Xbox Just Made a Popular Nintendo GameCube Game Free

Xbox Live Gold subscribers on Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S can now download a [...]

By Tyler Fischer

Xbox Live Gold subscribers on Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S can now download a popular Nintendo GameCube game, for free, with no strings attached. In addition to the Xbox Games With Gold lineup for August -- which includes Yooka-Laylee, Lost Planet 3, Garou: Mark of the Wolves, and Darksiders III -- all Xbox Live Gold subscribers can now download, for a limited time, Ikaruga. According to Twitter account Wario64, subscribers will need an Argentina regional account (which costs nothing) to grab this freebie, but others are reporting they've been able to download the game for free without meeting this requirement. Whatever the case, it's free, but it may make you jump over some hurdles in the process.

As for the game itself, it debuted back in 2001 via developer Treasure and the arcade. At the time, it was only available in Japan, and this didn't change when it came to the Sega Dreamcast a year later. It took until 2003 for the game to come west, which is when it came to the Nintendo GameCube. Since then, it's come to the Xbox 360, Nintendo Switch, PS4, and PC. It hasn't come to Xbox One nor Xbox Series X|S, but it's playable on both of these machines via their backward compatibility with Xbox 360.

At the time of release, the game garnered an 88 on Metacritic, making it a critical success. Alongside this, it achieved moderate commercial success, but not enough to elevate it beyond a cult classic. In the modern-day, it's widely considered one of the best shoot 'em ups of all time and one of Treasure's greatest games.

At the moment of publishing, it's unclear how long the game will remain free, but if it's like other Games With Gold freebies, it will be until the end of the month.

For more coverage on all things Xbox -- including the latest on Xbox Live, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Game Pass -- click here.

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