The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker GameCube Review @ Gaming Target

Written by Ilan Mejer on March 31, 2003

Full Review: УUghnnЕ Heh hehЕ The windЕ. It is blowingЕФ ~ ??? from Legend of Zelda - The Wind Waker

Just as the very forces of nature tirelessly cause the winds to gust, expire, and restore themselves, thus is the legend renewed. In the five years since Ocarina of Time (OoT) was released for the Nintendo 64, considered the closest to a perfect game yet, we have seen three new Legend of Zelda games: Majora's Mask (MM) also for the N64 and the two Oracles games for the Gameboy Color. However, Wind Waker (WW) is the true follow up to the events told in Ocarina of Time, and furthers the Zelda mythos more than any other game in the series, despite the odd and seemingly irrelevant oceanic setting the current adventure takes place in. Revealing any more details regarding the strange new world that Link will be exploring would constitute as spoilers, something we try to avoid at all costs here at Gaming Target.

However, rest assured that Wind Waker indeed marks the next chapter of the core Legend of Zelda series, one that answers many of the questions and loose ends of just about every single traditional Legend of Zelda game in the franchise. Wind Waker features, by far, the most expansive and dramatic story in the Zelda franchise. In fact, it would not be inaccurate to state that it is Nintendo's most thought out and well-written story ever, as it is truly incredible. It is as relevant, interesting, and understandable to newcomers as it is blindingly insightful and surprising to long-time fans.

This most recent adventure takes place some centuries after the Hero of Time defeated the King of Evil, Ganondorf Mandorag Dragmire and banished his darkness into the Dark World, and even more centuries before the events of the SNES game, Link to the Past, where Link supposedly slew Ganon, restored the three Triforce of Wisdom, Power, and Courage, and cleansed the Sacred Realm. Indeed, Wind Waker is the first game in the series to finally and definitively confirm the prevalent though oft-ignored Уmulti-LinkФ series chronology, which states that over the centuries and possibly millennia that the franchise spans, multiple Links and Princesses named Zelda were born into the world to secure the safekeeping of Hyrule and its Triforce.

Wind Waker begins on the tranquil and isolated village known as Outset Island. The residents are preparing to celebrate the twelfth birthday of one of their own, a special event to these people. According to their beliefs, every young boy who reaches this special age dons the typical green garb in order to honor the Hero of Time that the legends speak of. The day's events then involve the birthday boy wandering about the island performing honorable and helpful deeds promoting the virtues of courage, honor, and heroism. There is even a little friendly role play expected, involving the findings of honorable blades that can help vanquish evils. Today is a sleepy Link's birthday, and in a series of memorable and touching sequences, his Grandmother and sister, Aryll, both prepare him for the day's eventsЕ

As much as the story is a continuation of OoT, so to is the gameplay an extension of the 3D adventure that helped to redefine last generation. Every little detail, feature, and innovation that made OoT such a breathtaking and playable experience, that proved that adventure games could be just as successful in the third dimension, returns in Wind Waker, with quite a few of its own little tricks and clever implementations, which more than spice up the gameplay. In fact, though it will feel so familiar in your hands, particularly if you've mastered OoT, the Master Quest, or Majora's Mask, the upgraded equipment and greatly expanded combat system will more than keep the experience fresh for the duration of the 25 Ц 40 hour long quest. It is a longer and more robust, feature filled adventure than the last two on the N64, of that there is no doubt, one filled with more of Ocarina's excellent gameplay. One of that game's greatest contributions to the Zelda franchise, and 3D adventure games in general was its incredible combat system.

