Oh-ho, the Nin-ten-do Van Tour is-a comin’ down the street, ohplease let be for me!

More precisely, the Nintendo Holiday Van Tour came ’roundSacramento once again this year, with bigger and improved goodiesfor boys and girls, young and old.

Unlike last year’s Mario offering of “Sunshine” and “Mario Party4,” we’ve been given the classic delights of “Mario Kart” with”Mario Kart: Double Dash.” The cooperative game play is an awesomeexperience to behold and has become one of the biggest hits of theseason, helping bring some serious street cred to the Nintendo GameCube.

Though seen as the weakest of the platforms, the GC makes themost efficient use of its capabilities, holding data on a disc halfthe size of a conventional CD and supporting a considerable amountof games in true widescreen and progressive scan, for all thosehigh-definition fanatics out there.

But I digress. I was given the opportunity to play 5 games inparticular, showing off just what the GC is capable of. It’ssomewhat shocking how a dinky little system is capable of so muchpower.

1080 Avalanche is the sequel to the popular N64 snowboardinggame, now taking it to shocking heights with realism in renderingthe game’s snowboarders and their physical reaction and appearanceto the settings. When they hit the powder, they hit hard. And thepowder sticks.

Sounds kinda silly, but it’s the little things that are so oftenoverlooked in video games. The powder does fly off as thesnowboarder gains more momentum, hopefully towards the finish lineand not another crucial scrub.

Next up was Viewtiful Joe, by way of Capcom. They take the 2-Dstyle of Super Mario Bros. with some 3-D factors for acomic-bookish fantasy adventure with a twist ofMatrix-slo-mo-bullet-time.

But potentially the two biggest hits of the season in thisclosing stretch will be Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time andStar Wars: Rogue Squadron 3.

The Sands of Time is a welcome return to a true PC classic. Thedude that hops over pits (sometimes unsuccessfully to be impaled onspikes) and swordfights to rescue his Persian princess and savehumanity comes back with a vengeance, powered by perhaps thesmoothest motion seen yet on a video game. That the GC can captureand utilize this flawlessly is jaw-dropping.

SW: RS3 is like playing the movie. Literally. Be Luke Skywalkerand be followed by Han Solo, C-3PO, R2-D2 and Chewbacca around theDeath Star. And be awed by the closest thing you’ll come to trueand official Star Wars footage on a digital format. You’ll want tobuy the game just to see those clips, trust me.

If it seems the cheaper prices of the GC are a cheap tactic todrum up business, perish the thought. It’s not. Nintendo’s winkingtheir eye and saying, “Hey people, we got game too!” Better believeit.