Unless you were born a couple of weeks ago, you should be quite familiar with the Legend of Zelda series. From the NES classics right up through the recent N64 titles. So if you don’t happen to fall in that few week old group, then you should be fully aware that the Gamecube has just received its first Zelda adventure, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Don’t get caught up in the changes on the exterior, the Wind Waker has a lot more going on then what’s on the outside.

    Right from the start of the game the story sets you up perfectly to start an adventure worthy of the LoZ name. The Wind Waker delivers the background story with just enough info to allow the player to understand what’s going on, but leaves it vague enough that surprises will be had. This time the story starts on a small island where we find our hero, Link, out and about on his birthday. After a run in with a huge bird and some pirates, said bird takes Link’s sister. Now is when the adventure truly begins.

    I’m sure some of you are saying something like: “I heard this game doesn’t even take place in Hyrule” or “That’s not even Link.” And to you I say: why haven’t you bought the game yet? Sorry, I’ll stop with the “jokes.” Seriously though, the game will explain it all, trust me.

    Wind Waker is a 3D adventure game, with the emphasis on exploring and puzzle solving. It plays almost exactly like the 64 incarnations of the Zelda series. I say almost because there are several changes that have been made. One of the better additions is a Free Mode for the camera, easily controlled by the “C” stick. This comes in handy many times during the game. No more annoying angles when in dungeons trying to make a certain jump. It’s also great for spying your surroundings while sailing. Don’t want to miss any treasure, now do we. Link has also been giving some more attack moves. All of which are extremely useful when fighting groups of baddies. Maybe the biggest change to the attack system is the addition of a parry in Link’s arsenal. Easily executed by pressing “A” at the right moment while “L” targeting a monster. As nice of an addition and as cool as it looks, it’s not really necessary. There are some knights that require it to defeat them. Other then that you might not find much use for it. Unlike the 64 versions, the enemies no longer wait their turn to attack (think Star Fox Adventures); now it’s just a brawl. Link’s new moves help with these situations, as well as an improved Boomerang. I don’t like the “Z” button and in WW it becomes a commonly used button, one of you items can be set to it. To combat this problem, I tried to keep items that didn’t require the button to be held down to work, like the baton or bombs. Link has also developed the ability to slide along certain walls. While it does look pretty cool, it’s only useful when it’s your only option. As walking along-side walls might be pointless the ability to shimmy while holding edges isn’t. This stood out to me because of playing OoT right before WW and being upset at Link’s lack shimmying power.

    Exploration is a big part of WW and most of the exploring will be done at sea. So while at sea you’ll be cruising around in your very own boat. Traveling is very tedious in the beginning of the game. You have to go from one end of the map and back again a couple times. Guess this is a good time to do a little exploring. But since there is a teleport system later in the game, putting off the exploring ‘til later won’t hurt you at all. Exploring small areas, like around an island, is a slow process. Changing the wind frequently is the only solution, but even then it can be annoying. The map has been changed to be more efficient for this kind of travel and exploration. It’s now laid out in a 7x7 grid, with each square getting its own island. If you did the math, that makes 49 islands to explore.

    Now on to the graphics, the most talked about aspect of the game prior to its release. After the Space World video was shown, many people suffered severe heart attacks at the site of the cel shading direction that was being taken. All I can say is I can’t imagine Wind Waker being any other way. I was hooked the moment I got this game into my GC. The graphics work on every level. They’re smooth, bright, and give great detail. The sea left me in awe the first time I set sail. Graphics help to give many of the characters unique from one another. The Rito tribe might not have looked as good in a more realistic style of graphics. One of the details that Nintendo was able to add because of the graphics was the movement of Link’s eyes. This helps to identify certain object or places in a room. Basically does what those annoying fairies would be doing.

    Once again music plays an important role in a LoZ game. This time, it’s not so much the playing of music, as it is the conducting of it. Your instrument is a baton, which is called the Wind Waker. It’s used to control the wind and occasionally people. Using the baton is a little hard at first, but almost immediately becomes easy. The instrument’s only new function when compared to the instruments in the older games is to control the wind. Aside from that, the baton does everything else just like the old ones. Opens doors, changes the time of day, and teleports you around. Through out the game you’ll hear plenty of familiar sounds. The beginning story has a revamped version of the original LoZ’s theme playing through it, which is simply amazing to listen to. Also, certain areas of the game play songs from the 64 games, just with better quality.

    The Wind Waker has an incredible old school feel to it. Maybe it’s the reemergence of some familiar monsters. Maybe it’s the map that resembles maps of old and exploration that is only contained by your will to explore, not by how far you are in the game. Could be all those unforgettable tunes that it contains. Whatever it is, being the old school junkie that I am, I love it. The Wind Waker truly is incredible.