The Legend of Zelda: A Look Back Part IV

Finally, after a long holiday break, I am drawing my retrospective to a close. I remember during the buildup to the Gamecube seeing the infamous Spaceworld trailer for the next Legend of Zelda. It was realistic and featured Link and Gannondorf fighting each other with swords. It was awesome. So I, along with the rest of the world, was very surprised when “The Wind Waker” was shown off at E3. A toon version of Link? This is not what I wanted. Still, it was Zelda and I figured it would at least have some fun puzzles. I was pleasantly surprised when I played the game though and learned how beautiful it was. The cell shaded graphics were some of the best I had seen. And even with the younger more cartoonish look of the characters it still has two great moments that I still remember to this day. I can’t forget when I dove into the ocean only to discover Hyrule castle was hidden deep within the water and the final boss fight where the master sword is planted in the forehead of Gannondorf as he turns to stone. The game remains my favorite Gamecube game to this day.

However, many didn’t like Toon Link and Nintendo gave the Gamecube one last blaze of glory with “Twilight Princess.” The game featured an adult Link with mature graphics. It also featured a new mechanic that forced Link to change into a wolf similar to the dark realm from “Link to the Past” when Link would change into a pig. It was a different Zelda game that after playing it felt old. I do remember the pit of 100 trials though. When I finished that I felt that I had really accomplished something. However, I didn’t play this game on the Gamecube. Because Nintendo also released the Wii at the same time and released the game full of waggle control for that system as well. At first it was pretty cool to swing Link’s sword, but eventually it became very clear that this wasn’t true control. The movement of the remote was just like the press of another button. The game was still fun though, just not as fun as some of its predecessors.

Six years later we finally got the next installment in the series, “Skyward Sword.” I’ve finally made it through the entire game and it’s a good game. It finally fulfills the promise of motion control. There are a lot of criticisms out there about it being fetch quests and constantly returning to the same areas. But the areas are different every time and what game isn’t a fetch quest. The story is fantastic and I can’t imagine ever forgetting the moments when I first entered the battle with the final boss, when Fi said goodbye, or the final parting shots of the Skyward Sword. The game is a masterpiece. It definitely deserves the title of “The Legend of Zelda” and from me gets a 5 out of 5. Now to go and try out Hero Mode.