Nintendo GameCube Preview Disk Special @ Gaming Target

Written by Tony Kennetz on July 08, 2003

Special: A giant egg, stealth missions, an ultra fast hedgehog, 2D bullet-time and attacking the enemy with your buttock region? There's the summary of the playable demos.

Everyone, please take a look at Sony and Microsoft's business plans. You'll notice that both companies release demo disks that give players an advance look at games they could one day be buying in their local game store. Actually, its almost a monthly thing as both companies have allowed magazines to release demo disks to supplement their reading material. Now, look at Nintendo. They have apparently never felt compelled to try anything like this even though they're losing business to both of their competitors, so you would think they'd try something new to help their business here in North America. Now they have, and even though its not exactly a monthly deal or as plentiful as a Sony Jampack, Nintendo is making progress.

We'll start with the stuff very few people are going to look at: the videos. You arenСt going to pay ten dollars to get a disk of video game footage so I'll keep this short. Contained on the disk in non-playable form are games like Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (which you probably already have so this is fairly irrelevant), SW: Rogue Squadron III, the GC version of the classic futuristic race F-Zero, the 2004 editions of both Madden and NCAA Football from EA, and yet another highly boring ESRB video starring Derek Jeter of the New York Yankees. There are also a few GBA downloads - WarioWare, Inc and Dr. Mario. Great, now we're done with that, let's get on to the fun stuff.

Here's how this is going to work. We all know that after we play any type of game, demo or not, we can walk away happy or disappointed in the experience we just had. With previews, however, there's the added element of desire. A preview is built to make you want something more than when you had yet to pick up and play it. It is with this is mind that I will УgradeФ all of the playable demos. The system is exactly how you remember it from school, with an A+ being the best, F representing the worst, and a C as the average.

Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg from Sega/Sonic Team
While Billy and all his animal pals might not be able to help Nintendo break out of the kiddie-oriented stigma that the company has, that really doesn't mean that Sega doesn't have a solid title on their hands there. The idea is that you run around as Billy, rolling a giant egg with you to take out all the baddies. Sounds lame doesn't it? Yeah, it does. However, once you play it you might just find yourself strangely addicted. BH & TGE has your basic platform action, with all the oddly shaped enemies and goofy characters a fan of the genre could ask for. It is the egg though, as out-there as it sounds, that adds something supremely engaging, although still rather simple, to the mix that cannot be denied. If you can get past the visual style and simplistic gameplay, this is a platformer you should be certain to check out
Grade: A-

Viewtiful Joe fromаCapcom/Capcom Production Studio 4
Part of the one-time GameCube exclusive group known as the УCapcom 5,Ф Viewtiful Joe is one of the most ambitious and risky business moves the gaming industry has seen Capcom take in a long time. By combining elements of old-school 2D side-scrollers, modern day gameplay and cel-shaded graphics, it was pretty clear that Capcom is diving head first into water that in the beginning looked to be a bit to deep. But over time the water level lowered and now the only thing that obvious is that Viewtiful Joe is a game that everyone should be watching. This demo is possibly the highlight of the disk with unique gameplay and absolutely stunning visuals. If you like games, comic books, anime or old-school beat-'em-ups, playing this preview is a no-brainer.
Grade: A

Soul Calibur II from Namco
Dreamcast owners all remember the original Soul Calibur. It was and always will be the brightest moment for Sega's console-producing swan song. So, here we are so many years later, just watching and waiting until the US version of the sequel will release in late August. Lucky for us, a little bit of gameplay fun found its way to our homes early, and it does not disappoint. Featuring everything we loved about the original, there is nothing to say that fighting fans everywhere arenСt going to absolutely love this game. It even manages to overcome the GameCube's controller, which seems rather awkward with most fighting games. That said, there are still some things with the control that I couldn't quite get over, so for that I must drop the grade for the GameCube version of Soul Calibur 2.
Grade: A-

Sonic Adventure DX DirectorСs Cut from Sega/Sonic Team
Easily the low point of everything playable, Sonic Adventure does little to help its sales with this lackluster preview of a game that happens to be almost four years old. You won't find any enhanced graphics or gameplay, you might even be tempted to say that the frame rate has somehow managed to drop with the switch to a more powerful console. If you want to refresh your memory of Sonic and friends, skip this preview and go pick up the Dreamcast original.
Grade: D

Splinter Cell from Ubisoft/Ubisoft Montreal
To round out the list, a mission from the recently ported Splinter Cell is contained in here as well. Playing as Sam Fisher you will infiltrate, kill, and basically exploit your fifth liberty to protect your nation and it's freedom. All of the pretty graphics and spy-like features are here (you can even connect to your GBA and see some of the cool extra weapons and such). That's all well and good but I couldn't help feeling that I'd rather just be playing something else. The GameCube's controller just doesn't feel quite right, and I began to realize that I'd prefer the controller I beat Metal Gear Solid 2 with so many times. I suppose there isn't much wrong with this demo, but not a whole lot went right either.
Grade: B-

Closing Comments
So there you have it, complete impressions on everything you'll get to play with the Nintendo preview disk. The question is, is it worth ten dollars that could go towards a full fledged game? The answer, yes. Getting a chance to play with games like Viewtiful Joe and Soul Calibur 2 well before they come out with a price tag as low as this makes up for the fact that two of the five games contained here are rather lackluster in their showings. You'll get your money's worth with this, and that is the bottom line.