At a glance, you might think this week's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate event is about "forgotten games" but no, it's actually celebrating the Nintendo GameCube. Next week marks the 20 year anniversary of its original launch in Japan.
As part of this event, all sorts of spirits tied to this particular console will feature - including Pikmin, characters from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, items from Super Mario Sunshine and even Krystal from Star Fox Adventures. Eternal Darkness also gets some love, too.
Even if you aren't participating in this upcoming event, feel free to share your memories of the GameCube launch, which took place in 2001 in North America, and was followed by a 2002 release in European regions.
This event will start later this week on Friday and will run for a total of three days. Will you be participating? Tell us below.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 49
The Gamecube was one of the first systems I bought with my own money. I had spare cash from my college tuition at the time, so I bought a Cube and a GBA with a couple of games for each one. The one game that kept me glued to the Cube was the original Metroid Prime.
Honestly got some of the most slept on hidden gems in the world right there. A shame they are so expensive now, $100 is a cheap price for ONE game. MAYBE if Ninty resold GCN games on the Switch, those prices would go down and people would be able to experience them legally without emulation...
Its all coming into place!
Love the Cube.
Still have mine in its launch day box in mint condition along with over 50 games.
Even have a sealed copy of Ikaruga as I bought 2 copies for cheap.
Some truly amazing games on that system.
Viewtiful Joe is one of my all time favourite games.
Never forget playing Rogue Leader for the first time on launch night until 3 in the morning.
Blew.
My
Mind.
I came because I caught that faint unmistakable scent of F-Zero GX!!
Nintendo’s really poking the bear with this one.
Yeah, we know you all really want and have asked for NGC online on Switch but hey, here’s a spirit event instead and nothing else.
@SeantheDon29
Pffft, Nintendo has nothing to do with SSBU other than publishing rights, licensing, and marketing. They don't handle the actual in-game events or development - Bandai Namco is the one you're looking for.
This wasn't the first time the bear was poked. Nintendo's strange silence over both Zelda and Metroid anniversaries didn't stop Bandai Namco from doing a spirit event on multiple 35th anniversaries.
Love to see the GameCube recognition. It’s my personal favorite Nintendo system with so many good single-player and local multiplayer titles. If I made a top 10 favorite game list, I think at least 4 or 5 titles would be from that system alone!
I love the GameCube. I have my GameCube with Gameboy player hooked up to my 4k TV via a Retrobit Prism. I still play it regularly. There are so many exclusive classics on the system. That was such a great time to be a gamer. Modern 3D games complete on the disc with no patching or DLC. It's a shame its games aren't more accessible. The games are so expensive now. I feel lucky to have such a nice collection with most of the must have 1st party games. Hopefully, Nintendo will rerelease its GameCube catalogue at some point.
Ah. I remember driving to Wal-Mart at midnight to pick one up. There were (maybe) half a dozen others lined up doing the same thing. It wasn’t exactly a must-own item I guess. But I sure loved that Cube.
Nintendo's best 3D games are on the Gamecube. What a great era.
20 years oaf NGC? Great time to add it to NSO (won't happen I know).
Due to the fact that I own all spirits and this event has no new spirits, I won't play.
I still wish Nintendo had continued with their classic mini range; a gamecube mini would be absolutely perfect right now.
As for the event, it's cool, but as I most likely have all the spirits present, it's not really something I can really do much with.
I still have all my old GC games, but no system (lent it to my sister after I got the Wii, only to later find out from her "You never gave it to me. I never had it"). Wish I had something to play it on now that scales correctly to large 4k TV's. There were definitely some real gems to be played.
The GameCube and GBA were the systems that made me fall in love with gaming. I’ll never forget going down to the our local Kmart in small town Montana every Sunday and playing the Luigi’s Mansion demo over and over and over. I was a middle school kid who thought he’d seen the pinnacle of graphics. I mean, that dust that Luigi kicks up as he stumbles around the mansion…wow! I nearly wore that demo system out.
I finally received one as a gift a few months later (I think Christmas) with a copy of Luigi’s Mansion, and it was instant love.
The first party games were incredible. While my friends were playing Halo, I was playing through Metroid Prime and falling in love with the Metroid series. I still have a soft spot for Luigi’s Mansion, and Melee was unbelievable. Even Super Mario Sunshine was a standout for me on the system.
Weirdly, I ended up amassing a large collection of third party games, and poured hundreds of hours of Tony Hawk (3,4,THUG), and the SSX series (Tricky, 3, On Tour). I would actually wake up a couple hours early so I could play NBA Street Vol. 2 before I had to head to my high school classes.
