Androo Recommends: Top 5 Gamecube games

R-CADE's top dog, Mr Androo has listed his top 5 Gamecube games to play on your next visit to our lovely little gaming haven.

Super Monkey Ball

With SEGA shutting down production of the Dreamcast, all of the company’s efforts were then focused on their original IP’s and after the successful release of the Monkey Ball arcade machine, the company ported the game to the Gamecube as a launch title in late 2001.

Incredibly simply, addictive and difficult all at once, the game was loved by critics and consumers alike.

In Super Monkey Ball, players are tasked with rolling a cute little monkey through a series of floating levels trying to collect bananas and get to the goal.

“A frustratingly brilliant game that absolutely anyone of any age or experience can pick up and play”

Super Mario Strikers

Mario Mario has a game for nearly every single genre of sport. Tennis, Golf, Basketball, Baseball, even the Olympics. So it’s not surprising that a football game was on the cards. Developed by Next Level Games, this entry to the Mario Sports collection took the fine art of five-a-side football and injected it with an arcade feel, over the top dynamics, and our favourite Super Mario characters.

In 2006 this game was actually the final Mario game released on the Gamecube console and also became a packaged variant with a black console itself.

Loved for it’s multiplayer component but hurt by a lack of single player modes the game reviewed well and even spawned a sequel on the Nintendo Wii a couple of years later.

“As usual, Nintendo deliver a finely tuned multiplayer experience for up to 4 people that compliments the great sport of football”

Warioware, Inc: Mega Party Games!

He’s disgusting, he’s rude, he’s horrible, and we love him. Wario was never intended to be as huge a hit as he became but due to his popularity on the Game Boy with the Warioland games, our boy in yellow was destined for greatness.

In 2003 the Warioware series was introduced to the Game Boy Advance. Microgames was designed to consist of short games, no longer than 5 seconds, where players needed to complete a simple task using intuition or common sense. The games of course had Wario’s crazy sense of humour and evoked a very Japanese style of comedy.

Just 6 months after the GBA release Warioware Mega Microgames was re-released for the Nintendo Gamecube with a new multiplayer aspect added in.

“One of my favourite multiplayer games for the Gamecube. Funny and instantly playable. Guaranteed to start an argument”

The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker

The Zelda that divided gaming fans world wide. The 10th game in the series would see Link return to an adventure on water. Featuring a cartoon cel shaded style that many found off putting, Wind Waker was a critical success and garnered nothing but praise from video game publications.

It’s similarity under the hood to the most beloved game in the series (Ocarina of Time) were undeniable but Wind Waker also added some much needed features whilst retaining it’s Zelda feel.

You awake on an island on your birthday but soon find out that an evil is brewing and it is your job to vanquish it as the Hero of Time. Queue a talking boat, lots of sailing, dungeons galore, and Tingle...

“My first proper play-through of a Zelda game and my introduction to the little green swordsman. If it wasn’t for Wind Waker this series would have passed me by.”

Mario Kart Double Dash

How do you top the most well loved entry in the definitive karting franchise (MK64)? Double the characters! Double the weapons! Double Dash!! Mario Kart has always been the arcade racer to emulate and with MKDD on the Gamecube, Nintendo took everything about the series and cranked it up to full.

Featuring debuts from characters like Birdo, Toadette, Baby Mario and Luigi, Diddy Kong, Petey Piranha and King Boo; as well as returning characters from previous editions. Mario Kart Double Dash upped the roster to 20 racers in 21 potential karts. The introduction of two characters per kart also made Double Dash the first and only Mario Kart to have a co-op mode.

With a 7 year gap from 64 to DD, the wait was lengthy but many outlets reviewed the game well and it went on to become the second best selling Gamecube game of all time.

“Mario Kart is synonymous with multiplayer, and has been the cornerstone of most of my best childhood gaming memories. Double Dash being in most of them.”

You can play all of these games and over 1400 more when you visit R-CADE Glasgow. You can see our full games list on our website HERE. Make sure to book your game passes before you visit too!

Mish recommends: Top 5 Sega Mega Drive Games

Are you stuck for games to play when you visit R-CADE? Fear not, our staff have some great recommendations for you. Today we have Mish with her top 5 Sega Mega Drive games that you can try on your next visit.

Ecco The Dolphin

First up we have the deep sea classic! You play a bottle nosed dolphin named Ecco who travels the deep sea defeating extraterrestrial threats. You learn skills like echolocation to find your way through caverns and communicate with other characters through singing. You must find the lost city of Atlantis and travel through time and find the orbs before beings from another planet appear to take Earths water source, just a typical days work for a dolphin! This is a notoriously difficult game to master so perhaps not the first game for the little ones to try, but for someone looking for a challenge this is a unique game to try.