Wind Waker is able to maintain the more personal style of combat incorporated in OoT, in the sense that it has just as many one on one duels and like encounters as the previous game. Those, however, are primarily reserved for special rooms and challenges and not the norm. The majority of the combat in the game recalls the more classic 2D games, where you generally face an onslaught of multiple enemies, who do not conveniently wait for you to dispatch their comrades one by one, as in the previous N64 titles. You still lock on to enemies individually, as the game successfully adapts OoT's most innovative feature, the Z-target locking mechanism. Now suitably renamed the L-targeting system, it is just as comfortable and versatile as ever. Aside from helping you maintain your focus during combat, it will also allow you to utilize just about every piece of Link's inventory in combat, unlike previous games. Of course, the boomerang and bow are still used much as they were before, but such items as the Deku Leaf and Grappling Hook can be used to knock over enemies and steal items/weapons from them, respectively!

Easily the most innovative new feature to spice up Zelda combat is the Parry, or counter attack. It will only work when you are L-locked onto a foe, and in position to receive a blow from him. When the time is right, your blade will briefly flash green and spark, accompanied by a distinctive chime. This is your cue to quickly hit the A button, launching Link into one of about half a dozen parries in which he will spin, flip, turn, and dodge the blow, simultaneously sneak-attacking the monster in the process. This new feature is integral in that certain enemies practically require being disarmed or stripped of their armor before they can be damaged, the parry of course being the easiest, and sometimes the only method of doing so. Just as the Z-targeting mechanism was copied in the years since OoT was released, this timed parry will undoubtedly be picked up by future games as well; it is that exciting, dramatic, and just plain fun.

Exploration in Wind Waker is a dramatic departure of that in OoT and Majora, hearkening back to the classic 2D games with their sprawling and convoluted over world maps. Unlike OoT and MM, which featured relatively tiny over worlds and many smaller, contained areas instead, Wind Waker occurs on a vast ocean spanning 49 large sectors, each about the size of OoT's entire Hyrule Field map, and each containing some sort of island, archipelago, lookout platform, enemy submarine, or series of structures to explore. Much like in the Super Nintendo classic (or it's more recent GBA port), or even the Oracles GBC games, exploration of the over world is the primary driving force of the game, and it is a painstaking and exhaustive process to fully chart and explore each region. However, much like in those 2D classics, you are encouraged to set your own pace in that exploration. The game's story will always clue you in as to where you need to go next, for the most part, but will rarely limit you to exploring just those surrounding areas. This lends the game a level of non-linearity and player choice that was almost completely lacking in the N64 games. Though make no mistake, dungeon progression and the acquisition of items is still as linear as ever, something the Zelda gameplay has always logically required, thanks to its heavy emphasis on puzzle solving.

Wind Waker lies somewhere in between OoT and MM as far as the number of Сofficial' dungeons is concerned. Whereas OoT featured 8 true dungeons and MM had a mere 4, the number of true dungeons in WW stands at 6. However, much like both those games, there are a slew of other locations to explore, also rife with puzzles and heavy combat sequences that could be considered mini dungeons in their own rights! In fact, the number of such caverns and regions to explore greatly outnumbers those of any other Zelda game since, and the majority of these extra areas are also optional! This is a dramatic departure from previous Zelda games, and not an unwelcome one. Again, it helps to displace the forced linearity that was all too prominent in the N64 games, providing yet another mechanism for each gamer to tailor his or her experience on an individual level.

The game throws out so many side quests, missions, and optional avenues of exploration that you could literally take a couple of hours off your main quest on multiple occasions as still not do it all. However, those with a primary focus on story and plot progression can easily remain on course and ignore the dozens of extra (and mostly relevant) quests Nintendo threw in for good measure. As always, collecting every single Heart Container, piece of equipment, spell, or upgrade is not necessary to completing the game, especially considering that the game's overall difficulty has been (unfortunately) toned down from all other games in the series.

This game also features a couple of new and interesting twists, both of which bear similarities to a Playstation 2 cult classic, ICO. Two of Wind Waker's temples have Link exploring their depths with one of two companions, who must be manipulated to the end. Each companion features his or her own unique abilities, which brilliantly play into the puzzles those temples, throw at you. Aside from navigating environmental hazards and solving the new multidimensional puzzles afforded by an added companion, Link must also take care that neither him nor his companions fall into the grasps of the Floormasters, cousins to the classic Wallmasters of previous games.

