N-E's Top Ten Gamecube Games

[Jonnas]

You may have noticed that a 5-year old thread was briefly revived recently. You may have also noticed the similar title that this thread has.

 

That's right, the same topic, 5 years later. How much has changed? Has our taste changed? Are our favourite Gamecube games the same as the ones from 5 years ago? And how much has our community changed? Was it for the better?

The last one is easy, of course the N-E community is better now than it was 5 years ago

 

So, let us do this experiment, shall we? We will gather as many Top 10 lists as we can, and see what our community thinks nowadays of that gem of a console that was the Gamecube. We may even notice curious differences in the tastes, then and now.

 

Me, I've taken it upon myself to collect the lists from the previous thread, and draw an estimate. For each list, I've given 10 points to the first game, 9 points to the second one, etc.

 

(The number in parenthesis is the amount of times that game appeared as Number 1 on a list. I thought it would be interesting, comparing people's favourite games with the average)

 

1st: 276 - Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (9)

2nd: 227 - Resident Evil 4 (7)

3rd: 217 - Metroid Prime (5)

4th: 140 - Super Smash Bros. Melee (2)

5th: 106 - Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door

6th: 93 - Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (7)

7th: 91 - Super Mario Sunshine (1)

8th: 83 - Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (1)

9th: 82 - Tales of Symphonia (1)

10th: 65 - F-Zero GX

 

11th: 61 - Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem

12th: 55 - Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes

13th: 50 - Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

14th: 45 - Skies of Arcadia: Legends (3)

15th: 35 - Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean (1)

15th: 35 - Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

15th: 35 - Pikmin 2

18th: 34 - Animal Crossing (1)

19th: 32 - Soul Calibur II

20th: 27 - Pikmin

 

21st: 25 - Luigi's Mansion (1)

21st: 25 - Resident Evil (Remake)

21st: 25 - Super Monkey Ball

24th: 24 - Timesplitters: Future Perfect

25th: 21 - Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

 

17 - Starfox Adventures

16 - Timesplitters 2

15 - 1080° Snowboarding

15 - Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader

14 - Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (1)

14 - Mario Smash Football

13 - Battalion Wars

13 - Super Monkey Ball 2

11 - Killer 7

9 - Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life

9 - Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures

8 - ISS 2

7 - Beyond Good & Evil

7 - Geist

7 - Phantasy Star Online: Episodes I+II

7 - Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones

7 - Wave Race: Blue Storm

6 - Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg

6 - Burnout

6 - Burnout 2

6 - Donkey Konga 2

6 - Starfox Assault

6 - Viewtiful Joe

6 - Warioware: Mega Party Game$

5 - Chibi Robo

5 - Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition

5 - Pokémon Colosseum

5 - Star Wars Rogue Squadron

5 - Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike

3 - Second Sight

3 - Ikaruga

2 - James Bond: Everything or Nothing

2 - Resident Evil Zero

2 - SSX 3

1 - Doshin the Giant

1 - Extreme G-3

1 - Sonic Mega Collection

1 - Splinter Cell

1 - Star Wars: Clone wars

1 - True Crime: Streets of L.A.

1 - Wario World

 

 

So, people of N-E, what are your favourites? Feel free to use any criteria you wish for your Top 10. Just be sure to not include two (or more) games in a single slot, because then I can't count the list properly

 

107 - Metroid Prime (3)

93 - Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (3)

89 - Super Smash Bros. Melee (4)

68 - F-Zero GX (2)

58 - Resident Evil 4

 

45 - Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

38 - Super Mario Sunshine

35 - Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

31 - Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem (1)

30 - Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door

 

29 - Skies of Arcadia: Legends (2)

28 - Killer 7

22 - Tales of Symphonia

19 - Luigi's Mansion

19 - Resident Evil (Remake) (1)

