Mario Kart World will naturally be grabbing all the headlines on what is Switch 2 launch day (see our Switch 2 unboxing), but the re-release of three absolutely stellar GameCube titles on Nintendo’s new console is also a rather noteworthy event. And possibly the main event if you’re particularly nostalgic for Nintendo’s much-missed purple cube.
The GameCube titles are exclusive to Switch 2, and they’re free to download for anyone with a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership. At launch, the three games available are The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, F-Zero GX and Soulcalibur II, all of which date from 2003.
But Nintendo has promised many more GameCube titles in the months to come, including Super Mario Strikers, Super Mario Sunshine, Pokémon Colosseum, Chibi-Robo!, Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, Luigi’s Mansion and Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance.
The initial three games are easily some of the best the GameCube has to offer, and in the case of F-Zero GX, it’s the first time it’s been re-released since its debut in 2003. Given all that, this is really rather a treat for anyone lucky enough to pick up a Switch 2 at launch.
The thing that immediately struck me about all three of these titles is just how modern they feel. The NES, SNES and Nintendo 64 titles that have previously been put out as part of the Nintendo Classics range on Switch have included plenty of gems, but playing them always felt like stepping back into a different era. Often it was a case of trying to look past the wonky polygons or archaic-feeling control systems to appreciate the underlying gameplay.
Not so with these GameCube titles, all of which look fantastic on the big screen, and zip along at an impressive frame rate. There’s the option to switch on a CRT filter for all of them, but this is definitely a case where the games look better without it. Nintendo 64 or SNES titles might benefit from the smudging together of pixels to replicate the flickering screens of the 1990s, but the filter would do these relatively crisp GameCube titles a disservice.
The controls also feel remarkably modern. The GameCube marked the first time a Nintendo console adopted what has since become the industry standard – two analogue sticks, a d-pad and four face buttons – and these re-releases show that not much has really changed in the ensuing 24 years. The two and a half decades before the 2001 release of Nintendo’s purple wonder saw a frantic period of evolution in the game console space, with each passing year offering some fresh innovation.
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But since the GameCube generation we’ve entered a period of iteration rather than revolution. The games of the 2000s feel fundamentally the same as the games we’re playing today.
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These re-releases do reveal a few of the GameCube’s unique quirks, though. That console’s gamepad featured a central A button, with the X, Y and B buttons surrounding it, rather than with all four being arranged in a diamond pattern, as on the Switch 2 and other modern machines.
That unfortunately makes one aspect of F-Zero GX’s control scheme initially unusable. Boosting requires pressing both A and Y simultaneously, which might have been fine on a GameCube pad, but it’s almost impossible to do this with your thumb on a Switch 2 without pressing the B and X buttons as well. And since B is the brake, that’s highly undesirable.
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Luckily, all of these Switch 2 GameCube titles allow you to remap the controls however you choose, so provided you’re content to fiddle around a bit with the settings first, F-Zero GX is perfectly playable. In fact, it’s pretty damn fantastic.
This game is famous for its immense speed, and it really does move at an incredible lick – almost too fast, in fact. It’s the kind of game that’s only really possible to play with full concentration, leaning forward in your seat and anticipating every curve. It’s tough: one slight collision with a barrier will see your hovercraft slow dramatically, letting the pack race away, and falling off the course will cause an instant game over.
Fans have been clamouring for a follow-up to this game for the past 20-odd years, but playing it again now, it’s easy to see why Nintendo didn’t heed those calls: with its looping anti-gravity tracks, Mario Kart 8 was grown from this game’s DNA, and it’s difficult to see what another F-Zero game could add that hasn’t already been done. But what a game this is, as fresh and exciting now as it was in 2003.
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Likewise Soulcalibur II, which arguably remains the best entry in Namco’s long-running series. The battles are tight and tactical, the character roster and costumes are fantastic, and the single-player Weapon Master mode is delightful, allowing you to face various challenges on the hunt for new weapons. Plus, you can play as Link, who looks as incongruous as ever.
But this new Switch 2 version goes one step further than the GameCube original by adding online multiplayer. It’s not the first time Soulcalibur II has gone online – a re-release on the PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2013 got there first – but it’s great to see this reimagined for a modern console.
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Rounding out the trio is The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, which if anything has started to look better with age. Those cel-shaded graphics caused a conniption among some players in 2003 who wanted a more realistic-looking Link, but they feel timeless now. The amount of expression Nintendo manages to wring out of a few lines on Link’s face is both delightful and remarkable – and you can register immediately how this game led to the Miis of the Nintendo Wii.
In short, all three of these titles were brilliant to start with, but the uncanny thing is that they still feel fresh and exciting now. What does that say about the games industry, I wonder? Perhaps we peaked twenty-odd years ago, and everything since then has been tweaks to an already perfected formula.
If you’re wondering how to get hold of the device, check out our guide to Switch 2 orders, and see pricing on other consoles below.