The original Legend of Zelda features a robust second quest to keep gamers busy. Ocarina of Time, in a roundabout way also received a second quest, thanks to the Master Quest bonus disc that was part of Wind Waker's preorder campaign. So too does Wind Waker include a second quest built in, opened by completing the game, of course. This quest will allow Link and company to play through the game in alternate outfits and will also translate some story text that was in unreadable Hylian the first time around. Additionally, Link will begin with a certain, non-crucial though helpful item off the bat, that will go a long way to appeasing those interesting in completing a 100% save file the second time through the game.

Completion freaks that are up to the challenge of finding every single treasure chest, Heart Container, and tool (of which the expected classics make a triumphant return, as well as some exciting new toys) in the game will be overjoyed to learn of the Nintendo Gallery. This feature can be accessed once you complete a certain sub quest and upgrade your Picto Box (camera) so that it will be capable of snapping color photos. Essentially, every character, enemy, and random living creature in the game may be photographed. If the subject was facing Link, and its color photograph is full body, then it can be taken to the Nintendo Gallery and converted into a lifelike figurine. These figurines are automatically placed in one of several appropriately themed rooms, and can be viewed at any time. Most interesting is that they also provide background information on the subject, particularly those of the game's many enemies. Spicing things up are the legendary pictographs, such as the bosses or other one-time show characters. Completing every room of the Nintendo Gallery alone will be a challenge worthy of at least a dozen extra hours of gameplay, if not more.

Rounding out the extensive gameplay that Nintendo's newest Zelda offers is a rather clever implementation of the Gameboy Advance Ц GameCube Link. Early on in his quest Link will be able to rescue a character returning from Majora's Mask, Tingle the would-be fairy. Upon accomplishing his rescue, Link will be rewarded with the Tingle Tuner, essentially a green, Tingle-shaped GBA that he will be able to wield as a standard item. By plugging in and powering up a GBA into one of the free controller ports and then accessing the Tingle Tuner, Link will be able to summon Tingle to his side, and control him via the Gameboy Advance, with a friend or sibling. Essentially, this is the rudimentary foundation for what we can only hope will one day become a cooperative two player Legend of Zelda mode.

Tingle can only be accessed in areas that have some kind of map or chart, such as the villages, ocean over world, or the game's dungeons. During cinematic sequences, certain unmapped mini dungeons, and when paused, Tingle will not be available. Link and Tingle will always be in the same area, and the 2D map that shows on the lower left corner of the screen is expanded and also depicted on the GBA screen. Using the GBA controls, another player will be able to move Tingle around just about anywhere in that room or area, and an appropriate green Tingle symbol will show up on the TV screen so that the primary player will be able to interact with the one controlling Tingle. Tingle can be used to explore areas that are immediately out of reach, and his alerts will net all sorts of Сrewards' such as bonus treasure chests, expanded story elements, funny and personal witticisms, advice on clearing certain puzzles or obstacles, and even information on every enemy in the game (not unlike the fairy companions in the N64 games.)

Tingle also has a series of commands at his grasp which include the ability to report the current time, mark locations on the map, use Tingle bombs (to damage Link, his foes, or uncover secret chests), provide Link with three different kinds of healing potions, temporary invulnerability, and even a hovering sort of jump using Tingle balloons. Most of these abilities come at a cost, in Rupees, and are rather expensive early on in the game in fact. There are even scripted sequences, in certain locations which act like Tingle Сmini quests' which, when completed, will upgrade the Tingle Tuner to include a shop of sorts, and even reduced prices for the Tingle abilities. Finally, completion fanatics will love the added challenge of hunting down and securing the five silly Tingle Trophies scattered throughout most of the under world scenarios, which are then displayed on Tingle Island, a location that can be visited at any time, even without the GBA-GCN link.

