Let's Play Every GameCube Game: The Finale
X-Men Legends (Raven Software/Activision, 2004)
A multiplayer co-op brawler that would go on to be the basis for the better-known Marvel Ultimate Alliance. This original version's graphics have not held up well at all. They went for a sort of half cel-shaded look that doesn't hide the low-res environmental textures or iffy geometry on the edges of the map. I could see it still being fun in co-op, but there's not much going for it in single player.
X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse (Raven Software/Activision, 2005)
The very similar sequel. You start with a party of four this time, and I could swear the character graphics somehow look worse than they did in the first one. That issue aside, the only notable addition was online play on Xbox and PS2. On GCN, this would've just been a large expansion pack for people who liked the first game. Raven are still around, but they've been condemned to playing a support role on Call of Duty titles and haven't made a game of their own since 2010's Singularity.
X-Men: Next Dimension (Paradox Development/Activision, 2002)
An X-Men fighting game. It's apparently the sequel to a GBC (and PS1) fighting game that was so forgettable that I've, well, forgotten it despite playing it at the end of the GBC list. It didn't review well and the series never got a fourth game. Paradox eventually became Midway Los Angeles and shut down at the same time as the rest of Midway.
X-Men: The Official Game (Hypnos Entertainment/Activision, 2006)
Another brawler and also the worst of the X-Men games on GCN, at least in terms of review averages. In an unusual twist for a movie game, it seems to have suffered from being generic, having bad AI, and being repetitive. Wait, maybe that's every movie game.
X2: Wolverine's Revenge (GenePool Software/Activision, 2003)
Another generic brawler based on a movie. It reviewed a bit better than the last one, but otherwise it's mostly the same story. It's also the last movie game on this list. Yay! There are still lots of licensed games left, though. Booo!
XGRA: Extreme G Racing Association (Acclaim Studios Cheltenham/Acclaim, 2003)
A racing game about motorcycles going very fast. It's the sequel to Extreme G-3, which came up much earlier in this series. This game has much more interesting tracks than its predecessor, but there's so much clutter on the screen and the controls are so loose that it's hard to actually navigate around all the bends. It never got a sequel, but that probably has more to due with Acclaim's bankruptcy the next year than anything about XGRA itself.
XIII (Ubisoft Paris/Ubisoft, 2003)
An FPS based on a Belgian comic book. The plot didn't make a whole lot of sense to me from the opening 10 minutes, but it was considered quite good at the time. Critics praised the presentation and story, but it was held back by uneven difficulty and level design. There was a remake released last year, but it was an absolute mess and ended up as one of 2020's worst games. Still, I'm curious about the original, so it's getting a slightly optimistic list spot.
Yu-Gi-Oh! The Falsebound Kingdom (Konami, 2003)
The only game in this series on GCN. It's a turn-based RPG instead of a card battler, but for some reason Konami thought it was okay to only give each monster one attack. That means there's effectively no strategy beyond focusing all your damage on the most powerful enemy. As you might imagine, reviews were not kind.
Zapper: One Wicked Cricket (Blitz Games/Infogrames, 2002)
I thought this was going to be a mascot platformer, but it's actually just a clone of those Frogger games from much earlier in this series. It was ported to Xbox 360 on XBL, but otherwise seems totally forgotten.
Zatch Bell! Mamodo Battles (Eighting/Bandai, 2005)
I thought I was done with this crappy series after playing some of them back in the K's, but no, there were English releases as well hiding all the way back here. It's still a bad anime fighter about puppets who are better examples of body horror than anything Resident Evil has ever come up with. I picked the only one that didn't gross me out, so here she is fighting herself. Punching yourself in the face is probably more enjoyable than playing this, so I don't blame her.
Zatch Bell! Mamodo Fury (Mechanic Arms/Namco Bandai, 2006)
This one is different because it's a 3D arena fighter instead of a 2D one, and also because it has lots of story cutscenes that I skipped. It's a much worse game because it makes me look at its characters, although at least in this instance they were either far away or had their backs turned.
Zoids Vs. (Tomy, 2002)
A Zoids fighting game. I could not get any of my attacks do do damage for some reason, and the Vs. mode seemed to put the other character in control of a non-existent second player, so it wasn't a very exciting battle. Running in a straight line was surprisingly difficult because the game seems to just randomly make you veer to the left all the time.
Zoids Vs. III (Tomy, 2004)
Pretty much the same game, but at least all the attacks work this time. It still controls terribly, though, so fighting is mostly an exercise in running past each other and then having to slowly turn around to get back into position. This empty oval that looks like a Unity tutorial map is the default arena. Guess they didn't have much of a budget.
Zoids: Full Metal Crash (Tomy/Atari, 2003)
The only one of these games to release outside of Japan, and also secretly just vs. II. It's virtually identical to the first game and I honestly couldn't tell you what makes it more different than Pokemon versions in the same generation. The answer may well be nothing.
Zoids: Full Metal Crash (Tomy, 2003)
Now it's a 2D fighter and seemingly based on a different version of the anime. The controls don't make a lot of sense, but they are at least more consistent. That said, the AI had no answer for me running back and forth and mashing A to do a pounce attack, so you're not exactly fighting the most challenge opponents ever.
ZooCube (PuzzleKings/Acclaim, 2002)
I was hoping that the alphabetically last game would be something cool, but it's actually just weird and terrible. You need to match these shapes that fall in along the X/Y/Z axes to other pieces of the same color by rotating your cube so that the right face is lined up with the falling piece. It's extremely basic and not even remotely fun, but it does come with gross splashing sounds when pieces get close together. Fun...? PuzzleKings never made another game, shockingly, but another company ported it to PS2 for a PAL release in 2006. I can't imagine why.
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
XIII