The GameCube Archives

The Simpsons: Hit & Run U.S. Release Date: September 16, 2003 The GameCube Archives Score: 8.0/10 The Simpsons premiered on television when I was in the second grade. Knowing full well this was an animated sitcom featuring a fourth grader with a potty mouth and an attitude problem, along with a frequently belittled dad, and adult humor, I didn't even attempt to slip it under the radar of my TV-strict mother. I watched with jealousy as my cousin, who could watch whatever he wanted, marched around in his "Don't Have a Cow, Man" Bart Simpson T-Shirt. Eventually, I forgot the show existed. Nearly seven years passed, and one day my little brother and I got home from school, popped on the TV, and low-and-behold, there was The Simpsons , now in after-school syndication, starting from the beginning. We made a couple bowls of ice cream, sat down, and laughed our heads off. With a full hour of The Simpsons , five days a week, we caught up in no time, then watched the...

Super Smash Bros. Melee U.S. Release Date: December 3, 2001 The GameCube Archives Score: 9.8/10 After the release of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate , my son has had Smash Bros. fever. He had the Wii U and 3DS iterations of the series, but for some reason, this new Switch Smash Bros. game just touched a nerve. He's had me take him to in-town Smash Bros. tournaments (where he's done okay, and I've been summarily destroyed), and also asked to see the older Smash Bros. games. At the top of his wish list to watch: Super Smash Bros. Melee . Oh, the geometry Despite its popularity with franchise fans, and despite the fact that I'd owned it for 17 years at that point, I'd never been able to deeply get into the Super Smash Bros. Melee . However, I'd put hundreds of hours into the original Nintendo 64 Super Smash Bros. In the Summer of 1999 and the years shortly after, my brother, two cousins who mirror our ages, and I played in four-player matches that sometimes ...