It’s not uncommon to see nostalgia for theNintendo GameCubenowadays. Some of that may have to do with the wide spread ofSuper Smash Bros. Meleeplay, but it’s also considered underrated by some older Nintendo fans. TheGameCubeis one of Nintendo’s less successful home consoles, but still outstripped the Wii U in terms of sales. With a variety of unique installments likeSuper Mario Sunshine,The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, andPaper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, and a bold start to some other franchises likeLuigi’s MansionandPikmin, the GameCube’s library is still able to impress.
Just looking at first-party efforts alone makes it obvious why the GameCube is held in such high regard, but not every franchise or new game could last alongside iconic faces like Mario and Link. A number of GameCube titles published by Nintendo were either the last or only members of their franchise ever released. This isn’t aboutgames likeF-Zero GXandChibi-Robo!, no matter the perception of the GameCube being their last point of relevance. Rather, these are a mix of titles that just couldn’t escape the GameCube for one reason or another, and it’s surprising to find out the true breadth of Nintendo-published games from this era.
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One-Offs
The first set of Nintendo games trapped on the GameCube are all one-off oddities that can only be found on this system. Survival horror classicEternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiemwas going to receive a sequel, but Nintendo shut the project down and the developer Silicon Knights eventually dissolved. The pinball-RTSOdamawas tied to the microphone peripheral late in the GameCube’s life, andGeistwas intriguing but critically panned.Cubivoreis the odd game out here, as it is a rare instance of another major publisher taking the reins from Nintendo to bring the game to North America. In this case, the English fans the game has can thank Atlus for bringingCubivoreout of Japan.
Franchise Finales
Some Nintendo franchises were able to operate for several years, but ultimately met their end on the GameCube.1080° Snowboardinghad its second and final title,1080° Avalanche, come out in 2003. Meanwhile,NBA CourtsideandWave Raceconcluded with their third entries on the console. The odd one out from this group isBaten Kaitos, a card-based JRPG series seemingly co-owned by Bandai Namco and Nintendo with two entries on the GameCube.
UnlikeNBA Courtside 2002andWave Race: Blue Storm,Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Oceanwas able to eke out a sequel on thesame platform inBaten Kaitos Origins. The Nintendo-publishedOriginswas actually the earliest point ofXenobladedeveloper Monolith Soft working with Nintendo, so this series holds historical value as well as a unique identity.
Japan-Only
The final few Nintendo franchises locked away on the GameCube never made it to Western shores. Of the games remaining in Japan,Densetsu no Quiz Ou Ketteisenmay have the best excuse. It was a microphone-based quiz show that would have practically needed to be remade for other languages, and the peripheral wasn’t performing as well as Nintendo hoped.Doshin the Giantis itself a remake of a Nintendo 64 civilization simulator where players takecontrol of a deity known as Doshin.Giftpiais an odd one-off project byChibi-Robo!developer Skip Ltd., but theKuru Kuru Kururinseries actually had two other installments before it ended withKururin Squash!The playable vehicle on the boxart, Helirin, later made it intoSuper Smash Bros. Brawlas an Assist Trophy, so at least Nintendo has not forgotten all of these oldGameCubefranchises.
