Everybody Loves Lists: The Best GameCube Games to Play on your Wii

“The Wii is for babies.”
“There aren’t any hardcore games on the Wii.”
“I never play my Wii because there aren’t any games.”

Are these the kind of things you find yourself saying to your friends and on forums as you consider how much money you might get if you trade in your Wii? Then Joefeesh and Mightyles have just the list for you!

Here you’ll find some of the best games to play on your Wii and they even come on cute, tiny little discs that your Wii will happily munch up and play. In fact, Nintendo make the only current generation console that has 100% working back compatibility with their previous console!

Upon writing this article we learnt something. There are so many unique experiences that we had on the GameCube that haven’t been carried forward (or at least successfully) to the Wii by any developer. But, by the magic of backwards compatibility, we are able to recommend that you quickly rush over to our Amazon Store and pick up this entire list of games, a GameCube controller and memory card.

Kick your Mum and little Sister off your Wii, pack up the balance board, move the sofa closer to your system (wired controllers) and get ready to give your Wii some quality time.

The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction

I take every opportunity I can to say how much I love this game. Hulk: Ultimate Destruction is the strongest experience there is on the Cube. It smashes any other Hulk game out of the park. Most Wii games are green with envy at the combat variation.

That’s enough bad puns. What I really want to talk about is how good the combat is. With dozens of attacks, combos and special moves, this game is infinitely better than the much later 360/PS3 game, Prototype, from the same developer. There’s almost nothing as satisfying as the moment you unleash a super elbow drop from a skyscraper onto a giant Hulk Buster robot. Or the devastating and aptly named Critical Pain attack (which is a flying head-butt).

This isn’t even fair. Don’t you know he’s the World Breaker?

There are so many ways to crush your foes that you could almost forget about the storyline. Thankfully, the story line is not obstructive to the experience, like in the Hulk comics; it merely provides circumstances for the Hulk to plough through, ignorantly destroying everything in his path.

The city isn’t exactly varied in appearance compared to the likes of GTA, but at least there are other areas you can visit, including the desert town and military bases. The environments are partially destructible and jumping off the highest skyscrapers is a great rush.

P.N 03

Back in 2003, mega Japanese developer Capcom made a pledge to release five permanent exclusive titles for the Gamecube. Of those five (Resident Evil 4, Viewtiful Joe, Killer7, Dead Phoenix, and P.N 03) three of them made their way to the Playstation 2 within a few years, and one was never released. The only true Gamecube exclusive title is P.N 03, created by Shinji Mikami, the creator of Resident Evil. Playing as super athletic mercenary Vanessa Schneider, you are given a powerful mechanical suit that allows you to fire laser beams from your palms. Played from the third person perspective, you are hired to destroy a legion of robots by a mysterious client, and must shoot, duck, dodge, and bound your way through an arcadey score-based shooting game.

Vanessa Schneider may be the only woman on earth that is not able to multitask

In a way, the real beauty in this game comes from the limitations set on the player; you are unable to move when attacking, but can perform acrobatic dodge manoeuvres to avoid enemy fire. Enemies themselves follow fairly predictable patterns and as such the game is as much about recognising patterns and perfecting your timing as it is about shooting and dodging. Depending on how well you do (i.e. how big a combo you are able to earn and how little damage you take) you are awarded points that you can spend on upgrades, and new moves or outfits. Having said that, the game is brutally difficult in places, and has a rather old fashioned continue system; if you use all of your continues then you have to start the level again. Much like Killer7, P.N 03 is a bit of a curates egg, and as such will not appeal to everyone. Having said that, it’s definitely worth giving a spin if you can find a copy for the right price.

Beyond Good and Evil

How many games have you got emotionally attached to? There aren’t many for me these days, and two of them are on this list. It takes a special kind of game to actually get people to invest their feelings in the experience.

The protagonist, Jade, is a reporter and photographer as well as a caring foster parent to orphaned children. Her generosity is completely understated; with no self righteous speeches. Although she’s a pretty lady, there’s no gratuitous sexualisation or gender exploitation. She’s one of the best female characters in games and even the legendary Alyx Vance of Half-Life 2 looks like she’s been designed using a Jade mould in more than just appearance! Coincidence?

Jade kicks alien ass from the start. She’s so cool.

Beyond Good and Evil has a big following, but it generally went under the mainstream radar, producing quite poor sales for Ubisoft. It’s a damned shame because it’s not even a niche or hardcore experience. This game gives you beat’em’up action with adventuring, vehicle racing, and photography. All this is tied together with a very strong story and believable characters.

