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A TRIBUTE TO THE GAMECUBE - by Mr Biffo

9/2/2017

43 Comments

 
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Given the muted response to the Nintendo 64's paltry launch line-up, Nintendo swore on its mother's grave that it would never again make the same mistake twice (on which note: a-hahaahahahahahah!).

To this end, it ensured that its successor - the BronzeHenry-K (GameCube) - would be almost over-burdened with games for its May 2002 European launch. What a terrible shame most of them were about as memorable as a thingy - you know: a whatever.

The Nintendo 64 might've been light on games from day one, but at least Pilotwings 64 and Super Mario 64 were straight-out-of-the-Y-fronts classics. At the moment of its birth, the closest the GameCube got to exhibiting the swollen genius of Nintendo's first-party design was Luigi's Mansion.

​Even then, it was an odd choice of flagship launch title; graphically it was lovely, and played just fine,  but felt like an esoteric side-step from Mario 64. Luigi's was deliberately slow-paced and claustrophobic where Mario was frenetic and epic.

Beyond that, Rogue Squadron II offered some solid Star Wars wallops, while Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes and Resident Evil 4 were - briefly - tonally incongruous exclusives. However, it's unlikely anybody sported so much as a semi when it came to Donald Duck: Quack Attack, Wave Race: Blue Storm, or Disney's Tarzan Freeride.
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PULL AWAY
Solid-but-lacking-impact is an epithet which can be sprinkled liberally across the entirety of the GameCube oeuvre.

Which is a shame, as the system really was a leap forward from the Nintendo 64 in terms of technology. Furthermore, attached to its teats are some superb games - albeit many of which are considered broadly to be lesser instalments in their respective series.
​
Zelda: Wind Waker, Super Mario Sunshine, Mario Kart: Double Dash, Star Fox Adventures and F-Zero GX are all dependable in their own right, yet next to their siblings they're the unloved step-kids (anyone with so much as a smear of brain would know Wind Waker is the best Zelda of all the Zeldas, but puberty-burdened juveniles couldn't see past its cel-shaded, child-like visuals).

Additionally, Viewtiful Joe, Eternal Darkness, Pikmin, and Super Monkey Ball - the GameCube finally saw Sega gagging on its pride to become a third-party software publisher - were also sturdy and startlingly original games, but somehow felt out of step with the times. ​In fact, perhaps only Super Smash Bros. Melee, Twilight Princess and Metroid Prime could be considered all-time classics, whereas it took a much later handheld iteration for Animal Crossing to become a phenomenon.

Part of this could be attributed to it being the point at which Nintendo began to pull away from the rest of the games industry, like a damaged fingernail slowly detaching. 

Ironically, having launched first-person shooters on console with Rare's Goldeneye, it seemed to be a genre that Nintendo was reluctant to make further inroads with. Microsoft's Xbox was reinventing the FPS all over again with Halo, and a team of former Rare staffers had provided Timesplitters for the PlayStation 2. Nintendo might've been where the rainbows were born, but it was looking like it kept those rainbows in a factory that made incontinence trousers for older gentlemen.

It potentially says it all that while I remember the older Super NES and Nintendo 64 with ease, I practically burst a blood vessel in my eye when trying recall anything to do with the GameCube. Which is a surprise, given that it was the last Nintendo home console I ever covered on the original Digitiser.

I know I didn't like the controller a great deal more than I had the N64 joypad, but appreciated the design of the console itself. I was a particular fan of the carrying handle, which - along with the bright colours - drove home that Nintendo saw video game consoles either as toys, suitcases, or weapons with which to bludgeon your enemies.

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ETHOS IN GAMING
That 'All are welcome' ethos is one which Nintendo has stuck doggedly to ever since, but it was only with the arrival of the GameCube that we realised it had been there all along.

Nintendo was never a product of its time; more likely it was everyone else who was influenced by it. The 90s were Nintendo's to own, and it did indeed swan around like it owned the place, groups of wannabeMarios clucking at its heels, following wherever it went, trying to impress their role-model.

