One of Nintendo’s most beloved and—for its time—most perfunctory products, the GameCube, is getting more life on the Nintendo Switch 2. The Japanese games company is finally bringing a few of that console’s games to Switch Online Expansion Pack subscribers. The only problem is original Switch owners will need to shell out a hefty chunk of change to return for the cell-shaded wonders of Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker at launch on June 5.
In its April 2 Nintendo Direct showing off the full capabilities of the Switch 2, the company shared news about a few of the GameCube titles coming to the Nintendo Classics library (Online classic game libraries are now called Nintendo Classics, in case you were confused). Plus, the company is again offering consumers a chance to buy a Switch 2-compatible GameCube controller for the most pitch-perfect feel.
There will only be two games to start, though Nintendo should be adding more to the library as time goes on. First is The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, which is sure to make Zelda diehards a little nostalgic. There’s also SoulCalibur II complete with the Link cameo character exclusive to the GameCube version of that 2002 title. Finally, F-Zero GX, the classic arcade racing game that is still desperately lacking a sequel, will be available at launch. Nintendo said you should be able to play these games at a higher resolution than the original, though we don’t know yet if that upscales all the way to the promised 4K when the handheld is docked.
© NintendoF-Zero’s four-player split-screen will return for the GameCube emulation, and it will also work online, supporting the handheld’s new GameChat function. Players will be able to change their control scheme on the Switch 2 JoyCons. However, you’ll need to have a Nintendo Switch Online subscription to get a chance to buy the Nintendo GameCube classic controller. At the very least, this revised controller will be completely wireless and include the “C” button used for accessing GameChat. It charges with USB-C, so no batteries or WaveBird are required.
Nintendo hinted that we’ll see some of our favorite GameCube games return, such as Super Mario Sunshine, Super Mario Strikers, Fire Emblem Path of Radiance, Luigi’s Mansion, Chibi-Robo, and Pokémon Colosseum. All those are good picks, but Nintendo should be looking more for those deep cuts, like Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem or Killer 7 if it truly wants to help the experience shine.
GameCube controllers on Switch were already expensive. They’ll likely be even more pricey with wireless connectivity. Photo: Alex Cranz (Gizmodo)All this nostalgic longing for the 2001 console era will set you back a pretty penny. A Nintendo Online subscription costs $4 a month or $20 a year. With the expansion pack, that expands to a total of $50 a year with additional access to select NES, SNES, Game Boy, GBA, Nintendo 64, and Sega Genesis titles. Now that Nintendo’s making GameCube access exclusive to Switch 2, it means owners will have to spend at the very least $450 just to access these classic games on top of that subscription. We still don’t know how much the new controller will cost, but considering how the official Super Smash Bros. Switch GameCube controller costs $75, we can’t imagine a wireless version will be any cheaper.
For the full experience, we’re already looking at needing to spend close to $600 if all you want is to play GameCube titles again without resorting to emulation. We’ll be excited to get our mitts around the new JoyCons and finally play our games at 4K. Maybe getting to play Mario Kart World will be worth the additional cost, though without going for the $500 Switch 2 bundle you’re already paying $80 there as well.
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