigolf style ones, while others are like more traditional golf courses, but floating in the air. It’s difficult to judge distance here, so a marker showing where full power would reach would have been a big help. With a great main mode and a variety of high quality additional modes, this provides a great amount of variety and longevity, especially for a launch game. Fave Remake or remaster? If you enjoy these games casually, then Banana Mania is a great remake. However, for those that want the full original experience, they really should add options for the original physics and lives systems. Official Ways to get the game The remake, Banana Mania, is available on PC, Xbox One/Series, PS4/5 and Switch.

I think the NSO version restored the original adverts. The Virtual Console had Wii and DS logos everywhere.

Hopefully the customer support staff member is wrong, but according to them, the Switch 2 Edition games are just Switch 1 games with a download code for the upgrade.

Wave Race: Blue Storm Lay wake to your opponents in the perilous waters of this fierce competition. JP release: 14th September 2001 NA release: 18th November 2001 EU release: 3rd May 2002 Developer: Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo NGC Magazine Score: 91% Mods Used: Widescreen Code Wave Race 64 showed how water physics could work in 3D, and how the movement in the water can affect controlling a Jet Ski. Blue Storm, on the other hand, focuses more on just how stunning water can look, being a wonderful technical showcase of what the water can do. There’s so much detail not just in the water itself, but under the water and the surrounding area as well, such as an immense amount of different wildlife. It all looks absolutely stunning in motion. |The major feature added to this is the weather, with different strengths of rain up to a thunderous storm. These don’t just change how the courses look, but also alter the waves on them as well. So you’ll not only have to deal with the course’s natural waves, but how the weather and other racers affect them as well. This does make the game extra challenging, though, and the CPU racers don’t tend to have the same issues you do. One issue, though, is that there doesn’t seem like there is much new to the game at all. There are only seven courses and while only one is a complete remake of a Wave Race 64 course, some of the others use the same kind of style: Ocean City Harbour is a lot like Twilight City, Arctic Bay is like Glacier Coast and Aspen Lake is a lot like Drake Lake. While the tracks are different, the close theming to the original make Blue Storm feel a lot smaller. Aspen Lake comes across as the worst, too, with the original Drake Lake having an ethereal beauty to it with a fog that slowly lists, which is lost with the new weather system. One thing that’s a bit harder to quantify is the “style” of the game. Something just feels a little bit less exciting than Wave Race 64. The announcers don’t seem very enthusiastic and there’s just a muted feeling all around instead of what should be high-octane energy. Parts of the game feel oddly calm, such as the lovely, soothing loading screens where you can mess with riddles in the water. It’s rather jarring. Blue Storm is a really well made racer, but it lacks the impact of Wave Race 64. Great Remake or remaster? I think we’re due a new game. Official Ways to get the game There is no official way to play Wave Race: Blue Storm.

I know they won't, but it would be nice for them to also have an AX mode option. It would be with the GX physics, not AX physics, as I imagine doing the actual AX version would be too much, but GX does have its own version of AX on the disc.

It makes Brexit look like nothing. The thing is, even if all of this was fully set in stone for the next four years, it's so expensive and takes so long to set something up that no company is going to do it, they'll just pass on the taxes to the consumer. But on top of that, everything is subject to change on the whim of a madman, which guarantees that no infrastructure will be built in the USA. And the worst thing is? If someone else gets elected and the tariffs are removed, we all know that companies won't reduce their prices the full amount. I think the more likely thing is that stock will be allocated to other countries and imported on an individual basis (if you buy from Japan, anything below $800 is not subject to tariffs, for example).

That's why you kill them.

I'd disagree with F-Zero GX, it's a game that excels in single player but isn't that good in multi. Even even I was much younger I loved it. An option to have everything unlocked would be nice, still. There's so many characters, which come with great theme tunes and amusing videos (I somehow unlocked them all back in the day).

I do think Nintendo were clever to announce the price just before the tariffs, as it makes it very clear that the higher price is Trump Tax.

I hate the fascination with "X" in names (although at least it doesn't mean "cross"). It's just awkward to say. Even Drag & Drive sounds so much better than "Drag ecs Drive". Is the pronunciation of "X" in titles different in Japan? I definitely agree about the colour. Considering they have mechanics for waving that you're open, the colours are so drab (and don't seem to be team related) that you'll have to be looking at the colour of the name above their head instead of the character model.