But then... like that moment in life where you try to define yourself as something separate from your parents... the rest of the industry went its own way. Unfortunately for Nintendo, in doing so it proved that the quickest, easiest, way to massive sales was to make the easily influenced think they were cool by owning your products - something which Nintendo was never interested in.

Anthropomorphic animals were out, while guns, edginess, "grown-up" storytelling, and loads of games starring identikit male protagonists, or women in battle armour so skimpy it wouldn't have protected them from a lobbed teaspoon, were in.

Sony and Microsoft may have been trying too hard to please the kids, but it was a strategy which worked for them. By comparison, the GameCube proved that Nintendo never wanted to be anything other than Nintendo. We can debate the validity of this as long as we like, but the sales speak for themselves; 22 million GameCubes were sold compared to 24 million Xboxes, and 153 million PlayStation 2s. The once-mighty Nintendo was reduced to a mere 13% share of the games market.

Consequently, the vital third-party support which Nintendo had courted for the GameCube's launch  shrivelled up like a walrus in a kiln, and the GameCube - while far from being a flop - would nonetheless become Nintendo's biggest lemon since the Virtual Boy.

For the next few years, ​the company would place bigger emphasis on its handheld business - a strategy for which it was rewarded handsomely.

​Fortunately, even better news lurked beyond the horizon.

FROM THE ARCHIVE:
A TRIBUTE TO THE SUPER NINTENDO - BY MR BIFFO
A TRIBUTE TO THE NINTENDO 64 - BY MR BIFFO
43 Comments
Forced Wendigo
9/2/2017 09:14:54 am

Gamecube will always be the console I think of when I think of multiplayer. We spent hundreds of hours playing Monkey Ball (particularly target), Smash Melee and Fzero

Other than that it also had by far the best versions of Resident Evil 4 (surely one of the best games of all time) and Suda's never-topped Killer 7. Hey man-and the best Paper Mario.

I will also go to bat for the controller, which, despite looking like a Nickelodeon slime container, was actually easy and actively fun to use...all the different button shapes and locations and crucially, resistances, made it a dynamic and exciting 'tool'

Today's Biffo musing that made me laugh at my desk: 'shrivelled up like a walrus in a kiln'

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DEAN
9/2/2017 09:52:34 am

The Gamecube is the last great Nintendo console. At least it should have been. No gimmicks or faffing about with a wand, no, it was pure, and whole, and good, and even had canny wee disks, a Fisher Price joypad and a handle to drag it around by. Indeed, it only lacked a winder to crank and make the vampiric emperor Yamauchi-san rise from his tomb and jiggle about like testes in the Summer.

I loved Hiroshi Yamauchi and lament his passing, and no more so than when I watch a Nintendo Direct presentation. If only he lived to partake in them! Oh sweet surrender - I would blackout with laughter.
I always used to imagine that the relationship he had with the mischievous Miyamoto was akin to that of Basil and Manuel.

I remember a guy that went under the pseudonym of Haribokart on the old Gamesradar forums. He was a Nintendo-baiter par excellence and also very funny. He frequently got asked to not come back but always did and I think even the staunchest Nintendo Fanboy was quite amused by him. He used to make quips about getting a handle on things and would tell the Ninty Fannies to get a grip.

I digress, yeah, it should have been all that and it wasn't. I agree with you on Wind Waker - easily one of the best games ever made, but couldn't for the life of me love Sunshine or Metroid... F-Zero was a bit flaccid and Luigi's Mansion was just a trudge...

I was hoping to see Mario Sunshine appear on the WII U Virtual Console so that I could reevaluate but... maybe the Switch'll deliver.

Next little piggy going wii-wii-wii all the way to the bank? Looking forward to it :O)

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Biscuits the character
9/2/2017 10:17:46 am

Sunshine is as mediocre as I remember it, maybe you would get some joy out of it though, don't let me put you off

I remember at the time it was unthinkable that a new flagship Mario release would be anything less than perfect. There were a few reluctant 7s and 8s ratings wise, along with astonished remarks that the game wasn't incredible but was just sort-of mildly ok

Metroid Prime though, I haven't played it in a while but I would bet money it remains a masterpiece

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DEAN
9/2/2017 10:49:14 am

Sure, Biscuits, I remember feeling the same way. It must have been a weird time at Nintendo. Transitional perhaps... Give me a sec whilst I consult Wikipedia for some dates...

