There are tons of exciting features coming to Nintendo Switch 2, but what’s the one thing I’m most excited about? Nintendo GameCube games are coming to Switch Online. I know it’s the nostalgia talking, but I can’t help it. The Nintendo GameCube was my first real childhood console and I have a lot of warm memories tied to it as a result. I can’t wait to jump back into games like F-Zero GX and Soulcalibur 2, two defining games of my childhood, the first chance I get.
My love for the GameCube isn’t just about the good memories, though. To this day, I still believe that the GameCube features perhaps the best exclusive video game lineup of any console. It’s not a deep catalogue, but it featured some of Nintendo’s most experimental swings as well as some oddball third-party exclusives that have rarely been ported to other platforms since. With the Switch Online upgrade, there’s now a great opportunity for Nintendo to bring some of those great games back from the grave, just as it’s already doing with games like Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. These are the eight games that I hope to see add in the service’s first year (assuming that recently remastered games like Metroid Prime are out of the equation).
Super Smash Bros. Melee
If I had to guess, there is no video game I’ve put more collective hours into than Super Smash Bros. Melee. The fighting game was the centerpiece of my friend group in high school, as almost every social gathering included some kind of Melee break. The brawler was so fine-tuned at the time that it’s still a preferred installment for the Smash Bros. competitive scene who swear by techniques like wavedashing. Even if today’s players will likely find it dated next to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, long-time fans deserve to have the classic preserved and readily available. Throw in some online play and Nintendo could make Switch Online a must-have service on that game alone.
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is probably the best game in its series by now, but my vote would still go to Double Dash!! The GameCube installment aimed to shake up Mario Kart 64‘s winning formula by introducing clever co-op play that the series has never followed-up on. Two players ride in a kart together, with one driving and the other controlling items. Those players can switch positions at any time, and there’s good reason to do so as each character can their own special item. That hook gave Double Dash a great creative edge, as there was a hint of strategy in picking the best duo for the job. This is another game that could really benefit from online play, as well as Switch 2’s new GameChat feature.
Animal Crossing
Out of every game on this list, Animal Crossing is the one that I fear is least likely to hit Switch Online. That may sound surprising when you see some of the deep cuts I’ve included below. Why wouldn’t Nintendo rerelease the first entry in what has now become its most successful series? It’s not like the original Animal Crossing replaces New Horizons or anything, since it’s a more stripped down game. The big hurdle, though, is also it’s best feature: its playable NES games. Animal Crossing would let players collect game consoles and put them in their house, giving them access to cult classics like Clu Clu Land anytime. The gimmick eats into Switch Online’s whole deal and likely creates some licensing nightmares, but I hope Nintendo can figure it out. For my money, the GameCube version of Animal Crossing still might be the series’ best moment thanks to its lonely atmosphere and sharp humor.
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem
One of the best horror games of all time — if not the best — is still imprisoned on the GameCube to this day. Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem was the console’s strangest exclusive, giving Nintendo an M-rated horror game that’s unlike anything I’ve played since. The story traces a family’s bloodline across generations, as key people weave in and out of a centuries’ long conflict involving fleshy gods. What it’s most known for, though, is it’s signature sanity system, which would mess with players by pretending to shut down their GameCube or lop their character’s head off at random. It’s a terrifying psychological experience that’s never been ported to another system since. I hope Nintendo can somehow right that wrong with Switch 2.
Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes
Metal Gear Solid isn’t a series that’s often associated with Nintendo, but it was for a brief moment in the GameCube era. Konami created an exclusive remake of the PS1’s Metal Gear Solid for the console, which featured a few Nintendo Easter eggs for good measure. It’s a great version of the original game too, one that tightens up its controls by adding quality of life features from Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. Twin Snakes wasn’t included in Konami’s recent Metal Gear Solid Master Collection, so this is as good a moment as any to preserve a highlight moment for the series — especially considering that Metal Gear Solid Delta is right around the corner.
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour
The GameCube was likely the last Nintendo system to feature a truly great generation of Mario sports games. Super Mario Strikers and Mario Power Tennis were multiplayer highlights in the 2000s, but the best of the bunch was Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour. It’s not that it had some big gimmick like Mario Golf: Super Rush. It was simply an airtight version of the Mario Golf formula filled with bright colors, memorable courses, and a great character roster. The only thing that would make it better in 2025 is online play, and that’s exactly what the Switch 2 could give it.
Skies of Arcadia: Legends
if Nintendo is really going to do right with Switch Online, it needs to get third-party hits for the service. I’d love to see Capcom classics like Viewtiful Joe and Killer7 join the roster. But there’s one game that Nintendo needs to grab if it’s going to complete its library. That game is Skies of Arcadia: Legends. The classic Sega RPG first released on the Dreamcast but later got an expanded edition on GameCube that’s a definitive edition of sorts. It’s a phenomenal adventure, telling the tale of a gang of sky pirates fighting a militant empire. It has enormous ship battles, a whole Moby Dick side plot, and one of the best soundtracks you’ll find in an RPG. If it doesn’t make its way to Switch Online then Sega better have a remaster in the works.
Odama
One of the final games to come to GameCube, Odama is a very weird one. It’s a war game that turns the battlefield into a pinball board. That was already a strange concept for the time, but what made Odama all the more unique is that it supported the GameCube Microphone. Players could bark specific commands to their troops, making it a very ahead of its time experiment in voice control. It wasn’t particularly well-received at the time, but Switch 2 is the perfect moment to give it a second chance. The console features a built-in microphone, which is ideal for Odama. Sure, we want all the big hits that everyone knows and loves on Switch 2, but I want to see weird games like Cubivore: Survival of the Fittest just as much as those games.
Star Fox Adventures
The GameCube really saw Nintendo cutting loose with its franchises in a way that often paid off. The most divisive example of that, though, was Star Fox Adventures. Rather than making another shoot-em-up in the vein of StarFox 64, Nintendo tried to turn Fox McCloud into the next Link in a 3D adventure game about fighting dinosaurs. It was a completely random left-turn that rubbed a lot of fans the wrong way at the time. Even so, it did review surprisingly well at the time and found some supporters who liked seeing what felt like a more mature adventure game like Zelda. I’d love to give it a replay myself and remember which side of that debate I fall on.
Doshin the Giant
One thing that I love about Switch Online is that it occasionally gives players access to very rare games. If that holds true with the GameCube, I hope that means that Doshin the Giant makes a comeback. If you’ve never heard that name before, it’s for good reason. The god-simulator about an enormous yellow creature was never released in the west. It only came to the Nintendo 64, via its 64DD expansion, in 1999 and got a GameCube upgrade in 2002. The latter did make it’s way to Europe, but it never reached North America. As a nearly lost piece of Nintendo history, Doshin the Giant deserves its Switch Online spot as much as any other game. Who knows? Maybe it’ll earn a new cult following and inspires Nintendo to bring the series back.
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