The Readers Said:
We know it, you know it, the old woman next door knows it. The honour of best GameCube game is only going to be between two players. Admittedly mightily huge players, but still only two nether the less. Because of this, a lot of the votes were spread after the big two games, with a wide variety of games just missing the top 5. In any case, it seems our readers like their games cel shaded... Thank you to everybody who voted.
1. The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker
2. Metroid Prime
3. Super Mario Sunshine
4. Super Smash Bros: Melee
5. Mario Golf
We Say:
Thanks to a large proportion of votes going to the two big players, many, many games were left with one or two votes to only just miss our top 5. Regardless, three votes is still more than two. Read on...
5. Pikmin - 3 votes
Another concept from Shigeru Miyamoto - he said the idea came to him whilst he was taking in the view of his new garden. You take control of Captain Olimar, a traveller who has crash landed on a strange world inhabited by many strange creatures. Soon enough, via. some sort of inexplicable magic, Olimar has control of these creatures - or Pikmin - a bizzare race of plant/animal hybrids that look like carrots grown in Chernobyl. Controlling up to 100 of these at a time, you have to retrieve that parts of your space ship within the 30 day (game) time limit. A visual treat to look at, with lush and varied surroundings and great sound to go with it, Pikmin showed that there are still new places to within the gaming industry. Pikmin innovation was matched by it's gameplay, and is rewarded with fifth position in our top 5.
4. Super Monkey Ball - 4 votes
You're a monkey. In a ball. For some reason or another you take it upon yourself to roll through a number of stages, around tight corners, curves, slopes, and all around difficult terrain, to finally make it to the course goal, and move on to the next. As simple as it is (the only control in the game is the thumbstick), Super Monkey Ball is a fantastic game. It's one of those puzzle games you can pick up and play for a few minutes, or a few hours. The courses in the game get progressively harder, and some of them will really test your witsand patience. Throw in some whacky multiplayer games and you've got yourself a true classic. Because (or maybe that should be despite) of the thumb blisters Super Monkey Ball contributed towards, it comes in at number 4.
3. Super Mario Sunshine - 9 votes
Number three and the votes still aren't particularly high... No matter. Super Mario Sunshine is considered by most to be the first ever 'must have' GameCube game to be released. It's also considered by many as a waste of a disc. We at PALGN tend to disagree, though. There is no way anybody could label SMS a bad game. In fact, it's probably one of the best 3D platformers out there. However, in comparison to it's father in Super Mario 64, the game does seem a bit soulless, but never mind that. Because, despite the rather dodgy full motion video cut scenes, despite the introduction of FLUDD to make platforming easy, despite the hair tearingly difficult sections without it, despite being a bit too short on the whole and despite not being as good as it's father, SMS (the game, not the text message) is one of the best games you can possibly buy for your GameCube. In fact, we would rank it as the third best.
2. Metroid Prime - 16 votes
So, so very close. It was always ever going to be a two horse race, and Metroid Prime was the one that was defeated by the absolutely narrowest of margins. Despite this, virtually all members of the PALGN staff consider Metroid Prime to be a classic of the highest degree. It wouldn't have scored a staggering 9.5 if it was't. Despite suffering one of the longest, most agnosising delays before hitting PAL shores early this year, Metroid Prime proved to be worth the wait. Whilst on the surface the game is a first person shooter, the game is, without a doubt, an adventure game at heart. The shooting takes secondary position to unravelling the story surrounding the deadly element of Phazon, and exploring the gigantic gaming world that is Tallon IV, in the process picking up more upgrades to your suite of armour than you can shake a cat at. Whilst definately not a game for everybody, if you feel like a bit of a challenge, or what a game with a whole lot of substance, chances are Metroid Prime is right up your alley. A well deserved second place.
1. The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker - 17 votes
Damn, that was a close one. Link and his cel-shaded epic manages to elbow Metroid Prime out of the way for that oh so illustrious first spot. It's interesting how The Wind Waker has proven to be such a successful game, despite being slagged off the planet the moment the covers were ripped off of Link's flat body all those years ago. But, there's a reason for that. Being based off of the legendary Ocarina Of Time gaming engine, and being headed up by Nintendo mistro Shigeru Miyamoto, there was absolutely no chance that the game would emerge the simple 'kiddy' crap that many predicted. The game was, true to the series, an epic 3D adventure, set across a game world so big it takes over ten minutes to sail from end to end of it. And while the sailing may invoke some tedium, and while many will complain there simply weren't enough dungeons, it doesn't take away from the fact that The Wind Waker is one of the best games out there. So good in fact, PALGN considers it to be the best game on the GameCube.
And that concludes our series of top 5 features. Thanks to everybody - even if there could have been more - that voted. The winner of the $poons prize will be handed their reward to lose in the gaming room later today.
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