Yesterday became a very early birthday as my wife let my open my presents. We now have a GameCube. And four controllers. And money to spend on games. Apparently we couldn’t wait to take advantage of the video action — that and friends are moving this weekend and we can take advantage of sales at Best Buy. But I’m not complaining.
So I need to decide what games to buy. Mario Kart seems like an obvious choice, though I’ve played it a lot recently and have beaten 98% of the races. Then again it’s a racing game and always has a life of its own (proven last night by the awesome three and four player gaming). Super Smash Bros. Melee also looks good. I remember playing it on the N-64 and it’s a great multiplayer game. We rented Simpsons Hit & Run tonight, which is basically a Simpsons version of Grand Theft Auto without all the senseless violence. It’s a fun game, but I don’t know if it’s a must own. Only a small portion of the game is multiplayer, so that’s disappointing.
I’m also going to have to get my share of racing games. Burn Out 2 looks good (I’ve played the original), and I’d also love to get a realistic racer like NASCAR Heat 2: Dirty to Daytona, which covers NASCAR from dirt tracks to modifies to the truck series to the full blown pros. Of course NASCAR 2005: Chase For the Cup sounds pretty sweet.
There’s a few other games I have my eye on, like F-Zero (great racing game on the SNES), Medal of Honor (I’ve played on the computer, though I’m curious if a console version would be any good), and the various James Bond and Lord of the Rings games. I also just checked out the web site for Custom Robo — that looks way cool: build a robot and then fight with it. Looks like lots of multiplayer action.
Thankfully GameCube games get pretty cheap when they’ve been out for a while. Several of these games are available for under $20. Bonus. Does anybody have any recommendations for good games?