Pandora's Box: The Ultimate GameCube Tier List

Update

Hello everyone!

So...this is an update to the Tier List. All rankings will stay put, but there are some changes I would make if I could. However, today, I'll just go over some observations with some of the entries and if their placement has changed, along with some new possible additions to the ranking.

In terms of slight to major changes, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time may or may not overtake Twilight Princess within the C Tier in the future, but I don't know. I recently played it and my thoughts have softened on it somewhat, but I still don't really like it as a game and I don't think it deserves a 99 on Metacritic still. It's still a repetitive, boring, and formulaic mess, but it wasn't as atrocious as when I last played it, but that isn't really saying much. I would also place NHL Hitz higher, as me and my siblings played it, and it was such a crazy and bonkers time that had such a large amount of love into it, that I feel that it should be higher, for it was way better than my initial thoughts. I would place it either in mid or higher B Tier as of now.

However, we also have a new set of challengers at the table.

First of all would be Bloody Roar: Primal Fury, a 3D fighting game like Soulcalibur II, where the main gimmick is that the characters can transform into beasts to give them more combos, power, and resistance to attacks, along with a super move. They also have an alternative version of this that takes a chunk of health (the amount is dictated by how much the gauge at the bottom is filled), giving them much more cancels in their moves for trickery, more power than before, and unlimited "Beast Drives" special moves that are activated by two quarter circles with the control stick and button that triggers the beast form afterwards, but is limited in terms of time and the standard beast form can be removed if they are damaged enough in the state.

Now...the positives. It is quite accessible for anyone, even if some characters are clearly not very good. The game, unlike the Xbox version, also has anime cutscenes, which look pretty decent. The game doesn't have much replayability, but it does have some with unlockable stages and characters. Some of the transformations are also really cool. One literally transforms into what is known as "The Unborn", where they're a grey monster with blades on their arms, which is pretty interesting. Another example would be Chronos, an unlockable boss character. While his super form turns him into a Phoenix with some of the most devastating moves in the game, his standard beast form is...a penguin. No, I'm not joking. While this loses the spacing tools from his long-ranged fist and kick attacks, his short stature makes him shockingly difficult to actually hit like Yoda from that one Soulcalibur game. It is quite awesome.

However, speaking of Soulcalibur, this game has a good chunk of problems that make it quite inferior to Soulcalibur II. Something about this game feels...unpolished. The music, besides the normal menu theme, is not very good at all and is quite forgettable, and the anime cutscenes have no voice acting, which is incredibly silly and very disappointing. There is also only Survival and Arcade modes to munch on in terms of actual single player offerings besides the unlockables, which makes the game quite lean on content. Also, the game prioritizes jumping and crouching instead of area movement on the control stick unlike Soulcalibur II, which is significantly worse in my opinion, as movement with buttons is just not good at all.

It's definitely nowhere near as good as Soulcalibur II and is much more expensive as well, which is quite shocking given the difference in quality. Still, I would give it a very low B Tier ranking. It's still something you can have quite the ball with when you play it with someone else, with accessibility being a huge asset. However, Soulcalibur II is better in every way, so unless you are morbidly curious or it's at a low price, this one is a game to not really look out for unfortunately.