Product Description

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker for Gamecube

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1720 in Video Games
• Brand: Nintendo
• Model: 45496960469
• Released on: 2006-06-15
• ESRB Rating: Everyone
• Platform: GameCube
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: .50" h x 5.25" w x 7.25" l, .20 pounds

Features

• Set 100 years after the events in The Ocarina Of Time, this incredible adventure takes a different young hero named Link on an all-new quest
• Link's sister Arilla has been taken by a huge bird. The young man sets sail to track down the bird and get her back -- this sets him on a dangerous and thrilling quest that will make him as much a legend as his namesake
• As you face monsters and try to think your way around obstacles, you'll earn the Wind Waker -- a special flute that controls the winds
• Incredible new combat engine with exciting new moves like the evasion attack
• Addictive mini-games and subquests will help you earn rupees

Amazon.com Review
The Legend of Zelda series practically defined adventure gaming for an entire generation. Link, the hero of the adventure games, delighted millions by starring in games for each Nintendo console from the NES and Super NES to the Nintendo 64. Link brings this beloved franchise to the Nintendo GameCube in The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and he's more animated than ever.

The first thing you'll notice about The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker is that it looks completely different from any previous title in the franchise. Nintendo has opted to use cel-shading technology on Wind Waker; the result is that the game looks like a cartoon. Die-hard Zelda purists initially howled at this change, arguing that the game skews too young. I think it's fantastic. The cartoon animation style allows for better expression of the characters, and several of the animations--like Link trying to pick up an object that's too heavy--are so cute that you can't help but laugh a little.

The second thing you’ll notice is a focus on wind. Instead of trotting around on foot, Link travels from island to island on a talking boat, but he doesn't get far without the wind blowing in right direction. Luckily, you'll learn how to change the direction of the wind early in the game, and you'll do so frequently--not only to power your boat but also to solve puzzles. Clever use of wind makes Wind Waker stand out from more conventional adventure games.

The third thing you’ll notice is that the game is just plain fun. Puzzles are innovative and refreshing, and despite some tricky puzzles, I never felt too frustrated to keep playing. The locales you'll visit are invariably exotic and fun to explore, and the host of bizarre creatures you'll encounter (friendly and otherwise) are always a kick in the pants. Moreover, though the look is radically different, Wind Waker feels like a classic Zelda game. Veterans of the early games in the franchise will experience more than a bit of nostalgia while playing it.

The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker is everything you've come to expect from a Zelda game, and it's one of the best adventure games to date. This is a must-have title for any GameCube owner. --Jon "Safety Monkey" Grover

Pros:

• New cel-shaded animation looks great
• Puzzles and characters are a lot of fun
• There's a special place in the heart of any gamer who's ever owned a Nintendo console, and that place is shaped like a Triforce

Cons:

• Some Zelda purists may be turned off by the cartoon look

Amazon.com Preview
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker was clearly the most important GameCube game at the 2002 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). As the theme of Nintendo's 2002 presentation was the company's Game Giants--or the characters of its heritage licenses--the new Legend of Zelda game fits perfectly, with a new look and story.

The chivalrous Link this time is saving his sister, who has been abducted by a large bird. The game is set around an archipelago of islands, and Link moves between them via his tiny sailboat. We can only guess from the game's subtitle that the wind plays an important role in the game. Nintendo says that Link will be able to control the wind (by way of the controller's control stick and C-stick) to propel his craft.

Cel shading, a technique used to render 3-D images in a 2-D way, gives the new game a traditional cel animation look, as opposed to the more organic aesthetic shown in the previous titles. Longtime fans of the series derided the new look before the show as "Celda," but no one was grumbling on the show floor. Shigeru Miyamoto, the chief game architect for Nintendo and the title's creator, said his team is creating a game that acts as "your very own cartoon," one that the player can control. The look of the game reminded me of early-'60s color animation from MGM and Hanna-Barbera. The level Nintendo was showing at E3 was beautiful. In it I took Link through a heat chamber, and the rising heat created optical waves through the foreground and background.

Link can pick up and use weapons from defeated enemies, and by connecting the game to a Game Boy Advance system through the GameCube Game Boy Advance cable (no additional software required), the player can unlock additional weapons and features. Zelda fans will be pleased to know that the developers have kept the targeting system from Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask for this game. --Porter B. Hall

Customer Reviews

Only One is a Legend
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker...It was in development for 3 long years and it basically maxes out Gamecube's hardware capabilities (cel-shading is an extremely difficult effect for processors/graphic engines to handle).

