If you have been reading thenewsite for the last several weeks, chances are you have probably read some of my griping about the shenanigans that Best Buy has pulled trying to sell the demo disc for $39.95. Well, thanks to the poor quality of U.S. public education (read as: Gamecube was spelled as Gmecube,) I now have a copy of the GC E3 Demo Disc to call my very own. And while it isn't the best money I've ever spent, it certainly is worth $10, hell even $15.

For those that are immune to hype, the Gamecube E3 Demo Disc contains playable demos of Viewtiful Joe, Billy Hatcher, Splinter Cell, Sonic Adventure DX and Soul Calibur 2 (not to mention an assortment of movies and downloadable GBA content including Wario Wares and Dr. Mario.) And I'm here to break things down for ya:

Viewtiful Joe

Three against three is hardly fair in this case.

Viewtiful Joe is the shining gem of this disc - while it looks like a gussied up 2D platformer, quickly you realize that it's an amazing mesh of 2D level design, next-generation platforming and the most brilliant use of time manipulation in a game yet. Yes, that's right - time manipulation. Let me explain: Viewtiful Joe can ramp up or slow down the on-screen action. Better yet, the time manipulation is more than just eyecandy - it has a causal effect on any elements on the screen that are based on time. For instance, if you encounter a helicopter and hit the slow-down button, the helicopter starts to lose air. When you speed up, at times you can defy gravity. Even better, a good deal of the platforming puzzles are based around exploiting this design. Forget Max Payne, I hope to hell you've already forgotten about Enter the Matrix - this is a ho-jillion times cooler.

If there's any justice in the world, Viewtiful Joe will become the killer app for the Gamecube. If the demo just came with this playable demo, I would not feel my money was wasted. Capcom's amazingly brilliant and quirky development committee have pulled through yet again, just like in the days of the NES and Dreamcast - they've created a winner with this game.

Billy Hatcher

Sonic Team + Egg Hatching != Fun

Billy Hatcher is the first new game we've seen from Sonic Team since the Dreamcast was brought out back and Put Down, and the results are firmly split down the middle. The story is simple - you're a young boy trying to save a village by using ... well, eggs. You push the eggs around and use them as a weapon. When you feed the eggs, they become more destructive but more unwieldily. It's an interesting gameplay concept that never seems to be able to find it's focus - often I'd find myself about to pull off the 'correct' moves (such as launching an egg at an enemy,) but have absolutely no idea how or why I did it. The demo focuses on the first level, which is structured by finding a gold egg that has an elder of the village captured in it, feeding the golden egg and then finding some sort of artifact to release the elder from his egg. Unfortunately, I was unable to really understand what this artifact was, where it was or how to accomplish any of my goals.

Visually, Billy Hatcher is a mixed bag - a simple screenshot would make it look decent, and occasionally it runs at 30fps but it's pretty damn simple, and frame-rate drops frequently occur. The sound is nothing special, and the gameplay ... well, it's simplistic, contextual and gets the job done. But, uncharacteristically of a Sonic Team title there is nothing that will keep your interest.

Splinter Cell Who hasn't heard of Splinter Cell by now? I do have to say that I'm somewhat disappointed with the port - visually it falls flat - the port is definitely not optimized for the Gamecube and results in hazy visuals that occasionally encounter noise. The controls feel pretty damn awkward & poorly mapped, plus the sound is poorly compressed. Not a fun experience. By far Splinter Cell is the most lackluster demo on the disc.

Sonic Adventure DX

Same game, less refinement!

It wasn't enough for Sonic Team to port Sonic Adventure to the Gamecube once (i.e. Sonic Adventure 2,) they had to do it again! In what appears to be an exercise in futility, the so-called Director's Cut appears to neither add or subtract anything of positive value from the initial DC version. In fact, this version appears to be a step back - the hideous camera has yet to be resolved, there is an alien sheen over everything and the sound is a severe step down from the original (for an example, compare the orca attack scene in the first Sonic level against the Dreamcast version.) I fail to understand Sega's intentions behind this other than to milk more money from the Sonic franchise. The only plus to this version is a serious ramp-up in water effects, but it's not worth the frame-rate sacrifice. While Sonic Adventure for the Dreamcast only ran at a steady 30fps, this runs at an inconsistent 60fps, bogging down at some severely odd points. I'm hoping the demo is just an early build and that these issues will be addressed later on but even if they fix those problems, it's still not worth your time.

Soul Calibur 2

Come August, I'll have all the game I can handle until 2004.

The premiere weapons-based fighter finally comes to the Gamecube and the results are oh so sweet. To feed my fix, I've become acquainted with the arcade version of SC2 and while the Gamecube version falls slightly behind the arcade version visually (some textures aren't as high-res and there are a few seams here and there) this is an exceptional upgrade of the original. While the visuals might not be as tight, the sound is excellent - armor chinks, voices echo depending on the environment, feet shuffle - there is an amazing amount of detail here, and it really bumps up the experience. Some might complain initially about using the Gamecube controller, but with time you adjust. It's not the Dreamcast controller, but it certainly does it's job.

Oh, and while you can only play as Cassandra (Sophitia's sister) and Nightmare, you can still see Link in the initial demo sequence. Check out that flaming sword!

Hey - that's not all! There are still the GBA demos!

Wario Ware Wario Ware is a manic game, only for those that just can't concentrate on anything for over four seconds. It's also amazingly fun - however all you get is a taste with this demo. The full version features over 200 games, where the demo features... just around 7. And what's worse is that they're looped and made slightly more difficult. It does however give you a great taste for the game, as well as exhibit the strange blend of Japanese humor Wario Ware encapsulates.

Dr. Mario
Quite frankly, I can't tell if this is a demo or a full version. Doesn't matter to me - if you are an older gamer more than likely you remember this addictive variation on Tetris. And while nothing new is added (at all - it's practically the same as the original GameBoy version, just with more shades) it's still fun as hell. It's times like these that make me feel lucky to have been suckered into buying a GBA and a GC->GBA cable.

I miss the stylism of The Mark of Kri.

Is this demo worth your money? Well, that depends on how much you can find it for. I wouldn't recommend spending more than $15 on it (perhaps $20 if you own a GBA and GC link cable.) Viewtiful Joe is amazing, and if you are an old-school gamer that has kept up with the current games I guarantee that you will just keep playing the demo. The Soul Calibur 2 demo is two player compatible, so you can battle it out with the same two characters over and over again. If you own a GBA and the GC cable and love old puzzle games, you'll enjoy Dr. Mario's presence. However, if you're a newer gamer that is most interested in SC2 and don't care about quirky games, you're better off putting your money towards a new full game.