BACK!

Yeah, it was as I suspected - regime changes around that time. Also, Miyamoto let go of the reigns a bit for Sunshine and is credited in a producer capacity instead of his usual directorial position.
The spoiled fruit of a difficult time. Makes sense.

I so wanted to do the Metroid - everybody was raving about it but I just couldn't get on with it.

Elvo
9/2/2017 08:37:44 pm

I had tremendous fun with Sunshine. It felt a good evolution of 64 in terms of ways in which it let you use the playground, especially the high wire bits. Plus the feeling of vulnerability when the safety of the chute was stripped for the void levels. For me they were as close to a 3D version of the 2d game as they got. I'm currently playing through it again

DEAN
9/2/2017 09:57:56 pm

Thanks Elvo - thanks for making me go all giddy with want.

I really hope the Switch has a nice and complete Virtual Console and that your purchases get tied to your account like iTunes. I'll drop some serious money (£30+) in their coffers if they do that.

Spiney O'Sullivan
9/2/2017 12:54:30 pm

Ah, Yamauchi... It always struck me as odd that a company that otherwise oozed fun, colour and joy from every pore was somehow headed by a man who looked like he was an accountant at a funeral parlour.

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DEAN
9/2/2017 03:55:22 pm

Accountant? Nah. Gangsta as fuck, I reckon. Google him and checkout the suits, haircut and glasses - total badass!

Haribokart link
12/8/2018 02:31:25 pm

I can’t handle the fame this post has brought me, Dean!

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Jack Sprat
9/2/2017 09:56:57 am

PN.03 My most played game on the GC. Never ported or sequelled. Absolute brilliance. A rhythm-action, real-time, turn-based, FPS.

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Captain Commando
9/2/2017 10:52:16 am

that game gave me RSI in the thumb which still bothers me now. can't even play gitaroo man anymore.

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Conor Stevenson
9/2/2017 10:25:00 am

Ah, Eternal Darkness - a psychological green herb antidote to the more actiony Resident Evil 4. Proper thought I had gone mad playing it at times.

Though as a nintendo fanboy I was quite proud of Resi 4 being an exclusive while it lasted.

Wasn't much else to crow about, super mario sunshine looked great but was infuriating to complete with a terrible camera system.

Wind Waker and Metroid Prime are perhaps the only all time classics from the Gamecube era.

Even Mario Kart DD was devoid of any 'Nintendo Magic'



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Hey don't forget about Thousand Year Door
9/2/2017 11:09:48 am

Thousand Year Door!

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Arthur B link
9/2/2017 10:54:59 am

Eternal Darkness was an odd duck and part of me wonders whether it only got the level of critical praise it got because of the sheer novelty of a full-bore survival horror game (even a somewhat hit-and-miss one) appearing on a Nintendo console. I did a review of it here: http://ferretbrain.com/articles/article-521

Are you going to do a retrospective of the handhelds too?

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DEAN
9/2/2017 10:56:56 am

Another vote for handhelds!

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Mr Biffo
9/2/2017 11:37:02 am

I am!

Da5e
9/2/2017 11:04:48 am

I was never a big fan, but playing Gamecube games in VR with the Dolphin emulator is incredible.

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RichardM
9/2/2017 11:07:48 am

Do you really really think Wind Waker is the best Zelda? I suppose you wouldn't have written that otherwise, unless you're a big liar or something. I loved it: from the epic opening history bit to the feeling of entering Hyrule under the sea, it was excellent. I even liked hunting for stuff in the boat. But the world felt small... Even empty. And the end of the game
Felt (and was) rushed. It needed just a bit more. Ocarina, Link to the Past and Link's Awakening just felt more complete. Think LttP is my favourite. Anyway! Series of Zelda tribute articles please.