Beyond Good and Evil (2003). Half Life 2 (2004). Sisters separated by a console generation?

With hints of a sequel in development, there’s no better time to jump in and get on the “we want Beyond Good and Evil 2” bandwagon.

Donkey Konga

There are hundreds of music games out there; 90% of them from Activision. But back in the good old days they weren’t so common and Donkey Konga was something special.

Donkey Konga came with a cool set of bongos that also included a little microphone in the middle to hear you clapping. There are 4 inputs – hit left, hit right, hit both and clap. It’s that simple, but extremely fun and didn’t cost £100. At release it was only £5 more than a regular priced game and you can pick it up now for about £15. In fact, I recently went over to our Amazon store and ordered a copy.

Can you feel that DK beat!?

With 31 tracks including the mammoth challenge Hungarian Dance No. 5 in G Minor, the music is a great mix of pop, rock, classical and game themes. The Hungarian Dance is one of the hardest songs, when played on hard mode (Gorrilla) it is one of the funniest things you’ll do in games.

My friends and I used to take it in turns to try to complete the songs on hard mode. You couldn’t get any closer to a Wii TV advert; it was sickeningly fun. There will never be a Nintendo music game as good as this on the Wii, because you can guarantee it would use the Wiimote, like Samba De Amigo, and all the fun would be instantly lost with the lack of any contact. The bongos make all the difference. They feel great to hit and they’re very responsive.

This is one for everyone. Every kind of gamer will appreciate the fun here, once they get their hands on the bongos!

Luigi’s Mansion

The premise is simple: Luigi, Mario’s green-clad, effeminate brother, receives a letter in the mail one day informing him he has won a fantastic Mansion in a competition. The thing is, Luigi does not remember entering the contest. Couple that with the fact that his brother Mario is missing, and you have the start of one of the Gamecube’s launch titles; Luigi’s Mansion. Upon arriving at his new mansion, and discovering it to be of the spooky variety, Luigi is ambushed by Ghosts, and promptly wets himself. Cue Professor E. Gadd, a decrepit, bespectacled ghost hunter, who comes to Luigi’s rescue.

Arming Luigi with a super powered vacuum cleaner, the best tool known to man for capturing ghosts, and a hand-held computer that looks suspiciously like a Game Boy Colour, Luigi must clear the mansion of ghosts and discover what happened to his brother.

Bustin' makes Luigi feel good!

With wonderfully characteristic graphics, Luigi’s Mansion was essentially the best Ghost Busters game ever made. The key to capturing ghosts was to let them sneak up behind you, and then turn around and shine your torch in their face, temporarily stunning them. All that’s left to do then is let rip with the vacuum cleaner. Each ghost has an energy bar that is depleted by dragging the ghost in the opposite direction to where it is trying to go.

As well as generic ghosts, there are a number of unique ghosts that have certain criteria to be met before you can capture them. Clues to solving these fun little puzzles can be found by using your Game Boy’s camera to scan them for their weakness. Once every ghost is cleared from a room, the lights come back on and order is returned. Clearing every room in the Mansion allows Luigi to find Mario.

Killer7

Killer7 may very well be one of the most insane games ever made. Effectively, Killer7 is an on-the-rails first person shooter, a la House of the Dead, except you have a bit more control over where you are going. Pressing the A button allows you to go forwards, the B button has you moving backwards, and upon reaching intersections you can choose which direction to go, but that’s it in terms of navigation.

I personally found the narrative to be utterly impenetrable, but at the same time compelling. You control one of the world’s greatest assassins, who just so happens to be suffering from multiple personality disorder. Rather than just thinking that he is multiple people, he physically transforms his entire body depending on what personality comes to the fore at any given point. Each of the 7 personalities (hence the name Killer7) has their own unique abilities, such as Mask De Smith, the Mexican Luchador personality.

Killer 7 is brain blisteringly mental

The game features a truly unique graphical style that is both low tech and high art at the same time. Written by Suda 51, maker of No More Heroes on the Wii, and made by Shinji Mikami, the creator of Resident Evil, Killer7 is pure Japanese madness. I can honestly say that, as good as this game is, it gave me a headache every minute I spent playing it. Others will have a higher tolerance for the barmey ideas and kooky gameplay, particularly those that love all things Japan. Despite saying how much the game made my mind hurt, it is definitely one of those titles that I would recommend everyone try, simply because it is so unique.

