Runner-up: Soul Calibur II
We don’t have a fighting game category in our 2003 GOTY awards, but let me just say it right now: Soul Calibur II is by far the best beat-em-up of the year. Combining a huge single-player experience with fantastic, anime-style, over-the-top brawling gameplay, Namco’s masterpiece is a more than worthy sequel to the 1999 Dreamcast classic. GameCube owners even got an extra special treat with a totally kick-butt exclusive character - an adult version of Link from The Legend of Zelda. With good brawlers becoming more and more rare these days, we salute Namco for keeping the one-on-one fighting genre, not only alive, but fashionably sheik.
Runner-up: F-Zero GX
The game that put futuristic racing on the console gaming map is back and better than ever for the GameCube. Nintendo’s once arch-rival, Sega, has taken this exciting franchise and really given it a swift kick in the arse by adding stunning visuals, rock-steady 60 FPS gameplay and some of the best track design ever seen in the genre. Combine all that with a wealth of game modes, both single and multiplayer, and an insanely tough difficulty level that will have you breaking out in cold sweats and what do you have? One of the top racers of 2003.
3rd place: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
Prince of Persia has everything you could want in a game: jaw-dropping visuals, stunning level design, a gripping story, likable characters and airtight gameplay. Ubi Soft has done wonders upgrading the old-school 2D Prince of Persia gameplay for the current generation, but without discarding the core elements that made past titles in the series so enjoyable. If there’s something bad to be said about Prince of Persia, it’s that the game can be completed a bit too quickly, but that certainly doesn’t take much away from the game’s overall excellence.
2nd place: Viewtiful Joe
Definitely the quirkiest, most original title to be released in 2003, Viewtiful Joe successfully combines retro 2D side-scrolling gameplay with next generation visuals, the end resulting being a delightful gem that every Cube owner should have in their collection. With Capcom cutting funding for, and even canceling, projects as of late, it is remarkable that such a unique title even made it past the drawing board, but we at Thunderbolt are certainly glad it did! Our lives would never have been complete without hearing Joe bust out his classic, “Henshin a go go baby!” The one reason Viewtiful Joe just barely missed earning our vote for GameCube GOTY is that it can be completed in approximately 12 hours, and that is including replaying many of the levels over and over again due to the game’s oft-daunting difficulty.
1st place: Mario Kart: Double Dash!!
Mario Kart: Double Dash!! doesn’t offer massive polygon-intensive environments with photo realistic textures. Nor does it blow our minds with earth shattering gameplay innovations. But what it does do, better than any other game to be released this year (on any system) for that matter, is provide hours and hours of pure, unadulterated, multiplayer gaming bliss. Whether it’s just you and a buddy looking to play through the Grand Prix mode cooperatively or 16 gamer friends of yours itching for some LAN action, Double Dash will provide all the out-of-control racing action you’ll ever need. There were a handful of worthy GameCube titles all vying for our attention during the GOTY voting process, but in the end the insanely high fun factor and multiplayer appeal were the wild cards that won it for Nintendo’s charismatic kart racer.
On to the PC awards...
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