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Fun Stuff => CLIKC => Topic started by: ScrambledGregs on 26 Mar 2007, 22:21

Title: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: ScrambledGregs on 26 Mar 2007, 22:21
It seems as though for every console generation, there are a handful--or even a ton--of games I wish I had played. Whether it was because they weren't big name games, I didn't think they looked good, or there was another game I wanted more, I find myself always "missing out" on some games. It also seems like every game system had one or two games that were hidden gems--perhaps not publicized enough, misunderstood, or released too late in a system's lifespan to garner attention.

List your own personal guilt trail here.

NES- River City Ransom. I always loved Double Dragon 2, and I remember one of my friends renting this game and enjoying it, but the concepts of the game didn't really grab me until a few years ago. I do realize I can find a ROM of this game easily, or even track down the GBA remake, but I wish I had played this when I was good at videogames.

Genesis- I did pretty well with the Genesis as far as playing the best games for it, except that I completely missed out on Warsong and Phantasy Star IV. I do remember renting both games, but back then I was as into RPGs and didn't quite understand what I was supposed to do or why I kept losing. I could also say Shining Force CD, but since it was the only game I wanted for Sega CD, I couldn't convince my parents to buy the damn thing for me. Years later I bought a Sega CD with the intention of picking up Shining Force CD on eBay, but never got around to it. Hmmmm...

SNES- Illusion of Gaia was one of those borderline RPGs I always meant to play and never did.

Ogre Battle was another "rented but never got around to buying" game. I still say this game would be better if you could control the actual battles, which the developers apparently thought because most of the other games in the series have you doing just that.

Secret of Evermore...this game is so famously hated and reviled because everyone thinks it's the reason we didn't get Seiken Densetsu 3 (aka Secret of Evermore 2), but if treated on its own terms, I don't think it's so bad. I very nearly bought this game when it came out, but when I rented it I got stuck somewhere in the game and couldn't go on. I think the spell system is an interesting idea, at least, and I still think I should give it a chance.

Saturn- I never owned a Saturn, and let's just say that even in the notoriously mishandled and fucked over U.S. market, the Saturn did have a handful of great games almost no one played. Some of the arcade ports, like Die Hard Arcade, were cool as hell, but mostly I remember the RPGs I would always lust after even with my RPG saturated Playstation.

Guardian Heroes- this is technically a beat-em-up, but it has strong RPG elements. Think the D&D arcade games from the mid 90s, only more cartoony and with fighting game style special moves. I still have a magazine from '96 with tips for this game because it looks so kick ass.

Panzer Dragoon Saga- One of those games that you wish you had bought if only to sell it for stupidly high prices when people realize three years after Saturn had died that it was amazing. I know I'll never get to play this game, but it sure sounds fantastic. Released so late in the Saturn's lifespan as if to be a cruel joke.

Shining Force III- Like Panzer Dragoon Saga, SFIII was released late in the Saturn's lifespan so as to be either a final comfort for starved Saturn owners or an annoying nose-thumbing at non-owners. My friend Dave and I have a psychotic obsession with the first two games, and this third game (of which we only ever saw the first chapter of three that were released in Japan!!) always was a nagging bit in the back of our minds. However, Dave eventually bought a Saturn AND this game for some stupid amount of money. We were almost too excited to play it when we first popped it in. Sadly, we were obsessed for about two weeks and moved on to other games. What was undoubtedly great back then was hard to care about now, with so many other games to contend with. It's not as good as the first two games, and unfulfilling due to the loss of the second and third chapters of the game.

Playstation- God, what a behemoth of the a system. Now that a decade has passed since its birth, I would safely say it was the best console ever in my opinion. It did so much for the industry, both creatively and monetarily, and helped popularize RPGs in the U.S. to the point where we began to see completely bizarre games released here. I missed out on so many RPGs for this system...even the not very good ones interested me. I could list a ton of PS1 RPGs I wish I hadn't missed out on, but the first three that come to mind...

