The company has always tried to be innovative ever since they essentially saved the video gaming industry in the mid-80's. Some of those attempts have been wildly successful while others bombed, there has never really been a middle ground for Nintendo's success, it's either really good or really bad. The original NES saved the video game industry and the Super NES revolutionized it. The Nintendo 64 brought the console generation to the 3D realm. The handheld market with the original Game Boy and 3DS. Yet, the infamous Virtual Boy is a perfect example of a Nintendo disaster and tragically the Wii-U was as well. Somehow a system which should have bombed, like the original Wii, didn't and I believe it's because they aimed at the casual/family audience which hit a new spectrum for them yet alienated die-hard Nintendo fans with its gimmicks.
While the console may have been good or bad, all of these had good games, none had as solid a lineup as the GameCube. Not only were the systems games solid but many of them were innovative and pushed the boundaries of Nintendo's licenses, something they haven't done since and wasn't "extremely common" beforehand either. They also had unique hardware and software for the system and managed to create something unique for their company and something that didn't feel like a gimmick to most (like the Wii).
First, let's take a look at Nintendo's mascot. The man himself, Mario. His first game on the console didn't involve him going around a world jumping on things in either a 2D or 3D perspective like every other Mario to date. No, Super Mario Sunshine was a unique entry to the franchise, Mario obtained sunstars by cleaning up areas of the island paradise he was visiting that were polluted by the games villain using his water pack that functioned as both a water gun and jetpack.
We can't talk about Mario without mentioning his brother, Luigi received his first solo game on the GameCube (we want to ignore the education games like Mario Is Missing for the NES) and it was amazing. Luigi took a page from Bill Murray's book and decided to put plumbing and princess saving aside to hunt down ghosts in a haunted mansion. Armed with his trusty vacuum cleaner and flashlight combination to catch the ghosts he spends the night in that haunted mansion trying to cleanse it of all the ghosts. It was an incredibly fun game and unlike any other game in the Mario Bros franchise at the time........leave it to Luigi to be the interesting brother..........
Metroid Prime and Metroid Prime: Echoes still gave us the back and forth open world of Metroid gameplay but these were both totally unique because we were put into the boots of Samus Aran this time around, it became a first person shooter. The other 3 Metroid games were side scrolling, 2D platformers, but this was vastly different putting us in a 3D world taking control of Samus from her perspective this time. Great series of games and unfortunately it was the last time we saw Samus, she had one more Prime game on the Wii and some other game on the Wii not sure what it was though (sorry Other M). Hopefully, the Nintendo Switch will give us a new crack at Samus Aran and the Metroid universe.
The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker was another Zelda game that took a huge risk in two ways: 1) it was open world on mostly water and 2) it was entirely cell shaded. The cell shaded aspect met massive criticism when it was announced and many felt that the traveling on the open water was boring it ended up being critically praised as one of the best Zelda games in the franchise. Taking risks with Zelda games has always been something Nintendo has done, so this particular choice didn't surprise me but it's nice that it worked out well. Wind Waker itself is one of the best games in the franchise to this date.
As I mentioned Resident Evil was huge on the GameCube. There was a prequel to the first game made: Resident Evil 0. There was a complete remake of the first Resident Evil: this time with good graphics, voice acting, and cutscenes. And finally, the game that made the console a must buy for many: Resident Evil 4. It revolutionized the series, was incredibly unique, fast paced, so much different than all others in the franchise and aside from Ashley being an awful character is still to this day one of the best games in the series.
Eternal Darkness offered one of the weirdest games on the console, it was a typical action adventure/mystery game, very similar to a Tomb Raider is the best comparison. However, there was a sanity meter that effected your character and changed the game and the world you were in, very trippy, very unique, worth checking out if you can find it.
Super Smash Brothers Melee is the last game I decided to mention by name and the reason is this. It is STILL being played today. Competitively. By hundreds of people. People make careers by playing Melee and honestly some of the most impressive, technical, fighting game skills happen when you watch melee matches. It's hard to explain how putting that many Nintendo characters into a beat em up game turned into such a phenomenon...........a phenomenon dominated by Fox McCloud. 20XX.
There was also a ton of other great games. I only put some of the most unique or ones I enjoyed. There was some shovel ware too but not nearly as much as the Wii had.
I loved my Nintendo GameCube and if you never got a chance to look at the console when it came out and you are able to find one now, I highly suggest it.