RF Generation Message Board

February isn't just time for Valentines, it's time for some GameCube love as well!

[img width=700 height=393]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d1/GameCube-Set.jpg/1024px-GameCube-Set.jpg[/img]

Using mini disc technology, the GameCube was Nintendo's first home console that didn't use cartridges as its primary software. It also continued to make advancements in bridging the gap between portable and home consoles, with several accessories and enhancements available by using its complementary Game Boy Advance.

With a library of more than 500 North American and PAL titles, there's plenty to choose from. So join us in deciding what the best games-cubed are!

How to participate-

1. Make an ordered list of whatever games are your favorites for the system being covered that month.

-Make your list about what games you think are the best that system has to offer, NOT necessarily the most important. (For example, Super Mario Bros. is one of the most influential games in VG history, but not many would call it a better game than SMB3)

-Also, your list needs to be limited to games you have personally played. Don't include a game just because you've heard it's good, include a game because you know it's good.

-For a few of the games, try to include a few thoughts on why that particular game made your list. That way, those not as familiar with the game can see why it's one they should put on their radar.

2. Personal Message EZ Racer with your ordered list.

Just put "Top 20 games for the (whatever system we're covering that month)" in the subject line. Throughout the month, I will be compiling the results, and release a full list based on votes sent in. I will be putting extra weight on games voted for the top of the lists, so please make sure that your games are listed in numeric order. The reasoning behind a private vote is so that each member's vote can be their own, not influenced by what they think others would want.

The voting cutoff each month will be the last day of the month at 11:59 EST.

Please stick to NA and PAL releases.

Looking forward to having some exponential fun this month!

Not my most played system ever, but I think I should have enough to fill out a list. Should be interesting!

I am in. I am pretty sure I can come up with a Gamecube list pretty easily

Definitely in for this. Game Cube was the 1st system that generation I adopted, after visiting with some friends, and getting a chance to play theirs.

Cool

I'm in to win!

Finished my list already. This was by far the easiest one yet to put together. There is a lot I "like" on the GameCube, not not as much that I "love". Had an initial list of 23 that was easy enough to cull to 20. I do have a few first party Nintendo games on my list, but the generation definitely wasn't about those staple franchises for me. Several of Nintendos main attractions didn't impress me much this time around so I had to look elsewhere for the games I loved.

I also thought it would be fun to see if I could predict the communal top 10. So I'm going to work on a list for that as well and I'll post that later in the month too.

It's funny that you say that because this was the easiest list for me to put together.  I had exactly 20 games to rank.

I'm also having an easier time with this one. My list is already almost done and this will probably be the first one that isn't submitted last minute.

List submitted

I went thru my collection as well as the database looking for what I've played and enjoyed.  I'm at 40 games.  Grab a knife and a stick, it's time for some whittling!

Last day. Get those lists in. This is an easy one!!

Aww crud, I completely slept on this, and forgot to make my list.

Here's what I predict our top 10 will look very close to. And I don't like it!

10. Soul Calibur 2
9. Zelda Twilight Princess
8. Tales of Symphonia
7. Resident Evil 4
6. Metroid Prime
5. Super Smash Bros Melee
4. Super Mario Sunshine
3. Paper Mario Thousand Year Door
2. Zelda Wind Waker
1.Mario Kart Double Dash

If it makes you feel any better, my list looks very different from that ;)

High five!

Only 3 games from my top 10 are in that top 10 so I think we'll have some differences this time.

Here's your teaser-

There was a definitive Top 3. Two of them you'll likely expect, the other...

Time for some also-rans

Single-votes

20th place

WWF Wrestlemania X8

Cubivore- "Quirky game about eating other animals to evolve passing your genes on to eventually emerge at an apex predator."


19th Place

Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc

Scooby Doo: Night of 1000 Frights

XGRA- "More high speed future motorcycle racing with a great weapon system.  Although the only weapon you need is "Deathstrike", a literal laser beam from space that instakills opponents.  It just takes a long time to power up."


18th place

Freedom Fighters- "I really love the premise of this game, but I found the gameplay mechanics to be lacking, at least by modern standards."


17th place

Spider-man 2- "Until just a couple years ago was still one of the best Spider-Man games. The web swinging was so ahead of it’s time. The main story is still enjoyable, but don’t worry too much about side questing or you’ll feel the urge to kick any kid you see with a balloon."

Lord of the Rings: The Third Age- "An extremely poor man’s Final Fantasy X knockoff. The combat mechanics were directly copied from FFX, but other than that it is extremely bland."