Valkyrie Profile- I have the sequel for PS2, but from things I've read and videos I've seen, VP1 looks brilliant. I'm also a whore for 2D RPGs in general.

Suikoden II- Like those Saturn games, you can only find this for insane prices on eBay. But I really loved Suikoden III and have heard this is the best game in the series.

Grandia- I played and loved Grandia II, but I always meant to get around to Grandia I. It was originally for Saturn in Japan, but ported to the PS1 and subsequently released here. It was released around the same time as FFVIII and swallowed up in that game's hype.

Dreamcast- The funny thing about this system is that I managed to play most of the RPGs for it, but missed a lot of the others. I'm kind of embarrassed about it, really.

Resident Evil: Code Veronica- I went so far as to borrow this from a friend and play three hours into it before promptly losing all motivation for it due to Phantasy Star Online.

Jet Grind Radio- The concept never appealed to me, and still doesn't, but I feel like I should have given it a try.

Dynamite Cop 2- I have a soft spot for those mid 90s beat em ups--like the Simpsons, X-Men, the D&D games, Alien Vs. Predator--and this game is a sequel of sorts to Die Hard Arcade. I did, ironically, buy Zombie Revenge, which is a mediocre beat em up in this vein but nowhere near as good and almost unbeatably hard.

Skies of Arcadia- I don't know. I slept on this one over and over.

Nintendo 64- I doggedly held unto this system for almost two full years waiting for more good games to be released. My friend Kevin loved it because it was an orgy of racing games and platformers. I bought a PS1 in the winter of '98 because I couldn't find Ocarina of Time and I wanted some RPGs. I ended up playing most of the great games for it, except...

Paper Mario- I didn't even know this game was out. Anyway, it looked like a watered down, weird version of Mario RPG. Which is honestly what it is. The Gamecube sequel, which I have been playing recently, combines the worst aspects of platformers and RPGs, IMO, but I'm told the N64 one is one of the best things for it.

Ogre Battle 64- I bet this game sold like shit in the U.S. It was tailor made for N64 owners like me who were starved for RPGs, but we soundly ignored the thing. Too bad, it's a decent strategy RPG.

Hybrid Heaven- This was one of those weird N64 games that nobody remembers. But if I recall correctly, it's kind of like Metal Gear Solid meets RPG. Only good.

Quest 64- Just kidding!! I did come scarily close to buying this game just because it was literally the only RPG for the system for a LOOONG time.

I'll stop there since I don't consider the Xbox/PS2/Gamecube/GBA era quite dead yet.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: Storm Rider on 26 Mar 2007, 23:19
Let's see:

Xenogears and all of the Genesis Phantasy Stars are the big ones. I got my NES secondhand with nearly all of the good games that came with it because my cousin had already gotten a SNES by then. By the time I was old enough to wash cars and so on to earn money for my own system, the N64 was already coming out, so I got that instead. As such, I missed out on a TON of SNES games (most of the absolute classics I've played through emulation), just about everything on the Genesis, and most of the library of the original Playstation. The most recent generation was the first where I was able to play a good breadth of games, because after I got a real part-time job I could suddenly afford more than a few games a year. But again, through one way or another I've played most of the really good games from years past.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: no one special on 26 Mar 2007, 23:50
Quote from: ScrambledGregs on 26 Mar 2007, 22:21
NES- River City Ransom.

*jaw drops to the floor*

duuuuuuuuude - you never played River City Ransom?  I must officially shed a tear...  :cry:

That game... I can't even tell you - that game ruled my LIFE for a good 10+ years.  I still love it. It is my singlemost favorite game ever in the entire universe.  It's such fun to play one player, but it is mind-wrenchingly phenomenal in two-player mode.  My sister and I have played it more times than I can count - played it growing up, when she'd come home from college(I was younger), when I'd come from college (after she'd moved back into town), whenever we could.  The gangs, the coins, the shops... can't get enough of it! 

