I am excited for Nintendo GameCube: Nintendo Classics. As someone whose childhood was spent trading in one console to afford to upgrade to another, I missed out on the cuboid hardware. I had an Xbox at the time, swayed by the chance to snipe my friends across Blood Gulch’s expanse in Halo: Combat Evolved’s split-screen multiplayer.
After unexpectedly having the chance to play on a GameCube while over at a friend’s, my whole perception instantly changed. Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader‘s opening Death Star Attack mission astounded me. Lasers firing everywhere, TIE Fighters swarming in every direction on my radar, and then haphazardly flying along the trench run to unload a high-speed proton torpedo down an exposed exhaust port. It was exhilarating.
It was there that I played Luigi’s Mansion for the first time, too. I have always seen Mario’s younger brother as more than the scaredy-cat that he is often presented as, but I laughed at how over-the-top his fretful reactions were exploring the creaky mansion and sucking up ghosts with a vacuum is always a blast. I’m sure that I played another game – maybe Super Smash Bros. Melee – with everyone, but whatever it was escapes me.
I still remember the impact that day had on me. Back then, it was all about the games to me. I didn’t know which console was selling the best, or which third-party publishers were being convinced to make exclusive games for whichever hardware. I simply wanted to play the games that I would enjoy the most, wherever they may be.
In time, I was able to get around to playing the big-hitters, such as The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Super Mario Sunshine and Mario Kart: Double Dash, but there are so many GameCube games that I have never had the chance to play. There are many reasons for that, but mainly due to the scarcity of physical copies and the inaccessible prices that they continue to fetch on eBay.
We can rejoice that the Nintendo GameCube: Nintendo Classics app will break that barrier, opening the door to a rich and beloved library of games that remain “trapped” on the handle-toting console to this day. The service will lead with F-Zero GX, Soul Calibur II and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker at launch, with additions confirmed to come in the future including Chibi-Robo!, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, Luigi’s Mansion, Super Mario Strikers (or Mario Smash Football in Europe), Pokémon Colosseum, Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness and Super Mario Sunshine.
Nintendo has stated that games added to the service will have a “clearer image quality and higher resolution than the original releases,” and, having seen Nintendo GameCube: Nintendo Classics in action at the recent Nintendo Switch 2 Experience: London event, the results excite me. Crisper presentation, especially on larger displays, helps to deceive in disguising the age of these games, whereas the wireless GameCube controller lends needed authenticity to the experience.
Early signs are positive, and, between whatever Nintendo Switch 2 games are unexpectedly thrown at us, I definitely want to plug some knowledge gaps that I have through the ease of being able to boot up and chip away at these games on the portable home console successor. Fighting as Link in Soul Calibur II, trying to stay safely on the track in F-Zero GX, helping with housework in Chibi-Robo, and learning more about Shadow Pokémon that appear in Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness. These are all games that I have little to no experience with, and these are just the early games that we know we can expect.
I know that many would rather look forward to brand new surprises coming to Nintendo Switch 2 in the years ahead, but the chance that Nintendo GameCube: Nintendo Classics presents for us to experience games from the company’s past cannot be understated. It is a significant addition to the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription, and one that I am very much looking forward to having the chance to explore.
Nintendo GameCube: Nintendo Classics will be available for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscribers on Nintendo Switch 2 worldwide on 5 June 2025.