And yes: Rogue Leader was fucking brilliant. The Battle of Endor level was like being there. Would play again right now if I could.

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Mr Biffo
9/2/2017 11:38:27 am

I absolutely adored Wind Waker. I'm a sucker for an aesthetic.

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Spiney O'Sullivan
9/2/2017 10:45:54 pm

I went into Wind Waker as one of many complaining that it didn't look more realistic. A few hours in something clicked and I came to realise how amazing it looked in motion and just how all-around wonderful an experience it is. It is now the Zelda I have played through the most times. It's magical, and visually even holds up today in a way that its successors (so far) haven't.

Michael E
11/2/2017 08:04:32 pm

But the dungeons were boring (can you even remember any of them?) and the forbidden fortress was a chore, as was the end bit where you went fishing for chests. It does look lovely though.

Bryan
9/2/2017 11:30:58 am

I absolutely loved my GameCube. At the time I owned GameCube, PS2 and Xbox so I could get the best games around. Obviously I had more expendable money and time too. Some of the GameCube games remain as my favourites, Wind Waker, Metroid Prime, Eternal Darkness, Twilight Princess, Resi Zero and to this day I still play the Resi Remake.

Super Smash Bros and Pikmin are up there too along with Rogue Squadron. It was a really under rated console.

It was however, in my opinion (this will be controversial), as almost destroying the Resi series.Yes, Resi 4 was a good game but I thought it took the series away from the tension the old claustrophobic corridors had brought it and because of its success the series just went out of control. Resi 5 and 6? Come on! Garbage.

Only thing I didn't like about my GameCube really. Loved Resi 4, hated how it was responsible for the crap direction Capcom took series in afterwards.

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Elvo
9/2/2017 11:44:46 am

I must have been one of the perverts who got all wet about Wave Race 'Blue' Storm. Wave Race was by far my favourite racing game so bought a 'Cube and the Japanese version of the game just so I could play the sequel. Favourite track, the wonderfully titled "Ethnic Lagoon"

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Clive Peppard
9/2/2017 11:45:11 am

By the time of this machine I had become a playstation die hard so looked down upon all other offerings as substandard. To be fair at this point i dont think that was an unfair opinion to hold.

I score this piece of hardware meh out of 10

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Arthur B link
9/2/2017 12:00:58 pm

Given that this would have been the PS2 era I honestly don't think you'd have been wrong to have that opinion.

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Clive Peppard
9/2/2017 02:28:40 pm

Yep, just googled the dates, it came out a month after GTA3, it never stood a chance

Alastair
9/2/2017 11:59:24 am

I never realised the GC was any sort of a flop.

I guess though it just felt quietly grand. Not, only OK or just so-so, more modest about its success.

It ranks alongside the SNES for me at any rate.

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Euphemia
9/2/2017 02:32:46 pm

Gamecube was a little peach of a system - and Wind Waker *is* the best Zelda game, hands down.

The Gamecube controller, however, was a pig. It never felt intuitive, although that could also have been down to the Dualshock-palsy setting in from the Playstation controller.

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Fancy Pants
9/2/2017 03:22:41 pm

Mario Sunshine was marvellous. Really got going on some of the later "void" levels. Purist platforming. I don't think I owned a single bad game for the GC, they were all GREAT. Even Rocky. Sort of.

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Mario
9/2/2017 04:03:10 pm

Or you could skip all the vacation garbage and play Galaxy - all void levels, all the time!

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Nick the Gent link
9/2/2017 04:24:05 pm

"Star Fox Adventures... dependable in their own right"

Hey Brother Biffo - was this the same Star Fox Adventures that you savaged as you went out the door of Digitiser? I may be recalling this wrong, but my failing memory has you (and I paraphrase) calling it product, and an imitation of what a video game is like. And that you gave it something like 2 out of a possible 5 fancy power stars? What say you sir?

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Nick
9/2/2017 05:15:41 pm

I never loved the GameCube. I wanted to but it never gelled with me.
I thought both of it's Zelda games were a level below what came beforehand and didn't really enjoy Mario Sunshine. I liked Metroid Prime but felt no compunction to play the sequel.

