Switch 2 The Past

Real Time Strategy and Tactical games have a rich yet unique history and conjure up an incredibly diverse set of games. From Pikmin to StarCraft, to playing Army Men in a sandbox, these types of games are hard to put labels on but you know them when you see them. While these games mostly had their hey-day outside of consoles, the GameCube boasted a couple of long-running franchises such as Worms and Army-Men (no not the Toy Story Army Men although Mike was pretty convinced that they were). Friend of the show Jason Hodgson joins the boys to discuss his memories of growing up with Worms games and the desire to see Worms Armageddon ported to the Switch. Finally Neil gets to talk about one of his favourite hidden gems for the cube, Nintendo-published Batallion Wars, a spin-off of the Advanced Wars series that is an incredible amount of fun.

The GameCube was home to several M-rated games that your parents probably thought would lead you down a life of crime and drugs. On Episode 39 of The GameCube Was Cool, Mike and Neil sit down to talk about some open world and violent games which Nintendo were welcoming to their hardware with open arms in hopes of attracting an older audience. Games like Smugglers Run, True Crime and XIII each had their own levels of success and controversy, and featured developers who went on to develop classic games like Grand Theft Auto, Sleeping Dogs and Assassins Creed. The boys start off this episode by celebrating the show reaching 10,000 downloads and decide what the best shape of strawberry is. All this and more in The GameCube Was Cool Podcast!

WAHHH, BUY MY GAME. Weird, wacky and wonderful. That about sums up Wario, the loveable, fourth-wall breaking greedy nintendo character who's had quite the run with the unique WarioWare games and the hiddden gems of WarioLand and WarioWorld. On Episode 38 Neil and Mike sit down and chat with fellow podcaster, reviewer, and collecting aficionado RetroWolf88 to discuss Wario World, WarioWare Mega Party Game$, and collecting in general giving his take on the best and most efficient methods of creating your very own fully stocked GameCube library. Skip to to 38:05 to hear Neil read the back of WarioWare or Wario himself will "give ya a knuckle sandwich, punk".

If you grew up in the 80s, 90s or 2000s, Nickelodeon probably has a special place in your catalogue of childhood memories. From it’s vast assortment of classic cartoons, live action sitcoms, gameshows and original movies, the licenses were not shy to create dozens of video game tie-ins, nine of which The GameCube Was Cool Podcast will be covering in this epsiode! The early 2000s video game consoles were home to beloved franchises such as Fairly Odd Parents, Dora the Explorer, Avatar the Last Airbender and Nicktoons Unite. Mike and Neil sit down to rank their favourite Nickelodeon franchises,  share some hot tips for maintaining driveways and discuss the news around the February 2021 Nintendo Direct!The episode starts off with a bang as Neil reads the back to the cases of all nine games. Skip to 33:29 to when we are joined by friend of the show Dan to talk about Rocket Power and to 48:58 when we are joined by friend of the show Jason to look back on The Rugrats. All this and more in Episode 37 of The GameCube Was Cool Podcast!

The franchise that redefined the gaming industry and continues to sell like gangbusters today, The Sims makes it's way to The GameCube Was Cool with five titles! The original game, The Sims 2, and the expansion Pets are all remembered fondly by special guest Anneka who reminisces about "woohooing", making the grim reaper appear, and unexplained guinea pig viruses. More than just a game, the Sims, and SimCity before it completely changed the way people thought about the way video games should be played, paving the way for a whole new casual market of gamers and indirectly leading to the successes of Grand Theft Auto. Neil and Mike bask in the glory of the plum-bob while covering console only games "Bustin' Out" and "the Urbz". Skip to 1:11:20 to hear all of the backs of the cases for this remarkable franchise.

Winter is here, and snowboarding is all around us! Take a journey back to a time when snowboard games were all the rage while featuring the Juno Award winning Canadian band 'Finger Eleven'. If you were a kid with a home console in the early 2000s, chances are you had a copy. This week we are joined by friends of the show Ali and Branan to share their memories of 1080º Avalanche, SSX 3 and SSX On Tour on the GameCube. Neil may need to re-think his favourite snowboarding game on the Cube, and Mike may finally have found a game he can ski in. Skip to 1:19:30 to hear the back of the case segment to some rad pop punk tunes.

Alone you are mighty, together you are legends. Neil, Mike, and Professor X take you back to a time before the Marvel Cinematic Universe, when X-Men reigned over the box-office and the GameCube played host to six games featuring these uncanny mutants. The boys dive into the X-Men Legends series, a precursor to Marvel Ultimate Alliance and regarded as one of the greatest superhero games ever made. Friend of the show Harrison makes another appearance to talk about X-Men Next Dimension, a Dragon Ball Z-like fighter with a massive roster of characters. Listen to hear about Magneto, Nightcrawler, Storm, Kitty Pride, Wolverine and more on this very special episode. Skip to 1:07:19 to have Neil learn that Magneto is once again trying to take over the world.

The late 90s and early 2000s was an important evolution in the military shooter genre in video games and there were only a few franchises treating the source material with real respect and care. Medal of Honor was the pinnacle for retelling the events of World War II while still being somewhat historically accurate and respectful to those who served. Neil and Mike are excited to share their knowledge and memories of playing these games as kids and finding out years later how they share DNA with Spielberg's 1998 film ‘Saving Private Ryan’. Skip ahead to 31:16 to when we are joined by our friend Josh from the Still Loading Podcast to share his memories of the Medal of Honor franchise and what lead to its unfortunate fall from grace after the GameCube generation.

Hockey is back and so are Mike & Neil on this very special episode of The GameCube Was Cool. There was a time where NHL games had the perfect balance of arcade-y-ness and realism and NHL 2004 seems to embody it like no other. So much so that you can still play and mod the game today! As a special surprise, in-game arena announcer for the NHL series Jon McComb is on the show to take us through his experience working with EA and even gives us a "last minute of play in the third period". Mike & Neil are also joined by friend of the show Marty Thompson and prolific hockey writer and author of Minds Behind The Sports Games, Patrick Hickey Jr. to give their takes on the EA NHL series as well as NHL 2K3. Skip to 16:57 to hear Patrick or to 1:26:20 to hear Jon!

Mario. Party. Two words in the english language that immediately conjure up images of happy nostalgic times, or the ending of friendships. Today Mike & Neil dive into the #1 cause of divorce and talk about Mario Parties 4 through 7. The boys detail their own memories of owning some of these games growing up as well as talking about the history of the franchise and what Nintendo will do with the massively successful Super Mario Party for the Switch. Friends of the show Harrison, Nichola, and Jed swing by to discuss who will play Waluigi in his biopic and if that mic for Mario Party 7 ever actually worked for anyone. It's also Mike's birthday so he gets a turn at reading some of the backs of cases. Skip to 1:10:35 to hear details about Toadsworth's final cruise.