Another one of the games that got ported from the N64 to GameCube, Marigul’s Animal Leader is an original title to say the least. It’s a pseudo Action/RPG type of game where you beat up and eat other animal type things and take attributes from that animal and evolve. Very strange, but definitely Nintendo.

We got to play this game at Spaceworld 2000 on the N64, and it’s gotten a lot cleaner since its transition to the GameCube hardware. The game is still slightly letter boxed, and just as boxy as the original. Everything has a boxy look to it, and is very simple. It almost feels like a throwback to the 8-bit days where everything was blocky.

The game graphically pales in comparison to the other GameCube games on the show floor…but its gameplay is what sets it apart. You start out with a boxy dog-like creature, and what you end up with depends on what animals you eat. There were 8 Animal Leader stations set up at Space World, and at the end of each persons turn, I didn’t see any one that had the same character. I personally wanted to try to make a flying creature, but ended up with some twisted snake thing that had its head on the side of the body. Very weird but also cute at the same time.

I’m not sure if this title will be making it out of Japan, but I sure hope it does. It’s a very interesting game, and totally different than anything out there. Fun in a boxy 8-bit sort of way. Chalk up another original title for the GameCube!