Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

It's all about polish, an ingredient that spills from the very tops ofWind Waker. Moving Link about the various 3D environments is athingof joy because of it. Control is exceptionally intuitive and tight andtheworld is unrivaled in its level of interactivity. Link can do just abouteverything from run and roll to strike with his sword, shoot arrows,throwbombs, conduct the wind, take flight as a bird, and so much more. Eachaction can be executed with a precision that few other games couldoffer.Moreover, the enhancements over previous Zeldas are immediatelyapparent. TheC-Stick now offers analog control of the camera, which is already sosmartthat it rarely needs manual correction. Meanwhile, in battle, Link isnotonly treated to dynamic musical cues whenever he connects with an enemy,butplayers can tap the A button at specific times to perform a cinematicspecial move. Additionally, when a foe has been knocked about it'spossible toactually take their weapon and use it against them. Items such as theboomerang have been seriously enhanced so that Link can now targetmultipleenemies with one powerful swipe. Sailing Link's boat across rainywaters (with lightning flashing in the distance) or gliding with thedeku leafover a chasm for the first time will leave players in awe. It'd betoo easy to rattle on for pages about this facet of the game, all thewhilepraising it, so in an attempt to stay in some form of brevity we'll justnotethat the mechanics in place make everything else out there seem raw andunbalanced by comparison.

It's hard to run into the blocks and limits that hinder lesser gamesbecauseNintendo has thought of them all and logically worked ways around them.Usually, if Link can see a spot, he can get to it. The point is that hemaynot be able to reach it without the assistance of a required upgrade,whichdrives the adventure along. For instance, he can't lift heavy objectsthatcover gateways to necessary areas until he has retrieved an item whichwillenable him to do so and that rarely happens until the adventure hastrulystarted to develop. It's classic Zelda, of course, and it's as wellexecutedas ever.

Link does a lot of sailing inWind Waker and the size of theocean isimpressively staggering. It's huge. It'll take players several minutestotravel from one side of the map to the next (until they learn to warp).Thispresents the refreshing feeling that the world is wide-open, that it'stotally non-linear, and in some sense that is true. As soon as playersgetLink's boat, which happens fairly early on, they can immediately traveltojust about any spot on the map. There will be areas that won't be accessible for whatever (logical) reason, but there will be just as manylocales that can be explored. Often they're filled with usefulitems, side-quests and a handful of mini-games. Some of these seeminglyunimportant extras are extremely entertaining and fun nonetheless, anaccomplishment for sure. Indeed, Nintendo has successfully created thisliving, connected world and it works; players will totally fall for itandbe sucked into it. However, the layout of dungeons is very linear innature.Link cannot randomly choose one from another -- there is an order, andtheymust be completed in sequence, which is mildly disappointing given thatthisconflicts with the otherwise go-anywhere-do-anything nature of theexperience.

Ironically, using the Wind Waker item in the game turns frustrating andannoying. At first, the idea that Link can change the direction of thewindwith the wand and then sail accordingly is novel. But after goingthroughthe animation sequence to do so hundreds of times during the course ofplay,it becomes a tedious nuisance, plain and simple. The fact that there isnoway to skip the animation -- ever, is more bothersome still.

Gamers who played the Japanese version of the title, though, will behappyto learn that Nintendo has for the most part improved the US incarnationbyeliminating some of the extra tediousness surrounding the collection ofsomeTriforce pieces in the water. It can still be frustrating, gathering allsorts of Triforce maps in order to endlessly search out pieces of theartifact, but at least it's now possible to see where they are directlyon amap. (In the Japanese version, one such quest had you find a map, that led to a map, that led to a map, that led to a Triforce map. That one thankfully got the axe.) The sheer amount of time saved by this addition is practicallyimmeasurable, so thanks, Nintendo.

Between sailing and exploring islands, players will journey into severalmajor dungeons. There aren't nearly as many of them as there should havebeen, and the variation between some dungeons is lacking. Indeed, therearetimes when it feels as though Nintendo cut the adventure shorter than ithadinitially intended and perhaps sacrificed a dungeon or two in order togetthe game out on time. But what's there is still remarkably designed andsaturated with clever puzzles and enemy encounters.

The Wind Waker is absolutely gorgeous

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