18 - Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader

15 - Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

15 - P.N.03

14 - Super Monkey Ball

12 - Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

12 - Timesplitters 2

12 - Wave Race: Blue Storm

10 - Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes

10 - Soul Calibur II

8 - XIII

7 - Mario Party 5

7 - Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

6 - Burnout 2

6 - Pikmin 2

6 - Pikmin

5 - Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg

5 - Mario Smash Football

5 - Wario Ware

4 - Four Swords Adventures

4 - Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction

4 - Starfox Adventures

4 - Star Wars: Bounty Hunter

4 - Super Monkey Ball Adventure

3 - Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance

3 - Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

3 - Spider-Man 2

3 - Winning Eleven 6: FE

3 - WWE Day of Reckoning

2 - Animal Crossing

2 - Mario Party 6

2 - Resident Evil Zero

2 - SSX 3

2 - Star Wars Rogue Squadron

2 - Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike

1 - Chibi Robo

1 - Mario power Tennis

1 - Prince of Persia: Warrior Within

1 - Splinter Cell

 

Votes counted

-Rummy (all 9s in his Top 3)

-Jimbob

-Jonnas

-The Peeps

-pratty

-ipaul

-Hero-of-Time

-Fused King

-Mandalore

-Zell

-Flinky

-WiiUMarryMii

-Grazza

-darksnowman

-/ nando /

-mr-bogus

-Brussel

 

Edited December 31, 2011 by Jonnas

[Rummy]

Hmmm. Certainly not easy. N-E is definitely better now though, cos I'm actually a member :p!

 

 

1. Smash Bros Melee

2. The Wind Waker

3. Metroid Prime

 

Torn between the order of my top 3 in pure GC terms, can't I give them an equal number 2 rating? So they're all worth 9 instead of 10 9 8?

 

 

4. TTYD

5. Pikmin 2

6. MK: DD

7. Four Swords Adventures

8. Resident Evil 4

9. Eternal Darkness

10. Super Mario Sunshine

 

Dropped Pikmin off this list to make room for DD. This might be a little preliminary. I wasn't sure whether to go for personal favourites or what I'd consider just really good games(Eternal Darkness for example did a lot of cool stuff). I've probably missed something very obvious off the list too.

Edited November 1, 2011 by Rummy

[Jimbob]

My top 10 GC games. Well, some of them remain roughly the same as they did back in 2007 (that long ago, sheesh doesn’t time fly indeed), give or take a few changes here and there.

 

1. Metroid Prime
   
2. Super Mario Sunshine
   
3. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
   
4. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
   
5. Super Smash Bros: Melee
   
6. F-Zero GX
   
7. Mario Kart: Double Dash
   
8. Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
   
9. Star Wars Rogue Squadron
   
10. Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
    

Dropped Sonic Mega Collection, Echoes and Timesplitters from the new list. Over time, I found slightly better games to take their spots. But, i wouldn’t rank the dropped lower than 20 anyway.

[Jonnas]

Hmmm. Certainly not easy. N-E is definitely better now though, cos I'm actually a member :p!

 

 

1. Smash Bros Melee

2. The Wind Waker

3. Metroid Prime

 

Torn between the order of my top 3 in pure GC terms, can't I give them an equal number 2 rating? So they're all worth 9 instead of 10 9 8?

 

Sorry Rummy, but we need to be consistent, here.

 

I know it can be hard, but try to find a reason to nudge one over the other ones, as small as it might be. Or maybe randomize it, it's up to you. Like I said...

 

Dropped Pikmin off this list to make room for DD. This might be a little preliminary. I wasn't sure whether to go for personal favourites or what I'd consider just really good games(Eternal Darkness for example did a lot of cool stuff). I've probably missed something very obvious off the list too.

 

Any criteria of your choice goes. After all, whether a "really good game" is worth more than your opinion or not is also up to you. And no reason why you shouldn't join both in a single "ultimate" list of sorts

 

 

 

As for my own list:

 

1. Super Smash Bros. Melee

2. Metroid Prime

3. Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker

4. Skies of Arcadia: Legends

5. Tales of Symphonia

6. Soul Calibur II

7. F-Zero GX

8. WWE Day of Reckoning

9. Timesplitters 2 (I have only actually played the PS2 version, but the GC version can't be that different, can it?)

10. Super Mario Sunshine

 

Honourable mentions to Fire Emblem, Pikmin and Baten Kaitos.