Seeing as how the over world is so massive, it bears mentioning that most of your time outside of the dungeons will involve sailing the world's seas. Since your boat is of the sailing type, and thus driven by the wind, your magical baton, the Wind Waker, will also be utilized quite a bit, primarily as a tool to change the direction of the wind, and later on, to summon teleportation cyclones. Now, those only interested in furthering the story and dungeon progression will most likely tire of the extensive sailing and conducting that traversing the map entails, even with the teleportation. However, the game does in fact both prompt you and reward you for exploring. From just about any point on the huge map you can see one or more points of interest just barely in sight. These locations, not all of which are actually stationary, could be new islands, areas that need to be scavenged for underwater treasure, mysterious spires, fairy houses, even a ghost ship, or cluster of enemies! Thankfully, you will never have to worry about draw distance or non-weather-related fogging issues marring your exploration, and there is always something else to accomplish, or somewhere else to chart, for those so inclined. It's a credit to Nintendo's legendary world design and building skills.

Perhaps even more dramatic than the setting change and story twists (which you will have to uncover on your own!) is the complete overhaul of the Zelda look. Perhaps Сcomplete overhaul' is not the proper term. After all, this new cel-shaded, cartoon visual style resembles both the SNES classic in look and design and the official artwork of the very first game more than anything else! However, most people these days do not recall such classic stuff, and instead see Link as an adult, dramatic Сbad ass' as shown off in the Nintendo 64 games, Super Smash Brothers Melee, that Zelda SpaceWorld 2K technology demo, and even in Namco's Soul Calibur 2! However your feelings on the subject, you would be wise to stay your comments until you see this game in motion, on your own terms. The style, world realization, and animation is simply unsurpassed in gaming today, and even rivals the animated greats at Disney in quality and sheer detail.

From the way that Link's eyes follow the action in combat, acknowledge the approach of villagers, or snap to points of interest that a keen gamer should have noticed beforehand (hint hint!), it quickly becomes evident that the game oozes visual polish to compliment that coating the gameplay. You will be floored when you first see a Moblin's lips quiver with its ambling gait, or the way the dozens of strings attached to the end of its spear react to its jabs, swings, and parries, or the way an Iron Knuckle knight will watch in disbelief as you methodically disarm him, rip off his helmet, and strip him of his armor. Merely watching an enemy's demise is a thing of beauty. Defeated monsters (even bosses) explode into surreal clouds of jetting and swirling, black and purple smoke that is a marvel to behold. Even simple things, such as watching the cloth physics realistically and believably react to wind gusts or physical motion is pure joy. The list goes on. The incredible animation also plays extremely well into the combat system.

For example, it is entirely possible to find yourself facing off against a good half dozen Moblins, Pokoblins, Imps, ChuChus, Keese, Wizrobes (yes, they're back!), or any combination of these and the many other enemies at any given time. Easily half of the monsters in the game are humanoid in nature, and thus, adept at wielding a variety of weaponry, not unlike Link. One timely parry or well placed sword combo (which now looks awesome) will send an enemy careening, sometimes into other enemies, simultaneously sending all of their weapons flying as well! It is an amazing thing to be able to pick up their weapons and use them against their owners. It is an even more amazing thing to watch the monsters in a panic, scrambling to pick up the weapons closest to them, and not always the ones they started off with! The incredible animation and attention to detail continues on in endless examples. Try chucking a bomb at a cluster of Moblins to see how they react. Some will run away, whilst others cautiously and curiously approach the little blue ball of impending fiery doom. Try pushing a Pokoblin off of a suspension bridge; drop its weapon, and frantically latch onto the edge. It's hysterical, and you have a few moments to appreciate the humor before stabbing it, and knocking it down to its demise.

Wind Waker features some of the most expressive and expansive facial animations ever implemented in a game. Gone are the simple faces of Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. Despite the highly stylized cartoon appearances, these characters are now capable of demonstrating real and wholly believable context through their facial expressions and body language. In fact, even though Link is as typically silent as ever (aside from grunts, yells, and other combat noises), he has never communicated as much in a Zelda game as he does here. Every single emotion that crosses his face or physical manner tells volumes about what is going through the child's mind, and never does it come off as confusing, irrelevant, exaggerated, or unsuitable to the circumstances then taking place. This holds true for every character in the game as well, incredibly enough.

