“Pop the hood fer a wee surprise”.
Hidden under a little flap on top of the Wii are four controller and two memory card ports. I often forget how my Wii, lovingly covered with dust as it is, can play the GameCube back-catalogue in its entirety. Did you miss out on the fun? Well, it’s not too late. Keep your eyes peeled for these gems at the next car boot sale:
Doshin the Giant is a European-exclusive god sim that was originally released on the 64DD in Japan. The goal here is to please your world’s inhabitants by helping them start up and settle in villages. Charming but repetitive.
F-Zero GX makes up for the lack of any new F-Zero game on the Wii. Developed by the team behind Super Monkey Ball, this game looks great to this day. Really hardcore players might even be able to unlock the AX (arcade version) tracks too. Not me, then.
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour comes from Camelot, the team behind the classic Shining Force and Golden Sun series. Although an RPG mode is sorely missing, the game itself is solid and the courses feel a lot more Mario-esque than they do in Mario Power Tennis.
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes updates the original MGS to Metal Gear Solid 2 standard graphics and gameplay. That right – you can now see characters’ eyes instead of shadows! Swishy new cutscenes are also present, although the redub hasn’t done justice to Gray Fox.
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is the second game in Intelligent System’s Paper Mario series, and undoubtedly my favourite. The writing is spot-on and there are plenty of Mario-universe cameos and side quests to keep you engaged.
Skies of Arcadia Legends is a souped-up Dreamcast port that still stands the test of time. Aside from an ever-so-slight bump in the graphics department, this enhancement offers a host of new side-quests and (yay) less random battling.
Super Mario Sunshine, while not the Super Mario 64 sequel everyone had hoped for, delivers. Forgive the gimmicky water backpack and you’ll appreciate it for what it was – the best platformer of the generation.
Tales of Symphonia is held in high regard by fans of the Tales series and RPGs in general. With reason. If you want the best action RPG on the system with the option of having your pals join in on the action, look no further.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, while the easiest game in the series, has a heck of a lot on offer. The boat aspect feels less gimmicky than Twilight Princess’ inclusion of the wolf, and the dungeons are well-designed while gloriously beautiful. Collect every heart piece, upgrade and figurine to achieve the rank of being as obsessively compulsive as I am!
Wario World harks back to the platformers of yore by mixing 3D gameplay with a fixed, 2D-style camera. Treasure, the team behind cult classics like Sin & Punishment, handle the Wario franchise lovingly here to make a short but sweet romp.
Not enough for you? Well here are a some more obscure oddities:
The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures is a forgotten classic. This is probably because you need four Game Boy Advance units, four GameCube-to-GBA link cables and, ideally, four friends to get the most out of it. The single player campaign can be navigated with a mere GameCube controller, but the multiplayer mode is where the action is.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles is a multiplayer action RPG that also makes use of the GBA link cable. The GBA is used to handle the menus so you don’t hold up your chums in the midst of battle. As above, the GBA is not needed for single player.
Pac-Man Vs. was a freebie included with copies of Namco’s R: Racing Evolution and I-Ninja. Don’t take this lightly though – the game was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto himself. In this multiplayer-only tag version of Pac-Man, one player will control Pac-Man on a GBA whilst the other players control the ghosts on the TV screen in a desperate attempt to collide with him to become Pac-Man themselves.
Sonic Gems Collection features nine lesser-known games from Sonic’s past – three of which stand out. Sonic Championship is a frantic arcade fighter once destined for the Sega Saturn. Sonic R is a port of the PC version of the Jacques-scored Mario Kart rival Saturn owners grew up on. Sonic CD (unfortunately sporting the US soundtrack here) is the acclaimed Mega CD title that some Sonic fans prefer to Sonic 3 & Knuckles. The fools.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – Master Quest was originally intended to be released as Ura Zelda on the 64DD. Aside from looking a lot sharper and cleaner on the ‘Cube, this version has fully remixed dungeons for Zelda veterans. Cows stuck in Lord Jabu Jabu’s throat, anyone?
The GameCube’s days may be done and dusted but your Wii can revive these gems – rescue them from a bargain bin should you get the chance!
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