25 Years Later, This Nintendo GameCube 10/10 Masterpiece Changed Gaming Forever

Published Aug 16, 2026, 2:00 PM EDT Carrie is a Senior Writer at ScreenRant who previously managed Geek to Geek Media and wrote for SwitchRPG. She is particularly knowledgeable when it comes to WoW, Diablo, and cozy games. She has a passion for supporting the indies and always enjoys sharing her passions with others through her writing. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Whether you believe that the Nintendo GameCube was a failure in gaming console history or not, it's nearly impossible to refute the fact that the boxy little console was home to many incredible games. Despite not offering as many titles as its PS2 competition, the list of masterpieces that the GameCube offered was impressive, including everything from Resident Evil 4 to The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Of course, there are many games from the GameCube era that have aged about as well as milk, yet at their time they were still the best of the best and continue to be nostalgic favorites for us to look back on. Thankfully, however, there is one game in particular that does hold up all these years later as something that is just as enjoyable to play now as when it first debuted. Plus, it managed to pave the way for esports competitions while essentially creating an entirely new subgenre. 25 Years Later, Super Smash Bros. Melee Remains Iconic While Super Smash Bros. Melee wasn't the first in the series, the 2001 GameCube game quickly became the most notable in not only its franchise, but also in the entire fighting genre. Attack moves in Smash Bros. Melee were able to be done with just one button and a joystick direction rather than complicated button combinations that many other fighting games used. The sometimes silly, but always exciting, Nintendo-themed items that fall onto the playing field offered unique strategies for resourceful players, sometimes changing the course of the game. In general, the game just added so many features that make it praiseworthy. Combining the joys of frenzied party gaming with the familiarity of beloved Nintendo characters instantly gave it a home as a couch multiplayer game for friends and families to enjoy. Its popularity started the platform fighter and party fighter subgenre, which now includes games like Brawlhalla, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, and MultiVersus. However, it didn't just stop there. Super Smash Bros. Melee entered the competitive esports scene when the first organized tournament started in 2002. Over the years, some tournaments have featured Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the Switch, but Melee continues to be a major part of the competitive scene, as it's still considered to be the most competitively viable game in the series. Will We Ever Get Another Smash Bros. Game? The most recent game in the franchise was the 2018 release of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the Nintendo Switch. It features an impressive roster of 82 playable characters, over 100 stages, and more. Even though it would be hard to beat the "Ultimate" experience, 2018 was still a long time ago and there are many rumors that a new entry in the series will be arriving for the Nintendo Switch 2 sometime soon. Unfortunately, that is not confirmed in any way by Nintendo, so it's perhaps best to not get our hopes up. The love for Super Smash Bros. Melee is so strong that there are many unofficial fan-made remakes of the iconic fighting experience, but sadly there has not been any talk of the original being added to the lineup for Nintendo Switch Online. Which means that the only true way to experience the excitement of Super Smash Bros. Melee, is still on the original Nintendo GameCube. Released December 3, 2001 ESRB T For Teen due to Comic Mischief, Mild Violence Developer(s) HAL Laboratory Publisher(s) Nintendo Engine Havok Multiplayer Local Co-Op Franchise Super Smash Bros.