16th place

Donkey Kong Jungle Beat

Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix

True Crime: Streets of LA

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes


15th Place

Pac-Man World 2/Pac-Man Vs- "Pac-Man World 2 was an all right platformer but the bread and butter of this dual game disc is Pac-Man Vs.  Pac-Man Vs. incorporates using a Gameboy Advance link cable and a Gameboy Advance.  The players on the TV through the Gamecube are the ghosts while the GBA player is Pac-Man.  The game plays out just like Pac-Man, the ghosts are trying to get Pac-Man while Pac-Man is trying to achieve a set score but the catch is the ghosts have a limited field of view.  This is a great multiplayer game and another must play."

Mega Man Anniversary Collection- "It blew my mind that I could play all of these games I rented on the NES over and over in one package. I don't know how I got over the reversed A and B, but I did."


14th Place

Donkey Konga- "The Gamecube must be the system of peripherals.  It had the mic, the GBA link cable, Mario DDR dance pad, and now BONGOS!  Donkey Konga is a very well done music rhythm game that came with bongos.  You played the bongos in tune to the music and another one to try if you haven't already."

Lego Star Wars II: Original Trilogy- "The first Lego Star Wars was fun but since it was Episodes 1-3 it wasn't exactly what people wanted.  This game is the Lego Star Wars game I wanted."


13th Place

Spider-man

Resident Evil 3: Nemesis

Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters

007 Agent Under Fire- "We were looking for a new Goldeneye on the Gamecube and this was as close as we got.  I mostly included this because my friends and I went to school one morning, had breakfast,  then decided instead of 1st period Study Hall, we wanted to play more Bond.  So we left school and went to my house a few blocks away and played for about 30 min then went back to school.  We were of course caught and given an In School Suspension for the rest of the day.  I think we were juniors or seniors at the time."


12th Place- N/A


11th Place

Baten Kaitos: Origins

Geist

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell- "A very innovative game at its release. I was really hyped for this game leading up to its original Xbox release, and it didn’t disappoint!"


More to come...

Tons of games I didn't expect to makes people's lists up there. This top 20 might be a lot weirder than I anticipated

Geist made the top 20? That is interesting.

More Single Votes


10th Place

Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventure

Soul Calibur II- "I don't generally like fighting games, but the single player content in this was great."


9th Place

Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4- "The last of the arcadish style THPS games before they really started pushing narratives into the games. Takes that old formula and perfects it before moving the series into other realms."

Lord of the Rings: Return of the King- "For being a licensed game, this is a great hack n slash.  I remember slicing through two to three hundred enemies in a single level.  Fantastic fun."


8th Place

Capcom vs. SNK II

Pikmin 2- "Much like the first game, but some new mechanics and a bit bigger. Still great!"


7th Place

Resident Evil: Code Veronica


6th Place

Wario World

Skies of Arcadia Legends

SSX Tricky- "My college roommate had played this on PS2 and told me I had to get it for my Gamecube.  It's an amazing arcade style snowboard game.  The characters are fun, the tricks are insane, and the courses are awesome.  I loved this more than 1080 because it was so arcade style and unrealistic."[/i]

Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour- "One of the greatest golf games across any system. Very deep single player and lots of cool multiplayer options as well."


5th Place

Resident Evil 2


4th Place- N/A


3rd Place

Tales of Symphonia- "Fun characters and fluid combat with more depth than you expect."


2nd Place- N/A


1st Place

Chibi Robo

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance- "The pinnacle of the series in my mind. Amazing strategy game that really makes you think through each and every movement and attack. Incredible characters and story."


Multiple vote Also-rans

Odama (#20, #18)

"RTS and…..pinball? Oh and it's voice controls.  How does this game actually work on this level? I remember it being hard but ridiculous in it's nature and therefore fun.  And the voice commands worked reasonably well."

"Odama is a very unusual title that plays like pinball where you are trying to open the opposing troops gate with the Odama (the pinball) so your troops can carry the bell through their gate.  This unique game also incorporated the included mic so you could command your troops.  It's something that has not been done again and probably never will be done again.  A definite must try."


P.N.03 (#17, #13)

"Super music infused stylish arcade shooter. Short levels with such an incredible sci-fi atmosphere. Very sleek game."

"Product Number 03 is a 3rd person shooter where there is no strafe.  When you're shooting and need to move left or right, you hit the shoulder buttons and do a little dance spin to the side.  String them together and you have your character dancing around laser fire while shooting robots. If the level design wasn't the same 3 white rooms everytime this would be higher on my list."


Beyond Good and Evil (#15, #11)

"Incredible world building and characters in this sci-fi adventure game."

"This was an amazing game and I wish they made another. Great adventure game with a bit of stealth unlocking worldwide conspiracies as a photojournalist."


Super Monkey Ball 2 (#18, #8)

"Challenging mazes and levels but the mini games is where I spent most of my time.  Dogfight,  pool, golf, and especially Target."

"Even harder than the original. Some levels seemed to be designed around being a spectacle more than being fun or fair."