 

 

Also, this reminds of many GC games I never got to play: Paper Mario, Pikmin 2, Viewtiful Joe, Eternal Darkness... I wonder if I will, one day.

[The Peeps]

1. Smash Bros Melee

2. Metroid Prime

3. Twilight Princess

4. Wind Waker

5. Luigi's Mansion

6. F-Zero GX

7. Time Splitters 2 (though I had this on xbox)

8. Super Monkey Ball

9. Mario Sunshine

10. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

 

I went for what I considered to be the best games, rather than going for personal favourites which would've included Sonic Adventure, Simpsons Road Rage, Smugglers Run, Starfox Adventures and probably lots of others if I thought long enough to remember.

[pratty]

My top 10 Gamecube games are

 

1. Windwaker

2. Metroid Prime

3. Twilight Princess

4. Resident Evil 4

5. Mario Sunshine

6. Metroid Prime 2

7. Resident Evil

8. Winning Eleven 6: FE

9. Mario Kart: Doubledash!!

10. Chibi Robo

 

Winning Eleven is quite a personal choice, it's probably my most played game ever. I think the top five is solid though, I think they are genuinely the best 5 games on the system.

Edited November 3, 2011 by pratty

[ipaul]

Can't really be arsed to think or explain these much so I'll just list them:

 

1) Metroid Prime

2) Resident Evil 4

3) The Wind Waker

4) Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door

5) Super Monkey Ball

6) Wario Ware

7) Twilight Princess

8) Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

9) Animal Crossing

10) Smash Bros Melee

 

Apart from the first 4, the order for those could change on any given day. But there they are.

[Retro_Link]

Hmm it's tricky, but it probably goes a little something like this...

 

1. Super Smash Bros Melee

2. Resident Evil 4

3. Metroid Prime

4. Wind Waker

5. Burnout 2

6. Super Monkey Ball

7. F-Zero GX

8. Waverace Blue Storm

9. Starfox Adventures

10. Mario Kart Double Dash

 

That's right Super Mario Sunshine, that's right!

Edited November 9, 2011 by Retro_Link

[Fused King]

As a person who switched to NINTENDO in the late GameCube days, I'm not sure if I've even played 10 Cube games, though I did experience some games I didn't have at a friend's and I've also recently bought F-Zero GX.

Here I go!

 

1. The Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker

My very first Zelda game bought with my own money and played on my very own GameCube. My very first 'proper' Zelda experience, and I also believe that this particular Zelda actually taught me that there was this magical thing called: The Legend of Zelda:laughing: Thanks to The Windwaker, I embarked on my quest of playing all the Zelda games up untill that point. Thank you, Toon Link

2. Paper Mario and The Thousand Year Door

I've been a stupid little boy and sold, along with my GameCube, some very memorable Cube games in order to get enough money to by myself a Wii at launch. Among these Cube games was this GOD of a game! I'll be purchasing this baby in the near future 2nd hand though, and I'll bathe in its sweet story, colourful worlds AND nostalgia this time:D FUCK, .....THIS GAME IS GOOD!

3. Super Smash Bros. Melee

It's Smash Brothers

4. Mario Party 5

It just has to be present in my top 5, for it is the game that got me to switch to NINTENDO in the first place...

5. Mario Kart: Double Dash!!

To me, this iteration of the series is still my favourite. Brilliant stages, a great character roster, excellent special items, and best of all: TWO CHARACTERS ON ONE 'KART'. I'm still hoping NINTENDO will implement some Triple Dash some day.

6. Luigi's Mansion

An excellent game and a brilliant new universe in which Luigi is the star, finally! It's great that it's becoming a series now, for it has incredible potential!

7. F-Zero GX

Even though I'm only playing it these days for the first time, it has aged VERY well and is one of the finest racing games I've ever played!

