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Happy 15th Gamecube

Hello everyone, how are you? Today is the 15th anniversary of the Gamecube (in Japan). The Gamecube is my most favorite Nintendo system ever, and probably my most favorite system of all time. It didn't sell a ton, but it is remembered as a modern day classic system now. It had some great games and some neat third-party exclusives too. It's also home to my favorite controller ever, I just love how the thing feels in my hands, it's my definition of the perfect controller, and alot of the games were made for it too. There are some questionable design choices, but I guess I can look past those as it's my favorite controller. I guess that's why I like the 360 controller, they took everything I loved about the Gamecube controller and improved it.

Anyway, what I liked most about it is the games. I was going to list my 10 favorite games, but since it's the 15th anniversary, I decided to bump up that number and make it 15. So here are my 15 favorite Gamecube games.

Chibi-Robo: Chibi-Robo is a really quirky game. You play as Chibi-Robo and your task is to make the family in the gaame happy by doing tasks around the house. Like cleaning, doing chores and stuff. The story is really quirky, but underneath the quirky game is a really dark story if you pay attention. Sucks the series is now dead, but really worth a play through if you can find it. 

Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness: A sequel to the game Pokemon Coliseum. The game is really different from the handheld games. In these entries, you have to break one of the most important rules in Pokemon; don't steal a trainer's Pokemon. Except here you have to because they have been turned into "Shadow Pokemon" which makes them stronger, but looks the door to their heart. Your job is to catch these Pokemon and purify them. That's not all, you also have to catch XD001, which is Shadow Lugia and the strongest Shadow Pokemon. It's a really neat game and home to one of the best songs ever.

Kirby's Air Ride: This game is really fun. It's very simple to play it, all you need is the analog stick and the A button to play. It's really easy to pick up and play, but satisfying to master. It has 3 different modes, your traditional racing mode, a top down racing mode, and City Trial, which is a race to see who can build the best Air Ride Machine before the time ends. From there you'll go into a final mini game and see how your machine stacks up against your opponents.

NFS Most Wanted: One of my favorite racing games of all time and probably my favorite Need for Speed game. The game has you race against the Blacklist, 15 underground streetracers who are the best of the best. You have to race other racers, break the law, anything to get a shot at one of the Blacklist racers. When you beat one, you rank up the list till you reach the number 1 spot and reclaim what you lost. It's really fun, it also has some of my favorite licensed songs.

SA2 Battle: Sonic Adventure 2 Battle has always been one of my favorite 3D Sonic games. I really loved playing the 2-Player mode, I always found it pretty fun. I know people hate Shadow, but he's always been one of my favorite characters. Game has some really neat, if cheesy music.

Luigi's Mansion: A Gamecube lauch title and it has always been one of my favorites. I replay this game every Halloween from start to finish in one sitting every year since I got it. It really feels like a Metroid game in a way as you get new power-ups and unlock new areas.

Star Wars Rogue Squadron 2: This was a launch(window) game I think, and out of all the (launch)games, it still holds up very well both in gameplay and in graphics. Game still looks amazing. PLus it starts you off from the attack at the Death Star. What more could you want?

StarFox Assault: There will never be a Starfox game as good as 64. I thought this game might have been it, it isn't but it almost came close. But one of the things I always loved about this game is the multiplayer mode, it was really fun. You have many options to choose from. You can go on foot and use weapons, the Arwings, the Landmasters, and even Wolfens. 

F-Zero GX: To date this is still the hardest game I have ever played. It's really fast paced. It has some really fun tracks and really neat music. You can also make your own F-Zero machine too. Did you know there's even an arcade cabinet and that you can take your memory card to unlock more content? I'm still trying to find it... 

Soul Calibur 2: When I first got it, I was only interested in using Link. He was really awesome but the game is really fun. It has a ton of modes and characters to choose from. I think this may be my favorite redention of OoT Link in a game besides Ocarina of Time itself.

Double Dash/Pikmin 2: I grouped these 2 because I think I may have played these 2 games around the same time. Double Dash is really fun and probably the best Mario Kart game ever. It's even more fun with 2 players as one player is the driver and the other is the player that throws the items. Pikmin 2 is really good, better than the 1st one. There's more levels to explore, and while the end of the day limit is still around, this time you're not restricted to beat the game within 30 days, so you have more freedom.

Melee: To everyone, Melee was a reason to own a Gamecube. This was one of my first Gamecube games, heck this was one of the first 2 games I got for the Gamecube. This really changed the game at the time. It was really fun and still a popular tournament game. 

Super Mario Sunshine: This was the game I wanted the Gamecube for. I remember seeing a preview in Nintendo Power and knew I had to have a Gamecube. It's really underrated, but a really fun game. The levels without F.L.U.D.D. are the best. One thing it really nails is the feeling that you are on a tropical vacation.

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door: This was the last great Paper Mario game. Okay Super Ppaer Mario was good too, but in a traditional rpg sense. The game improved on the original in every single way. Not only that, but it's probably the most hilarious game I have ever played. And it takes the paper concept literally.

Wind Waker/Twilight Princess: These are my 2 most favorite Zelda games and I like both of them for different reasons. Wind Waker was my first Zelda game. I really love this game, really like sailing the ocean and exploring the islands. The artstyle of the game wasn't liked by everyone but it certainly gives the characters charm. The story is really good and definitely one of my favorite endings. Twilight Princess was the Zelda game I was hyped for the most. I remember trying to find info of it, even a really bad screenshot. It did not disappoint me in any way. The dungeons from Arbirters Ground and beyond were really good. Both of these games are also available as HD remakes on the Wii U, which is an amazing coincidence. 

That's it for now. I kinda cheated on the list though, if you can tell. I found out about it on such short notice, which is why my descriptions on the games isn't up to what my usual is. So, what are your favorite Gamecube games? Thanks for reading and happy 15th anniversary Gamecube.