The GameCube marked Nintendo's switch to disc-based media form the work of cartridges and some of the company's finest output ever came on a cute little disc that you put into a cute little cube. The GameCube library features classics from Nintendo itself and a bunch of third-party companies, but in this reader-ranked list we'll be focusing on the former.
Our ranked list of the Best Nintendo GameCube Games Ever covers absolutely everything on the system, but in this selection, we're looking specifically at Nintendo's first-party GameCube games released in the West. All of the games below were developed (or co-developed) by Nintendo and therefore represent the company's own in-house output on the system. Other developers are trusted with Nintendo IP — Kirby and Fire Emblem, to name just a couple — but here we're looking purely at GameCube games developed personally by the folks at Nintendo.
This is a reader-ranked list based on the User Ratings of each game in our database. As such, it's subject to real-time change at any time. If you haven't personally rated any of the games below, you can assign them a score out of 10 right now and exert your influence on the ranking. You can also use the search bar below to quickly find any Nintendo-developed GameCube games and rate them as you wish:
So, let's take a look at every first-party Nintendo GameCube game, as ranked by you. We start at the bottom...
17. Pool Edge (GCN)
15. Doshin The Giant (GCN)
Doshin The Giant is a wholly unique and pleasingly confusing experience. Balancing working hard and being loved alongside doing things quickly but being hated — as well as random natural disasters — allows for a degree of tactics in an otherwise super chilled-out game. Villagers can have unreasonable demands that often contradict their neighbour's, who is standing two metres away, but that’s the price you pay for having such heavy responsibilities. It’s showing some signs of age in its visuals, but the terraforming mechanics alone are still impressively modern, and make Doshin the Giant a great game to play even today.
14. Pac-Man Vs. (GCN)
Designed specifically for the Game Boy Advance link cable and developed by Nintendo EAD alongside Namco, Pac-Man Vs. is a curious addition to the GameCube library that nevertheless boasted the same compelling gameplay that Pac-Man has always been known for. With one player controlling the titular character with the GBA and three other players controller the ghosts on the TV, it was definitely a fascinating idea at the time, with concepts that have gone on to live in subsequent titles like Nintendo Land. Nevertheless, with a distinct lack of content, it failed to keep players' interest for extended periods of time.
13. 1080° Avalanche (GCN)
Nintendo Software Technology gripped tightly to 1080° Avalanche's wayward development and created a title that surpassed expectations, forging a game with its own approach to the genre, sitting between the realism of 1080° Snowboarding and the extravagance of SSX 3. It stuck to the N64 foundations, still focusing on speed and one-on-one versus racing, yet the tight, creative course design, gameplay-changing shortcuts and coin-collecting time trials combined to present a polished GCN game. Intuitive controls made tricks accessible and encouraged gamers to take risks to build the empowering boost bar. It looks great, and a short, but quality selection of licensed bands combines with similar attention spent on sound effects, which provide an aural treat.
12. Wave Race: Blue Storm (GCN)
Wave Race: Blue Storm was a dazzling showcase for the GameCube at launch — nothing like a little water tech to showcase a new system. There's no argument that Nintendo Software Technology's US-developed entry offers a far prettier experience than Wave Race 64's chunky polygons, but the jury's out on whether it takes the lead in the gameplay stakes. For us, the original just beats it, but this is still a great water-based racer.
11. The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (GCN)
A collaborative adventure in the Legend of Zelda mould was something many had dreamt of for a long time, and the Four Swords part of the GBA port of A Link to the Past made the jump to the TV screen here in Four Swords Adventures.
There's a single-player game in there, but the real meat of the experience involved four players hooking their own GBA to a GameCube with the requisite link cable and controlling their Link in a screen-hopping adventure long before Nintendo went asymmetric with the Wii U gamepad.
It's a brilliant co-op Zelda game hampered only by the fact that it required so much kit to function.
And there you have it. Feel free to let us know your personal favourites below.
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