Don't forget Alex and Ryan - baddest dudes to ever stomp through a video game.  They were ever badder than the Bad Dudes!  Heck, if went sent Alex and Ryan to Iraq, they'd have those pesky insurgents runnin' home and cryin' to mama in no time   :lol:

SUCH a great game.  Love it, love it, love it.

(http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/6971/alexrcrhg0.gif)
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: no one special on 26 Mar 2007, 23:55

oh, and games I wish I had played - pretty much all the original Final Fantasy games.  I didn't really start playing Final Fantasy til Final Fantasy IX, I'm ashamed to say.  I played other types of those games, like the Zelda's, and whatnot, and I've played Final Fantasy I on a ROM - but I didn't to be blown away by Final Fantasy VII like the rest of the world was - I do regret that...   now I'm going back and playing them all (eventually), but it's just not the same... *sigh*

Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: The Cosmic Fool on 26 Mar 2007, 23:56
You seriously need to get a hold of some emulation goodness. Pretty much every game you listed can be easily played and enjoyed. You don't have to miss out forever.

That being said, I haven't really missed out on any games. It's more of putting in the time to find em.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: est on 27 Mar 2007, 00:00
Games I wish I played:

Everything good for the NES, SNES & Gameboy.

My parents went with a Sega console for us, and I was a pretty naive kid so I didn't really even know that the NES/SNES existed until it was too late to do much about it.  I rented out an SNES for a while and played a handful of games, but I do wish I had an NES and a SNES back in ze day so I could have played Mario & Zelda et al when they were cutting edge.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: The extra letter on 27 Mar 2007, 05:37
Quote from: ScrambledGregs on 26 Mar 2007, 22:21
Hybrid Heaven- This was one of those weird N64 games that nobody remembers. But if I recall correctly, it's kind of like Metal Gear Solid meets RPG. Only good.
HH was pretty fun. It was interesting to see a game in which you could level up your limbs individually. I played it for a while, but then my memory pak died in the ass.

I have less than fond memories though of one of my friends insisting on demonstrating a move his character learnt in HH the night before back when I was in year 10. I ended up on my back on the hard cafeteria floor with a sore head and an even sorer back  :x
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: ScrambledGregs on 27 Mar 2007, 06:33
Well, aside from the 8/16 bit ones, it's kind of impossible to find the others.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: McTaggart on 27 Mar 2007, 07:12
Electroplankton.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: The Cosmic Fool on 27 Mar 2007, 14:07
Quote from: ScrambledGregs on 27 Mar 2007, 06:33
Well, aside from the 8/16 bit ones, it's kind of impossible to find the others.

Impossible? Nothing is impossible on the internet.

That being said, Crono Cross is a game I always wanted to try.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: Dimmukane on 27 Mar 2007, 14:15
KOTOR
Civ III (I never knew what it was about, so I got confused while watching someone play Civ 4, which is apparently one of the greatest games ever made)
Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines
Morrowind (I played about an hour into this, realized there were too many other games I was dedicated to at the moment, and left it at that) 
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: Janny on 28 Mar 2007, 04:30
Tomb Raider1 and Legend
Hitman Blood Money
Oblivion
Broken Sword: The Angel of Death
World of Warcraft + The Burning Crusade


Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: guywithoutsocks on 28 Mar 2007, 06:11
Quote from: est on 27 Mar 2007, 00:00
Everything good for the NES, SNES & Gameboy.