I’ll never forget the summer nights before I left for University, 2 am with my Wavebird controller in my hands, chatting with my high school girlfriend while I worked my way down the mountain in SSX On Tour.
This might be a bit overly sentimental for a small little cube, but this system was with me through some of the most formative years of my life, and it will forever hold a special place in my heart.
Love the Gamecube to bits and I like everyone here I hope there will be more ways to play the games someday soon. Getting an improved version of Super Mario Sunshine for Switch was great. The Star Fox games are probably my most wanted
Like others have said. Cracking machine. I have two and a hefty collection of games. I occasionally still pick up the odd game cheap here and there. Have most the big hitters that appeal to me so it’s just anything else I see cheapish. Some massive all time greats on this machine and some real sleeper hits. Also some cracking third party games. Arguably many of my faves on GC are third party. SSX3 is a beast. EA Sports Big was doing some great stuff back then.
If you want to celebrate 20 years of GameCube make the games available on switch somehow! I mean come on i can't even play Wind waker or Twilight princess or Metroid prime on my switch?
Surely it can handle them.
Wish they would put GameCube on Switch
You know which system also is 20 years old this year?
The one coming to Switch Online.
The GBA.
Let's go, Ninty!
@Zeldafan79 + Ocarina of Time + Masterquest! (was a great bundle with Windwaker )
@Friendly GBA isn't coming. rumors only for GB and GBC
I do not want GameCube on NSO, I want GameCube virtual console.
@TKundNobody Eurogamer says other consoles are also on the cards
But yeah, if any system besides the gameboy and gameboy color will be added, it’s probably the virtual boy. Just for nostalgia purposes i guess
Nintendo online is being handled even worse than the VC on Wii or Wii U. At least then we got three games a month on average. Now it's an even slower drip feeding of two to five games every six months.
Who ever is in charge of the distribution of games needs to be fired ASAP! At that rate I'll be able to collect my damn social security by the time even even half the non licensed Library is available.
@Friendly I would love to have GBA and N64 and GCN games asap on my switch. But I doubt it will happen soon (if at all)
The Gamecube is easily my favourite system of all time. Why? Well, one would only have to look at how daring it was. Mario was taken away from the Mushroom Kingdom, Metroid went first person, Zelda went cel shaded, Star Fox became an adventure game, Mario Kart used 2 players per Kart, Donkey Kong became a rhythm game and Nintendo published a horror game in Eternal Darkness. I can't remember the last time Nintendo took risks like that. More importantly, a lot of these games still hold up really well today.
@TKundNobody i’d love to see that too. But first they’re going to remake / rerelease / remaster everything that’s worth it.
@fox_mattcloud
GameCube to this day is probably still my second favorite Nintendo system. First being Snes. Gotta give props to that because it was the first system that just blew me away!
I liked GameCubes mini discs too. Everyone else was using big Discs and Nintendo be like check out our mini discs!
Plus all those daring games you mentioned. Love star fox adventures btw! I don't care if it is a Zelda clone with a star fox skin, it's a damn good one!
Oh and nice to see a fellow Eternal Darkness fan!
I'd personally rather them celebrate with a GameCube Mini, but of course that's asking WAY too much.
Still love this machine. I got the Mario Kart + Zelda collection bundle and it was great. My first time experiencing OoT was through this. MM too although I think I was too young to properly appreciate that game at the time as I didn't like it back then. These days, while still not exactly my favourite Zelda game, I have a much higher appreciation for it.
Double Dash was great too of course, played that one for many hours. Not to mention all the other games I got for the system. Too many games and series got stuck on this thing though and I would love to see them return still. Maybe one day.
Oh yeah, and GC for NSO please. Nintendo is never gonna do that though because they know they can just slap an HD layer over these games, tweak some small things, and release it for 60 bucks. It's kinda sad honestly.
Here's hoping we'll be playing as the last fighter by the times the Wii event rolls around.
The GCN holds a special place in my heart, as my first Nintendo home console.
Love the Gamecube, if only Nintendo wasn't so stubborn to use dvd like the PS2, a hell lot more people would have discovered the awesome games on this...cube.
Love the GameCube! Got me through my teens alongside the GBA. The Smash event is kinda cool, but I don't think it's worth reinstalling the game for. Space is limited and something had to go.
Sadly, we all know this is the only way Nintendo will acknowledge or honour the Gamecube in any capacity.
The Switch will get Virtual Console, including Gamecube, but only through hacking and custom firmware. Shame. It's like Nintendo don't like money.
