Summary

The NintendoGameCubemight not have been one of the company ’s top - selling console , but the library of titles that the arrangement racked up is up there with the very adept . Thanks to a pregnant leap in capability from the Nintendo 64 , the GameCube was capable to build and expand on the blossom bequest of 3D titles on Nintendo system . From strong iterations of past rule to game that experiment and smash the mold in new and exciting ways , there ’s no shortage of fascinating experience to regain on the GameCube .

It ’s no surprisal that some of the proficient rubric on the GameCube get along from Nintendo ’s time - observe flagship franchises , but none of them were coasting on the caliber of retiring successes . Other fantabulous games came from Nintendo partners or third - party developers , covering essentially any genre that player might be looking for . Despite the expansive library of the contemporary PlayStation 2 and the exciting developments happening on the original Xbox , the GameCube library boast enough exclusives to easily fill up a selection of its best games without crossing over into any multi - platform titles .

In award of Screen Rant ’s 20th anniversary , the gambling squad has selected the in effect 20 plot of the last 20 years , with one entry per year .

Pikmin 1+2 cover image featuring blue, yellow, and red Pikmin from the first game on top and the same three alongside an added purple and white Pikmin on the bottom.

10Animal Crossing (2001)

Nintendo, Social Simulation

There was n’t anything likeAnimal Crossingwhen it was first free , and despite occasional imitators , there still really is n’t today . Animal Crossingisn’t about husbandry , or fighting , or really even get the gong to pay off home loans . What set it apart from anything else is thesurplus of quirky and memorable interactions with the animal villagers , and although new franchise launching likeAnimal Crossing : New Horizonshave supply a rich regalia of features and quality - of - life improvements , theoriginalAnimal Crossingis still hard to beatin this core regard .

9Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem (2002)

Silicon Knights, Horror

Horror may not be the literary genre that first add up to mind when think about Nintendo , but the company published one of the most fascinating claim in the genre withEternal iniquity : saneness ’s Requiem . Eternal Darknessis most famous for its Sanity Effects , which play around with the world of the gamein agency that sometimes leap out of the limit that player would expect . It ’s exceptionally advanced and in the main great , throw it a must - roleplay even today .

8Tales of Symphonia (2003)

Namco Tales Studio, RPG

TheTales ofseries may be more known for deliver comfort food RPGs than for pass the genre in innovation , butTales of Symphoniais arguably the franchise ’s best command for true greatness . An engaging story never stops moving and developing across the grade of a substantial runtime , and the reality is positively jam - packed with memorable charm . Although more RPGs ultimately graced the PlayStation 2 than the GameCube , Nintendo got one of the very best withTales of Symphonia .

7Pikmin (2001)

Nintendo, Real-Time Strategy

It ’s hard to interpret just how goodPikminis without playing it . It ’s one of the most far-out genuine - fourth dimension strategy games ever made , but it ’s also one of the most elegant , eschewing many of the writing style ’s more exhausting elements fordeceptive simpleness that ’s put to utilise in a serial of excellent receptive - ended puzzles . Pikmin 2expands on the original accounting entry in fantastic room , but it ’s heavy to beat up the home streak thatPikmindelivered in its first at - bat .

The HD remaster of Pikmin 1 + 2 on the Nintendo Switch does n’t overhaul the classic Gamecube title , but it does n’t specially need to .

6Super Mario Sunshine (2002)

Nintendo, 3D Platformer

There was never going to be any perfect manner to come upSuper Mario 64 , a transition to 3D platforming that ’s almost impossibly good . Super Mario Sunshine ’s large levels , intense challenges , and reliance on strange piss propulsion mechanics were all a little more divisive , but it ’s ultimately attract far more advocates than knocker . MasteringSuper Mario Sunshineis one of the most rewarding experience out there , and it ’s wanton to keep coming back to it prison term and time again .

5Resident Evil 4 (2005)

Capcom, Survival Horror

Resident Evil 4is one of the good repulsion game ever , with a remake and a VR version both receiving their own portion of plaudit . Although the earliest ( and still great!)Resident Evilgames can be a act hard to adjust to from a modern linear perspective ; the original GameCube version ofResident Evil 4isn’t , and it ’s still a perfect way of life to play the biz today . Leon S. Kennedy ’s rescue mission is occupy with action , scares , and a fantastic atmospherethat helped itchange the selection horror genre forever and a day .

4Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001)

Nintendo, Fighting

Super Smash Bros. Meleeis almost singlehandedly the reasonableness why GameCubes and peripherals can be a bite expensive on the used securities industry . Few games have ever cultivated a comparably passionate and enduring community , and its ardent fans will still defend its favorable position over all otherSmash Bros.entries to this Clarence Day . There ’s good intellect for this love , asthe disorderly brawling natural process that it extend is full of fascinating tech to masterfor a great casual or competitive experience .

3The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2006)

Nintendo, Action-Adventure

The Legend of Zelda : dusk Princesswas the biz that manyZeldafans had been asking for , witha more naturalistic way than any enfranchisement entry before it and a glowering story than most . as luck would have it , it ’s a peck more than just a reply to demands , delivering an engaging experience that recalled many ofOcarina of Time ’s best component while chip at out a impregnable enough niche of its own .

It released on the Wii slightly before the GameCube inNorth America , but the older platform has a good call to being canyon , as the world of the Wii version was flip to make the usually left - handed Link match well with mightily - handed question command .

2Metroid Prime (2002)

Retro Studios, Action-Adventure

The sprawling , complicated environments ofMetroidmight seem like a hard thing to fetch to 3D on the GameCube , butMetroid Primemade it look natural . amplitude hunter Samus Aran ’s journey across Tallon IV is deep piquant , and the game represent an inordinately high standard for immersion withrich environments filled with interesting traditional knowledge . It can take some time and care to sail the complexities ofMetroid Prime , but it could hardly be more deserving it .

Metroid Prime Remastered does nothing but improve on the 2002 original , bringing back the exhilarating classic with modern enhancements .

1The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2002)

UnlikeTwilight Princess , The Legend of Zelda : The Wind Wakermade no attempts to take the series in a darker or more realistic direction . The charming cel - shaded world that leave still looks beautiful and feels luxuriously rewarding to explore today , and the sense of vastness accomplished by voyage the undecided ocean beats many right open universe that have come since . Every box of every island bursts with inventiveness and care , and some really worked up tale beats anchor the arbitrariness in a way that arrive at for an unbeatableGameCubeexperience .

A close-up of Metroid Prime Remastered’s cover art, featuring Samus standing in a hallway.

Mario Sunshine, Metroid Prime, and Resident Evil 4 protagonists next to each other.

Animal Crossing GameCube game art from 2001.

Tales of Symphonia artwork showing off Lloyd and Colette alongside other characters.

Blue Pikmin rolling out a bridge in Pikmin 1 HD.

Ashley and Leon look back at the destroyed island from the jet ski in front of a colorful sunrise at the end of the original Resident Evil 4

The cast of Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Samus from Metroid Prime in the full suit.

Link standing in the main hall of Wind Waker’s Hyrule Castle, with broken pillars and a statue of the Hero of Time in the background.