Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker was just released recently as most of you know. I made sure to preorder the game to make sure I had my copy of this highly anticipated game. It had a lot to live up to with Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask coming right before it; and trust me, it lived up to the legend.
Wind Waker takes place a couple hundred years after Ocarina of Time. The land of Hyrule has been flooded and there are different islands that you must sail across a vast sea to get to. You start as a boy on Outset Island and it's your birthday. Unfortunately, your sister is kidnapped by a giant, colorful bird and taken away. You now must embark on a quest to save your sister and bring her home safely.
The game play is similar to that of all other Zelda games. There are dungeons, filled with challenging puzzles that you must beat to continue on with your quest. The dungeons are very expansive and quite challenging without a guide to help you along. As you go along farther in your journey, you receive useful items such as the hookshot, bow, and bombs. New in Wind Waker are items like the Deku Leaf that lets you glide through the air. Also the boomerang has been improved from previous Zelda games and you can target up to 5 things at once. This helps you out greatly. The fighting is also new and improved in many ways. You can do quarry attacks where you roll away from enemies attacks, and disarm them or remove their armor. You can even pick up their weapons and use them against them. However, the environment in the game - the ocean - is much different than any other Zelda game, adding a unique feeling to this version.
The controls in Wind Waker are perfect. They take almost no time to get used to and are laid out great for the GameCube controller and it gives you complete control over your actions. You move around with the joystick, like most games. The B button swings your sword and the A button is the action button, which allows you to climb things or move stuff. You can assign items to the X, Y, and Z buttons to use. The L button is used to target enemies and the R button performs random controls throughout the game.
A big controversy over the game is the graphics. It seemed like everyone was worried that it would look too "cartoony" or childish. I was one of those people, but when I played the game for the first time, the graphics blew me away. I can't emphasize enough how well they fit the game and give it a good unique feel. Every blade of grass or drop of water is crisply animated and very clear. The smoke explosions when you defeat an enemy or blow something up are amazing. I can't even imagine the game looking any other way.
The sound in Zelda games has always been excellent and it's no different in Wind Waker. The music is great and many of the songs that were in Ocarina of Time also are in Wind Waker. However, you now use a device known as the Wind Waker to play songs that can do things like control the wind direction or warp to different places. The voices and fighting noises are excellent as well. The sword fights and explosions are realistic and it really adds to the game play. Even the grunts that Link makes as he climbs up ledges or jumps are realistic.
As well as all the good things about the game there are just a few bad ones. The most annoying and aggravating thing is the size of the ocean. It takes extremely long to sail to places, but luckily later in the game you learn a song to warp you around the world. Also the game isn't very long. It gives a good 20-30 hours of game play, but it isn't nearly as long as a game like Ocarina of Time. Partly because of the length factor, Wind Waker isn't that hard of a game. Once you build up a decent amount of hearts, it is very rare to die.
Overall, Wind Waker is a great game. I have very few complaints about the game and the pros drastically out way the cons. If you already have a GameCube, you should definitely get this game. It is also one more reason to pick up a GameCube if you don't already have one. This game will give you hours of enjoyment and is a nice sequel in the Zelda series.
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