You said a lot right there.  When these systems were out, I never had enough cash to afford any of them, much less games.  Many of my friends had them, so I wasn't completely at a loss, though it seemed like all we ever played was Tecmo Super Bowl or Mortal Kombat.  A good portion of my college internet abuse was spent tracking down roms for these systems and catching up on my game dependency.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: Inlander on 28 Mar 2007, 06:55
Quote from: Dimmukane on 27 Mar 2007, 14:15
Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines

Well gees, I only bought that, new, about a fortnight ago, so, you know, IT'S NOT TOO LATE. Although, to be honest: so far - "Ehh".
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: ThePQ4 on 28 Mar 2007, 06:59
I think it would honestly be faster to list the games I -have- played, then the games I haven't...
In particular though, the Final Fantasy games and Zelda. I've always just heard good things about them.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: Johnny C on 28 Mar 2007, 08:36
I missed a lot. For some reason I feel compelled to mention that despite the Nintendo publicity blitz about it I never got around to playing Body Harvest for the N64.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: ScrambledGregs on 28 Mar 2007, 13:20
Quote from: The Cosmic Fool on 27 Mar 2007, 14:07
Quote from: ScrambledGregs on 27 Mar 2007, 06:33
Well, aside from the 8/16 bit ones, it's kind of impossible to find the others.

Impossible? Nothing is impossible on the internet.

That being said, Crono Cross is a game I always wanted to try.

Assuming you can find and then tell me how to download/burn copies of the Playstation games I listed above, please do. I know N64 has emulators, but the analog control is questionable on a PC. Especially without a joystick.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: lb969 on 28 Mar 2007, 13:33
Quote
Crono Cross

Very good game. Kinda FFish, but not, know what I mean? Combat is FF7 style.

You could probably get it at like an EB games or Gamestop or something.


Games I wish I had played:

HalfLife2. Because I have dialup and I can't play solo without downloading that frikking patch!

Oh and MW2 Mercs and GBL, and MW3 Pirates moon.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: Fiddler on 29 Mar 2007, 07:11
Quote from: ScrambledGregs on 26 Mar 2007, 22:21
NES- River City Ransom. I always loved Double Dragon 2, and I remember one of my friends renting this game and enjoying it, but the concepts of the game didn't really grab me until a few years ago. I do realize I can find a ROM of this game easily, or even track down the GBA remake, but I wish I had played this when I was good at videogames.

Oh man, me and one of my roomates last year spent two weeks playing this game all the time utnil the modded xbox it was on got stolen, along with 3500 dollars worth of my own shit.  It was awesome and it pretty much has no end, just go around beating people up and buying special moves.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: The extra letter on 29 Mar 2007, 15:07
Quote from: Inlander on 28 Mar 2007, 06:55
Quote from: Dimmukane on 27 Mar 2007, 14:15
Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines

Well gees, I only bought that, new, about a fortnight ago, so, you know, IT'S NOT TOO LATE. Although, to be honest: so far - "Ehh".
Yeah, that game's still very much a resident of the bargain bins and budget titles ranges. I actually really liked Bloodlines, it's just far too buggy...
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: Blue Kitty on 30 Mar 2007, 00:25
pretty much any game that was good on the PS2 that had not been ported to any other system.  for some reason I never bought one as I loved my Dreamcast way too much, and we all know how well that ended
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: Stryc9Fuego on 02 Apr 2007, 07:14
Quote from: The extra letter on 29 Mar 2007, 15:07
Quote from: Inlander on 28 Mar 2007, 06:55
Quote from: Dimmukane on 27 Mar 2007, 14:15
Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines

Well gees, I only bought that, new, about a fortnight ago, so, you know, IT'S NOT TOO LATE. Although, to be honest: so far - "Ehh".
Yeah, that game's still very much a resident of the bargain bins and budget titles ranges. I actually really liked Bloodlines, it's just far too buggy...
If you haven't done so, you should try the latest user made patch. I love Bloodlines, particularly (as everyone does) playing as a Malkavian. Fun times.