That takes care of the also-rans. Watch for the final 20 (plus three HM's) to come soon!

Have you played it?  It's a great game.

Wow, I'm shocked that only one person put Chibi Robo on their list.

I totally forgot about Odama. What a great game. Wasn't on my list but probably should have been.

I couldn't put this on my list because they stupidly reversed the A and B button.  It makes it completely unplayable to me.  They should have at least had an option to reconfigure the controls.  I tried so long to get used to it and I couldn't.

My number 1 didn't even make the top 20!!! So mad at you guys right now, lol

My list. I had to lean pretty hard into those Resident Evil ports in order to come up with 20!

1.   Resident Evil – Capcom didn’t just remake their original survival-horror classic but totally reinvented it and turned it into a completely different experience that somehow still feels faithful to the original. It still stands as my favorite game in the series, my favorite game in the genre, and one of my favorite games of all time.

2.   Resident Evil 4 – Capcom took one of my favorite franchises and took it in a bold new direction, and the result is one of the best and most influential action games ever created in my opinion.

3.   The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess – It’s been a long time since I’ve played this one, but I have always remembered it as one of my favorites in the series, and easily my favorite of the 3D entries.

4.   Super Smash Bros. Melee – As much as I love the Smash Bros. series, and despite this being a fan favorite entry, this is probably the entry I have played the least. I have nothing against the game however, I’ve just never owned a copy of it.

5.   Resident Evil 2

6.   Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door – I haven’t played every entry in the Paper Mario series, but this is easily my favorite. Retains the RPG mechanics we all wish the series still had, and expanded upon the original in all the right ways resulting in a bigger and better experience.

7.   Resident Evil CODE: Veronica

8.   Resident Evil 0 – An experimental entry in the series with mixed results, but I still really enjoy this game.

9.   Metroid Prime – A bold reinvention of the series that turned out way better than anyone thought it would.

10.   Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem – A great survival-horror title that flies under most people’s radar, probably due to its exclusivity to the GameCube. The story, gameplay, and especially the sanity effects make this something truly unique in the genre and the GameCube’s library.

11.   Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell – A very innovative game at its release. I was really hyped for this game leading up to its original Xbox release, and it didn’t disappoint!

12.   Star Wars Rogue Squadron: Rogue Leader – A great flight-combat sim set in the Star Wars universe, although it didn’t quite live up to the N64 original in my opinion.

13.   Resident Evil 3

14.   The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker – I’m probably in the minority here, but this is one of my least favorite Zelda titles. Not that I think it’s a bad game, but I don’t see it in quite the same light as many others do. I’ve always found the sailing to be tedious, and the game’s cut content becomes apparent due to the comparative lack of dungeons.

15.   Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

16.   True Crime: Streets of LA

17.   The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age – An extremely poor man’s Final Fantasy X knockoff. The combat mechanics were directly copied from FFX, but other than that it is extremely bland.

18.   Freedom Fighters – I really love the premise of this game, but I found the gameplay mechanics to be lacking, at least by modern standards.

19.   Luigi’s Mansion – I’ve never been a big fan of this game or the series in general.

20.   Super Mario Sunshine – I seem to have a love/hate relationship with 3D Mario titles, with some being among my favorite platformers of all time and others really falling flat for me. This entry lands in the latter category.

I'm positive my list is going to be far from what anyone else picked but here is my Top 20:

1. Chibi-Robo
2. Animal Crossing - Animal Crossing, a game that hadn't been done before it's release, where you live in a village and... live your life.  It's that simple and was just relaxing.  You didn't have to worry about timers or shooting things.  you just went around the village and talked to other villagers, pulled some weeds, and picked some fruit.  As a sweet added bonus, you could get 10+ NES games that you could actually play in the game and it made use of the GBA link cable to travel to Cap'n's Island.  Such a great game and why it is so high on my list.
3. Luigi's Mansion
4. Wario Ware, Inc.: Mega Party Game$!
5. Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requim
6. Wario World
7. Resident Evil 4
8. Pikmin
9. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
10. Super Mario Sunshine
11. Geist
12. Super Monkey Ball
13. Spider-Man
14. Donkey Konga - The Gamecube must be the system of peripherals.  It had the mic, the GBA link cable, Mario DDR dance pad, and now BONGOS!  Donkey Konga is a very well done music rhythm game that came with bongos.  You played the bongos in tune to the music and another one to try if you haven't already
15. Pac-Man World 2/Pac-Man Vs. - Pac-Man World 2 was an all right platformer but the bread and butter of this dual game disc is Pac-Man Vs.  Pac-Man Vs. incorporates using a Gameboy Advance link cable and a Gameboy Advance.  The players on the TV through the Gamecube are the ghosts while the GBA player is Pac-Man.  The game plays out just like Pac-Man, the ghosts are trying to get Pac-Man while Pac-Man is trying to achieve a set score but the catch is the ghosts have a limited field of view.  This is a great multiplayer game and another must play.
16. Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix
17. Viewtiful Joe
18. Odama - Odama is a very unusual title that plays like pinball where you are trying to open the opposing troops gate with the Odama (the pinball) so your troops can carry the bell through their gate.  This unique game also incorporated the included mic so you could command your troops.  It's something that has not been done again and probably never will be done again.  A definite must try.
19. Scooby-Doo!: Night of 100 Frights
20. WWE Wrestlemania X8

