Why Switch 2 Needs These GameCube Classics

With its fairly limited launch lineup, some of the most compelling Switch 2 games soon after the console’s release have been Nintendo classics of a bygone era. Some of the best games of the GameCube generation include F-Zero GX, Soul Calibur 2, The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, and Switch Online’s most recent addition, Super Mario Strikers. Revisiting these titles some twenty years later proves just how well some of these games have aged.

There’s no shortage of games from this era that deserve to live on via Nintendo’s Online service. With a sparse few months ahead, Inverse can think of a handful of games we’d like to play on our shiny new handheld after years in obscurity. Here’s our picks for GameCube games we hope make the cut on Nintendo’s ever-growing library of playable retro classics.

Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes

The GameCube exclusive remake of the original Metal Gear Solid has been completely forgotten 21 years later. From a certain point of view, it’s easy to understand why. The incorporation of Metal Gear Solid 2’s mobility and first-person camera mode practically breaks the straightforward design of the original game. Its remixed cutscenes, obviously inspired by popular cinema of the late 90s and early 2000s, are very cringey by today’s standards. And, as of 2023, Konami has made it fairly easy to revisit the first five games in the series as its creator Hideo Kojima intended.

But the introduction of the GameCube on Switch Online seems like the perfect opportunity to let people rediscover this undeniably fun hidden gem. It may be flawed, but it’s still a very fun and novel way to play Metal Gear Solid 1. The remake’s vastly improved graphics still hold up today, and the added easter eggs, like the cute appearance of Mario, Yoshi, and even the GameCube itself, make it a fantastic, celebratory candidate for both Nintendo’s retro roots and the legacy of gaming’s coolest espionage adventure.

Star Wars Rogue Squadron 2: Rogue Leader

While it may be a licensing nightmare in Star Wars’ Disney era, George Lucas’ science fantasy epic and Nintendo are intrinsically tied to one another. From featuring a Stormtrooper on the box of every Nintendo 64 (Nintendo exclusive Shadows Of The Empire was the biggest Star Wars thing before the prequels), to one of the best Star Wars games of the generation being a launch title for the GameCube, there’s enough history between the two to figure out an equally lucrative middle ground.

Star Wars Rogue Squadron 2: Rogue Leader is a perfect Star Wars game. The flight-action game lets players re-enact the most iconic space battles of the original trilogy, and it’s a crime that it hasn’t been playable on newer consoles. Securing Rogue Squadron 2 into the GameCube Classic library as an exclusive would be well worth whatever negotiations Nintendo’s lawyers have to smooth over with LucasFilm Games.

Mario Kart: Double Dash

Few Mario Kart games stand out in players’ minds as much as Mario Kart: Double Dash. It’s far from the best Mario Kart, but its titular “Double” mechanic remains such a cool conceit, it’s tough to believe it hasn’t come back in any form since.

From its excellent track selection to its strange one-off features like character-specific special items, Double Dash is in a league of its own. Such a storied entry in the beloved series deserves a chance to get its Fire Flowers all these years later..

Viewtiful Joe

Capcom’s stylish side-scrolling beat-em-up Viewtiful Joe may have come to other platforms eventually, but it doesn’t change its legacy as a distinctly GameCube franchise. From its Tokusatsu-inspired character designs, cell-shade look pulled straight out of a comic book or manga, and cheesy self-awareness, Viewtiful Joe has the gleeful energy so few games of the modern era (save for 2023’s award-winning Hi-Fi Rush) have today.

In terms of sheer legacy, Viewtiful Joe is one of the GameCube’s most important and memorable exclusives not published by Nintendo. The long-absent character making a retro comeback to Nintendo’s new console would mark a very “Viewtiful” return.

Prince Of Persia: Warrior Within

We’ve been waiting ages for Ubisoft’s remake of the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. But while re-releases of that original will likely remain under lock and key until the remake is done, its safe to say that the 2004 sequel is fair game for a Switch Online drop.

The sequel’s seemingly forced turn into darker, grittier territory makes it categorically less interesting than the pitch-perfect revival that was its predecessor. But everything from its puzzles to its combat improves on The Sands of Time’s coolest ideas. If Ubisoft manages to keep Godsmack’s inexplicable inclusion in the game’s soundtrack, its addition to the online service could serve as the perfect nostalgic time capsule of what was considered cool in video games 21 years ago.

Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem

Nintendo isn’t exactly known for more mature games. As of 2025, the company has published just nine M-rated games in its history, including last year’s Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club. The first game published by Nintendo and intended for older audiences was Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem, which debuted on the GameCube. It serves as an interesting time capsule of when Nintendo tried its best to appeal to gamers looking for something a bit more grown-up, a market then dominated by the PlayStation 2, and to a lesser extent, the debuting Xbox.

Eternal Darkness is a cult favorite survival horror game developed by Silicon Knights (which also developed the aforementioned Twin Snakes), mostly remembered for its clever use of fourth wall-breaking moments to get inside the player’s psyche. Nightdive Studios, the masters of bringing back old horror titles, claimed in 2022 that it looked into re-releasing the game, but Nintendo itself rejected the idea. Maybe now that the company is ready to revisit the GameCube, we’ll finally see a playable version of the influential hit.