Cult Classics: GameCube

Following on from part one, Keza stops understanding the alphabet and starts hugging everything vaguely chronologically. We've also done a quick check and she doesn't claim anything was released in "1005" in this one.

1080 Avalanche

• Developer: NST
• Release: 2003

Apparently even Ikaruga and Skies of Arcadia outsold this, which is pretty unbelievable considering that snowboarding games have always been popular. SSX is a better all-around snowboarding game, but as far as actually racing on a snowboard goes, 1080 Avalanche is about the best there is. It goes a lot faster than any other in its genre, and as a result it's more intense, with no nonsense endless-combo tricking or flawless landings - doing any tricks at all puts you at a huge risk of falling over. It's probably been superseded by more recent snowboarding games, all things considered, but as a pure racer 1080 is still exciting.

What we said: "1080 is easily the best snowboard racing game I've played."

Ribbit King

• Developer: Bandai
• Release: 2004

This came out on the PlayStation 2 as well, but seeing as it didn't appear in the PS2's Cult Classics list, it seems only right to include it here. Ribbit King is a mental game in which you play frolf - a version of golf, except played by catapulting frogs through the air with a mallet. I don't think much more really needs to be said to justify Ribbit King's place on this list, apart from that it's fun in multiplayer and amusing for a good long while in single-player. Think Mario Golf with randomly appearing elephants and a ball capable of swimming, running away from the hole and being eaten by snakes and you're on the right lines. Getting the frog in the hole is only a small part of this inspired game - usually it's about getting him to high places for a points bubble, into a pond or near a hazard like a giant trampoline, snake or whirlpool. Essentially you get points when funny things happen, which gives it just the right element of randomness to make it a weird and hilarious multiplayer classic.

What we said: Nowt. Amends: made.

Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat

• Developer: Nintendo
• Release: 2005

Jungle Beat was played by even less people than Konga was, even though it's the most innovative and addictive 2D platformer to grace the last generation of consoles. The bongos control a little Donkey Kong running around lovely-looking levels, smashing enemies in the face and collecting bananas whilst trying not to touch the ground and break his combo. It starts off simple - run, jump, hit things - and ends up extremely nuanced, as you search for unbroken paths through levels, desperate to keep your combo, devastated when you accidentally hit the ground. The bosses are funny and interesting and the levels are amazingly varied for a game whose control consists entirely of left bongo, right bongo, both and clap. It's a terrific achievement. Apart from all that, though, Jungle Beat actually makes you feel like a bloody great monkey. Few things in games feel more natural and physical than drumming your hands to run and, especially, actually pounding your fists into an enemy, and Jungle Beat keeps the primal feeling going with loud, animal yells, bangs and thwacks and satisfying visual feedback. Just try to play it without banging your chest. It's impossible.

What we said: "If the Revolution needs a poster-child, then Donkey Kong Jungle Beat is surely it."

Eternal Darkness

• Developer: Silicon Knights
• Release: 2002

That Eternal Darkness managed to do what it did without seeming enormously contrived is absolutely amazing. What other horror game has ever managed to mess with your head like this, lying at you and mocking you, using the medium against you, without breaking the suspense and tension that terrify you in the first place? Few have even tried, and yet Eternal Darkness steals your items, feeds you misleading messages, pretends to kill you, skews your camera angle and messes up your sound without breaking your involvement. It is often genuinely frightening in a way that no other game manages, and juggles its innovative scare techniques with its multiple playable characters impressively. And, on top of all that, it manages to weave an intricate and well-told yarn.

What we said: "There isn't much else like Eternal Darkness, and though it might have felt that way for a bit, I'm not losing my mind."

F-Zero GX

• Developer: Amusement Vision
• Release: 2003

By far the best racer on the GameCube, F-Zero GX is also probably the best-looking game on the system. The trademarks of the series are all present and correct: enormous high speeds, severe difficulty and extreme risk. It's an insanely exciting game that will have you turning blue towards the end of a race as you hold your breath before the finish, which usually ends in explosions. I can't really think of a reason not to own it, especially now that the Wii will let you see it in sort-of-HD without your having to spend GBP 60 on the rare GameCube component cables.

What we said: "Any game that can inspire the kind of blind obsession that has you glued to the gamepad for five straight hours playing the same track, heart rate at 140, pupils dilated, quit/restart technique perfected, is alright by us."

