GameCube ROMs
Nintendo · 2001 · 221 games
Showing 1–30 of 221 · Most popular
This page lists 221 GameCube (GCN) ROMs, sorted by how often each one is downloaded. The GCN was released by Nintendo in 2001. The games archived here originally came out between 1998 and 2006.
The most common genres in this library are Action, Sports, Platformer and Fighting. The most downloaded titles right now are Legend Of Zelda The The Wind Waker, Super Mario Sunshine (EU) and Mario Kart Double Dash.
To play these files you need a GCN emulator — Dolphin is the one most people use. Each download below is a game file, not the emulator itself.
- Manufacturer
- Nintendo
- Released
- 2001
- ROMs archived
- 221
- Games from
- 1998–2006
- Regions
- USA, Europe and France
- Emulators
- Dolphin
Legend Of Zelda The The Wind Waker
Super Mario Sunshine (EU)
Mario Kart Double Dash
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Luigi's Mansion
Legend Of Zelda The Twilight Princess
Pokemon XD Gale Of Darkness
Simpsons The Hit Run
Resident Evil 4
Pokemon Colosseum
Legend Of Zelda The Twilight Princess (E)
Need For Speed Most Wanted
Metroid Prime
Sonic Heroes
Super Mario Strikers
Sonic Adventure 2 Battle
Animal Crossing
Mario Party 7
Need For Speed Underground 2
Legend Of Zelda The Collector's Edition
Sonic Riders
Pikmin
Sonic Adventure DX Director's Cut
Pikmin 2
Ultimate Spider Man
Def Jam Fight For NY
Legend Of Zelda The The Wind Waker (E)
F Zero GX
Kirby Air Ride
Mario Superstar Baseball
About the GameCube
Nintendo's 2001 console was the most technically capable of its generation in several respects and the worst-selling of the three. The purple lunchbox design, the lack of DVD playback and a proprietary mini-disc holding only 1.5GB all worked against it commercially.
None of that affected the software. The GameCube era produced some of Nintendo's most confident work, and the hardware's clean output makes it one of the most rewarding systems to emulate at higher resolutions.
Choosing a GameCube emulator
Dolphin is the answer, and it is one of the most accomplished emulators ever written. It covers both GameCube and Wii, runs on Windows, macOS, Linux and Android, and has been in continuous development for two decades.
No BIOS is required. Dolphin can optionally use a dumped IPL for the original boot animation, but nothing depends on it.
Why this library benefits most from upscaling
GameCube games were built for 480p output at most, and many rendered clean, untextured-looking art styles that scale beautifully. Running at 1080p or higher produces results that look deliberate rather than stretched — Wind Waker in particular is often cited as the example.
Dolphin's internal resolution setting handles this. Modest hardware manages 2x; a mid-range GPU handles 4x across most of the library.
File formats you will encounter
GameCube images appear as .iso, .gcm or .rvz. RVZ is Dolphin's own compressed format and typically reduces file size substantially with no loss and no performance cost.
If you are storing a large collection, converting to RVZ inside Dolphin is worth the time.
Frequently asked questions
- Does Dolphin need a BIOS?
- No. Dolphin boots games directly. A dumped IPL only adds the startup animation.
- Can I use a real GameCube controller?
- Yes, with a USB adapter. Dolphin also supports standard modern controllers with full remapping.
- Why do some games ask for a memory card?
- Dolphin emulates GameCube memory cards as files on your computer. They are created automatically, but the size can be configured if a game needs more space.