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Episode 436: GameCube - Game Boy Advance Link Cable Games (Patreon)

Published:
2022-02-11 08:01:01
Imported:
2026-06
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In the early '00s, Nintendo wasn't doing particularly well. With the GameCube and the Game Boy Advance (outside of Pokemon) failing to light the world on fire, the company had no chance but to work with the hand they dealt themselves. As the Sonys and Microsofts of the world ventured into the uncharted territory of "online," Nintendo had a multiplayer solution that would result in some innovate experiences that nonetheless received plenty of scorn from consumers expecting more. On this episode of Retronauts, join Bob Mackey, Henry Gilbert, Chris Daniel, and Nick Daniel as the crew explores the world of GameCube - Game Boy Advance Link Cable games. No additional hardware required!

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SilverHairedMiddleAgedTuxedoMask

I love these forgotten peripheral episodes! However Reggie Fils-Aimé actually did try to push the link cable during his tenure, I remember seeing some quote from him where he claimed that "Madden NFL football would play best on GameCube because with the GBA-GCN link cable you could choose plays without your opponents knowing" which seemed like an last ditch attempt to get the "casual" crowd interested in the thing. Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory actually had some weird amount of effort put into the link cable attachment despite it being incredibly unwieldy. While you played the game on the GameCube the GBA was used as a second screen that showed an overhead map kind of similar to a Metal Gear Solid map that showed guard positions and sight lines and pressing a button on the GBA screen would zoom in the map. How you're supposed to use this in real time while playing with a GameCube controller I have no idea. Also you were given access to a unique remote grenade that you tossed and could only be detonated using the GBAs screen. Again, how you were supposed to shoot the grenade with the GameCube controller, then immediately drop the controller and grabbing the GBA to detonate the bomb I have no idea. Maybe you were supposed to get a second person and have them act as your own personal Octacon/Mei Ling watching the map? The last gasp of this in gaming I think was during the infamous Sony PS3 E3 Reveal where Kaz Hirai (in between promoting Ridge Racer and the $599 US dollars) promoted a Gran Turismo game by showing on stage you could use the PSP attached to the PS3 as a "rearview mirror" and then attach two more PSPs as wing mirrors. This feature was then never spoken of again and wasn't actually in the final game.

Michael Castleberry

I did play FF Crystal Chronicles ONCE with my gf at the time and it was pretty fun, but I think my lasting memory was using it to unlock the Fusion suit in Metroid Prime lol

PurpleComet

Oof, this takes me back to my most jaded days as a Nintendo fan. I owned a Gamecube and a GBA but I rejected "GBA-GCN connectivity" almost immediately. I didn't find any of the uses compelling and nearly all of them would've been better executed with online play. FF Crystal Chronicles in particular felt like a monkey's paw situation. We get Square Enix making a Gamecube game and it's in the oft-neglected action RPG genre, but the GBA-GCN requirement for multiplayer and some baffling design decisions made me skip the whole thing. I know some people have fond memories of this game, but as someone who didn't have many gaming friends (and even less who played GBA) it felt like a huge wasted opportunity. I eventually played through Zelda: Fours Swords Adventures with my brother and found the experience underwhelming. I guess the music and graphics needed to be consistent between the GBA and Gamecube, meaning, outside of a few particle effects, it looks and sounds like a GBA game. This was a letdown, I would've loved to hear these LttP tracks remade with orchestral or symphonic arrangements, but I would have to wait for Link Between Worlds for that. In general I found the gameplay fine but not great. I think Nintendo should give the concept another shot someday, this time with online functionality and better presentation. The only other time I bothered with the link cable was to unlock the Fusion suit in Metroid Prime. I was aware of the Tingle Tuner, but given how easy Wind Waker was, it felt totally unnecessary.

Andrew Webb

I had this peripheral. PAC man was cool. Still have the cables and a working GBA SP but no GameCube. I forget does this work with the Wii, or would it only plug into a GameCube?

Aaron

There are times I consider getting a Switch mini solely as a Pac Man vs. device, but that's a lot to ask. I think the most obvious (and probably most important) use case for the device is interacting with Pokemon Colosseum and XD, as those two games make it possible for someone to complete the Gen III Pokedex (excluding Mythical encounters) on their own without needing to trade with lots of other people. Sure, Pokemon Box is a Pokemon Box, but the other two games actually used the GBA interface in interesting ways since they let you migrate your party into the story mode (for use in getting a Ho-Oh from Mt. Battle in Colosseum) or the competitive mode. Much more in line with what you could do in Stadium, and serving similar purposes. Half-baked in practice, perhaps, but at least you could transfer chao from SA2B to SADX and vice-versa, meaning the amount of grinding you'd do to get the chao race emblems wasn't totally egregious. While the tiny chao gardens have notable advantages, specifically the ability to get higher stat boosts out of every level-up than the GC gardens, and no passage of time for chao aging, I have to favor the pace of the original SA1 chao garden (chao lives are only a few hours of in-game time, and it's very easy to max out stats in the VMU game) and the story mode of SA2's Chao Adventure 2 game (even if it's kinda mediocre for stat raising on its own). Though you mention the GBA SP's rechargeable battery I should throw in a note for anyone viewing these ancient runes that the cable adapter both blocks off the AC adapter and isn't able to provide power for the device on its own, so you can definitely still run out of charge while using it. Which is a shame -- say what you will about the various limitations of the VMU, it's able to take power from the system to run when the batteries are dead and doesn't use up an extra controller slot!

Thad Boyd

Guys, I think you may have overestimated how interesting and informative it is that people made fun of you on messageboards twenty years ago. "People who liked console X made fun of console Y" isn't really valuable historical context; it is a constant. I'm old enough to remember the Sega fans and the Nintendo fans having slap-fights over Blast Processing or whatever on the Games Board on Prodigy in the early '90s.