Let's Play Every GameCube Game, Part 42
The penultimate post.
Warrior Blade: Rastan vs. Barbarian (Saffire/Taito, 2003)
A 3D arena fighter with destructible environments and transitions between different areas of the stage when fighters get knocked off of platforms. It was a Japanese exclusive on GCN and a PAL exclusive on Xbox, but the PS2 version came out everywhere to mixed reviews. Despite that, I enjoyed the arcade mode and I'm putting it on the list for a longer look. Oddly, despite the name being "Rastan vs.", Keela here is first on the character select and appears to be the main character.
Wave Race: Blue Storm (Nintendo, 2001)
The sequel to the N64's Wave Race, and the last game in a series that Nintendo promptly forgot about. You'd probably assume that means it was a critical or commercial failure, but it reviewed well and was apparently the #3 best-selling GCN launch title in Japan, which is no small feat when the competition was Luigi's Mansion and Rogue Squadron. Another list entry.
Whirl Tour (Papaya Studio/Crave Entertainment, 2002)
Tony Hawk but on a scooter. I like the cel-shaded look and the soundtrack seems promising, but I'm not at all equipped to give a meaningful criticism of this genre and it seems to have been generally considered forgettable. I have no idea why there's debug text in the top left and bottom right, but that probably wasn't there in 2002. Papaya Studio only ever made licensed games after this and shut down around 2009.
Winnie the Pooh's Rumbly Tumbly Adventure (Phoenix Studio/Ubisoft, 2005)
An adventure game starring Winnie the Pooh that also has a bunch of Mario Party-esque minigames. This one has mutant velociraptors chasing Pooh for some reason. That's not nearly as baffling as Sony's decision to release it as a PS2 classic on PSN in 2013, though. What was it about this generic licensed title that doesn't seem to have sold particularly well and certainly didn't review well that made it a classic? A good deal with Ubisoft, probably.
World Series of Poker (Left Field Productions/Activision, 2005)
A poker game. You play poker. There are lots of other ways to play poker, so I have no idea why you'd want to do it here. You'd have to sit through some of the longest loading screens ever seen on the GCN if you did, though.
World Soccer Winning Eleven 6 Final Evolution (Konami, 2003)
A PES spinoff that only came out in Japan on GCN. I wish the camera was a little more zoomed out, but otherwise it plays well and looks pretty good for 2003. You also get loads and loads of options for teams and competitions, so chances are you'd be able to find quite a few different fun setups.
Worms 3D (Team17/Acclaim, 2003)
It's Worms, but 3D. There are approximately thirty two billion different games in this series, so I doubt there's much reason to play this particular version of worm-based artillery over others. It seems to have sold well despite slightly better than mediocre reviews.
Worms Blast (Team17/Ubisoft, 2002)
It's Worms again. There's a puzzle mode that isn't very fun. The music and graphics are kind of nice, I guess.
Wreckless: The Yakuza Missions (Stealth Studios/Activision, 2002)
It was apparently developed originally for Xbox and looked amazing for 2002 on that system, but then Stealth couldn't manage the port to GCN and PS2 and the graphics are notably worse. Not taht it was a very good game on any system. You'd think that you'd make sure you knew how to pronounce "yakuza" if you were going to make a game that would use that word in every other sentence, but no one here thought that mattered much.
WTA Tour Tennis (Konami, 2001)
A tennis game that only has the women's competition, which is an interesting reversal of how sports games usually work. I'm not at all interested in a serious tennis game, though. It's just not enjoyable as a video game without silly powers.
WWE Crush Hour (Pacific Coast Power & Light/THQ, 2003)
A car combat game that has the WWE license for some reason. It was sold as a budget title, but was received negatively anyway. I think that may have been because it's bad and not fun.
WWE Day of Reckoning (Yuke's/THQ, 2005)
A wrestling game. It feels like all the others, but apparently this one is considered better than most of those. It reviewed somewhat well, at least. Yuke's is still around making wrestling games.
WWE Day of Reckoning 2 (Yuke's/THQ, 2005)
Another wrestling game. This one is different because there's a "2" in the title. It seemed like it ran a little better than the last one.
WWE WrestleMania X8 (Yuke's/THQ, 2002)
A wrestling video game that is actually earlier than the last one even though 8 is bigger than 2. I'm not sure if X8 is meant to mean 18 or 8 X's, but I'm sure that's WWE's fault and not Yuke's. At least there's only one wrestling game left.
WWE WrestleMania XIX (Yuke's/THQ, 2003)
I guess this means it was an 18 in the last game. WWE must count "18, 19, Day of Reckoning". Seems logical.
The list:
1080° Avalanche
Animal Crossing
Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance
Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean
Batman: Dark Tomorrow
Burnout 2: Point of Impact
Charinko Hero
Chibi-Robo!
Cocoto Kart Racer
Cubivore: Survival of the Fittest
Custom Robo
Dark Summit
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
F-Zero GX
Family Stadium 2003
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Freedom Fighters
Freekstyle
Gotcha Force
James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing
Jikkyou Powerful Major League
Kirby Air Ride
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour
Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
Mario Power Tennis
Metal Arms: Glitch in the System
Mr. Driller Drill Land
Muscle Champion: Kinnikutou Kessen
MVP Baseball 2005
Nintendo Puzzle Collection
Odama
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
R: Racing Evolution
Sega Soccer Slam
Shinseiki GPX Cyber Formula: Road to the Evolution
The Simpsons: Hit & Run
SSX 3
SSX on Tour
SSX Tricky
Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader
Summoner: A Goddess Reborn
Super Robot Wars GC
Tengai Makyou II: Manji Maru
TimeSplitters 2
TimeSplitters: Future Perfect
Tomb Raider: Legend
WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Party Games!
Wario World
Warrior Blade: Rastan vs. Barbarian
Wave Race: Blue Storm