The actual cel-shading itself has never looked better than it does with the Nintendo treatment. EAD's artists deserve special recognition for this accomplishment. They took a technique that Sega pioneered in their Jet Set Radio for the Dreamcast, and essentially perfected it here. Complimenting the cel-shading is some of the most inspired cartoon texture work ever, used for the background and environmental art, of course. It not only perfectly suits the toon-shaded characters, but also brings to mind the environmental design and artwork used in A Link to the Past for the SNES/GBA. The term Сwork of art' is bantered about often enough when discussing games, but arguably it has never been as appropriate as it is when describing Wind Waker. This game is as much a showcase for brilliant artistic design and execution as it is an example of an increasingly evolving Zelda gameplay.

The game is also a graphical powerhouse, one that can easily showcase the GameCube's capabilities to non-believers. The game features one of the most taxing lighting and particle effect systems this side of a workstation. The lighting is consistently top notch, from the torches which emit light that reacts to the shadows on every exposed surface in the game, to the shafts of light that slice through the trees in a forest or the cracks in a dungeon wall, which can then be reflected and redirected using a variety of tools, for the purpose of solving light-based puzzles, of course. The particle system is equally robust, and nearly unrivaled in all respects. It is an incredible sight to enter this game's version of the fire dungeon and not only see the way shooting columns of flame affect the shadows and light of everything nearby, but also realizing that every single piece of swirling ash and debris is an individual, physically realistic, and independently reactive particle, and not simply clever programming trickery.

It also bears mentioning that the game returns with an ever shifting day/night system. Like in OoT and unlike MM, however, entering a town, village, or dungeon will cause time to stop. Additionally, sailing around on your little sail boat will allow you to witness the splendor of an ocean sunset, or the nightly shifting of the moon through its lunar phases. Added to the returning day/night system is a random weather system. Rain and thunder was used in OoT and MM strictly for scripted, story sequences. In Wind Waker, the shifting weather patterns are seemingly random, and watching the storm clouds literally manifesting almost out of thin air, only to begin their deluge and incredible thunder and lightning pyrotechnics is truly a sight to behold, and one that never gets old.

All is not perfect in Link's ocean-locked world, however. In order to push such incredible effects, the game maxes out a 30 frames per second. It's relatively consistent, but does slow down rarely if the camera gets caught between multiple explosions or too many enemies are on screen at once. However, thankfully enough, the frame rate never dips significantly, and never really affects your controls or performance. Perhaps more disturbing, however, is the excessive dithering you'll find evidence of while playing. It's subtle, and sometimes hard to spot, depending on your television and GameCube hookup configuration, but you'll learn to recognize those light vertical bands that sometimes show up when closing in on darkly textured objects. Again, it is not dramatic, and ultimately does very little to actually mar the technical and artistic beauty that permeates the entire experience. The game has full support for Progressive Scan, but not the 16:9 widescreen mode, strangely enough. Wind Waker has some of the greatest support for Progressive Scan, and rivals even the visually magnificent Metroid Prime in visual upgrades.

Nothing accompanies a visually beautiful, epic, and compelling videogame like a magnificent soundtrack. Koji Kondo has been Nintendo's star music composer since the company entered the video games business. In fact, he was amongst the first game musicians to create thematic music and associate those songs with specific characters, environments, and even emotions. He is also the man responsible for all of the awesome Zelda music we've been hearing for almost twenty years. For Wind Waker, Mr. Kondo heads up a team of three other composers, Kenta Nagata, Hajime Wakai, and Toru Minegishi. Despite the new talent, Kondo's influence is strongly felt throughout the entire game, as no Zelda soundtrack has ever captured that Zelda quality to such a degree as Wind Waker.

