Sony was able to beat Nintendo to the 3D market with the release of the PS1. They did it again with the PS2 and wiped the floor with the GameCube and Xbox consoles combined. There have been consoles close to reaching the sales figures of the PS2 as far as home consoles go, but it is still the king.
That doesn’t mean the GameCube didn’t have good games to offer. It just meant that sales were low and thus some series that began on the console never continued past the system. Who knows what would have happened to these games if the GameCube had been number one during this generation instead. Let’s ponder what happened to these forgotten gems.
6 Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings And The Lost Ocean
Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean was a traditional turn-based RPG with a twist. Players had to use cards to attack opponents which were kept in an ever-growing binder. A game from Monolith Soft, it came out ages before they turned their attention to the Xenoblade Chronicles series. Their latest, of course, was the third main entry on Switch.
This game received a sequel in the form of a prequel set decades before it. The gameplay remained similar and fans are somewhat torn between which is the better game. What fans probably agree on is the fact that this series needs to come back with a third game, remake, or remaster. Monolith Soft is closer to Nintendo now, so it might be a good time for them to pop the question.
5 Evolution Worlds
Evolution Worlds is a compilation of two games that were originally released on the Dreamcast as Evolution: The World of Sacred Device and Evolution 2: Far Off Promise. Most might not realize that the Dreamcast was part of this generation as it was so short-lived compared to its competitors. Despite that, the Dreamcast was definitely part of this generation as it kickstarted things even before the PS2 which means that Evolution Worlds counts.
Both games received visual upgrades along with tweaks to the mechanics. The biggest change was the inclusion of more voice acting. Neither of these games is the best turn-based RPG on the GameCube but they remain curious oddities that fans of this era may enjoy.
4 Lost Kingdoms
Lost Kingdoms is another exclusive GameCube RPG series akin to Baten Kaitos. It is similar to that series in other ways too like the card-based combat. Players would get sucked into random battles and would have a limited set of cards and charges for those cards. For example, if one card was mapped to the A button, it could only be used so many times before energy was depleted.
The gameplay was action based, giving it a different feel than Baten Kaitos in some way at least. It was developed by FromSoftware meaning that it was on the more difficult side of things but not impossible. There was one sequel and that was it for the GameCube. Fans of FromSoftware games may not want to pass this one up as they wait for more Elden Ring content.
3 NFL Street
NFL Street was a spinoff series from the equally simplistic sports game, NBA Street. The idea of NBA Street could be taken back to the arcade and SNES days wherein players could only control two players in a 2v2 match. NBA Street took things to 3v3 levels and NFL Street expanded that idea even more.
The first two games made it to GameCube but the last one was only made for the PS2 and PSP. There have been games similar to NFL Street since then but not in any official capacity. The same is mostly true for NBA Street although it did get one more chance in the next geenration.
2 Summoner
Summoner is a long-forgotten series that was started by Volition, long before they created the more wildly popular Saints Row series. Summoner was an action RPG turn-based hyrbid which featured combat involving swords and the like. Players could summon creatures for battle as well sort of like a more mature Pokemon if Pokemon became more stable party members.
The first game was exclusive to the PS2 and PC, but the sequel did come to GameCube making it a worthwhile series to bring up. It’s a shame both of these games remain hidden from console players today, especially the sequel.
1 Tak And The Power Of Juju
The Tak series found success unlike other mascot platformers of the PS2 era. The system was flooded with copycats trying to go after the big guns such as Jak and Daxter, Sly Cooper, and Ratchet and Clank. Tak and the Power of Juju, the first game, and its sequels, were not reviewed extremely well. They were serviceable platformerss for the time.
They, however, were popular enough to get a lengthy Nickelodeon cartoon. The last game, Tak and the Guardians of Gross, was not on the GameCube and was instead on PS2 and Wii. The Wii may be crossing into another generation, thus breaking the rules, but presumably it was designed first for PS2. Either way, except for cameos in other games, Tak hasn’t been in an original game in decades.