10. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (GCN)

The first home console Fire Emblem to be released in the West — and only the third to be localised — GameCube's Path of Radiance introduced us to Ike, leader of the Greil Mercenaries and rocker of a blue barnet. The game was the first in the series to feature fully 3D graphics, and features (in our opinion) the strongest story of any game in the series.

Ike would go on to join the fight in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and gain notoriety there before returning in the Wii sequel to this game, Radiant Dawn. Unfortunately, this luminary pair of home-console Emblems aren't too easy to find these days, with both of them still exclusive to their original hardware and fetching eye-watering prices on the secondhand market. By modern standards, Path of Radiance is lacking somewhat when it comes to presentation, but how we'd love to be able to play it anew without having to crack out the 'Cube! We like Ike.

9. Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem (GCN)

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem is a brilliant psychological horror game that blends Resident Evil-style survival horror with Lovecraftian Old World magick and an era-hopping historical narrative to create something quite unique and only available on GameCube. It may take you a while to get into its spellcasting and unusual mix of styles (and that may be the reason second-hand copies cost mere pennies for so many years), but once it gets under your skin it's a hard game to shake. The fourth wall-breaking sanity effects always steal the column inches, but the ambitious, dread-soaked story deserves just as much recognition, and whether you're a hardcore horror aficionado or a novice that needs a walkthrough with the lights on, we recommend playing this any which way you can. 

8. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (GCN)

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess took the series back to an art style closer to Ocarina of Time, albeit a little earthier and obviously benefiting from the power of the 'Cube. For many fans, it was the 'realistic' Zelda they'd been pining for after Nintendo took a left turn with The Wind Waker's cel-shading, and although it didn't quite strike all the right notes, it still features some breathtaking dungeons, memorably oddball characters, and a unique atmosphere.

Setting a precedent that Nintendo would later repeat with Breath of the Wild, Twilight Princess straddled generations, bookending the GameCube and launching the Wii with some added waggle and widescreen.

7. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time / Master Quest (GCN)

'Ura Zelda' - an expanded 'Second Quest' version of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time with remixed dungeon elements and other minor alterations - was planned for the ill-fated 64DD console, but thanks to that system's commercial failure, it got shelved. Fortunately, GameCube owners would get the chance to play it on this special disc that was available as a pre-order bonus with The Wind Waker (and was actually packaged in that game's box in some regions).

There's not much to say beyond the fact that it gave fans the chance to play previously-unreleased Zelda content, so no wonder it ranks so highly in GameCube owners' memories. A variation of the Master Quest was later made available in Grezzo's Ocarina port on 3DS, but this is the only way to play it with those classic N64 visuals (albeit with the resolution doubled on GameCube compared to the 64-bit original).

6. Super Smash Bros. Melee (GCN)

There's a reason that to this day Super Smash Bros. Melee has a dedicated hardcore following in the fighter community. Fans will say it's tighter, faster, and requires more skill than other entries. They'll point to it being far more entertaining to watch than its successors, down to this faster pace. They'll point out its better balance. All compelling arguments.

More broadly, though, it's a brilliant local multiplayer brawler that sanded the rough edges off the N64 original, added a metric ton of content, and — yes — feels the most balanced of all entries in the series before the roster ballooned. Smash would continue to grow from here on out, but there's an elegance and purity to the GameCube iteration that makes it worth revisiting if you're knee-deep in Ultimate and want to try a different flavour of superstar brawling.

5. The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition (GCN)

A promotional disc that was bundled with hardware or made available in a variety of ways to GameCube players across the globe, it's hard to argue with the quality of the games on offer. It contains the original Legend of Zelda and Zelda II for NES as well as the N64 entries Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. The emulation of the latter two wasn't perfect, but as a means of playing past Zeldas on your shiny new GameCube for the pleasing entry price of $0, it was a very fine collection indeed.

4. Resident Evil 4 (GCN)

Resident Evil 4 was a watershed moment for survival horror Capcom's series. Shedding the genre-defining fixed-camera gameplay of the previous titles, it traded a little of that survival horror for a boatload of tight, tense action and not only revitalised the series, but set the blueprint for a decade of third-person actions games. So brilliant was RE4 that it's taken until relatively recently for the series to escape its shadow.

The game was designed with Nintendo's hardware in mind and despite going on to appear on practically every other home console produced since the GameCube, the original system is still one of the best places to play it, with the GameCube controller marrying the design perfectly (although the recent Switch version isn't bad, either). The series has had its ups and downs like any other, but it's hard to argue that RE4 isn't the best it's ever been.

3. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GCN)

Given the 'Cel-da' controversy that blighted the game at its initial reveal, it's fitting that The Wind Waker has come to be so loved and admired over time. Where other games of the era struggle under the weight of modern high-definition scrutiny, Toon Link's maiden voyage looks almost as fresh as the day we first set out from Outset Isle to discover what had happened to the Hyrule we once knew.

It's not without flaws (and the HD remake on Wii U addressed many of them) but thinking back, we don't really remember the repetitive wind conducting, the infamous Triforce shard hunt or Tingle's sea chart extortion. No, it's the rainbow colours of the tempestuous ocean, the breezy panpipes of Dragon Roost and the salty self-reflection our voyages brought about that stick in the memory. Beneath the surface, it's very much a continuation of the 3D Zelda template laid down in Ocarina of Time, but there's undeniable magic in The Wind Waker, and in spite of its imperfections, it's still one of our very favourites of the series.

2. Metroid Prime (GCN)

Metroid Prime is the kind of game that people say 'shouldn't' have worked. Despite finding the 2D heart of both the Mario and Zelda franchises and transplanting them into 3D, somehow there was extreme scepticism that it could also be done with the Metroid series as well. Perhaps it was because second-party studio Retro Studios was at the helm rather than Shigeru Miyamoto and his band of wizards at Nintendo HQ, but Retro managed to produce one of the finest games on the system, or indeed any system.

The design, extraordinary atmosphere and sense of exploration and progression of the 2D games all transfer incredibly well into a first-person shooter and while the Wii version might have added the IR pointer control scheme of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, there's still something to be said for experiencing the original using the controller it was designed for. With Metroid Prime 4 in development for Switch, now is a great time to rediscover the original and what made it so great — and with the sublime Metroid Prime Remastered now available, it's never been easier.

1. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GCN)

The power of GameCube enabled greater fidelity of its paper-based art style than the original, but otherwise Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door stuck closely to the original's blueprint. It's a wonderfully colourful adventure packed with clever callbacks to the portly plumber's history and the same irreverent spirit which makes so many Mario RPGs refreshingly different from the mascot's platformers. Where other entries have dropped the ball in an area or two, Thousand-Year Door gets everything right; plot, writing, battles, presentation - the lot.

Prices for a GameCube disc — still the only official way to play (though not for long thanks to a recently announced Switch remaster) — have skyrocketed in recent years and given the quality, it's not hard to see why. Treasure your copy if you've got one, and perhaps lend it to a trusted friend who never visited the town of Rogueport.

And if you don't have a copy or a GameCube? Well, have we got some good news for you!...


How's that for a slice of fried gold? Disagree with the ranking? Well, you can do something about it by rating your favourites — remember this list is fluid and subject to change, so be sure to check back every now and then as it refines over time. Until then, check out our Hardware Classics feature on the GameCube for a brief history of the console and then crack out the Wavebirds and enjoy some of the beauties on this list.