PixlBit

 Number 3

 

2003 was a pretty great, but busy year as I’ve mentioned before. It’s the year I got to try more of Nintendo’s other franchises. F-Zero was one of them and even though I had already played a game in this franchise, I also tried Starfox Adventures.

Most importantly when it came to games, I got to try my very first Zelda games. I became a huge fan of the franchise afterwards that I was so hyped for the new one. I haven’t tried all the Zelda games yet, but I’ve played my fair share of them. Everyone has their own favorite console entries in the series, and there is that one console Zelda game that did it better than the rest.

I don’t have a single favorite game when it comes to the console Zelda games, I have 2 of them and I like them for different reasons, and it is because of that that I can’t decide which I like the most. Sadly I’m going to have to group them here. My 2 favorite console Zelda games are Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. 

I remember reading about a new Zelda game for the Gamecube on an issue of Nintendo Power, which coincidentally was the same one that convinced me why I needed a Gamecube. I think I must of reread the whole magazine dozens of times. I was familiar with the franchise thanks to SSB, but never really got to try them.

I wanted to try one, but really didn’t know where to start. I saw pre-order bonuses for it at stores and said that if you would get a copy of Ocarina of Time/Master Quest if you’d pre-order WW. I eventually caved in and placed my pre-order at KB Toys since back then, they had a very nice rewards program, that if you buy any 4 games (not all at once), you’d get the 5th one half off and this included pre-orders. I had 3 on my rewards card and while I was at it, I decided to get Oracle of Seasons on the GBC.

I got WW on release along with a copy of OoT/MQ for half the retail price. I tried OoT first because the box said it was the 1998 masterpiece or something like that. I tried it for about 5 minutes and just stopped and decided to try WW instead. I played WW and was really impressed. I’m not sure how many people have played it here, but I’ll try to avoid any story spoilers, at least really big ones. I’ll be focusing on the HD version, but I’ll try to give comparison screenshots of both versions.

First off, let’s talk about one of the most controversial aspects of the game, the cel-shaded graphics. I never knew this was such a touchy subject at the time when I first played it. It wasn’t till I got a computer that I learned that the entire fanbase wasn’t onboard with the graphics and that this game looked different. Granted it was a tech demo that showed what the Gamecube could do. But I guess people expected the game to look like what it did in the tech demo. But it certainly wasn’t the first time and the last time that a game looked different when it came to a Zelda tech demo. I personally love the graphics this game uses, it makes the game so vibrant and feel so alive. It really matches the theme and the story very well. The graphics also make the characters really expressive, you can tell when Link is happy, sad, frustrated, and so forth. They look amazing and they have aged very well. Obviously the HD remake’s graphics look amazing, but the original version’s graphics are still really pleasant to look at. 

The gameplay is probably the best in the series and might be as close to perfect in my opinion. Sword combat is very fluid and precise and is pretty fast-paced. I say that the mechanics have vastly improved since the Zelda games on the N64. Even items have been vastly improved too. I think WW makes a really good use of the items when it comes to 3D Zelda games. I would say that the Tingle Tuner might have had some merit but it useless if you had no one to play with. In WWHD, it is now the Tingle Bottle thing and allows you to post on Miiverse, like asking for help or something.

Sailing is another thing people disliked about it. It makes sense due to the context of the story, but I personally never had a problem with it. It’s one of my favorite features of the game. Back then, I would often just sail and I found it very relaxing. It also gave the game a sense of exploration and discovery with the sailing and the islands. Sometimes when you’re sailing, you’ll see an island on the horizon and you’ll be wondering what’s on it. I would say that they nailed it on the exploration and discovery part that the series is known for. Heck, I’ve played this game 25 times and I’m still finding out things I never knew. Nothing major but little things, but I appreciate them in their own ways. The HD remake changes things that annoyed people, the sailing is much faster and one of the important quests before the end of the game has been tweaked.

On dungeons, I would say that they feel pretty easy. Back then this was all new to me, so I loved them. I still do but they feel pretty easy compared to other 3D Zelda’s, but they aren’t annoying. There aren’t many dungeons, but they look really great and feel pretty big.  

Storywise, Link lives in Outset Island with his little sister and his grandmother. It’s Link’s birthday, but then Link’s sister is kidnapped. It’s from there that the game starts. I can’t say more, otherwise I might give away spoilers to those who have never played it. I was really amazed that games like these existed. I never played a game with an amazing story like this, and from there I became so obsessed with the series that I wanted to try every game I could.