The main game I wish I would have played when it was out (as my PC won't run it) is System Shock 2. I was able to find the original, and it runs remarkably well with the DosBox emulator (awesome fun game, even if the graphics look horrible by today's standards), but SS2 hates XP.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: Narr on 02 Apr 2007, 07:53
Homeworld 2 and System Shock 2, from what I'm told.  I bet I would have enjoyed the two of them enormously.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: B!shop on 03 Apr 2007, 11:18
Not too sure about the rest of you guys, but this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_No_Mouth%2C_and_I_Must_Scream_%28computer_game%29) sound spretty interesting. Also I would like to play this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omikron:_The_Nomad_Soul), obviously helped along somewhat by the fact that Bowie is in it. Bowier.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: Johnny C on 03 Apr 2007, 16:25
Omikron is alright. The ideas behind it are uniformly fascinating but the execution is hit-and-miss.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: Mev852 on 24 Apr 2007, 15:20
I wish I had played Diablo, Diablo 2, and the Sonic games (not counting sonic 2) on the Sega genesis. I hear so much good stuff about those that I wish i hadn't missed out.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: ScrambledGregs on 24 Apr 2007, 19:32
The Diablo series is fun for a week or two, but I invariably got bored with them after that. Diablo 2 is kind of like the precursor to WoW in the way you just have to keep playing to get to that next level, and the huge rabid fan community, and so on. Oh and they were both developed by Blizzard.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: ackblom12 on 25 Apr 2007, 11:21
Snatchers for the PC

King of Dragon Pass

I'm very seriously considering looking for both of them on Ebay.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: Salamandre85 on 26 Apr 2007, 21:18
There's a huge mass of console games I wish I'd played, but was only between the ages of 6 and 11 so can't remember them all.

But for PC:
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: nihilist on 27 Apr 2007, 07:16
Every game I've wanted to play, I've played.  And lots more I wish I hadn't.  Seriously.  How can this thread even exist?
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: Stryc9Fuego on 27 Apr 2007, 07:42
Quote from: mr. mike on 27 Apr 2007, 07:16
Every game I've wanted to play, I've played.  And lots more I wish I hadn't.  Seriously.  How can this thread even exist?
Some people need to budget. They may need to choose between various game systems and miss a particular slice of awesome on another. Also, some people may need to choose between different games. Half-Life or System Shock 2, that sort of thing. or some people may have gotten into video games after some of this crap isn't reasomably obtainable.

That brings me up to another that I wish I had played: Steel Battalion. I know all the jokes about how you could land aircraft on the controller or the hazing about the buttons and switches that serve a sum total of one purpose, but it just looks cool to me. I didn't get it because it was $200 and nobody had it.

EDIT: I just checked on eBay for the heck of it, and apparently it's come down from $1500 to around $40. I gotta see what I can do to get one.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: nihilist on 27 Apr 2007, 07:53
No need to quote the post above yours.  :)

I don't own every system, I just have a lot of emulators.  :)  Luckily the games I like to play come out on the consoles I own, or for PC.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: Nutsaur on 28 Apr 2007, 19:37
Harvest Moon. Everyone has played it apart from me apparently. Oh and Half Life as I didn't have a computer when it was released so I never really played that bad boy.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: Stryc9Fuego on 21 May 2007, 08:31
I keep forgetting that "don't post above quote rule". Apologies...

As far as Half-Life, it was good in its day, but if you have Half-Life 2, you're better off waiting for the Black Mesa mod to be finished. I've never played Harvest Moon. Looks like it would be a fun pick-up game.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: Scytale on 21 May 2007, 09:04
Quote from: Stryc9Fuego on 02 Apr 2007, 07:14
Quote from: The extra letter on 29 Mar 2007, 15:07
Quote from: Inlander on 28 Mar 2007, 06:55
Quote from: Dimmukane on 27 Mar 2007, 14:15
Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines

Well gees, I only bought that, new, about a fortnight ago, so, you know, IT'S NOT TOO LATE. Although, to be honest: so far - "Ehh".
Yeah, that game's still very much a resident of the bargain bins and budget titles ranges. I actually really liked Bloodlines, it's just far too buggy...
If you haven't done so, you should try the latest user made patch. I love Bloodlines, particularly (as everyone does) playing as a Malkavian. Fun times.