There was some great stuff. Resi 4 was great and the first Resident Evil game I really liked. I absolutely loved Ikaruga and became strangely attached to a puzzle game called Zoocube.

Oddly, I replayed the HD Zelda games on the Wii U last year and absolutely loved them. Using the second screen as the item menu streamlined the experience and they looked beautiful (especially The Wind Waker) maybe it might be worth revising some of the others.

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lilock
9/2/2017 05:59:57 pm

My desert island console. Give me a GameCube (with the Game Boy Player attachment) and I'll be happy 'til the day I die (admittedly probably not too far into my future on that island as I'm not Bear Grylls).

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Kelvin Green link
9/2/2017 06:38:35 pm

I never had a GameCube -- although my brother did -- but I did have a Wii so I went back and caught up on some of the best the 'Cube had to offer.

I'm quite fond of Super Mario Sunshine; it's no Galaxy but I prefer it to Mario 64. The Wind Waker is superb and I agree with Biffster that it may be the best of the Zelda series.

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Darrel
9/2/2017 10:04:42 pm

One word that sums up Viewtiful Joe perfectly is 'Cunt'

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Nick
9/2/2017 10:28:59 pm

I'd forgotten about Viewtiful Joe. What an absolute hat stand of a game. I'm marked for life. It's put me off ever trying something like Dark Soles.
Cool graphics though.

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Darrel
10/2/2017 12:00:25 pm

It was the bosses that ruined it for me as they were stupidly difficult, everything else in the game was great fun and a good challenge.

Paddy Hill
10/2/2017 11:06:39 am

Awww - I was hoping for a warm nostalgic review of what I remember as a great console with great games. Rogue Squadron II was to me the most authentic star wars experience I had. The graphics were drop dead gorgeous too. Ah well - you say tomato and I say meat! :)

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MrDrinks
10/2/2017 05:35:41 pm

Fact : F-Zero GX isn't just the best F-Zero game, it's the best arcade racing game ever made.

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Scott C
10/2/2017 07:15:00 pm

I love the original 2.5D F-Zero games and F-Zero X, but try as I might I drew the line at tracks where you randomly got bounced off the track or plunged to your death in GX. To get through certain cups you'd have to go through all the preceding tracks, just to meet your fate over and over again on the final course. To me that was just bad game design.

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Ganapan
11/2/2017 02:25:11 am

The Gamecube was the console I bought with my flatmates at the time (99e with all Zeldas!) and thats why it shares a special place in my memory with the Snes. It was perfect for the job: local multiplayer. I mean..
the hours we spent playing mario party, kart, even sunshine, wario ware, monkey ball,bomberman. We even converted some people to the GameCube Ways.
I understand the flack it gets though. The lack of games (it was the ps2 competitor!!) in the west was real, even some games that got published here were difficult to find at stores some months after (For me: ResidentEvil 1 & Twin Snakes, among others). I say in the west because, back then, I looked up GC games at a japanese online store and I got the impression we got a very reduced catalag in comparison.
Not an edit: Windwaker best zelda... erm.. the only one I completed.

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Chris Wyatt
15/2/2017 09:17:02 pm

Wind Waker is my favourite Zelda too!

I can also understand why it had a backlash. The early previews were completely different, and people thought they were getting a darker, edgier Zelda.

My brother sneered at Wind Waker's cartoony style, and he wasn't interested in playing that one. He wouldn't listen to me when I told him he was missing out on a great game. Ah well.

I don't think any of the Zelda games since, have quite hard the charm that Wind Waker had. There's something amiss with the newer Zelda~s, but I still think they're great games.

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Roy (Stuart N Hardy fan)
1/3/2017 08:36:27 am

The GameCube wasn't me fave Nintendo console but it had some fabulous gems.
One of those never to be forgotten moments came to me on the cube - the first time I played Metroid Prime and saw Samus's reflection in her visor.
It's as brilliant today as it was back then.

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