GameCube coming to switch soon?
Nintendo direct soon
So I guess around 20 years ago I was standing outside Virgin waiting for them to be open, I think they thought I was weird as I was the only one!
It was a great console with the best controller(wavebird), and had some great games to play.
This was around the time that I started to keep my stuff in good condition so more than happy that Nintendo don't just listen to the minority who wants the games to be released on the switch. Nintendo are not stupid to think they would sell in any great quantity unless they gave them away, and then that still wouldn't be cheap enough to stop people complaining. And no doubt the majority of those moaners will have already emulated anyway!
GameCube, the good ol days back then.
@Nin10dood
it was a really special time.
Pikmin and Smash Melee a couple weeks later was my most exciting time... then a year or 2 Mario Sunshine, Wind Waker and Metroid Prime in the same year.. I had been in games since Pong but this one was where my true affinity for Nintendo was bonded for liiiiiiiife. Long live the Cube indeed!
Considering N64 still yet to come to NSO (if ever), dreaming about GameCube would be too much.
We still have our Game Cube. Plugged in to keep the battery from going. But if we want to play Game Cube games, we play them on our Wii (which is hooked up to the TV.)
The kids in our gang liked GC Super Smash and Mario Kart better than the Wii versions. So when they'd come over, it would be the GC games that got played.
That changed with the Wii U. But GC Super Smash still got loaded up quite a bit.
I liked the 2 players in 1 kart on GC Mario Kart. It was great for when our kids were too young to drive the karts, but still wanted to play with us adults.
As our kids got older, we still played 2 players in 1 kart, but the person in the kart with you wasn't on your team. They were trying to make you crash by throwing bombs in front of you, or trying to bump you into objects or over the edge. LOL.
@mereel
I went with my dad to pick mine up at launch and it was the same way.
The GameCube and Xbox launches weren’t big huge events. Everyone was obsessed with the PS2. Hell I saw more Gamecubes and Xboxes in November 2001 on Wal Mart’s shelves than I did PS2s. They were still in short supply in my state a year after launch
The cube was the first system I bought entirely with my own money (previous consoles were gifts from my parents). 2003 and I got it for £70 secondhand along with Legend of Zelda The Wind Waker, along with the Ocarina of Time and Master Quest bonus disc.
Truth be told, whilst the console was relevant until I got my Wii in 2009 I only actually owned about 10 games, but they were all great, especially for multiplayer.
These days I have close to 100 games and there are still one or two I’d love to get hold of (TTYD anyone?)
Ah yes, the system where I found my love for Custom Robo.
And then Nintendo quickly forgot it, along with F-Zero. But hey, gotta announce an annual Prime or else Metroid dies.
Some of my fondest GameCube memories are with these games:
Wind Waker
Metroid Prime 1 & 2
F-Zero GX
Tales of Symphonia
Baten Kaitos 1 & Origins
Geist
Viewtiful Joe 1 & 2
Resident Evil 0, 1, 2, Code Veronica, and 4
I-Ninja
Eternal Darkness
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn
Need For Speed Underground 2
Wave Race: Blue Storm
Star Fox Adventures and Assault
Luigi's Mansion
Pikmin 1 & 2
Bloody Roar: Primal Fury
Mega Man X: Command Mission
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 3
Sonic Adventure 1 DX & 2 Battle
Mario Kart: Double Dash !!
Soul Calibur II
Gotcha Force
Kirby's Air Ride
Twilight Princess
Four Swords Adventure
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
Super Mario Sunshines
@Moistnado Nintendo had the chance to do that on the Wii u. Hackers have shown that the Wii u is 100% capable of playing GameCube games. But of course Nintendo didn't do anything with this. And yes I do have a modded Wii u fully loaded up with GameCube games. It was an amazing system.
I remember covering the launch for an obscure trade magazine (Insert Coin) and for IGN at the time. I know many of you dislike the outlet, but I liked it a lot there back then.
My highlight was attending ECTS in London and getting to play Wave Race, Star Wars, Luigi's Mansion, Pikmin etc for the first time. The games blew me away and it surely was a hit for me even if the general public didn't celebrate the console as much. Eternal Darkness might have been on display at the launch event as well but I could be mistaken... Loved that game too at the time.
Later nostalgic moments are playing Donkey Konga and that Jungle Beat (or what the platformer was called) with kongas. So unique and fun without feeling gimmicky to me. Ahhh... and winter spent with Animal Crossing with an ex, and Resident Evil 4 kicking a$$. Good times.
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