I became obsessed with the series and tried as many games as I could. I think it was 2004 and I was so hyped for the next Zelda game. I saw some screenshots of it at a computer and I was amazed. The game looked amazing and couldn’t wait.

        
I read issues of Nintendo Power trying to get as much info as I could for the next Zelda game. I remember buying one in 2005 that was Nintendo Power’s E3 coverage magazine. I remember seeing the front cover having Link and what looked like a wolf, and the cover was a scratch and sniff cover for some reason and it said because the magazine got a new look. I had older issues and I did like the new look. I looked inside and saw that they had more coverage on Zelda and I knew I had to buy it because it was too much to read in under 10 minutes.

I think there was another with Mario Kart DS as the cover and this one included a disc filled with E3 trailers. It had Zelda on it too and I bought that one too and it purely for that reason. The magazine also included news on Nintendo’s new console codenamed Revolution at the time, which was neat but didn’t care since I was mostly interested in Zelda. I saw all the trailers and I finally got to see how the game will play like and I was blown away. I was so hyped for it and Nintendo Power had a contest that a few lucky winners would win an early copy of Zelda and would get to play it before anyone else since the game was speculated to release that year. I mailed my entry but never sure if I won since the game was delayed till next year.

I got 3 games that year for xmas, one of them was A Link to the Past for the GBA so it could ease the wait or Zelda. 2006 came and Zelda was to release around the fall. The release date was in November and that’s all I wanted for xmas, Zelda on the Gamecube. My dad said that he saw a new Nintendo system called the Wii, and he even offered me a chance to get one on xmas. I declined the offer as Zelda was all I wanted, but I probably should of taken my dad’s offer.

I got it on xmas and as soon as we were done exchanging presents, I rushed to the room to play Zelda. I was pretty blown away at the graphics. As before, I wont talk about the story, or the important bits. And I’ll try to give comparisons to both the GCN and Wii versions since I’ve played them both.

First off, the graphics looked really good. Nintendo said they pushed the Gamecube to its limits with it. I was stunned back then, but it really isn’t nothing to write home about once you play it on the Wii.
The gameplay is the same as Windwaker, but the engine is modified a bit. On the Wii, you swing your sword with the Wii remote and you move around with the nunchuk controller with analog control. Notion controls aren’t that special, but aiming weapons like the bow and clawshot feel really good, that is really one thing that they nailed with motion controls. Aiming weapons between both versions vary depending if you like to aim using traditional controls vs. motion controls. Both are fine, but as I’ve said, aiming with the Wiimote works surprisingly well.

The dungeon design is really good, I say it starts picking up at the 4th dungeon. A lot of my favorite dungeons are from this game, like Arbiter’s Ground, and basically all of them that followed from that one. I will say that the spinner item is useless after you exit Arbiters Ground. I know you could use it in the overworld, but not in any meaningful way like you did in Arbiter’s Ground.

As what WW brought with the sailing for the overworld, Hyrule returns in this game, with Epona as your method of transport. I loved seeing Hyrule field and its vast size. The only thing is that it feels really empty. Hyrule Field on OoT was smaller than this one, but it had enough things to do in it. Another major change was Link transforming into a wolf. I know a lot of people hated this but I like it. I was pretty blown away back then. Now not so much but still like it.

The Twilight Realm in Hyrule was something pretty amazing back then as it was sort of an alternate version of Hyrule. I loved it but looking back at it now, it really isn’t anything special when games like Minish Cap, ALttP, and ALBW pull off the alternate worlds thing much more better. But one of the things I do love about it was the Palace of Twilight.

As for the story, this time Link starts off as a ranch hand in a ranch like community far off in the woods. Link’s quest starts when he is dragged into the Twilight Realm at the start. That’s all I can say.

As for my final thoughts on both games, they are my most favorite console Zelda games. Wind Waker was and still is an amazing game, with fantastic visuals that have aged well, and a very great story. Dungeon design may leave a lot to be desired, but the game has plenty to do. The HD remake has fixed a lot of the problems that annoyed people back then and it certainly feels like a new game. Twilight Princess is a great game too but it has its fair share of problems. The game starts off pretty slow and Hyrule Field feels pretty empty. The graphics looked pretty great for its time, at least on the Gamecube. Not so much on the Wii and one could say that they might be showing their age. Both ports are the same and have the same amount of content, the only things is that the map on the Wii port is mirrored and that you can equip more items and motion controls. If you don’t like motion controls, then the GCN version is for you, but the Wii more is more easier to find and it is more cheaper.

That’s about it for this one. Have you ever played WW or TP? Thanks for reading and later.  
*WWHD images courtesy of me, WWHD, and my Wii U*