"It's Hip to Be Square"

Nintendo has never been known for meaty consoles. They've always gone for simplicity and ease of use, rather than focusing on polygon count or heavy processing power. So, when Nintendo unveiled its purple, cuboidal, “lunch-box” console, people scoffed. The GameCube could n ever measure up to its generational competitors, Sony's PS2 and Microsoft's Xbox. Boy, were those people wrong…

Admittedly, the GameCube is not as graphically impressive as its generation opponents. That's not to say, of course, that the graphics are poor; rather, good developers can do a great job of really pushing the GameCube to its graphical limits. For the most part (of course, it really depends on the game), the GameCube's graphics are smooth and crisp. There's plenty of graphic potential; it's really just up to developers to take advantage of it. Where the Nintendo GameCube scores big, though, is in terms of ease of use, simplicity, and huge quality of games. To begin with, the control is incredibly well-designed. It fits nicely in your hand, and the buttons really are perfectly spaced apart. In addition to a main analog stick, there's also a smaller yellow analog stick, a D-pad, left and right trigger buttons, and buttons labeled A, B, X, Y, and Z (located near the right trigger). For just 7 buttons and three potential controlling pads, the GameCube sure does offer a heck of a lot of ways to play video games.

And that is where the defining factor of the Nintendo GameCube comes in: the games. I know I really should be focusing on the hardware itself, but it's impossible to discuss the GameCube without also mentioning the incredible games it sports; the two really do go hand-in-hand. Not only does the GameCube merely sport famous franchises like F-Zero, Mario, Zelda, Metroid, and Pokemon, but it goes above and beyond the call of duty. Because, rather than simply dangling a bunch of great franchises in front of you in order to tempt you to purchase their system, Nintendo actually does a fantastic job of making GOOD iterations of those franchises. Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime 1 and 2, Pokemon Coliseum and XD: Gale of Darkness, Super Mario Sunshine, F-Zero GX. The list of fantastic games goes on and on.

And as any gamer will be happy to know, Nintendo does far more with the GameCube than simply giving it some great titles from existing franchises. There are tons of great, new games that have been given birth thanks to Nintendo's lunchbox. For the role-players out there, there are games such as Baten Kaitos and Tales of Symphonia. Nonconformists may enjoy games like Donkey Konga, DDR: Mario Mix, and Odama. And casual gamers out there will love such titles as Animal Crossing and the Harvest Moon titles. Truly, the GameCube offers something for everyone.

Nintendo's current generation console, the Wii, is characterized in part by a huge number of peripherals. Interestingly, though, the same does not hold true for the GameCube. In fact, there's only ONE decent peripheral: the GameBoy player. This neat little accessory will clip on to the bottom of your GameCube, and has a slot for GameBoy Advance games. It's a very neat take on backwards compatibility (giving a console backwards compatibility with handheld games), but it's a peripheral that you might actually be interested in purchasing.

Another interesting aspect of the Nintendo GameCube is the fact that it really was designed to be a portable console. IT's relatively small – it will fit easily on a shelf or under a TV stand – and it's got a stupid-looking black handle on the back of the console. However dumb it looks, this handle makes it even easier to carry your Cube with you to a friend's house. It's your call, though, if you really want to be seen in public carrying around your GameCube like it's a lunchbox.

As is somewhat standard, the GameCube has four controller ports. Up to 4 controllers can be plugged in, allowing for some rather intense multiplayer. Another great Cube accessory that is worthy of mention is the WaveBird Wireless Controller. They've been discontinued now (and as a result are rather expensive), but they're nice to have. The GameCube, sadly, does not come with any wireless controllers, so if you want to play free of the restraint of cords, it's in your best interest to poke around the internet for some WaveBirds.

If you're looking for some cheap online gaming, though, the GameCube is not for you. While the GameCube does, in fact, have online gaming capabilities, there are two major problems with it. The first is that it is very difficult to set up, because the GameCube internet capabilities are NOT wireless. You're going to have to mess around with a bunch of cables, and it's a huge hassle.

The other big problem with the online play is the fact that there are very few games that actually support it. If there are no online games, then what's the point of even having online capabilities build into the console? That's right: none. Clearly, online play was by no means an advertised factor, and developers focused more on creating fun, creative games than endowing their products with online multiplayer.

Despite it's minor drawbacks (poor, underdeveloped online and annoying corded controllers), the GameCube really does have a lot to offer. It's a basic, simple gaming console with a relatively small price tag and a large library of fantastic games. It's a great purchase for anybody who's looking for some of that trademark Nintendo fun, but doesn't want to spend $250 on a Wii. And next time some loser tells you to “Be there or be square”, you can respond, “Thanks; I hope you are too.” The GameCube makes it hip to be square.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/28/07

Game Release: GameCube Hardware (US, 11/18/01)