AWARDS + REVIEWS
Zelda: The Wind Waker came out in Japan in December and is considered one of the greatest games of all time there. Famitsu magazine in Japan (the most reliable gaming magazine in the world..and every game is reviewed by 4 different critics) gave Zelda: The Wind Waker a perfect 40/40. Only three other games have ever gotten a score that high (Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Vagrant Story, and Soul Calibur). Famitsu says "Any pangs of anxiety you may have with the cartoon-shading look will instantly vanish once you play the game." Two of the reviewers actually said the game was so good that they cried in delight. In fact, Zelda has recieved only one non-perfect review in Japan and that was by Dengeki magazine (it got a 9.5/10) ..and Dengeki scores games so harshly that Zelda: The Wind Waker became the first game in over 3 months to get above an 8/10. In the US, PlanetGamecube imported the Japanese version and gave it a 10/10. Zelda: The Wind Waker also won Best Console Game of E3 (Gamespot and the Official Awards).

THE "NEW" ZELDA
The main difference between this Zelda and past Zelda's is that Miyamoto is no longer designing/directing it, and thus, the new director is giving it a much more epic feel. Everyone who has played the Japanese version has said that it definatly has the deepest story out of any of the Zelda's ever made - in fact, it is the first Zelda to have a true emphasis on plotline. Not only this, but this is also the first Zelda to have multiple continents and islands that you can sail to with a ship. The world is so huge that on a quick ship it can take as much as 15 minutes to sail from one location to the other (in Final Fantasy for comparison sailing from one end of the world to the other only takes about 2 minutes).

LENGTH
PlanetGamecube themselves gave the game a 10/10 and said the only problem the game had was that the world was TOO huge. This game will take you 40 hours to complete (if you are very fast and direct) but is filled with well over 100 hours of sidequests and other things to do. In fact, this game is probably packed with more sidequests than any game ever made.

CEL SHADING
Anyone who shys away from this game because of the graphics are definatly missing out. Those graphics are actually more difficult for a console to render and more difficult for developers to make than the great polygonal graphics we are all used to. Not only this, but I, having witnessed the game myself at a Nintendo Cube Club, have noticed that up close this game is beautiful. Do not be fooled by screenshots, they do not do the game justice. The animation in this game is amazing and at the Cube Club (a club containing over 20 gamecube games), Zelda definatly stood out as the one with the most impressive and flawless art design and graphics.

GAMEPLAY
The gameplay itself is very similar to Zelda: Ocarina of Time although with many enhancements and improvisations. Plenty of fighting, exploring, and puzzle solving. This time, however, the gimmick is wind rather than time (in Ocarina of times case). Wind is constantly blowing at a specific velocity and direction at any moment in the game. It effects everything - from how your boat sails and in what direction to which way Link's cap swings in the air. Many puzzles will also use the wind and there are items to manipulate it.

MUSIC
And then there is the music..the music of the new Zelda definatly makes one of the greatest gaming soundtracks in history. Classical Zelda tunes remade in orchestral glory and plenty of new songs as well. The music is completly orchestrated and if you have a surround sound setup..drools.

IMMERSIVE WORLD - ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Perhaps the number 1 thing that people who have played the new Zelda comment on is that it is perhaps the most immersive game ever made. Link has about 20 facial expressions which all convey what he is feeling at any given time. All characters in towns have artificial intelligence (they dont just stand there or run around in circles like in most Zelda/RPG's)..rather..they have minds of their owns. If you (Link) walk around town with a sword..some little kids will follow you. If you go into a house and break pots the owner will get angry and chase after you. If you do something silly in front of people, they will laugh at you. And if you draw attention, people will look at you. Even the enemies have AI that makes the world immersive. Take out a bomb in front of a Moblin and they will run away - it makes you feel like the world is real. Seagulls follow your boat as it travels betweens islands. Zelda: The Wind Waker is the definative reason to own a Gamecube.

A Change is Sometimes for the Best
In some ways, a classic video game series is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, developers are carrying on a tradition, a legacy. They've earned thousands (dare I say millions?) of devoted fans, and their names will almost assuredly be carved deep into the halls of video game history. Their work will go out into a remarkable number of homes, almost immediately after release. But, by that same token, each individual follow-up title is met with ridiculous scrutiny and astronomical expectations. No longer are these developers and programmers merely entertaining the public, they're toying with electronic mythology. It's all black and white, they're either delivering "the best title since.." or they're raping their own legacy. Rarely will a highly anticipated sequel be met by a lukewarm response from fans of the series, they'll either love it or they'll hate it. And, for the most part, a major change to the status quo is viewed as a bad thing.

So it should come as no surprise that many long time fans of the series were immediately turned off when early screens of Link on the GameCube, digitally rendered in all his glory, were replaced by a childlike, cartoony new appearance. When Miyamoto and the rest of the team trashed those old renders and went in an entirely new direction, fans felt alienated. Betrayed. I should know, I counted myself among them.

