Tero's Top Ten - GC

I was sick this week and spent most of my time trying to catch up on sleep rather than playing games. Not that I haven't given up sleep to play games before, but I prefer to do that when I'm healthy. So it's time for another one of these top 10 posts. Gamecube videos will likely never be on this site, but I have played the system extensively and it gives you a look as to where my tastes in modern games lie.

Although the GC is, in my opinion, the weakest of all Nintendo consoles, you wouldn't really know it from the top 10. I suppose it's probably the case that all systems can field 10 very strong games, and the real test is what they can do beyond that.

1 - F-Zero GX
2 - Super Smash Bros Melee
3 - Tales of Symphonia
4 - Pikmin
5 - Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
6 - Sonic Adventure 2 Battle
7 - Need For Speed Underground 2
8 - Phantasy Star Online: Episode 1 and 2
9 - Super Monkey Ball 2
10 - Mario Power Tennis

This was actually somewhat harder to make than I thought it would be. The GC essentially served two major functions, which were to play a limited number of spectacular exclusives, and to serve as one of the best party systems ever created. It's sometimes hard to know how to rate predominantly single-player games against multiplayer ones, but I've done the best I can here.

F-Zero GX and Super Smash Bros Melee are, I think, the obvious top 2 picks, it's just a matter of ordering for them. While I undeniably spent longer playing Melee and it probably had greater impact at the time, I just can't overlook the insane labour of love that is F-Zero GX. They're both 10.0 games for sure either way.

The next three games make a clear second tier to my mind. Tales of Symphonia almost definitely comes first, its scope and replay value significantly exceed the other two. The choice between Pikmin and TTYD isn't obvious, I feel that Pikmin has the better atmosphere and is more innovative, whereas TTYD has better polish. In the end I went with Pikmin because I felt it was slightly more memorable.

Now we come to the parts of the list that were hard to make. Sonic Adventure 2's placement on this list is undeniably controversial since it's a very polarizing game, but I feel that it's a good example of a game where the whole is more than the sum of its parts, the game has good pacing and flows together well. It's also singlehandedly responsible for convincing me to buy every other 3D Sonic released since then, even though none of them have been as good.

This was a great generation for racing games. In addition to F-Zero GX, there was also NFS Underground 2 and Burnout 2 (which I debated for a long time, it would probably be the 11th pick on this list). Both of these games were very well polished and really showed how the newer technology could make racing games a lot more intense.

Phantasy Star Online is a remarkable game in that even when played offline it still manages to edge out most of the GC's RPGs. Definitely one of the best MMOs ever.

The last two games on this list are classics of multiplayer. Of the two, I think Mario Power Tennis's multiplayer is actually better, but Monkey Ball 2 has far better single player to make up for it. Actually, Power Tennis being on this list at all is a bit surprising, initially there's no way I would have put it above its compatriot, Mario Golf Toadstool Tour, but over time I've come to appreciate just how much staying power this game really has. It's multiplayer is easy for anyone to get into and endlessly entertaining, almost to the same extent as something like NBA Jam. Precious few games hold their appeal like this.


A couple other games that narrowly missed the list were Burnout 2, Baten Kaitos, Kirby Air Ride, Beyond Good and Evil, and Nintendo Puzzle Collection. And no, I didn't forget the Metroid Prime or Zelda titles, I've just never been a fan of either 3D Metroid or 3D Zelda. Well, pre-Other M 3D Metroid, anyway.