8. Mario Smash Football

I think what I like most about this, and what I also like about the sequel on Wii, is the artstyle and 'attitude' of the game. I guess this is what happens when you let Canadians handle a Mario sports game...

9. Mario Party 6

It has an E. Gadd stage

10. Mario Power Tennis

Great use of cinematics!

[Jonnas]

 

1. Smash Bros Melee

2. The Wind Waker

3. Metroid Prime

 

Torn between the order of my top 3 in pure GC terms, can't I give them an equal number 2 rating? So they're all worth 9 instead of 10 9 8?

 

Having just counted the votes, I think I can order that Top 3 as:

 

1. The one that is now further down on the rankings (Smash Bros.)

2. The one between the others (Metroid Prime)

3. The one that is now further up on the rankings (Wind Waker)

 

...Or maybe go with your "All 9" request Your choice

[Mandalore]

F-Zero GX

Super Smash Bros Melee

Mario Kart Double Dash!!

Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader

Resident Evil 4

Soulcalibur II

Wave Race: Blue Storm

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance

Star Wars Rogue Squadron III: Rebel Strike

Metroid Prime

 

I guess I didn't really like Zelda much that gen.

[Rummy]

Haha nah it's cool, I think I'll leave it as is. Or maybe yeah go with the 9s. I keep thinking I might have to re-organise my list slightly(well, my top three), I feel like I'm placing melee there due to brawl sort of, I can't quite manage to seperate the two in my mind.

[darksnowman]

I'll compile my list after I have a think about it. What I can tell you all now is that Resident Evil 4, Metroid Prime and Smash Bros. Melee will not feature in my top ten.

[The Peeps]

I'm amazed Mario Kart Double Dash is ranking for so many people. Had/have you not played the previous incarnations? It started off the wide courses trend and a whole lot of other shit.

 

It wasn't a bad game, some of the courses were amazing, but it introduced a lot of poor gameplay choices to the series... in my opinion.

[Rummy]

I'm amazed Mario Kart Double Dash is ranking for so many people. Had/have you not played the previous incarnations? It started off the wide courses trend and a whole lot of other shit.

 

It wasn't a bad game, some of the courses were amazing, but it introduced a lot of poor gameplay choices to the series... in my opinion.

 

Such as what? I mean, most of the multiplayer games that ranked for me ranked for exactly that reason, cos I remember playing them with many a lol with friends. I thought it brought enough to the series that was new too.

[killer kirby]

I'll write it up first, want to put in a lot of detail into why I love the top 10 that I am about to choose

[Jonnas]

True, I'm surprised that Mario Kart survived the test of time for so many people.

 

Though I'm more surprised that I was the only one to vote for Symphonia and Arcadia...

[Zell]

Looking back the old aggregate rankings, it's interesting to see how far ahead the top three are from the rest. They are all fantastic games, though I'm a bit surprised to see Wind Waker ahead of Prime and RE4.

 

Anyway, my rough top ten:

 

1. SSBM

2. Metroid Prime

3. Resident Evil 4

4. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

5. Timesplitters 2

6. F-Zero GX

7. Zelda: The Wind Waker

8. Zelda: Twilight Princess

9. Super Mario Sunshine

10. Tales of Symphonia

 

Honourable mentions go to Four Swords Adventures, Rogue Leader, Mario Kart: Double Dash, Mario Power Tennis, Skies of Arcadia, Pikmin 1/2, Timesplitters: Future Perfect, Warioware, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Prince of Persia, Eternal Darkness, Harvest Moon, Soulcalibur II, MGS: The Twin Snakes, Super Monkey Ball, Viewtiful Joe, Final Fantasy: CC and others I can't remember right now.

 

Man I miss the Cube.

[darksnowman]

I'll write it up first, want to put in a lot of detail into why I love the top 10 that I am about to choose

 

FF:CC better feature or your last shred of credibility will be gone!

 

Gone.

 

GONE.

 

Just like Rareware.

 

Though I'm more surprised that I was the only one to vote for Symphonia and Arcadia...

 

I think those two will be in my top five.

