I went to Maindenhead this morning and finally got myself a Gamecube console from Gamestation. They had a few of them in second-hand, and loads of games.
I came out of the shop with a Gamecube, a second controller (I guess we need 4 really to play multi-player games properly), two memory cards, and a few games (first impressions below). So far both myself and W have been having a real laugh with it - it’s raining outside so it’s turning out to be a great “rainy day” thing to have.
So… the games…
Mario Party 5
I had a quick go on this. It has something to do with a big board game with lots of Mario characters on the board, and opportunities to play mini-games against each other all the time… the mini games are remarkably simple and (often) hilarious - things like “who can bounce the highest on a trampoline”, “who can punch the other off a cloud”, who can find their way through an invisible maze first”, and so on. It’s remarkably silly and entertaining at the same time.
Super Monkey Ball
This game is a piece of genius. You have a monkey in a see-through sphere, and can tilt the ground underneath it to navigate it… as simple as that. While navigating the various levels (collecting bananas - obviously), you get to play little mini-games like “monkey billiards”, “monkey golf” and “monkey fight”, which have various flavours of “monkey in ball” madness in them. It’s one of those incredibly simple games that anybody can pick up and play inside 30 seconds.
Mario Kart Double Dash
I’m not sure I know anybody who has not played Super Mario Kart at some point in their life on the venerable old Super Nintendo. I’ve had a quick go on Double Dash, and it basically updates “Kart” racing to have two people in each can - one driving, and the other causing havoc for the other competitors… which in multiplayer mode becomes hilarious.
Starfox Adventures
Not really sure about this yet - it appears to be a 3d adventure game in the same mould as Jak and Daxter, or Rachet and Clank, and every bit as good. Time will tell with this one…
Zelda the Wind Waker
W is playing this as I speak - it’s another 3D adventure-it-up where you take part in tales of daring do, cast spells, fight baddies, save lives and so on - all in a cutesy world filled with all kinds of weird stuff. The graphical style of this game is a masterpiece - very close to being inside a cartoon world.
I’m really not sure what other games to get - Mario Sunshine and Luigi’s Mansion are probably going to be on the list. I’ll write tomorrow after we’ve had a chance to play the games a bit more.