The GameCube era of Nintendo saw some amazing games come to the console’s library. Along with the amount of high quality experiences, players had a wide offering of games that fell into a handful of genres. One of the genres represented well on the system were simulation games.
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Simulation gamestend to give players the ability to live out a specific aspect of life inside a virtual world. While there were plenty of popular simulation games over the five years theGameCubewasNintendo’sprimary console, there are quite a few hidden gems that have been forgotten about over the years.
9Harvest Moon: Another Wonderful Life
One of the most popular simulation franchises of all time isHarvest Moon, being one of the first to makeworking on a farm and socializingwith local individuals such a fun concept. The GameCube era was a phenomanal one for the series, with many pointing atHarvest Moon: A Wonderful LifeandHarvest Moon: Magical Melodyas among the best in the franchise.
However, there was one game that was spun-offA Wonderful LifecalledHarvest Moon: Another Wonderful Life. There were no changes to the gameplay, but the story took the perspective of a female farmer instead of a male farmer. And instead of choosing between three potential wives, the player chose between three potential husbands, all of whom were in the original game.
8The Sims Bustin' Out
Another iconic franchise under the genre is aptly calledThe Sims. This wasprimarily a PC seriesfor many years until 2003 saw the series shun the PC out for the first time and go exclusively on console. That was with the titleThe Sims Bustin' Out.
Along with having similar elements to previous titles,The Sims Bustin' Outtasked players with going after Malcolm Landgraab, who has been stealing everyone’s stuff. By completing objectives, players will need to raise enough money to buy these possessions back and eventually kick Landgraab out of town.
72002 FIFA World Cup
Sports tend to be the subject of many simulation video games as emulating being a professional athlete in a major sporting event without the pressure of actually being on the stage can be absolutely thrilling. For soccer fans, EA’sFIFAseries has been a staple for decades in that department.
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While there are usually regular releases for each entry, there are also some special editions that have been made. One of them is2002 FIFA World Cup, which served as an experiment of game mechanics between the mainline games in 2002 and 2003. Many countries are included in the game, including those that didn’t qualify for the actual tournament.
6NFL QB Club 2002
To talk about a different kind of football,Madden NFLhas been the official football game of the NFL for many years now. But in the past, there weremore NFL-licensed franchisesout there for players to try. One forgotten football simulation game on the GameCube wasNFL QB Club 2002.
Developed by Acclaim and the last entry in the franchise, the game focuses on football’s most important position of quarterback. The game provides plenty of different modes to choose from, most of which focus on picking one of the variety of quarterbacks available in 2002 and Hall of Fame quarterbacks that retired before 2002.
5Legends Of Wrestling
Continuing the trend of sports simulation games, what if the best names in wrestling came together to battle against one another? That is the general concept ofLegends of Wrestling, which pulls some of the most famous wrestlers from a plethora of organizations beyondjust the WWE.
The roster includes the likes of Hulk Hogan, Jerry “The King” Lawler, and over 40 other wrestlers. The game did not get good reception but did get a few sequels after its release on the GameCube in 2002. This was another game developed by Acclaim, who published three entries of this franchise before going bankrupt in 2004.
4Top Gun: Combat Zones
Simulating flight is another common trope in the genre as many individuals will never have the opportunity to actually fly an aircraft in their lifetime. These kinds of games can just be about flying, but there are also a handful of them that incorporate some form of aerial combat.
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That’s where a game likeTop Gun: Combat Zonescomes in. Based on the hit first film long beforeTop Gun: Mavericktook over the world, the game has a mission structure that takes place across three chapters. While the first missions of each chapter give players a chance to get use the controls, players will be thrown into actual combat near the midpoint of each section.
3American Chopper 2: Full Throttle
The generation where the GameCube was prevalent saw a lot ofunique licensed video gamesof popular movies and television shows that could fall under the simulation genre as these experiences were attempting to emulate this media in a new form.
American Chopper 2: Full Throttleis an example of this. The game includes the cast of the reality TV seriesAmerican Chopper, with the main premise revolving around building motorcycles and then racing against the other members of the Orange County Choppers business.
2Pool Paradise
Hanging with friends while playing billiards at a pool table is a lot of fun in real life, which is why it makes sense that there have been many examples of pool video games over the years. A version of this that came out on GameCube was calledPool Paradise.
Endorsed by professional pool player Jimmy White, the game features a tournament system where players will have to compete against others to advance through the game and unlock more features. In addition to the usual pool table games, there are also various bar andarcade gamessuch as darts and skee-ball for those who like a little variety.
1Doshin The Giant
Unlike the other games on this list,Doshin the Giantis a game that is actually published by Nintendo andproduced by Shigeru Miyamoto. The game was released in Japan and Europe on GameCube, but a North American version of the game was canceled.
Doshin the Giantis a god simulation game, meaning this was the ultimate sandbox for people to mess with the world that was displayed in front of them. As Doshin, players are encouraged to help take care of the worshipers that pray to the large entity, and choosing to help or hurt the civilians and the world will affect how the simulation turns out.
