Summary
Given the gallery of cute mascots under the Nintendo name, people tend to believe that Nintendo is exclusively for kids. Firstly,Mario, Zelda,andKirbyare for all ages. Secondly, Nintendo consoles still have plenty of mature games for teens and adults to enjoy. Just look at theGameCube.
For every year of theGameCube’s life, there was at least one solid horror title to enjoy. Admittedly, some years were pretty dire for the console in general, so it is slim pickings for a couple of the entries on this list. The other years more than make up for this by having what many consider to be some of the best horror games ever released.
Even though Nintendo officially discontinued the GameCube in 2007, this list only goes until 2006. Only a handful of games came out in the console’s last living year and none of them were horror games.
The GameCube tried to shake things up by having an unconventionaladventure game starring Luigias its premier launch title rather than a platformer centered around Mario.Luigi’s Mansionis still catered toward younger gamers despite being about ghosts and taking place in a haunted mansion.
Nothing in the game should really scare you to the point of not wanting to continue playing. It is really just amusing watching Luigi’s terrified reactions to everything going on around him. Anyone who did not enjoy it just had to wait a little bit before Mario got his starring GameCube role withSuper Mario Sunshine.
2002 was a great year for the GameCube with timeless classics likeSuper Mario Sunshine, Metroid Prime, andThe Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. It also had a little cult classic calledEternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem. This game was not the average survival horror game that fans of the genre might have expected.
It used the gaming medium to play with gamers' heads in unique ways. It acts as if the TV shuts off, pops off the character’s head randomly, and most convincingly feigns accidentally corrupting the GameCube memory card. It knows gamers' worst fears and exploits them to the fullest.
The debutResident Eviltitle is still one of the finest horror experiences to play today. The 2002 remake improves upon perfection with gorgeous graphics and an expanded narrative. It is a perfectly balanced survival horror experience, not becoming too big likeCode: Veronicaortoo convoluted with a gimmicky mechaniclikeResident Evil: Zero.
It still retains some of the pulp sensibilities of the older games, so newcomers should not expect the hyper seriousness of theResident Evil 2andResident Evil 3remakes. All the same, it will terrify people who play it even more than two decades after its release.
2003 did not see many horror games coming out on the Nintendo GameCube. It did, however, see the series play catchup on Nintendo consoles.Resident Evil Code: Veronicawas released on the console so people could play every game on the system before it continued into the future.
Originally released on the Dreamcast, this version has a few bonus extras for players.Code: Veronicais easily the biggestResident Evilgame in the old formula. It is almost too big for its own good andcontains the series' most obtuse puzzles.No one will blame players if they use a guide to solve some of the more perplexing riddles.
3Second Sight - 2004
Multiple Twists To Pull The Game Into Psychological Horror Territory
While not distinctly a horror game,Second Sight’sstory is filled with twists and turns that put it firmly into the psychological thriller territory. Players jump into the shoes of an amnesiac who simply needs to find out who they are and what they are supposed to do.
As the story goes on, flashbacks occur that seemingly change the future and the reality around them. Once it reaches its conclusion everything is clear, but it still leaves people with goosebumps.
Developer Free Radical was known for deep multiplayer modes withTimeSplitters.Second Sight, however, is a purely single-player experience.
It is hard to believe that someone was not there during the lead-up to release, butResident Evil 4was initially a GameCube exclusive. Nintendo’s system certainly had something to be proud of for the revolution in game design that the game was able to bring, captivating horror fans and those who adore action titles. Maybe it was not as scary as the otherResident Eviltitles, but it was still extremely fun and created a new type of tension with the wayenemies overwhelm Leon Kennedy.
Not only did the game influence the direction of the series over the next ten years, but it also had a profound impact on action games in general, with many adopting the over-the-shoulder camera for more visceral combat and better control over the protagonist.
Though it started out as a GameCube exclusive,Resident Evil 4is now available on almost every modern console.
1Monster House - 2006
Essentially Resident Evil For Kids
The GameCube had already run out of steam by the time 2006 rolled around. The best game that year,Twilight Princess,also came out on the Nintendo Wii. Really, when it comes to horror games the best fans could get in terms of new releases was the video game adaptation ofMonster House, a third-person survival-horror game.
It is not going to terrify most players and almost serves as aResident Evilfor kids. Considering that many licensed games were complete garbage at the time save for exceptions likeSpider-Man 2, kids could do a lot worse thanMonster House.