Within the first three minutes, my worries were washed aside. Graphically, this is as much of a leap forward from "The Ocarina of Time" and "Majora's Mask" as those revolutionary titles were from "A Link to the Past." It's still filled with the same great gameplay experience you grew to love on the NES, SNES and N64, yet it's pleasantly a beast unto itself. Truly, this was the right step for the masters behind the Zelda series to have taken.

The gameplay is a near-flawless translation of the system broken in by the N64 titles, at the same time benefiting from the modifications made to the GameCube's controller. Where the N64 controller offered four directional "C" buttons (which were used to activate items in your inventory), the GameCube offers a second analog stick, labeled the "C stick", which is used to control the camera angle. Items are now activated through the use of the X, Y and Z buttons, a layout which requires some minor adjustment due to the "Z" button's location, away from the other two. Assaults are performed with the "B" button, and various actions are all done with "A". Players may lock onto enemies with "L", and the "R" buttons gets Link down on his belly and enables him to parry attacks with his shield.

Though the system remains magnificent, there remain two fairly glaring problems with this layout. For one, the player still cannot control if and when Link jumps or climbs. This particular flaw becomes critical when navigating small ledges or attempting to scale relatively short walls, as the little man on the screen will occasionally choose to plummet to his doom without a moment's notice. I've nearly lost my mind, standing in front of a three foot wall that my character simply refused to climb. The second problem I had was with the camera control. In "The Wind Waker," pulling back the camera also lifts it skyward. So, if I want a wider view of my surroundings, I also lose a lot of my range of vision and must maneuver Link from above. Needless to say, this is not ideal.

My largest gripe with this new Zelda lies in its sound. As a next-gen system running custom DVDs, the GameCube has more than enough room to allow for high quality, dolby-style audio tracks. This system should be pumping out better sounding tracks than your average CD, as evidenced by the tight ambient soundtrack of Metroid Prime. Instead, Zelda falls back on the same old MIDI-sounding synth score we endured on the N64. Many of the songs are exactly the same as heard on "Ocarina", with only a few slight tweaks and modifications, which is an undeniable no-no for a title of this magnitude. Imagine if the Ocarina of Time had shipped with the same screeches and dings heard on the NES original.

As far as graphics are concerned... I've seen cel shading done well in the past, but absolutely nothing can hold a torch to what's been accomplished with "The Wind Waker." Everything has been accounted for, from the big picture to the tiny details. Afterthoughts such as the water bursting off the front of your boat and tiny clouds of dust kicking up beneath your feet on a beach are attended to with uncanny attention to detail. When your character climbs from the water, he'll drip dry for the next few minutes. A monstrous enemy resembling a warthog marches through several dungeons on his hind legs. His lower lip juts out, flapping in the wind, and individual bits of saliva sail through the air with his every move. It's incredible. There are more frames of animation in that enemy's lip than in all of the original Zelda. Taking this game in is more than just an experience. It's a revelation.

As one package, this is an unbelievable game. If it weren't for the mild, yet necessary tweaks required of the controls and the sore lack of acceptable music and audio, I might be tempted to call this perfect. As is, the remainder of the game is good enough to account for the inexcusable audio and then some. The storyline is utterly enveloping, while the gameplay is everything you'd expect. The Wind Waker is a tremendous step for the GameCube, reaffirming Nintendo's place in the industry and capturing the imaginations of anyone willing to give it a chance. Don't let your preconceived notions about the shift in visual style fool you, this belongs in your collection right alongside the other titles in the legendary series.

The best form of entertainment, hands down
(NOTE: I imported and currently own the Japanese version of the game and have played through it).

Words fail me to describe just how wonderful this game is.

As a continuation of Nintendo's most polished series, you know without even the slightest bit of doubt that they've done the visuals and audio right; the graphics really have to be seen in action to be appreciated. It's like controlling your own little cartoon world. The facial expressions and the way the characters can interact with the environment is superb. The soundtrack is phenomenal as well, with plenty of new music and a return of some classic tunes (including the one we all know from the original Zelda).

Graphics and sound are important, but they alone don't make a game fun; what really sets this game apart from anything else I've ever played is the gameplay. From the intro to the last battle, every moment of Wind Waker shines of quality. The overworld is bigger than you can imagine, and each creatively designed dungeon gets progressively better and more challenging than the last. The camera is very similar to that found in Super Mario Sunshine- you have full control, and it goes where you tell it to go.

Though the game doesn't come out in the US for another 3 months, I guarantee you that it'll be worth the wait. This game is perfect- I can't think of a single thing that I would change.

And the fact that I can't read a word of Japanese absolutely blows my mind.