I adore my indigo hued beauty. Although it is no longer in use, it sits in my closet, respectfully alongside old hands such as my PSX (original model, not the PSOne redesign), and my beloved Saturn (which I need to get chipped). The system just looks cool. I love the cute, sleek design above the consoles that came after. That orange light that comes on when the power is turned on reminds me fondly of the Dreamcast, and the disc seeking noise has a particular cadence to it that makes me smile. I love you, 'Cube. As I type this, I have the Xenogears OST spinnin' in my player, and I'm listin' my favorites. I made the conscious choice to omit titles that I played and loved on the 'Cube that were available on other platforms, so forgive me for not mentioning them.
Resident Evil 4 remains in my top ten list of Gamecube games, which places it in high running for best game ever in my opinion (a list that constantly shifts, as I remember older titles long since forgotten). I picked up the GCN version over the Wii because I adore those tiny discs. Although I'm given to understand that the Wii lets you use Gamecube controllers for control. Might pick that one up as soon as I wear out my GCN edition.
Metroid Prime is easily my favorite game on the system. It felt like the developers took everything that made Super Metroid so great and either expanded upon it, or augmented it with three dimensions in mind. I didn't mind that the Space Jump was nerfed, or that the Speed Boost was completely absent. It let the game flow at a much more deliberate pace. The soundtrack continues to rock hard, maybe not as much as Super Metroid, but the two are very different beasts. While I admit that the sequel, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes was technically the better game, I had way more fun with the first. Zane, you do get a respectful nod for being able to appreciate it!
Resident Evil was an incredible experience. I missed out somewhat on the original on PSX (although I own a copy now), but I was there for RE2 and RE3, been following on and off since. Code Veronica was one I really loved, but the remake of the first game on my 'Cube completely destroyed me. It was a tough, masterfully atmospheric horror title that offered tons of replay value, and never seemed to get less scary on subsequent playthroughs. Damn Crimson Heads.
Tales of Symphonia didn't appeal to me at first. I disliked the art direction. However, as hype began to swell among my circle of RPG loving friends in high school, I got caught in it. I bought it on launch day, and I loved it deep down (though I complained about many things I saw as faults). Music was great, characters were remarkably rounded (not at all like the JRPG stereotypes I was heavily expecting), battles were fast paced and fun. Even the voice acting was good! Had exceptional replay value, too. I remember talking to my buddy who was playing it alongside me on the phone, telling each other hints, and doing play-by-plays with him, seeing what he did compared to what I was doing. Very fond memories.
Metal Gear Solid: Twin Snakes is kind of controversial, because it doesn't fit with Kojima's true vision. That's a fair statement, they changed a few things around for the worse. I particularly didn't like the re-worked voice track (where'd Mei Ling's sexy accent go?), and the redone soundtrack didn't feel as tense as the original PSX score, which was really sad for me, because that was one of the things I loved the most. But what's there is still really well done, and at the very least, worth checking out.
Super Mario Sunshine gets so much hate, and I cannot for the life of me understand why. I get that it isn't Mario 64, and that the game doesn't have that initial "holy shit! I'm playing in 3D!" feeling that Mario 64 had. But let's face it. If a game is seriously defined by your first moments of playing something brand new, is it really a good game? Sunshine had everything Mario 64 had and then some. That was some truly solid platforming there. The game looked gorgeous, too. Staring out at the sea from one of the many vistas to be found in the game. Isle Delfino was really huge, and it surely, truly, and absolutely was a joy uncovering it's secrets.
Eternal Darkness is something of a curiosity for me. My buddy and I had played through a substantial amount of it when it had come out. That night was awesome. His parents weren't home, it was a rainy, thundering night outside, and the rain would just not let up. So we cracked open Eternal Darkness. We had ordered a pizza, and during the time we were waiting for it to come, we went and got slurpees from 7-Eleven. Flash forward not even past the intro where Alex is in the Mansion, and we're quaking in fear. Nothing was even happening! The atmospherics were that good. And don't even get me started on the sanity effects . . .
Super Smash Bros. Melee burned so many of my high school days. My buddy and I would get together after school literally every day, and waste the night just playing and playing. My time spent on homework fell like a fat bitch that missed the couch, but miraculously, my grades didn't (had a girl I was in love with that did that job just fine. ). I had mastered Roy, Marth, and Samus, and it all culminated in two incredible victories. My buddies had a huge tournament at his place, where he had, like, four of us fighting each other and bots. I kept having to fight level 2 and 3 bots, but my buddies were stuck with level 9's, so it came as a complete shock to everyone when I owned the everloving f--- out of them all with Samus. Another time, my buddy and I had a huge argument over whose turn it was to pay for pizza, so we settled it with Melee. We turned off items completely, and set the stage for Final Destination. He was Roy, I was Marth. We had wittled each other down to 200% damage or so, and he was rushing at me. I jumped to avoid him, but he jumped before me and was going in for the final strike when I pushed Down + B, executing my sword counter move. He screamed "NOOOOOOOOOO!" as he watched his character sail helplessly into oblivion.
Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker is one of those titles I will pick on until the day I die. I had heard it was going to feature sailing, and exploring uncharted lands. The image of the game I had in my head was grand. I was expecting, like, two or three huge continents, sailing to and fro, fighting legendary sea creatures and pirates, and enormous dungeons, all with the neverending horizon at my back. Instead we got, like, thirty or so uninteresting little islets, fetch quests, and a criminally small list of dungeons. But honestly, when the game was in motion, it was such a treat. The game played a lot better than Ocarina when it came right down to baser salts, it looked incredible (though many deride the visual style. Link does bear a striking likeness to a certain Christmastime elf who wants to be a dentist), and it offered some surprisingly emotional moments. I liked a lot of what it had to offer, in the end. I should stop hating it for what I wanted it to be, and start loving it for what it was. Fetch quests can still go to hell, however.
Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess had me shaking my head. Two high profile Zelda releases for the 'Cube! Wow, we got lucky there. I honestly believe Twilight Princess to be the most technically accomplished game of the entire series. It had stunning art direction, and beautiful world and character design. Combat had been polished, and we saw the return of the quirky bomb-arrows so loved in Link's Awakening. I didn't like the bit where you had to destroy those glowing bug things, felt it was useless and distracting, but everything else was a slick, well-oiled machine. I hadn't seen dungeons of this magnitude in forever. The ice dungeon and the desert dungeon in particular were incredible. Truly a shame that we weren't blessed with an official OST release, because as Jon Turner said, this game demands one. Could Midna be the best new character to come along in forever?
That's it. Anything I missed out on?