Eternal Darkness

In another Gamecube title that revolves around a character inheriting a spooky mansion, Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem is a third person survival horror game from Silicone Knights, makers of the Soul Reaver series and… err… Too Human. Playing as Alexandra Roivas, you explore your dead Grandfather’s mansion in search of chapters of an unholy book known as The Tome of Eternal Darkness, made out of human skin and bone.

The Tome details the history of an ancient Roman, Centurion Pious Augustus, who becomes the undead servant of an ancient evil god. As you discover each new chapter you take control of a different character, each in various different time periods.

Getting love bites from Zombies does little for one's sanity metre

One of the best features of the game is the sanity metre. This is lowered by seeing the horrible monsters you are supposed to fight. As the metre gets lower and lower, your character’s grip on reality begins to break down. Various on-screen effects add to this experience, such as a distorted camera angle, fake “glitches”, bleeding walls, distant screams, and enemies that are not really there. The sanity effects (or should they be called insanity effects?) are wonderfully atmospheric, and add a great deal of tension to the game. In order to fill the sanity metre back up, you need to defeat enemies with finishing moves. Eternal Darkness is, without question, a must have game for fans of old school survival horror games.

Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean

There were quite a few good RPGs on the GameCube, but what really set Baten Kaitos apart was the card battling system, collectables and gorgeous pre-rendered backgrounds.

This game is still well worth playing now and I wish I had never sold my own copy, especially considering I wasn’t able to finish the 40hr+ game. It’s also very rare to get hold of, with copies still selling for £25 and up. That price is the only thing that makes me a little hesitant to recommend for everyone because it’s quite a niche title.

Card battling games seem to have died a bit of a death, aside from crappy kids games. I find it a real pity and I’d love to design a card battling game myself, just to revive the genre. Baten Kaitos allows you to collect over a thousand cards and use them to unleash massive attacks unique to each character.

The turn based battles are a bit like Final Fantasy with teams of characters but also with cards and hundreds of attacks

Along with attacking cards there are also food and magic type cards that have different effects. The food stored in your bag in the game is also affected by the amount of time you have had it. Food has different expiry times and if you don’t use it in time, it could harm you. You can also combine food to get better cards.

When the game first came out, the visuals were absolutely stunning to me. I’m sure they’ll be a little less impressive now but the art style still holds up with detailed hand painted environments and colourful special moves.

If you want a hardcore and lengthy RPG on the Wii, then Baten Kaitos is probably still one of your best bets.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

It’s the year 2000 and the GameCube has just been announced. A pre-rendered video shows off the power of the new system with all its franchise favourites. The video includes a fight scene depicting a “realistic” Link fighting Ganondorf in a display, which whipped fans into a frenzy of anticipation for the next Zelda game.

Fast forward one year and the “realistic” Zelda game is nowhere to be seen, but instead is replaced with a colourful, cell-shaded, kid friendly Zelda, which is announced as the next in the series. A massive backlash leaves a bad taste in the mouth of many gamers and the press alike.

If you like the art style, you are in for a treat

The most ironic thing I find, looking back at the video, is that it’s quite clear Wind Waker was a far better looking game than the demo released a year before. It was, however, the polar opposite of the gritty, dark world that was promised, which was later delivered in Twilight Princess.

But if you can look past the colourful and cute exterior, Wind Waker is Zelda at its best. If you like the series (or even if you don’t) and you haven’t played this game, you should definitely give it a try at least. Aside from the, sometimes, tedious boating between islands on the massive map, there’s a tonne of content and depth. All of the usual Zelda mechanics, including dungeon crawling and sword/bow/boomerang fighting are there and the open sea provides an extra element of exploration.

Don’t let the colour put you off, this game is as hardcore as any of the other Zelda games, it’s just cuter.

Playing GameCube Games on your Wii

You’ll need:

• A GameCube controller, which you should be able to pick up online or at your local games shop for about £5
• A GameCube memory card. I recommend getting larger than the basic size memory as last generation memory costs and it’s tiny
• A GameCube or Wii! (Gamecube memory card and controller fit into the top of the Wii underneath the flaps)
• One of the above games

Enjoy!

All of the games above can be found at Amazon. If you buy through our own Amazon Store, you will be supporting this site!

Tags: Baten Kaitos, Beyond Good and Evil, Donkey Konga, Eternal Darkness, GameCube, Hulk Ultimate Destruction, Joefeesh, Killer 7, Luigi's Mansion, Mightyles, Nintendo, P.N. 03, Wii, WiiCube, Wind Waker, Zelda

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