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles

• Developer: Square-Enix
• Release: 2004

This is the first of three brilliant multiplayer games on this list involving those damned GBA cables. It was such a good idea, but the amount of money and planning involved in actually playing games like this and Zelda: Four Swords really put people off. Hopefully forthcoming Wii versions will solve everything with wireless transfer. Anyway! Crystal Chronicles. Shite with one player, brilliant with four - and just like in 2004, that's the main obstacle to enjoying it these days. Under the right conditions, it's a superb and fiendish combination of competitive and co-operative as every player balances their desire for loot against the Good of the Team, arguing over who has to carry the magic bucket and sending trinkets flying across the map in a mad rush to possess them. It's full of potential mischief - you'll spend half your time supporting your team-mates and half your time trying to set them on fire, much like in Four Swords, but where it differs from Nintendo's own multiplayer masterpiece is in its genuine RPG depth. It's definitely a Squenix game, with all the depth and excellent production values that entails - Crystal Chronicles still looks absolutely gorgeous today. If you're one of the approximately 30 million Final Fantasy fans who never played Crystal Chronicles, then go! Now's your chance!

What we said: "A superb game; one of the best action RPGs we've played in a long time."

Geist

• Developer: n-Space
• Release: 2005

Look, shut up about Geist, alright? Poor Geist. I get quite defensive about it. As an FPS it was admittedly pretty terrible, but as most people could see (except those at the magazine I was working for at the time), it deserved attention because as a slightly puzzly first-person adventure it actually had quite a lot going on. The game sees you - the spirit of a soldier - trapped inside a sinister research facility, and the only way to get out lies in figuring out how to scare people and animals into submission in order to take possession of them. After a few hours and a few awful shooty sections (including, lamentably, a Motorbike Sequence), it becomes a varied and intriguing game - you feel like the ultimate infiltrator, lurking invisible, making giant cranes go mental at passing soldiers and freaking people out in increasingly imaginative, complex ways. Geist doesn't quite pull off what it tries to do, but it is interesting, and that's what we're about here. Nobody else has even attempted this, and the fact that it appeared relatively late in the GameCube's life meant that it faded quickly into undeserved obscurity.

What we said: Fairly good things - Kristan understood!

Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life

• Developer: Marvelous Interactive
• Release: 2004

It's regarded as a mis-step by many long-term fans of the series, but for some (and for many newcomers), this stripped-down, socially focused, incredibly laid-back 3D Harvest Moon was completely spellbinding. It's certainly unique - there's still nothing else like it, within the Harvest Moon series or outwith. Noob Tom loved it, finding that it awakened in him that same weird, paternal investment that made most fans fall in love with Harvest Moon years before. It's a calm, relaxing and charming game, with enough hidden weirdness to satisfy any cult collector.

What we said: "This truly delivers exactly what it promises: A Wonderful Life."

Giftpia

• Developer: Skip
• Release: 2003 (Japan-only)

This really is a weird one. It falls into that Harvest Moon/Animal Crossing category of sort-of freeform games set in an odd town, and casts you as a boy who's missed his coming-of-age ceremony and is forced to wander around with his face pixellated and a ball and chain around his ankle as punishment. The game's basically about redeeming yourself and learning how to come of age, which involves helping people, as it turns out, as you learn after a few weeks of service to the money-obsessed town mayor. You run around collecting people's problems (most of which, humourously, you cause yourself), eating mushrooms and getting to know the mental townspeople. What makes Giftpia worth a look for non-Japanese-speakers are its brilliant offbeat musical score, made up of contributions from over 20 Japanese bands, and its psychedelic visuals. Even without a word of the language, this is a trippy and quite awesome aesthetic experience - actually playing the game is simple enough to just pick up, and the slapstick, gesture-heavy character interactions mean that you'll know what's going on, even if you do miss out on the characters' mad dialogue.

What we said: Never reviewed. To be fair, nobody outside of Japan ever even touched it.

Harvest Moon: Magical Melody

• Developer: Marvelous Interactive
• Release: 2005

I reckon this is the best Harvest Moon game ever made - more industrious than A Wonderful Life, considerably more expansive, but less social. It's still a beautiful escape to a virtual world where hard work always pays off and cows have happy, lovely faces, and the musical notes system adds a new Achievement Points-esque style drive to the game beyond the simple and addictive allure of just farming. Plus, there's no need to buy separate boy and girl versions, as you can play as either. The characters have just enough definition to make you form an attachment, and because you live within the town instead of on the outskirts, you feel a part of the community and an attachment to setting like no Harvest Moon game has ever provoked before. Absolutely essential.

What we said: "If there's a hunger inherent to Harvest Moon: Magical Melody, it's the hunger to keep playing it until you've seen it all, and it'll be a long time until it's sated."

Ikaruga

• Developer: Treasure
• Release: 2003

We don't really need to introduce Ikaruga. It's a twitch-gaming work of art, an incredibly rare Dreamcast vertical shooter whose re-release on the GameCube gave it a new chance to reach the audience it was meant for. It is genuinely a masterwork of the form, and the selection of difficulty levels does nothing to soften its rigorous, gloriously punishing difficulty. It's a masochistic breed of gamer that enjoys challenges like this, but you don't have to be able to play it with your feet like that terrifying Korean boy in order to enjoy it.

What we said: "This is perhaps the purest gameplay experience you'll find for a long time."