13 GameCube Classics That Could Boost The Nintendo Switch 2's Library
Phantasy Star Online
The Nintendo Switch 2 is nearing release this summer and one of the most exciting pieces of news to come out of its reveal was the confirmation that we're finally getting GameCube games added to the library of Nintendo Classics.
Currently, a Nintendo Switch Online subscription nets you a massive library of Nintendo Classics including games for the original Nintendo (NES), Super Nintendo, and Game Boy. If you upgrade to the Expansion Pack tier, then you also get games for Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance, and Sega Genesis. Soon, that higher tier will also include GameCube games—but only for the Switch 2.
At launch, the GameCube library will include just three games: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, F-ZERO GX, and Soulcalibur II. Fortunately, it won't stop there though as Nintendo also confirmed the following games are planned for inclusion in the lineup in the future: Super Mario Sunshine, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, Super Mario Strikers, Chibi-Robo! Plug Into Adventure, Luigi's Mansion, and Pokémon Colosseum.
Judging from how they've handled the other platforms in Nintendo Classics, we can expect a gradual drip feed of games to continue getting added into the catalog over time. I decided to leave off some obvious games like The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, which seems like a clear choice given Wind Waker is there day one, or Super Smash Bros. Melee because they'd be crazy not to include that one. I'm also leaving off some fan favorites like Viewtiful Joe because it's already on so many other lists out there and is, frankly, not one of my personal favorites anyway.
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Using a mixture of context clues, past additions, current relationships, personal bias, plenty of nostalgia, and a bit of common sense, I came up with a list of 13 games I think would be huge boosts to the Nintendo Switch 2 library worth considering for inclusion. This list could easily be two or three times as long, but I had to make the cutoff somewhere. They're listed alphabetically.
The original 1080° Snowboarding on Nintendo 64 is an absolute classic. That era and the era that followed were jam-packed with amazing snowboarding and extreme sport games, so it was a natural evolution for there to be a sequel.
While not quite as popular as the first game, this sequel takes everything people loved about the original and cranks it up a few notches with some impressive visuals as well. This would be a great addition, especially since the first game is already on Nintendo Classics for N64.
This one might feel like an obvious choice, so I'm mostly hoping it comes sooner rather than later. The original Animal Crossing on GameCube was a landmark release for the platform and is actually an overhauled and revamped version of Animal Forest on Nintendo 64, which only ever got released in Japan.
Since Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the second best-selling Nintendo Switch game of all-time at over 47 million units (which is an insane number) I think it's only a matter of time before this one is added to the lineup. I'd imagine around the same time an inevitable sequel is announced would be the ideal time.
Now here's one that I really feel like is a bit of an underrated gem on the GameCube. This is a real-time strategy war game spin-off of the turn-based Advance Wars series on Game Boy Advance. Players take on the role of an on-the-field commander in a battalion from a third-person perspective. It's single-player only and has a surprisingly fun and solid campaign.
You get to control a large variety of unit types and it really does a nice job utilizing its cel-shaded art style to give a sense of a real, large-scale conflict. While Advance Wars has remained popular, Battalion Wars is kind of forgotten. It did get a sequel for the Wii which added multiplayer, and since it's an exclusive, I could see it coming to the GameCube Classics lineup.
I could be wrong, but I feel like this has to be coming to the Nintendo Classics catalog for GameCube on Switch 2. Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg is a 3D platformer with a great history as its producer is Yuji Naka, one of the co-creators of Sonic the Hedgehog, it was developed by Sonic Team, and published directly by Sega, who of course has a great relationship with Nintendo these days.
Previously, it was a GameCube exclusive, but did eventually get a PC port. Since platformers are a huge part of Nintendo's identity historically, this would be a great selection to fill out the library. The only situation I can see this not coming to GameCube classics is if they have a remastered port in the works.
You'll probably notice a trend with some of my selections at this point. I'm mostly focusing on games that are not blatantly obvious selections, but due to their history could be slam dunk picks for the Nintendo Classics catalog. Custom Robo is definitely one of those games. It's an action RPG in which you customize and battle robots in a holographic battle arena.
The GameCube title is actually the fourth game in the series, and the most recent one, but it's the only one to get released widely outside of Japan. This game was published by Nintendo directly and Shigeru Yamamoto was actually a producer on the title.
This is a game that would truly cause some waves if it actually got added to the Nintendo Classics catalog, but it's more likely than you might think. Eternal Darkness is a psychological action-adventure thriller and it's the first Nintendo-published video game to receive an M rating from the ESRB. It features a complex story spanning many eras and timelines, as well as mind-bending moments that really aim to mess with the player's mind and break the fourth wall.
Considered a cult classic and one of the most expensive titles in the library to own these days, I would love to see it added. I've still got my original copy and I frequently cite this as one of my favorite horror games of all-time. Since Silicon Knights, the developer, no longer exists, and it was published by Nintendo, I'd consider it a strong possibility.