Similar to my N64 playthrough, I will also be looking at every GameCube game, tied in with the follow-on from N64 Magazine, NCG Magazine. The GameCube was the first console I got on launch day, with my mum driving to the store after work. The black one I wanted was out of stock, so I settled for what I thought was blue (only to later find out was purple). With it I got Star Wars: Rogue Leader and Extreme-G 3. While I played many games I loved, there were loads of games I read about in NGC Magazine that I wish I could have tried, which is why I want to go through every GameCube game. My rules are lax with completing every game, just like with N64 games. I’ll be aiming to complete single player games (using cheats if I’m getting really fed up – this is purely for fun), and trying to get a feel for things like sports games, but if a game is feeling immensely tedious or frustrating, then I'll move on, but I'll make sure I have tried enough of it. As there aren’t many significant leaked prototypes for the GameCube, I will include a few bonus non-GameCube titles that have some connection to the N64 or GameCube. I’ll explain those when I get to them. I will be also marking any modifications I make to the games, such as texture packs. There are three kinds of widescreen modifications. Widescreen Hack: The emulator renders outside the usual view. Widescreen Code: An Action Replay or Gekko code adds widescreen support to a game. Widescreen Patch: The actual game file is modified to support widescreen. Luigi's Mansion Luigi won a haunted mansion? And Mario’s trapped inside? You have to find him! JP release: 14th September 2001 NA release: 18th November 2001 EU release: 3rd May 2002 Developer: Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo NGC Magazine Score: 90% Mods Used: Widescreen Code, Texture Pack For a launch title, Luigi’s Mansion was an odd choice. It’s a child friendly horror themed game starring the brother of Mario, and isn’t the kind of game you see people buying consoles for. I got a GameCube on launch day (with the EU’s later but bigger launch line-up) and didn’t buy any of Nintendo’s own games with it. I kind of dismissed Luigi’s Mansion altogether, although much later I played Luigi’s Mansion 3. Going back to the original, I’ve realised I definitely missed out. In Luigi’s Mansion, Luigi has won a mansion in a competition. Mario, being suspicious, checks it out first and ends up disappearing. While exploring the mansion, Luigi bumps into Professor E. Gadd, a ghost hunter that passes on his special ghost hoover to Luigi, as he feels too old to do the physical work himself. It’s up to Luigi to capture all the ghosts and rescue his brother. Going straight from Nintendo 64 games to Luigi’s Mansion, the leap in graphics is incredible. There’s so much detail to Luigi and the entire world feels alive and animated. The detail on the Resident Evil-style door unlocking animations (which can be unlocked) is a marvel when hands were extremely rouge throughout the N64’s entire life. Lighting is also a key concept of the game, with Luigi’s torch being a weapon to stun ghosts and casting great shadows. Luigi’s Mansion follows a tidy room-by-room structure. When you enter a room, the lights will be off. You’ll need to find the ghosts in the room and defeat them (sometimes they’re already in the open, other times it takes a bit more effort). The lights will turn on, but it’s not over: there’s a boo hidden in every room (although you can’t find them in the starting rooms until you accidentally free them all), and you’ll need to find and defeat them – although they can also flee, so you’ll need to follow them through the mansion to capture them. The game’s true brilliance is in the portrait ghosts, which you’ll encounter throughout the mansion. These will often ignore Luigi until you figure out how to startle them. You’ll have to analyse the room and their actions to solve the “puzzle” of each book. There are some hints available, you can use the Game Boy Horror to scan rooms in a first person mode and scan the ghost for a vague clue, or read books you find throughout the mansion for some hidden details. They don’t tell you the answer, but instead guide you into thinking up the right idea. As you interact with the environment and defeat ghosts, you’ll find money, coins and gems scattered around. These don’t provide upgrades, but are instead linked to a scoring system. Even if you don’t care about scores, it’s still compulsive to try and get as much as you can, searching every nook and cranny to find hidden secrets. The notes also flutter around beautifully, thanks to the game’s wonderful cloth physics, and it’s just lovely to see a shower of money. The ranking system was Nintendo’s plan for the main criticism of Luigi’s Mansion at the game: the short length of it, so a way to encourage replays was added into the game. As a big launch title, I can understand the complaints, but playing it now and the shortness of the game is actually in its favour. There’s also a slighter harder mode unlocked at the end of the game, although Nintendo weren’t entirely happy with what made it to the game at launch. However, the GameCube was released a lot later in Europe, which gave Nintendo a bit of extra time to tweak things. The Hidden Mansion is mirrored in the PAL version of the game, and retains the original darkness of the original (the normal mode was brightened up a bit in Europe). In this version, harder ghosts appear earlier, there are more ghosts in some rooms and some of the boss fights are tweaked, which gives a much bigger incentive to play through this version as it’s more than just ghosts with more HP. Luigi’s Mansion truly is a wonderful game that still stands up today. It’s full of charm, especially with Luigi nervously humming the wonderful theme tune, and the entire mansion feels like a living place. While it was a poor choice for a launch game, it’s still a great game. Fave Remake or remaster? It’s a massive shame that only Luigi’s Mansion 2 was remastered for the Switch. It really should have been a combination of both games. And even if one were to be chosen, this one is much closer to Luigi’s Mansion 3. Official Ways to get the game There is no official way to buy Luigi’s Mansion, but it will be playable via the Switch 2 NSO service.

Having a host means that the rest of the ideas would work fluently, as Paradise had a host selecting modes. Those extra things make it incredibly fun to just goof around in with friends. It's why I ended up playing Paradise for 1000 hours (Incidentally, the direct also reminded me of Paradise due to its mugshots feature were it sent a picture of you when you get taken out by another player)

Wait, they're not changing how the NSO app works to download specific games for GameCube games? That's incredibly stupid.

I do hope that there are a lot of challenges and events for the free roam. Something similar to Burnout Paradise would be amazing for Mario Kart. There were a few different parts to it 1. Challenges. One is picked and everyone is tasked with doing certain thing (driving in the wrong side of the road, jump a certain distance, drift) and the amount you need to reach can either be individual or cumulative. Some were in certain locations, so you had to rush over there. 2. Game modes. It had games like stunt run and marked man which you could just start. You could organise a location yourself (there were some neat off road areas). So in MK you could just do battle node anyways. 3. Bragging. Certain feats were shown in a leaderboard, as well as a time trial for each road. These were just for the current session. 4. A lobby for races. You could drive around while matches were being set up. You could also look for a he collectables and other secrets while driving around. I feel like this style of online gameplay (competitive cooperation) would suit Nintendo.

Not to mention that Nintendo were clearly aware that people would expect it to be free, considering they made a fancy logo just to state it was a paid download.

I believe the bongos essentially send regular GameCube imports to the console, so technically Donkey Konga can be played with a regular controller too. (I do have bongos for when I get to those games, though, it's wrong to not use them)

In the product listings for Breath of the Wild S2E, there seems to be an omission. It doesn't mention the DLC anywhere, so it's presumably not included. And it's £66.

I noticed you completely blanking one of the Pokémon games that hasn't been confirmed... although I wonder if that was on purpose (although it's one of the Pokémon games I like, because I'm just weird).