Notably absent from Nintendo’s show floor were Gamecube games. The DS was everywhere and the Wii had a huge amount of attention. Even though Wii is on the horizon some Nintendo and a handful of third party publishers haven’t dropped the Cube yet. Here are some upcoming games that make the Gamecube still worth owning.
Naruto: Clash of Ninja 2
D3 Publisher continues to bring over Eighting’s Naruto games and the second installment is way better than the first. Clash of Ninja 2 brings together all of the genin you’ve grown to love to make a roster of twenty three playable characters. Don’t let the excitement of taking control of Shino, Neji and Garra take away from Clash of Ninja 2’s killer feature, four player combat. With an easy to learn fighting system and sleek 3D graphics Naruto: Clash of Ninja 2 is an anime lover’s party game.
Baten Kaitos Origins
RPGs may not be the Gamecube’s strong point, but the few RPGs on the Gamecube are high quality. Take Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean, one of the underappreciated card battling RPGs by Monolith Software on the Cube. Nintendo is taking a step back and publishing Baten Kaitos Origins, which explains the back history of the series. The story is set twenty years before the events in Eternal Wings where the Empire is rising to power. By journeying with Sagi players will learn why the lost ocean is approaching. Baten Kaitos Origins also gives players the freedom to explore the world at their pace, follow the storyline or collect the 600 Magnus cards with their ship.
Super Paper Mario
Nintendo is bringing back the days of classic platforming with Super Paper Mario. Play as Mario, Peach and Bowser as you stomp Koopas, collect coins and float through outer space across eight worlds. The game retains the unique style of the Paper Mario series with cutout characters and blends that with 8 bit graphics. A new power up lets Mario transform into mega retro Mario to stomp through a level or a giant pixilated Princess Peach. Nintendo also announced that Super Paper Mario will have RPG elements, but there aren’t any concrete details about how these might be used.
One Piece: Grand Adventure
Set sail with Monkey D. Luffy in the all new adventure mode in One Piece for Gamecube. Fight with Zoro, Nami and Crocodile in a grand battle or bring them together in your own pirate crew. One Piece Grand Adventure nets twenty four playable characters and over 50 support characters to add to your personal band of pirates. On top of fighting One Piece: Grand Adventure also adds in new mini games like mob battles to mix up gameplay.
DK: Bongo Blast
Here’s an interesting take on the racing genre. DK: Bongo Blast brings Donkey Kong, Diddy and his monkey pals in airborne racing on barrel jets. You could play the game with the standard Gamecube controller or break out the bongos for innovative gameplay. By hitting on the bongos players can snag power ups and swing side to side. DK Bongo Blast lets up to four players race on five worlds to see who is the bongo banging champion.
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Sure Twilight Princess is coming out for the Wii, but it is still coming out for the Gamecube. Play as Link, a young man from a country village on a journey to the Hyrule Summit. What Link doesn’t know is that the Twilight Realm is covering Hyrule and when he enters the darkness he turns into a wolf. With the help of Midna Link escapes and is off to restore the kingdom of Hyrule. Twilight Princess brings what players wanted when they saw the Space World trailer, a mature Link who can fight on horseback. If you don’t mind missing out on using the Wii wand, gamers can still adventure with Link on their Gamecube.
Normally at the end of a console’s life the last games manage to push the hardware to its limit. If the trend continues, the final round of Gamecube games could be the best yet.