Elden Ring is coming to Nintendo Switch 2, so it would be awesome if FromSoftware dug into their backlog a bit to revive some of their other pre-Souls franchises. Lost Kingdoms is a severely underrated RPG exclusive to the GameCube, featuring a really unique real-time card-based combat system.
The game was published by Activision, but since even Soulcalibur II is coming to Nintendo Classics for GameCube, third-party games are clearly not off the table. It also got a sequel as well named Lost Kingdoms II so maybe a surprise double drop like we got with the Golden Sun games for GBA Classics could be in the cards—pun intended.
My bias is showing a little bit with this pick, because I am a massive fan of the Phantasy Star series (both the single-player JRPGs and the Online subseries) but I do genuinely think of this as an iconic game that, despite its popularity and impact, far too few people talk about. Getting it to work correctly could be tricky, and I would honestly prefer a full remaster, but this could still be a great pick for the GameCube Classics portfolio.
Phantasy Star Online has the honor of being the first online RPG for consoles. It paved the way for MMOs on consoles with its online infrastructure and influenced loot-based RPG design for years to come. I'd wager we wouldn't have games like Destiny without PSO paving the way first. The tricky part is that the GameCube version was playable offline as a single-player game, or you could take your character online via dedicated servers to play with others. You could also play local split screen multiplayer. The original version on Sega Dreamcast did not include local split screen as an option.
Given how the Nintendo Switch Online platform works for Nintendo Classics, I think solo or split-screen only would have to be the limitations, so it would lose a lot of the magic. But it's still one of the best GameCube games ever anyway, if you ask me.
Next up on the list is another port of an originally Sega Dreamcast-exclusive RPG in the form of Skies of Arcadia. The GameCube version added Legends to the title, but it's functionally just an enhanced version of the same game.
This is a more traditional turn-based RPG, but it's highly regarded as one of the best from the era. Given its sustained popularity and the trend of remastering older JRPGs like this (looking at you Dragon Quest, Lunar, Suikoden, and more) I could see a full-on remaster on the way instead, but I'd still be happy to see it added to the GameCube lineup regardless.
Yes, I'm picking another game that started out as a Sega Dreamcast exclusive before coming to GameCube. No, I did not plan to have them all in a row but sometimes that's how the alphabet works. With the massive success of the third Sonic the Hedgehog film, as well as the success of Sonic x Shadow Generations, it seems like an obvious pick to put the spotlight on Sonic Adventure 2, the game that first introduced Shadow as a character.
As I've mentioned with a few picks on this list though, it's such an obvious choice that instead we might see a remaster instead, which would be pretty cool. You can actually play this game on tons of modern platforms already, including Xbox Series X and PC via Steam, so if you never got around to checking it out and don't have a Dreamcast or GameCube with tons of spare cash lying around, you can already Escape from the City right now in a more accessible way.
For whatever reason, a lot of people didn't like this Star Fox on GameCube game very much. I contend that all of those people are wrong because this is actually, in my opinion, the absolute best Star Fox game in the entire series. Featuring incredible visuals that still hold up to this day, extremely fun flight levels, and the debut of ground-based vehicles and on-foot levels, it's the most varied and consistently fun Star Fox has ever been.
Star Fox Adventures is another solid pick as it's essentially a Zelda game with a Star Fox coat of paint, so I'd love to see that one too, but if I had to pick I'd choose the one that exemplifies the core of Star Fox more strongly, which is Star Fox Assault. Not to mention the insanely fun multiplayer mode as well being a perfect fit for Nintendo Classics.
This is probably the most obscure game I've picked for my list and I'll explain why. For starters, I love this era of Sega games on GameCube (clearly, as evidenced by the rest of my list) and this is an extremely interesting spin-off that no one talks about. If you know anything about the types of games Nintendo eventually adds to these classic catalogs, then you know this is exactly the kind of thing they'd pick.
Virtua Quest is a spin-off of the Virtua Fighter series in which players take on the role of a kid named Sei who works as a hunter inside the virtual universe called the Nexus. In this version of the future, everyone uses this approximation of a VR metaverse to escape the horrors of real life. If you think that sounds a lot like Ready Player One, you'd be right.
Here's my final selection for this list, another less-loved GameCube sequel to a beloved Nintendo 64 extreme sport racing game. Did you know the first Wave Race was actually released on the original Game Boy? The sequel, Wave Race 64, went on to become a groundbreaking game for its realistic water physics and extremely addictive gameplay and the sequel is no different.
It doesn't have the same novelty of its predecessor, but the gameplay feels even smoother with amazing water effects and lots more content and game modes to enjoy in the GameCube iteration. Since we're getting F-ZERO GX on day one, I feel like this one is inevitable at some point since the original is already in the service.
As I said earlier, this list could have been way longer but I decided to cut it off at 13 because I like that number. If you have other suggestions for GameCube games you want to see, or reasons why you think my picks are especially terrible (or great) let me know over in the comments.
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