With literally hundreds of Zelda songs already composed and at their disposal, Kondo's team decided to dip deeply into his old library and incredibly remix some of the greatest themes in existence, some themes which we haven't heard since 1986! Popular themes that return include an impressive violin version of the classic Zelda over world theme, a lovely piano rendition of the first game's Death Mountain dungeon theme, and a powerfully tragic recreation of Link to the Past's Hyrule Castle dungeon theme. None of these songs are used as you would expect, however. A handful of other important songs make their updated and upgraded return in Wind Waker, as well as a slew of the short chimes, alarms, and fanfares that over the years have become an integral part of the Zelda soundscape.

Yet, most of the music is original, and the new talent's influences are most obvious in these exceptional game moments. They too sound distinctly like Zelda themes, but generally contain an added level of complexity that Kondo usually shies away from. Of special note are The Legendary Hero (intro theme), Sage Raruto, Sage Fodo, and Mini Boss, for their stupendous sound achievement and orchestral-like composition. The music is almost entirely in the MIDI standard, and as such, fully dynamic. For example, much like in the N64 Zelda games, the current exploration music will slowly fade in and out of the more upbeat and dramatic battle tracks the game has to offer, depending on circumstance, environment, and positioning, of course. It bears mentioning that being MIDI-based, the music is not up to the level, quality-wise, as the orchestral Zelda themes used in Super Smash Brothers Melee, though the cleverness with which it was programmed and implemented, as discussed below, more than makes up for the slight quality drop. Additionally, Wind Waker supports the Dolby Pro Logic II format and sounds magnificent in surround sound.

Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask was probably Kondo's most powerful foray into the world of dynamic music. However, Wind Waker's implementation of dynamic MIDI music is much more dramatic, intense, and varied. For example, every single successful strike that Link makes in combat is echoed within that song with one of several chiming, ringing samples. The exact sound you hear depends entirely on the strength and positioning of the attack, the more dramatic ones saved for the powerful jump slash, the final hit of a successful combo, or the ever popular spin slash attack. Moreover, much of the fun in combat is not only in executing a variety of combinations, but tailoring and timing them so that the resulting chiming rings compliment the current battle song's swells and crescendos. It is an interesting, brilliant, and highly addictive way to incorporate a new element of dynamic music directly into the Zelda gameplay.

The music will also be affected by some of the items and tricks you bring to bear against enemies, not just successful sword strikes. It mostly depends on the enemy you are fighting, the location you are both fighting in, and whether or not the item (or technique) you wield against your foe is critically strong against it or not. For example, there are (non-boss) sequences in the final area of the game that have you facing off against shadowy, misty black phantasms with attack patterns that are completely familiar to OoT fans. Successfully utilizing very specific tactics against these particular foes will cause the music (which will be sure to please nostalgic fans) to dynamically swell to suit, effectively celebrating your analysis and execution of the battle strategy. Conversely, failing in implementing this very same tactic will cause the music to drum mournfully, almost like a sympathizing audience. This aspect of the music is so cleverly and subtly implemented that it will take the breath of audiophiles, such as this editor, completely away.

Rounding out the audio experience is a bevy of sound effects, all of which you would expect at this point, from a Zelda game. Ocarina of Time also upped the ante in sound effects back in the day, offering up a slew of environmental effects, battle grunts, enemies screeches, УgibberishФ speech for characters, and just about anything else you can imagine. It was, and remains today, a very complete package in the sound department. Yet somehow, Wind Waker makes even that achievement seem inconsequential in comparison. Perhaps it's all the newly added enemies, some of which feature classic sounds dating back to the 16-bit incarnation of the series, or the new environmental and weather effects, but the entire sound package just seems so much more robust than ever. Literally every effect you could imagine occurs in game, and sounds exceedingly convincing as well. Finally, Link's actions are accompanied by his customary (though redone) grunts, sighs, yells, screams, and other timeless exclamations.