5 Hardest GameCube Games That Frustrated Players

During its early days as a console-maker, Nintendo was well-known for making difficult games. There’s a reason NES players coined the term “Nintendo hard.” By the time we’d gotten to the GameCube era, developers weren’t as interested in pushing gaming in that direction, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t some tough games on the system. Granted, they didn’t all come from Nintendo, but the console did have a few games for players looking to test their skills. And it’s worth noting that I’m not including the actual hardest GameCube game because Super Smash Bros. Melee only gets that ranking when you’re going up against people who have been playing it since the 2000s. That doesn’t seem fair.

Here are the GameCube’s hardest games.

5) Viewtiful Joe

Viewtiful Joe is a throwback to classic arcade games, so it’s not a huge surprise that Capcom brought the difficulty. However, it’s not just a simple side-scroller in the vein of something like Double Dragon. Instead, Viewtiful Joe adds several special moves to your repertoire, which mimic VFX techniques like slow motion and rewinding.

On top of that, your enemies’ attacks are fast and furious, sometimes making Viewtiful Joe feel closer to a bullet hell game than a pure beat ’em up. That said, you won’t be too miffed if you mess things up. Viewtiful Joe is still one of the best-looking games of its era, so who cares if you have to spend a few extra hours looking at it?

4) Super Monkey Ball 2

Super Monkey Ball has always been a difficult game. The ball-based puzzler requires pinpoint precision. You’ll need to keep your thumbs as stable as a surgeon if you want to stay on the ledge and make it to the end of each level. However, the sequel takes things to a new level.

Not only does it include a massive difficulty spike thanks to new mechanics that put the focus on strategy, but SMB2 also has ten Master floors that you only unlock after finishing the Expert Extra floors without using a continue. Those levels are particularly devilish, leaving most players to toss the controller aside and walk away before finishing. Thankfully, the family-friendly multiplayer mini-games are relatively easy for anyone to hop into, giving SMB2 plenty of replay value even if you don’t want to tackle its toughest challenges.

3) Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader

It’s starting to become a trend that the hardest games on the GameCube are also some of the best-looking. Rogue Leader is still one of the best cases we’ve seen of a video game capturing that classic Star Wars vibe. From visuals to gameplay, this is about as good as it gets for fans of Star Wars‘ brand of space combat.

However, be warned that it will test your reflexes. Sure, there are a few sections where it’s easy to become confused about what you’re supposed to do, but Rogue Leader has real action chops. It’s a fast-paced thrill ride through some of the most iconic sets from the movies, letting you control several fan-favorite ships, including the Millennium Falcon. It’s just a shame there wasn’t any multiplayer.

2) Ikaruga

Ikaruga developer Treasure is no stranger to making underrated games that push their respective systems to the max. Previously, the team worked on games like Gunstar Heroes, Mischief Makers, and Sin and Punishment. With Ikaruga, Treasure decided to revisit the bullet hell shoot ’em up genre and make a spiritual sequel to its 1998 game, Silvergun.

Like most games in the bullet hell genre, you’ll need the reflexes of a cat, while using whatever brain power you have left for light puzzle-solving needed to use Ikaruga’s polarity system. You can switch your ship between two states to dodge attacks and build your special attack. And you can’t rely on power-ups to make your lasers stronger because none exist.

This is as pure a test of your bullet hell abilities as possible, but it isn’t unfair. Every death can be traced back to your mistakes, and with enough practice, you’ll feel like you’ve reached a higher plane of existence.

1) F-Zero GX

If you thought Rogue Leader was fast-paced, you haven’t seen anything yet. F-Zero GX is a white-knuckler of a video game, forcing you to make small adjustments as you whip around the course or risk flying off the path to your untimely demise. Amusement Vision doesn’t make the tracks easy to navigate either, with tons of obstacles strewn across the path.

You’ll need to memorize every track if you want to have a chance. Every machine handles differently, so add several hours of practice if you want to change characters. All of that is only scratching the surface of what makes F-Zero GX so difficult. The real problem is how aggressive enemy racers are.

See, every racer in GX has a health bar, and AI racers are very fond of doing everything in their power to take you out. Conquering this story mode sometimes feels impossible, which is why many players turned away. That said, GX has a memorable cast of characters around Captain Falcon, so if you can stomach the challenge, it’s worth diving in.

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