The GameCube wasn’t one of Nintendo’s most successful systems. It boasted some fantastic and super popular games (like the feature-packed Super Smash Bros. Melee), but its performance in its own console generation was less than stellar. A lot of this, of course, can be explained away by the fact that it competed with the world-conquering PlayStation 2.
As a result, many titles on the system just didn’t garner the sales they probably could and should have. Here are some lesser-appreciated GameCube releases that missed out on the limelight.
10 Billy Hatcher And The Giant Egg
Sega and Sonic Team have never been afraid to defy convention. From the quirky brilliance of the Dreamcast to Sonic’s furry Werehog adventures in Sonic Unleashed, this development and publishing duo just love an outlandish idea. Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg is just another example.
A common pick for a cult classic GameCube title, this 2003 release is a platformer that sees the titular Billy fighting to defeat Dark Raven and his Crows, who have plunged Morning Land into an endless night. The brilliantly bizarre gameplay mechanic of rolling huge eggs around (for defensive, offensive and traversal purposes) and hatching different things from them makes this one truly unique. A forgotten gem.
9 Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem
By the time of the GameCube’s arrival on the market, Nintendo had firmly and proudly developed a reputation for bright, bold, colorful, family-friendly gaming. Nevertheless, they also needed that core gamer appeal, hence the deal with Capcom to bring Resident Evil 4 to the GameCube first, as well as the brilliant remake of the original and ports of earlier titles in the franchise.
Interestingly, the system is also home to a rare Nintendo-exclusive survival horror experience: Silicon Knights’ 2002 title Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem. Each chapter of the game stars a different character from a different time period following humanity’s battle against the Ancients from across time, making for an intriguing narrative. The game’s notorious sanity effects, monsters encountered take a mental toll on the player character, make it an unforgettable experience, and it’s a real shame that the title wasn’t more successful despite glowing reviews.
8 P.N.03
Capcom’s unique partnership with Nintendo gave rise to some very creative and unusual GameCube exclusives. The cel-shaded beat ‘em up Viewtiful Joe is one example, but that stylish, flashy, and fun title found its audience and actually went on to develop a few further releases. P.N.03 (Product Number Three), sadly, did not fare so well.
This third-person shooter, a rarity for the system, puts players in the shoes and fancy exo-suit of Vanessa Z. Schneider, a mercenary who must travel between various planets and take down CAMS (Computerized Armament Management Systems) droids that now pose a great threat to humanity. It’s no mindless blaster: Vanessa’s suits boast great firepower and boundless agility, allowing her to avoid enemy fire through graceful and acrobatic motions. A striking title, it suffered from slightly cumbersome controls and has largely been forgotten.
7 Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings And The Lost Ocean
Another genre that lacked GameCube representation was the RPG. Monolith Soft, tri-Crescendo, and Namco collaborated to bring Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings And The Lost Ocean to the system to help fill that void, but the game just didn’t catch on.
While a lot of genre entries tend to strictly adhere to turn-based RPG or action RPG norms and often attract a rather different fanbase as a result, Baten Kaitos attempted to blend both concepts. It had some very interesting ideas, with the player not directly controlling the party but guiding them as a sort of avatar, but Kalas’ adventure across a sky-based realm just didn’t resonate. A prequel did see release, but sales were super modest. It was a real shame, as Baten Kaitos’ card-based battle system remains very unique and a lot of fun to experiment with.
6 Cubivore: Survival Of The Fittest
Could there be any better fit for a cube-shaped console than a freakish cube-shaped creature? It seemed that Saru Brunei and Intelligent Systems were on to a winner with this little oddity, but it made little impact and is mostly forgotten today.
Still, GameCube connoisseurs remember it for its sheer, relentless quirkiness. In Cubivore: Survival of the Fittest, the Killer Cubivore has seized control through the sheer power of… well, being bigger, stronger, and angrier than every other creature. The player character, not standing for any of that nonsense, sets out to consume other Cubivores and grow in size and strength itself, over several lifecycles.
There’s a surprising amount of depth to the ‘evolution’ mechanics, with different types of consumable Cubivore giving the character different stats and abilities. With a little more refinement, this really could’ve been something special.
5 Odama
The GameCube really is a haven for gamers who love seeking out the quirkier, less mainstream titles of yesteryear. Many who owned the system passed Odama by, but it’s an incredibly unique game that definitely warrants attention.
This 2006 effort from Vivarium is notable for two things: combining tactical combat with pinball and being bundled with the GameCube’s microphone peripheral, which few remember/even knew existed. The gameplay revolves around using the “Odama” (a great pinball-boulder, essentially) to defeat the enemy forces while directing the player’s own out of its path using the microphone. Odama received mixed reviews and meager sales, but it’s surprisingly complex and worth a look for strategy fans.
4 Killer7
Killer7 is another of Capcom’s cult-favorite GameCube titles. This one was developed by Grasshopper Manufacture, one of the ever-peculiar works of the eccentric Suda51 of No More Heroes fame.
In this on-rails FPS, the player takes control of seven different assassins, each of which are extensions of Harman Smith, as they piece together an elaborate conspiracy while engaging in official government ‘work.’ They each have different abilities that must be switched between to make progress, keeping things engaging and giving each of these personalities the airtime they deserve. Flashy, stylish, and distinctly adult as Suda’s games tend to be, it’s a fascinating experience like no other, though it was certainly far from mainstream.
3 Battalion Wars
It’s such a shame that the fantastic Advance Wars series hasn’t seen a fresh release in such a long time, with 2008’s Advance Wars: Days of Ruin being the most recent. The likes of Wargroove both scratch that itch, though, and keep fans yearning for a new entry.
In its day, the series’ popularity was enough to spawn a spin-off named Battalion Wars, which was actually part of the Famicom Wars franchise in Japan, which hit the GameCube in 2005. This real-time strategy title didn’t flop as hard as some, as it warranted a Wii sequel two years later, but Battalion Wars 2 fared even worse and the concept hasn’t been revisited since. A pity, as there was a lot of potential here.
2 Beyond Good & Evil
Alongside Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg, Beyond Good & Evil is probably among the most sadly under-appreciated titles the GameCube had to offer. The latter is a fascinating Ubisoft effort starring Jade, a journalist who finds herself caught up in a huge conspiracy on the futuristic planet of Hillys.
While its combat is a little clunky and the experience a bit too short, the plot is engrossing, and the characters are utterly charming. It’s tragic that the game’s great acclaim just didn’t translate to sales. Here's hoping that the prequel, Beyond Good & Evil 2, after so long in development, will hopefully rectify this situation somewhat.
1 Donkey Kong Racing
To close out this list with a curveball, here’s a title that never even reached the system at all. Donkey Kong Racing was intended as a GameCube follow-up to Diddy Kong Racing, which had fared super well on the N64 and is still considered by some to be among the best kart racers ever made. The intended sequel was briefly revealed at E3 back in 2001, but it wasn’t to be.
The following year, Rare was purchased by the mighty Microsoft and Donkey Kong Racing was canceled. Sabreman Stampede almost rose from its ashes, but that, too, was also ultimately canned. This could’ve been a huge GameCube hit, too.