When I last played GoldenEye with people I knew, I ran into a problem: the game completely failed to live up to their expectations. It's not that they were people who never played it and expected it to play like a more modern shooter, but rather they played it constantly when they were kids and when they came back to the game over an entire decade later, it was completely different from what they remembered. I didn't have this problem because I didn't play it back then (wasn't allowed to). I'd expect Perfect Dark to be somewhat similar in that regard seeing as they're pretty similar games. I'd expect a similar dislike of the game to arise out of it feeling different from today's FPSes. Quake 64 would be a better bet but iirc it's 1v1 only... ...and the PC version is superior anyway.
That said, I just might go and try this myself sometime soon with my university's gaming group (really just so I can win more easily). I tried Armored Core because I love those games to bits (Pre-AC4) but nobody even wants to try it.
I never played Geist, though I've heard great things about it. Maybe you should give that one a shot, maybe it could avoid the problem above that I've run into multiple times and have even heard from other people... but again, I've never played it so take that for what it's worth.
Never played the Metroid Prime games either. What is wrong with me?
I have noticed that going back to play GoldenEye, Perfect Dark and TWINE after all these years is different, though it's still a thoroughly enjoyable experience. The Perfect Dark remake on XBLA is simply fantastic and holds up to this day though, which leads me to believe that gameplay isn't the "issue" at all. Having recently started playing Perfect Dark and GoldenEye for N64 again, my only real complaint is the manual aiming, which has always been a nightmare, in my opinion anyway.
As for Geist I'd say that it's a pretty solid game. It's one of those games where you either love it or hate it, there isn't much in the way of middle-ground. I'm in the love-it camp, but I might be biased from nostalgia. Nintendo really tried something original with Geist and while their execution wasn't perfect, it's definitely a must-have for any GameCube owner. Single-player really sold me on the game as a kid and it has a ton of replay value. The multiplayer mode provides hours of fun and each of the three game modes are different enough to each other to really stand out. The multiplayer only gets better with the more levels and characters you unlock (through single-player).
With that being said, Geist is far from perfect. Where Geist falls short in my eyes is the somewhat sluggish controls, though you may be able to change your sensitivity, I'm not sure. The single player story and the scares are pretty linear, though it never bothered me much. If Nintendo ever gets around to making a sequel, I hope they give more freedom of choice in the game, at least in regards to scares. As for multiplayer, the game doesn't have nearly enough multiplayer maps, in my opinion. And my final complaint is the lack of online multiplayer. Nintendo really neglected to make full use of the GameCube's online capabilities and Geist is one of many games that would have really made the GameCube more competitive online and LAN play [especially given Geist's support for 8 players/bots].
The first two Metroid Prime games are absolutely beautiful and brilliant. I have never played 3, but from what I've heard, I'm not missing much. I can highly recommend both games, especially the first game, to any GameCube owner. Metroid Prime 2 is the only Metroid game of the main series (though Hunters has multiplayer as well) that has multiplayer. With that being said, Metroid Prime 2 is a single-player game first and foremost, and as thus, the multiplayer is not nearly as developed as the single-player. This was actually a major complaint by many fans, who often compare Metroid Prime to Halo. The multiplayer of Metroid Prime 2 is fun, but there are too few maps and too few weapons/items. The auto-aim feature also takes away a great deal of the skill and, in some cases, even some fun, out of duels. That's not to say that the multiplayer isn't fun, merely that it's unpolished and it seems like Nintendo tacked it on, rather than investing heavily in developing a great multiplayer experience. Lastly, I have the same complaint with Metroid Prime 2's multiplayer as I do with Geist, and that is the lack of online multiplayer.
I am beginning to think that Geist would be the better choice of the four. Geist may not have the name-recognition that will bring as many players as Metroid Prime 2, GoldenEye or Perfect Dark, but I think that it would be the most fun of the four to play. In addition, I think that having a 2v2 Capture the Host match will bring a require a great deal of strategy and team-work, which should prove interesting. Who knows, perhaps I could host a tournament for both GoldenEye and Geist?
Thanks everyone for your votes and responses. By all means, I'd like to hear more thoughts and opinions on this.
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