For reasons that haven’t been entirely clear, the vast majority of GameCube games have not been available on Nintendo’s Virtual Console for the Wii U. That’s almost an entire console generation of titles that have been just out of our reach. But that may be about to change, as a new report claims that GameCube games are finally coming to the Nintendo Switch‘s Virtual Console!
The report originated at EuroGamer, and it claims that the first three GameCube titles to make the virtual leap to the Switch will be Super Mario Sunshine, Luigi’s Mansion, and Super Smash Bros. Melee. We can’t argue with any of those choices, as they were already on our wishlist before this news. Nintendo declined to comment on the initial report, but we’re hopeful that it will turn out to be true.
A few of the very best GameCube games are already available in some form, like Metroid Prime Trilogy and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD. However, some of our favorite titles from that generation are still unaccounted for, which is why we’ve assembled this list of the 8 GameCube games that we desperately want to play on the Switch!
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is still one of the best Mario-based RPGs, and one of the few Mario titles to go far beyond the Mushroom Kingdom. Over a decade later, we’re still laughing at Bower’s comedic antics from this story and the fact that Luigi’s party absolutely hated him. But the most important aspect is that it’s just a damn fun game, and who doesn’t love turning Mario into a paper airplane?
F-Zero GX
The F-Zero franchise has been on ice for over ten years and it absolutely deserves a new game in the series. But if we can’t have that, F-Zero GX is easily the best title in the franchise to date, and it will probably still be a great racing experience even when using the Switch as a mobile device. For its time, the visuals were amazing. And it still holds up as one of the most challenging racers that Nintendo has ever released.
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
We haven’t had many chances to play as Solid Snake on the Nintendo consoles, but back in 2004, Silicon Knights and Konami remade the original Metal Gear Solid for the GameCube under the title The Twin Snakes. It incorporated some of the best gameplay aspects and graphics from Metal Gear Solid 2 while bringing back the original voice cast as well. We’re eager to see how it plays on the go as well!
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem
Silicon Knights was also behind Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem, one of the rare survival horror titles on any Nintendo platform. It was an ambitious title that put the player in control of multiple heroes in different time periods while attempting to keep their characters from going insane. If Nintendo had actually followed through on the premise and made additional sequels, Eternal Darkness could have been its answer to Resident Evil. Maybe it still should be, but we’ll settle for a chance to play it again.
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron II & III
Did you know that Lucasarts had a completed version of the Star Wars: Rogue Squadron Trilogy for the Wii that was never released because of legal issues with the developer? We would absolutely love to see that game, if only to play the lightsaber battles that were created for it. But if we can’t have that, getting both of the GameCube’s Rogue Squadron titles would be a decent consolation prize. They’re both incredibly fun, but Rogue Squadron II is still the best.
Soulcalibur II
Soulcalibur II was already one of our favorites in the series, but we loved the GameCube edition for one very important reason: the ability to play as Link against the other fighters! Watching the hero of The Legend of Zelda series kick so much ass is one of our favorite memories. Sure, Link’s a great fighter in the Super Smash Bros. series, but he’s never been quite as intense as he was in this game.
Star Fox: Assault
While we enjoyed Star Fox Adventures for what it was, Star Fox: Assault was the classic Star Fox that we were waiting to get after Star Fox 64. It was even a little ahead of its time by giving fans the ability to go from an Arwing to a Landmaster at will. We think that this would be a particularly fun title to play on the Switch handheld console, if only because we love the action.
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
All of the Mario Kart titles have been terrific, but Mario Kart: Double Dash!! introduced one of our favorite features: the ability to pick two characters for the cart. We’re not sure if the Switch would allow Mario Kart: Double Dash!! let two players to controller the characters on a single cart in the way that the GameCube version did, but that was another innovation that made this title worthy of being rediscovered by a new generation of gamers.
Which GameCube titles do you want to see on the Nintendo Switch Virtual Console? Let us know in the comment section below!
Images: Nintendo
