The GameCube Anthology from Geeks-Line - Book Review

Another one of the batch from Geeks-Line Books received at the beginning of the year, the GameCube Anthology was originally published in 2018 and, as you can tell from the title, focuses on all things GameCube. Dismissed by many at the time as a children's machine, Nintendo's follow up to the N64 struggled against the might of Sony and from Microsoft's first gaming behemoth (and that was a beast of a console!), but the GameCube managed to carve out a relatively small niche for Nintendo as its first disc-based console and, more importantly, paved the way for the Wii. But what about this Anthology?

Holding this volume in your hand, you can tell straight away that this is up to Geeks-Line's usual standards. Hefty, with quality stock that makes screenshots and artwork jump off the the pages, this is a stylish and well-designed book. 

Contents-wise, the first fifty pages tell the story of the console's creation and time on the market. I know I was quite scathing about the translation work on the PC Engine volume but here it's pretty much spot on. Detouring slightly I need to reiterate that the information and the effort put into the PC Engine volume was immense and it is still an essential purchase for fans of NEC's 8-bit machine. 

The hardware section details the different models of the GameCube, the retail packages that made it to the shops, the Triforce arcade board, the optical discs, game cases, controllers and other accessories. From page 84 though, this is where we get to the core of the book: the games.

Nearly 240-pages are set aside to cover each title released for the GameCube. These are arranged alphabetically and vary from a sixth of a page up to two pages for the big titles. Each entry gets at least one gameplay screenshot, box art and release details, alongside a rating out of five stars and a write up. I can't fault the presentation or the content, except for one title. Die Hard: Vendetta gets two stars? No, just no. One star and that's being generous. You are welcome to disagree, but you'd still be wrong :-)

Once the games directory is out of the way, ten pages are given over the cancelled titles that never saw the light of day, before ending with collector's editions, bundles and a tick-box guide to the games featured in the main section in case you feel like marking off each game as you add it to your collection. 

This is another classy release from Geeks-Line and an essential buy if you're a fan of the GameCube. As with the other titles from the publisher, a ton of work has gone into this volume and all concerned should be congratulated on bringing the story of the machine to modern day readers, as well as providing a great resource for collectors and fans alike. The publisher's site is here, where you can check out the full range of their Anthologies. At the time of this post, the GameCube Anthology is not in stock but sign up for notifications if you can. You might be able to find it at other online retailers though.