The 10 Best GameCube Games (2024)

Chibi-Robo! (2006)

When I first played Chibi-Robo soon after its release, I expected a cute platform game without much depth. What I got was an unexpected gut punch to my emotions. In a feat of game design mastery, Chibi-Robo combines Japanese weirdness with 1960s suburban Americana. You play as a tiny robot that cleans up trash, footprints, and dirt in a house to make a family happy. But while doing so, you begin to see the family (and toy characters) suffering around you, their lives slowly unraveling in crisis. So early on in the game when this realization hits you, the player's functionary role as Chibi expands dramatically, and you see that a lot more than a clean floor is riding on your tiny metal shoulders. It's a masterpiece that deserves a modern HD remaster.

Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II - Rogue Leader (2001)

I've never been a huge fan of 3D space shooters, Star Wars games, or any film licensed games for that matter. But Rogue Leader breaks all my personal tastes down and pulverizes them with a cohesive Star Wars experience that I still can't believe is coming from the GameCube 20 years after its release. Everything is spot-on: the music, the sound effects, the graphics, the controls, the presentation. It feels "classic Star Wars trilogy" in a way that piques my nostalgia sense and turns this classic franchise into an experience that feels simultaneously interactive and cinematic. Best of all, Rogue Leader was a day-one launch title for the GameCube, so for developer Factor 5 to launch a technically mature title like this right out of the gate is incredible.

Animal Crossing (2002)

Animal Crossing represented a dramatic break from traditional console game genres upon its release in 2002: It hosts no violence or tension, and you can't lose or die. After picking a boy or girl character and finding a house, you basically just take it easy, find fossils, shake trees, catch bugs, make friends with animals of different temperaments, and improve your home over time while tending a colorful village. Best of all, with an ever-ticking clock and calendar, the game world changes in real time even when you aren't playing. Seasons and holidays match those on our human calendars to delightful effect. Few video game joys will ever be as simple and pure as going fishing on a rainy day in your own animal village.

Resident Evil 4 (2005)

In sharp contrast with Animal Crossing, Resident Evil 4 proved that Nintendo consoles weren't just for kids. This action-packed horror masterpiece diverges from previous Resident Evil games by dropping the fixed camera angles and plunging the player into a violent, grotesque over-the-shoulder third-person shooter. But it's the good kind of grotesque, coming as part of a genuinely terrifying experience with excellent graphics, good voice acting, and an interesting story. While Resident Evil 4 has since been released for many other consoles, it remains deeply satisfying to play in its initial GameCube form.

Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001)

Throw in equal parts action, nostalgia, variety, and Nintendo fan lore, and you've got Super Smash Bros. Melee, a bombastic 3Dfighting gamethat refuses to go away. It's easy to learn and hard to master, and 18 years after its release, players still gather at conventions all over the globe to play Melee in a tournament setting. As the second entry in the Smash Bros. series, it improves dramatically upon its Nintendo 64 predecessor with more characters, better graphics, and best of all, the GameCube controller itself—which has become the de facto interface for all Smash games released since then.

F-Zero GX (2003)

F-Zero GX presents the player with the Riddle of Speed: How can a game feel so blindingly fast and yet still be thoroughly playable and enjoyable? The answer lies in the skill of the designers—this game tapped talent from Sega subsidiary Amusem*nt Vision, the developers of Super Monkey Ball (also an excellent game). And like the previous F-Zero games, GX pulls no punches when it comes to ramping up the difficulty level. Still, it's an exhilarating ride, and support for four-player local matches further solidifies this title as a futuristic racing masterpiece.

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

The third in a string of Mario-related RPGs for Nintendo consoles, Thousand-Year Door extends upon the 2D-paper-in-3D-space aesthetic from Paper Mario (Nintendo 64) with better graphics, compelling illustrations, and a humorous, well-written story. While it's true that the Mario platforming games have never taken themselves too seriously, Intelligent Systems' Paper Mario series allows the famous Mushroom Kingdom franchise laugh at itself in a healthy way. It's a rare achievement to craft an excellent turn-based RPG that is suitable for children but still deep enough for adults to enjoy. Considering its status as a GameCube exclusive and its integration of playful Mario lore, this is possibly the best RPG on the system.(Another great RPG: Tales of Symphonia)

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2003)

Nintendo whetted many appetites for next-gen Zelda with a Space World 2000 demo that showed a detailed and proportionately realistic Link fencing with Gannondorf. A year later, when Nintendo debuted a new Zelda game with dramatically different, cartoony graphics, some fansprotested loudlyon the internet. Luckily for all of us, their concerns were not justified: Wind Waker is an absolute masterpiece of artistic design, pacing, gameplay, interface, and story. Its setting in a world covered in endless ocean sets the stage for epic adventures while playing off the classic Zelda mythos with an unexpected twist. Nintendo later remastered Wind Waker in HD for the Wii U, but the original pure cel-shaded look on the GameCube has aged very well. It will always be a classic.

Metroid Prime (2002)

Metroid's transition into the 3D realm could have gone horribly wrong. After skipping the Nintendo 64, fans worried about the fate of the franchise—and then worried again once they learned the follow-up to Super Metroid was turning into a first-person shooter. But developer Retro Studios pulled off a miracle, packing so much detail into this new world that Metroid Prime feels more like a first-person adventure game than a shooter. The classic sense of exploration present in previous Metroids came through intact. And in a move that pleased technically minded fans, Metroid Prime boasted not only the most impressive graphics of any GameCube game to date, but its graphics also felt cutting-edge compared to titles on the Xbox and PlayStation 2. After two competent sequels and a re-release on the Wii, none feel quite as satisfying as Samus' first foray into the third dimension.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2006)

With Twilight Princess, critics of The Wind Waker finally got what they wanted: a technically impressive "realistic" Zelda title with a much darker theme. The resulting game, Twilight Princess, garnered immense critical praise for its depth, beautiful graphics, satisfying new characters, and the interesting twist of Link turning into a wolf. It straddled console generations, coming late in the life of the GameCube and early in the life of the Wii. Nintendo released Twilight Princess on both platforms, but many players prefer the GameCube version for its traditional, non-motion controls. Nintendo later re-released this title in HD on the Wii U, but it still feels great to play in 4:3 on the GameCube.

More Top Games for Retro Consoles

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