[Retro_Link]

I can't say I was a fan of Double Dash, co-op was kinda fun and there were some decent tracks in there.

 

But it made the list because I probably had more fun with it than with the other options that I had to choose from, which were... Mario Sunshine, Echoes, Twin Snakes, Rogue Squadron II, 1080 (single player)... and that's probably about it, unless I'm forgetting anything.

[Fierce_LiNk]

Not one mention for Killer 7?

 

I hope you all burn in hell!

 

Here's roughly what my Top 10 is.

 

1. Eternal Darkness (fuck yeeeeah! One of my favourite ever games)

2. Super Smash Bros. Melee

3. Metroid Prime

4. Killer 7 (probably ties with Prime for third place)

5. F Zero GX

6. Resident Evil REmake

7. Super Mario Sunshine

8. Pikmin

9. Resident Evil Zero

10. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker

 

I don't count Resident Evil 4 or Twilight Princess as I own the Wii Editions. So, I put them on the Wii list instead.

No room for Mario Kart: Double Dash, because it's shit.

Haven't played enough of Prime 2 to justify it on the list. But, I'm glad RE:0 is on there. Loved it. REmake was also very, very awesome.

[nekunando]

Not one mention for Killer 7?

 

I hope you all burn in hell!

 

..only because I haven't posted my Top 10 yet It'll definitely be in there

[WiiUMarryMii]

Not one mention for Killer 7?

 

I hope you all burn in hell!

 

Yeah, right. Such a memorable game that gets overlooked quite often.

 

Instead of doing a typical list that covers the games that I liked back in the days, I will instead post a list of GCN games that I still play TODAY on the Wii:

 

1. Resident Evil REmake - One of Shinji Mikami's crown jewels - RE4 was the other one (but I play the Wii Edition not the original)

 

2. Killer 7 - Awesome and unique gaming experience that gets better every time. Thee twist ending is superb.

 

3. XIII - I really like the whole political stuff included in this game. FPS that plays like an HBO thriller. If you're too young it will bore you to death, though. Won't catch the references either. Like the Kennedy assassination. And of all the cube's FPS's its the one that has aged less due to its cellshaded graphics.

 

4. Eternal Darkness - Before Silicon Knights lost their game creating talents... they gave the world this awesome piece of software.

 

5. P.N.03 - I have a soft spot for this one because it plays like a beta version of the game Mikami could never quite finish (Capcom was cancelling all his games at the time and this one barely got out of the gate). Still, its a good shoot'em up that plays like those old games from Konami for the NES. Plus its quite challenging unlike most of the "core" stuff of today.

 

6. Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II - Beautiful looking game that plays just as good. Puts to shame many Wii games in the graphics department. The 3rd game in the series sucked, though. Too short and those walking levels were awful.

 

7. Star Wars: Bounty Hunter - The spiritual sequel to the N64's Shadows of the Empire. Not a perfect game. Yet I still find it very satisfying.

 

8. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events - Not the game you will find on any list here. But I like this one. Just love the weird vibe of it. I actually started playing this one with my nieces and I dunno... I still find myself playing it once in a while. Including Spongebob games (oh noes!)

 

9. Pikmin - Great game to make the old noodle work. Relaxing too.

 

10. Zelda: Wind Waker - Not because its last here it means its the one I like the least. This one is one of my all times faves. The art style still holds up after all this years. Aged better than Twilight Princess in fact.

[Jonnas]

Surprisingly enough, Metroid Prime and SSBM are currently tied in first place.

 

It's a good result, if you ask me

[nekunando]

Surprisingly enough, Metroid Prime and SSBM are currently tied in first place.

 

It's a good result, if you ask me

 

..my list, which I'll probably compose tomorrow, will take Metroid Prime out in front as Melee will not make it

 

It somehow feels more difficult to produce a Top 10 now due to the length of time since certain games were played. I loved Wind Waker, for instance, but I only remember certain sections of it well but the majority of it needs to be refreshed in my head! I really should play it again, some day