Road Rash 2

The perfect two player battle racing game! Not only do you get to race motorbikes at eye wateringly high speed, you can battle other racers with chains, bats or just punch them off their bikes!

This split screen 2 player racer has given me many hours of entertainment with friends, but don't worry if you forgot to bring a player two along, you can race single player against 14 other cpu riders and even knock some policemen off their bikes too!

Sonic The Hedgehog 2

You can't possibly pick up a Mega Drive controller without playing one of the best Sega games ever made! The original Sonic The Hedgehog is a great game, but the developers really levelled up with the sequel. Sonic The Hedgehog 2 is faster, has quicker reactions, offers bigger levels and introduces the iconic 'spin dash' trick.

Sonic The Hedgehog 2 also introduces Miles 'Tails' Prower, Sonics fun sidekick. Tails can be played by a second player, either to help Sonic travel through levels or to race split screen style against Sonic. Adding a 2 player option to Sonic gameplay gives couples the chance to share the journey of Sonic together without feeling left out.

Columns

Move over Tetris, Columns is the top puzzle game! Columns can be played in single or 2 player mode. This game has a similar play style to Tetris, with a tall blank play area where you must match the tiles in order to gain points. The difference with Columns is that instead of Tetronimoes that must fit in to each other, you must match 3 or more jewels of the same style and colour to gain points. The wonderfully relaxing soundtrack and beautifully designed jewels make this game a timeless classic.

Gynoug

Last on the list is a slightly lesser known Sega Game. Gynoug, or known as 'Wings Of Wor' in North America for the Sega Genesis, is a side scrolling shooter game. This single player game is split into 5 levels where you play the winged warrior 'Wor' who must battle evil minions and defeat a mid level and end level boss on each level. You can pick up spells and extra weapons to help defeat bad guys too. The design and soundtrack in this game has such an iconic early 90's style, so if you are looking for something that will throw you right back then this is game for you.

We have almost 1500 video games available to play over 20 different consoles in R-CADE, you can check out our games list HERE before your visit, we are sure you will find plenty of great retro games to play. Remember to book your game pass on our website before you visit.

Lewis' 5 TOP 5 N64 RECOMENDATIONS

For when you come to R-CADE and have nothing to play, these are the top 5 Nintendo 64 games I'm going to recommend to you! Sadly not every game in our repertoire will make this list but either with friends or alone these are easy to pick up and sure are fun. In no particular order here they are!

Mario Kart 64

Mario Kart makes the shortlist but the list of reasons for being here is long! Mario Kart 64 was the first Mario Kart game I had ever played so I'm a little bit biased but it is my list after all! It's got all the classic tracks from Choco Mountain to Moo Moo Farm (and all the sneaky shortcuts those maps hide). One fact that is lesser known is that Mario Kart 64 was the first game where trick boxes were introduced, additionally they also act different from other games in series, this is the only Mario Kart game where you can deploy them mid air where they stay! Dastardly.

Super Mario 64

This is the first 3D Mario Game and it's still the best one to me! It sets the formula for collect this, beat this but each level brings something unique and the collector in you will want to find every single star you can. From Penguin belly slides to Goomba stomping your way down town this game has it's basics down to a tee, sure it isn't as flashy as some of the other games with stimulating powerups but that's what makes it so loveable. It's super easy to pick up with simple controls and navigating a 3D Mario world is easy peasy, although jumping head first into a painting to start each level may not be intuitive it's definitely satisfying. After all, who doesn't want to headbutt the Mona Lisa?

Goldeneye 007

This is a Golden game with a license to thrill! Play as classic James Bond characters in campaign mode or an arcade mode with split screen versus! It's got deathmatches, throwing knives, frag grenades and the titular golden gun from the films! Surprising little fact is that multiplayer was actually a very late addition to the game which wasn't in the original brief. It's the ultimate game to test your mettle and settle any score.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time

With so much game packed into the tiny 32 MB cartridge this game is sure to last you many sessions at R-CADE and will take awhile to fully complete! Don't let it's length discourage you because this game holds so many opportunities for short term gratification too! Play as Link as you hack, slash and hi-yah your way to victory. Using the Ocarina to whistle a tune that really puts the pep in Link's Step. Collect tunes and master the music that helps you traverse the game. Featuring the little fairy Navi, this game will keep you entertained with the story and the various minigames found throughout!

Star Wars episode I: Racer

Now this is Pod Racing! I know this isn't the only racer that has made the list but this one has earned it's spot. You may not enjoy the prequels but you've got my guarantee that you'll enjoy this! This game features all the original racers from the classic prequel including young Anakin and the ever so violent Sebulba. It pits the podracers on 25 tracks across 8 worlds in the Star Wars systems. With split screen it's a no brainer why you wouldn't want to force your friends to eat your dust in this extra-terrestrial racer.

You can check our full games list online at www.rcadeglasgow.com/gameslist