The Nintendo GameCube is one of the most beloved consoles in gaming history. The cult-classic like machine may not have had the success of its PlayStation counterpart, but it had a nice list of excellent and treasured titles. The library for Nintendo's purple box didn't stack up to the PS2 and Xbox in terms of the sheer number of options, but the best GameCube games can arguably outpunch the best of what the competition had to offer.
Recently, a YouTube video was released by DidYouKnowGaming that highlights a large list of GameCube games that were canceled. The video is excellently produced and the details are intriguing. The more than 100 games that never saw the light of day would have certainly helped with Nintendo's smaller library at the time, so information on why each project was canceled is fascinating.
Kirby has some excellent games throughout the pink puffball's life in gaming. Many fans may be interested to know that at least four Kirby games were being developed for the GameCube, but each of them was canceled. Some of them were gimmicky, with the ability to use the GameBoy Advance as a gyroscopic controller, but multiple mainline Kirby games just didn't come together. The video highlights some developer comments on different projects that had to be canned, including Satura Iwata, who would go on to be the President of Nintendo before his passing.
Marionette, a game that seems to be a Mario spinoff at first glance (as there are tons of great Mario spinoff series), was a project that had players controlling a puppet. The game was in development for both the Nintendo 64 and GameCube, but it, unfortunately, was eventually canceled.
Retro Studios was acquired by Nintendo and in due time tasked with redefining Metroid into the 3D era. Before that, however, the team was working on a project called Action Adventure. The game had three female leads that fought off evil in a future sci-fi post-apocalyptic universe. Some of the elements certainly sound like Metroid Prime. Nearly 20 years later, Retro has again been tasked with the series and developing Metroid Prime 4. Retro had many canceled projects, including even an American football game.
The canceled Diddy Kong Racing sequel, Donkey Kong Racing (which had Donkey Kong Country animals as the ridable vehicles, a new Conker's Bad Fur Day, and a new Star Fox game highlight some of the other projects that were canned for various reasons.
Capcom was one of the third-party developers to truly back the GameCube. Viewtiful Joe and Resident Evil 4 are still considered some of the best Capcom games ever. The Capcom Five were five different projects that were to be released on the Nintendo console. While four of them were released, Dead Phoenix was the project that, well, died.
DidYouKnowGaming's video goes on to detail over 100 projects that were canceled for the Nintendo GameCube in an informative and entertaining way. For fans who want a better understanding of game development, or simply want to jump into the nostalgia machine of the early 2000s, the video is certainly worth the watch.