Switch 2 The Past

‘It’s not the same without the flame’. Hot Wheels will go down as one of the most successful toy brands of all time, and the companion video games intended to merge the 1968 toy into the 21st century came with its share of good and bad racing games. Mike and Neil sit down with friend of the show Ali to discuss the Hot Wheels games and 5 other racing games on the GameCube in ‘Racing Games Part 2’ of The GameCube Was Cool Podcast! From Auto Modellista to Tonka Trucks, buckle up for a nostalgic trip down memory lane. The back of all the cases will be read at the start of the episode, skip to the 4:00 minute mark for the start of the episode.

HIIII. Everyone's favourite pink ball makes it's first and last appearance on the GameCube with Kirby Air Ride. Released within weeks of both Mario Kart Double Dash and F-Zero GX this racing game often gets overshadowed yet but there's a lot more to meets the eye, even with that angry Kirby on the cover. Friend of the show Jake joins us to explain the relation between a controller in his TV and Kirby Air Ride's battle mode City Trials while other friend Zafir brings his wealth of knowledge about the franchise and hopes for an eventual Return to Dreamland successor. To listen to Mike read the back of this unique Kirby entry skip ahead to 1h12.

Goku, Raditz, Piccolo, Krillin, Gohan, Vegeta. Any of these names should conjure up font memories for anyone who grew up in the 90s or 2000s. Not only was Dragon Ball Z the gateway drug to an entire medium but it redefined what could sell to the west and laid the ground work for so many shows today. The Dragon Ball franchise of course makes an appearance on the GameCube with Budokai, Budokai 2, and Sagas. Mike and Neil are joined by friends of the show Harrison and Jason to discuss these games and lament why Budokai 3 was never released for the hardware. DBZ of course influenced other animes like Zatch Bell, Naruto, and One Piece who also made appearances on the Cube with two games a piece. The Mamodo series for Zatch Bell, the critically acclaimed Clash of Ninja for Naruto and the Grand Battle/Adventure games for One Piece. Don't want to hear 9 back of the cases? Skip ahead to 4:50 to charge up for this super saiyan episode!

Mike & Neil spent a lot of their childhoods catching Pokemon and exploring the Digiverse with weird monsters that their parents couldn't pronounce. But they were nice enough to buy the cards, toys, movies and games anyway. Episode 46 of The GameCube Was Cool Podcast is all about the Pokemon spinoffs and the two main line Digimon games on the GameCube! Pokemon Channel, Pokemon Box Ruby Sapphire, and Digimon World 4 and Rumble Arena 2. These games were probably not worth the money back in the day, but the hype machine around these franchises was so strong, a child's radar for quality games was offline when it came to any experience that involved adventuring and fighting with our monster pals. Friend of the show Ramon joins the boys to talk and trash Digimon World 4 but also to speak to his love of the Digimon franchise that hasn't wavered since the early 2000s.

America's favourite past-time found itself on the GameCube on launch day all the way to the console's end in 2006. From the All Star Baseball franchise, to one offs like Home Run King, and of course EA's MVP Baseball, there were 7 ways in North America to walk on to a diamond, on a cube. We are joined by friends of the show Jason and Jed to discuss their memories of baseball games from back in the day and where we think baseball games will be on future Nintendo hardware. We of course talk about how despite the Show still selling like 'gangbusters' MVP Baseball 2005 is regarded as the high point in baseball video games by basically every major publication (even MLB.com!). Neil kicks off the episode with the back of the case segment and is later joined by Mike to talk about snapping game discs and our first every Patreon-supported opening topic!

Neil & Mike love to talk about two things; the GameCube and the GameCube Microphone, and on Episode 44 of the 'The GameCube Was Cool Podcast' they get to do just that with Ikaruga and Odama. Two cult classics that don't get a lot of air time these days but definitely go down in the history books of the weird and great games released in the era of the GameCube. A tough as nails space "Shoot Em Up" and an RTS with pinball mechanics... what a fun time it was to be alive in the 2000s. The boys kick off the episode by discussing how far away from the bathroom one should travel while brushing their teeth, and celebrate being downloaded in all 50 states!

Episode 43 of The PlayStation 2 Was Cool podcast takes us to 3 of Mike & Neil's favourite games for the system: the seminal inaugural entry for the Ratchet & Clank series (no good innuendo title here unfortunately), Shadow of the Colossus's beginning as an fan-adored cult classic that gets better with each remake, and of course the final game for the PS2, FIFA 14. With over 1800 games on the system the boys only have 1600 more to go and have a very surprising announcement about everyone's favourite console...skip to 16:30 to hear Neil read the back of the case for Ratchet & Clank and enjoy this year's April 1st episode.

Two days, two Wind Waker episodes! But what do Neil and Mike think of two parters in media? Find out this and much more when they discuss even more intricate details and memories of Link's 2003 cel-shaded adventure. Join fellow streamers/podcaster/Zelda lovers Cam (@cpawx) and Josh (@stillloadingpod) to chat more about what makes this game so special nearly two decades later. Neil finally gets to read the back of the case all the way at the 58:45 mark of the episode.

Perhaps the most divisive moment in Nintendo's history happened exactly 18 years ago when The Wind Waker was released in North America for the Nintendo GameCube. "Celda" as it was coined at the time was a massive departure from the console and the Zelda series' mature leanings. Despite this the game has gone on to slowly achieve more and more praise as the years have been kind to it's graphics which still hold up incredibly well on the GameCube. Neil & Mike have so much to say about this game that they split this episode in to two parts! Take a trip back in with friends of the show Matt and Ryan who discuss their fond memories of playing this gem and commiserate about how old this game is making us feel. Stay tuned for an even deeper dive into the creation of the game in part 2! This episode was sponsored by Beedle's Shop Ship. Inconveniently located in random areas of the Great Sea. We deal in pretty much anything and everything!

Episode 41 is dedicated to Zelda, the franchise that has introduced millions of people to video games. Somehow we had through 40 episodes without talking about Tingle. Who could forget the first time they heard the iconic overworld theme or the feeling they had when exploring the worlds Nintendo have given us to explore. We are specifically talking about the 'Legend of Zelda Collector's Edition' and the 'Ocarina of Time Master Quest' on the GameCube. The series turns 35 this year, and we want to celebrate by sharing our memories of adventuring in the land of Hyrule and Termina in Nintendo classics such as Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. Mike and Neil sit down to look back on their experience with Zelda. They also discuss the etiquette of free stuff at the side of the road and the real meaning of 'bi-weekly'. We are joined by our friend of the show, Twitch streamer @CPawx to talk about his memories of The Legend of Zelda and his Twitch channel!