by Brian - June 25, 2003

Since the NES, no game series has stood out, been praised, or anticipated as much as The Legend of Zelda. Wind Waker is no different. Despite the controversy over Zelda's new cartoon-like look, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (LoZ:WW) surpasses all expectations to become yet another classic must have game. Nintendo made a brilliant move with the pre-order deal. If you don't know what it was, you got LoZ: Ocarina of Time, and a special version of Ocarina of Time with harder dungeons called Masters Quest for FREE. This, along with Wind Waker's own appeal, caused it to smash the pre-sell record bringing it to over 600,000 units. That alone makes it a hit for Nintendo, but the question is, does the game deserve such praise? The answer is, quite simply, yes.

Gameplay

The story starts out on Outset Island (a fitting name), on your birthday. Your grandmother gives you a green tunic as a present, customary of the people of Hyrule when they come of age. The plot quickly unfolds when a gigantic bird kidnaps your sister, Aryll. After you set off from Outset to save her, all will be revealed, and the fate of the world once again lies in your hands. You will eventually get your own boat, named the King of Red Lions, who gives you a conductor's baton called the Wind Waker which is used to change the direction of the wind, among other things, so you can sail around from island to island over the submerged land of Hyrule gathering items, fighting bad guys, and battling through the various dungeons.

Like all Zelda games, progressing through the game is dependant on what items you have collected, many of which are in the various dungeons throughout the world. Many classic items, such as the Bow, Hookshot, Bombs, Bottles, and the Boomerang (lots of B's) return in Wind Waker, as well as many more new items, such as the Deku Leaf, which is used to float across long gaps, the telescope, which is used to view distant islands, the grappling hook, which you use to grapple things and swing across gaps, and of course the Wind Waker.

The controls are almost identical to the previous two Zelda games. The Z-targeting system that Ocarina of Time mastered has been improved upon for the GameCube controller. Instead of using Z, which is in an awkward position, it now uses L. Ocarina of Time had many problems with the camera when locked onto something, but Wind Waker greatly improved these kinds of problems, but it does still have a few bugs in that area.

Graphics - more like CELDA!

We all know that graphics don't make a game great, but when I first saw the screenshots from Spaceworld 2001 showing Link and Gannondorf in a graphically amazing brawl, I was in awe. The amazing lighting, graphics, and textures were enough to make me cry in happiness. Then I saw what the new Zelda really looked like. It was enough to make me cry in pain and abandonment. I, like many others, had the feeling that the whole series would be ruined by this massive change of direction, that is, until I actually played it. In the months leading up to the release, I had given up feeling hateful of the graphics, and anticipated another excellent Zelda game. When I played Wind Waker for the first time, I saw why they made the shift. They can do so much more with cartoon style graphics than with realistic graphics. For example, a common way to get hints for puzzles in Wind Waker is to look at Link's eyes. A lot of the time he will be looking right at something you probably overlooked, or didn't see. With graphics like that at Spaceworld 2001, that would be incredibly hard to do or see because the eyes barely stand out. Sure it�s flashy and looks nice, but that�s all it is. Surprisingly to me, lighting effects work quite well with the cel shading as well. Wind Waker's cel shaded graphics fit the game so well. I couldn't see this game working with realistic graphics, but maybe that's just me. All in all, the graphics rock.

Sound / Music

If you liked the music in previous Zelda games, you will love it in Wind Waker as well. Aside from some original music scores that flow well with the atmosphere of the game, Wind Waker mostly consists of remixes of older Zelda tunes. They have been adapted to fit with the feel of the game, and they do it very well, and even though they are obviously remixes, they don't feel like plain old rehashed music scores.

The sound effects are also good, although one thing annoyed me about them, and that is that Link's voice is still the same. Now, granted, its not that big of a deal, but all of his thrusting and slashing shouts sound exactly the same as in Ocarina of Time and Majoras Mask, even though this is a completely different Link. His high pitch wails can get annoying after a long boss fight. That�s the only real gripe I have about the sound effects though. The rest fits perfectly.

But is it fun?

If you thought previous Zelda games were fun, you will have fun with Wind Waker. There is still tons of thought provoking puzzles, traveling, and item collecting to be had, and bosses to conquer. Speaking of boss fights, Wind Waker's final boss was the funnest out of any Zelda game previous to fight, in my opinion. I'm trying not to give too much away, but you get to team up with the princess to take him on, and it�s a fantastic fight.

For the most part, the game is fun throughout, that is, until you get to the collecting of the eight triforce shards. Talk about boring! At this point in the game I had put the game down for a week before I even attempted to finish this quest. Unless you like world spanning scavenger hunts, than this part of the game will bore you to death. Luckily, the rest of the game is fun enough to keep you immersed.

It does have flaws

No doubt, Wind Waker is an excellent game, but it does have flaws. One that I feel is its biggest flaw is the difficulty. That is, the game is too easy. Now, the previous incarnations were not very hard, but compared to Wind Waker, they were. The puzzles were hard, and took some time to figure out. Not in Wind Waker, though. Whether Nintendo likes it or not, their fans are growing up, and need a more challenging game to keep their customers. They did it with Mario, why not Zelda? I beat this game without dying once, something I can�t say for any other Zelda game, and I only had 13 of the total 20 hearts.

However, despite the difficulty, you can still get well over 30 hours of extraordinary gameplay playing this game.

In Conclusion...

The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker is a must have for any GameCube owner or Zelda fan. Hell, even if you don�t have a GameCube, this is a must have! It is one of those games that shines brighter, and stands out more than its competitors, and it�s sure to be an instant classic. If you don�t have it by now, well then what are you waiting for? Go out and buy it! You won�t be disappointed.