The main game I wish I would have played when it was out (as my PC won't run it) is System Shock 2. I was able to find the original, and it runs remarkably well with the DosBox emulator (awesome fun game, even if the graphics look horrible by today's standards), but SS2 hates XP.

I Love Bloodlines, best non table top RPG I've played for a while, I usually play Tremere, they were always my fav bloodline, pity they removed them from the table top game.

Games I wish I'd played:

- First Baulders Gate
- First KOTOR
- Beneath a Steel sky (I've heard a lot of good things about this game)
- Gabriel Knight 2 and 3
- Age of Mythology

Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: Abattur on 25 May 2007, 11:04
Ultima Underworld 1-2
It's impossible to find these games, also quite hard to get work on XP

System shock 1
Ditto, i did play this game long time ago, sadly i did not understand english very well then.



Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: rasufelle on 25 May 2007, 12:24
If you've played Age of Empires 2, then Age of Mythology's a waste of time.  They cut out some of the gameplay options, and replaced them with 3D graphics that really aren't any better looking than the 2D in AoE 2.  The gods system is interesting, but Battle for Middle Earth really made it look tame compared to the power options available there.

I still want to play the original Quake.  I love ID software, and I have everything from Heretic to Quake 3: Team Arena, but the original won't work under XP, even in compatability mode.  Not only that, but all I can find is the demo, anyways.  *sigh*  I hate Microsoft.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: Abattur on 25 May 2007, 12:44
That's odd, quake works fine on my computer.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: rasufelle on 25 May 2007, 22:59
It does?  Maybe I just suxxor with the XP.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: ScrambledGregs on 27 May 2007, 11:26
I realize recently that I always meant to play Dark Reign but I never did because Starcraft buried it upon release day. It looked like a pretty cool game, though.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: Storm Rider on 09 Jun 2007, 10:47
I'm thinking of buying a copy of Eternal Darkness off of Amazon Sellers. It's 28 dollars after shipping. Opinions?
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: ackblom12 on 09 Jun 2007, 12:24
There's no excuse not to get Eternal Darkness in my opinion.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: Storm Rider on 09 Jun 2007, 12:42
Well, that's good, because I ordered it about twenty minutes after making that post.

Also, Killer 7 is on there directly from Amazon (as in, not from a third party through Amazon) for 20 dollars. I'm starting to eye that now too.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: Ozymandias on 09 Jun 2007, 18:03
Eternal Darkness is one of the top 10 essential GameCube purchases.

Killer 7 is not, but that's only because it's a matter of taste. It's one of the weirdest damn games you will ever play and if you can appreciate it for its insanity, then its relatively simplistic gameplay is totally overshadowed.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: SilentJ on 09 Jun 2007, 21:29
Simply because I'm not 17 and the guys at EB Games/Gamestop bear me are all gigantic douches, I had missed out completely on God of War up until I got a friend to buy it for me like a week ago.

FUCKING BRILLIANT

that is all.
Title: Re: Games You Wish You Had Played
Post by: Storm Rider on 09 Jun 2007, 21:38
I wonder if there's a possibility of one of the Eternal Darkness characters turning up in Super Smash Brothers Brawl. I mean, Nintendo published the game, so it should own the rights to all the characters. I know it didn't sell that great, but they're putting Pit in, and they already put in the Ice Climbers...

What would be really awesome is if that raised enough interest in the game that Nintendo would be willing to funding a sequel. After all, Marth and Roy being in Melee is what got the first Fire Emblem game brought over to the States.

Also, I'm trying to think of the other 9 essential Gamecube games. I'm assuming Wind Waker, Smash Brothers Melee, and the original Metroid Prime, but after that it gets tougher. There are certainly more Gamecube games that I enjoy a lot (Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, Tales of Symphonia, and the original Baten Kaitos), but I don't know if I'd call them essential per se. Which titles did you specifically have in mind?

Also, I wonder what Monolith Soft is working on now that Nintendo bought them a few months back.