Top 20 GameCube

20. Cubivore - Quirky game about eating other animals to evolve passing your genes on to eventually emerge at an apex predator.
19. Metroid Prime - Pretty stellar 3D take on the classic Metroid style. Very cool atmosphere and settings.
18. Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance - One of my favorite Diablo clones. Not incredibly long, but very very fun either solo or co-op.
17. Spider-Man 2 - Until just a couple years ago was still one of the best Spider-Man games. The web swinging was so ahead of it’s time. The main story is still enjoyable, but don’t worry too much about side questing or you’ll feel the urge to kick any kid you see with a balloon.
16. Star Wars: Rogue Leader - Rogue Squadron 2 - One of the best launch games around. Absolutely gorgeous. Doesn’t quite capture the magic of the first Rogue Squadron, but a great effort.
15. Beyond Good & Evil - Incredible world building and characters in this sci-fi adventure game.
14. Eternal Darkness - Very unique survival horror full of time travel and incredible sanity effects that truly test the player.
13. P.N. 03 - Super music infused stylish arcade shooter. Short levels with such an incredible sci-fi atmosphere. Very sleek game. 
12. Resident Evil Zero - A twist on the classic RE formula with two interchangeable characters makes for some neat puzzle solving opportunities. Also twice the inventory space!!
11. Prince of Persia Sands of Time - Still one of the best 3D action adventure games around. Time rewind mechanics were on point.
10. Paper Mario Thousand Year Door - Fun and easy to grasp battle system. Great music and surprisingly charming cast.
9. Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4 - The last of the arcadish style THPS games before they really started pushing narratives into the games. Takes that old formula and perfects it before moving the series into other realms.
8. Pikmin 2 - Much like the first game, but some new mechanics and a bit bigger. Still great!
7. Ikaruga - Hard as hell, but so stylish and fun. Great couch co-op!
6. Mario Golf Toadstool Tour - One of the greatest golf games across any system. Very deep single player and lots of cool multiplayer options as well.
5. Baten Kaitos Lost Wings and the Eternal Ocean - The GameCube may have lacked RPG in comparison to the Playstation 2, but it did have a few truly great titles. A one of a kind battle system involving a card based system that that also has a strong focus on time mechanics and card combinations. Maybe some of the worst voice acting of all time, but the great characters, beautiful graphics and jaw dropping plot twist all overshadow that.
4. F-Zero GX - We havn’t seen a proper F-Zero in years, but at least it went out on a high note. Wicked tracks, pumping music, crazy high speeds and a ton of cool challenges to keep the single player interesting.
3. Resident Evil - Until recently this was unarguably the best remake of all time. Still holds up and takes the original ideas and improves them in every way.
2. Pikmin - A twist on the RTS genre that finally works exceedingly well for a console game. Some may dislike the time limit, but I love the sense of urgency it adds to the exploring each day.
1.Fire Emblem Path of Radiance - The pinnacle of the series in my mind. Amazing strategy game that really makes you think through each and every movement and attack. Incredible characters and story.

Top 20 GameCube List:
1. Ikaruga
2. Eternal Darkness
3. Super Smash Bros Melee
4. Resident Evil 4
5. Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker
6. Resident Evil 0
7: Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
8.  Capcom vs. SNK II
9.  Wario Ware Inc.
10.  Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
11.  Viewtiful Joe
12.  Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance
13.  Godzilla: Destroy all Monsters Melee
14.   Paper Mario : The Thousand Year Door
15. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
16.   Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat
17.  F-Zero GX
18. Super Mario Sunshine
19. Mario Kart: Double Dash
20.  Luigi's Mansion

Really thrilled stuff like F-Zero, Pikmin, Star Wars Rogue Leader, Baten Kaitos and Ikaruga ranked so well. Cannot believe not a single other person voted for Fire Emblem though! Madness!!

I was very happy to see Rogue Leader make the list. Ikaruga I figured would be on there, because that seems to be the one shmup everyone talks about, regardless of whether or not they're actually into the genre.

It's also one of two shmups on the system

I never played any of the Fire Emblem games, should I start with the Gamecube one or play another one first?

If you have the opportunity I think the GameCube one is an excellent place to start