The 15 Best GameCube Games Of All Time

Happy birthday, Nintendo GameCube! In honor of your fifteen-year anniversary, we look at the fifteen best GameCube games.

A very happy fifteenth birthday/anniversary to the Nintendo GameCube, which may be the most unique-looking console to date. All things considered, the GameCube was certainly not the best Nintendo has ever offered us in terms of gaming devices. It was riddled with weird movie spin-off games and other failed attempts rotting on the GameStop discount shelf for years until the store finally gave up.

The weird purple (or black) cube had its fair share of interesting and quirky titles that kept us busy before the sensation that was the Nintendo Wii. There were several new-to-Nintendo franchises that got their start on the GameCube, along with a handful of amazing titles we’re still playing today. It was also the first real attempt from Nintendo to connect handheld gaming and console gaming, via devices like the GameBoy Player and a port for a link cable that connected several titles. The GameCube was an important little box, and worth celebrating.

In honor of the GameCube’s glorious 15th, we’ve compiled the fifteen best games on the system for you to happily reminisce over.

#15 – Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

Aside from being a solid Fire Emblem title in its own right, Path of Radiance brought the series to consoles in the west for the first time. For many, Path of Radiance was their first encounter with the tactical RPG that would draw them in for many years and games to come. It didn’t hurt that Marth and Roy in Super Smash Bros. Melee had us all asking, “Wait, what’s Fire Emblem,” thus drawing a larger audience to the game.

Granted, we didn’t get Marth and Roy here. We got Ike, a mercenary trying to free his country from the control of its neighbors. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance didn’t bring any shiny new mechanics to the franchise. Instead, it was a stellar example of what the series already did well. An excellent storyline, multiple difficulties, perma-death, different classes that interacted with one another on the battlefield in rock/paper/scissors fashion, and the familiar grid-based strategy gameplay fans have come to know and love. Though not the first Fire Emblem game in the west, Path of Radiance’s presence on the GameCube helped popularize the franchise into a Nintendo staple.

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