 |
 |
| The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Reviewed by Pirate Yoshi Over-view: As if anyone really needs a description of just what a Zelda game offers. To make a long story short, crowds were amazed by footage of a GameCube Zelda at E3 years ago; the images proved to be nothing more than footage showing what the GameCube was capable of, however, the Nintendo confirmed that its next Zelda would be not realistic, but cartoon-like in graphics; a cel-shaded adventure. The world went into uproar over the “kiddie Zelda”, but regardless of the hatred for its graphics, no true gamer was about to turn down a new Zelda game due to appearance. So how’d Wind Waker fair at the end of the story? Read onwards to find out! Graphics: 9.4/10 So these are the big, bad, terrible graphics that “fans” went nuts over, swearing they’d never buy the game so long as they lived. These are the “kiddie images” that compare only to Sesame Street games. These were what made Wind Waker not worth playing, eh? I’m very happy to sneer in the faces of numerous “fans” who perhaps never bought this game because of the animation style, because the look actually turned out fantastic, and is most certainly the ONLY style I could live with for Wind Waker. Were it realistic-looking, the game would have felt a whole different way than it turned out. Don’t listen to those who will tell you that the graphics were poor, because if movies can be completely animated in cartoon-fashion, than so can a Zelda game! Sound: 9.7/10 This is one of Zelda’s strong points, a fantastic musical score. Most of the music happens to be from elsewhere in the series, but every piece has been touched up, remixed, and refinished so that some pieces are hardly recognizable, and others are blatantly similar to the last Zelda title. Every piece is smartly composed, the sound effects (as always) are near-perfect, and the voice (Link actually says “C’mon!” OH MY RAH!) acting is still improving from the series! Koji Kondo, the main man responsible for sound, is owed some major kudos. Controls: 9.9/10 Trying to find a fault in the game is perhaps harder than finishing the game. It is virtually impossible to blame the game’s controls for any of your untimely demises (however often/rare they may be), but after hours of trying, the best I could come up with was that some of the crawling and sidling could be a pain and cause death, if accidentally begun wrong. Also, Link can be a little demon to control at times, due to “wide-ish” turns he takes on occasion. Yeah, these are the best I can come up with: there’s really essentially nothing you’ll notice that should detract from the game experience because of the controls. Challenge: 8/10 This is honestly the easiest Zelda I’ve ever played. Is that necessarily bad? Wind Waker offers enough difficulty to force you to spend lots of hours to finish of many of its tasks, yet is simple enough for a beginner to pick up and play, and eventually complete! This is a great sort of challenge level, and the over-all score will reflect this after I eliminate this catagory. Gameplay: 9.2/10 Problems? With a Zelda game? The shock burns! The main error in this Zelda is the vast amount of sailing that is required to reach each destination, and the constant bobbing and floating among the game's expansive collection of waves becomes monotonous after very long. The combat, however, sparkles with touch-up from the past Zeldas, and the dungeons are adequately well designed. The bosses, however, are slightly stale-smelling; something new and novel would be helpful, although the Moldra (?) boss (the first of the game) was mildly amusing. Replay: 7.4/10 The most harmful catagory to Wind Waker's score, I think, is the lackluster replay. Oh, sure, the second quest begins immediately, Link wears different clothes, and you'll start off with the Pictobox, so you can focus on snapping those vital pics of the bosses you missed before. But how much of the game changes? Not much. And how fun will it be to return through every dungeon a second time? "Less" is the answer. Not to say that Wind Waker can't be played over and over, because--like a good book--it stays on the shelf and is bound to be picked back up again eventually. Immediately after finishing, however, one won't be up to the challenge for a second time in a row, more than likely. **Story: 1/1 Not hard for a Zelda to get a 1/1, but it is hard for a game to live up to the Legend. Wind Waker perfectly fits in, and has enough hanging points and twists to keep even long-time fans of the series on the edge of their seats. Even the simplest of revelations are dramatic, clever, and epic. No disappointments here. **Multiplayer: .2/1 Point one of a point for having the ability to have a second player join the quest as Tingle on a GBA, as worthless as it sounds. Another point one of a point for actually having reason to ask a player to play as Tingle, since he can get you new items that are otherwise unaccessible. Otherwise, this game does not support (even reasonable) multiplayer. Graphics: 9.4/10 Sound: 9.7/10 Controls: 9.9/10 Challenge: 8/10 Gameplay: 9.2/10 Replay: 7.4/10 **Story: 1/1 **Multiplayer: .2/1 Total Score: 9.1 Score Explanation: Yes, very low considering what a great game it actually is, and taking out the Challenge aspect will definitely help out its score. Otherwise, the only real sinker here was the Replay, which--admittedly--can't really be helped in the average Zelda game; Zelda games are meant for one-time through, but never for years of constant playing. Take it for what it's worth, a best-seller on GameCube from a best-selling series. Zelda is a legend of video games in general, not just of Nintendo classics. |