[Zelda The Windwaker] Another Zelda

This version of Zelda looks completely different from the other versions. It’s very toony and the main character doesn’t really look like the Link we know. He wears a Hawaii shirt at the start, but you get the well known green bug suit quite quick.

Avada kedavra….. ow…. It’s link.

One of the first things you’ll notice, is that Hyrule is transformed into a bunch of islands, with a lot of water between them. So how on earth will you get to the islands? Yes, with a sailing ship. This sailing is a quite important part of the game, without it, you can’t get anywere. That’s a pity, because it takes some time to get from one island to another, and the sailing is quite boring most of the time. But I have to admit, it gives the game a unique feel.

yes, endless sailing trips are part of the game

Weapons, puzzles, evil bosses, etc.
Zelda wouldn’t be Zelda without the usual thinking, the puzzles. In this game, the puzzles aren’t very tough, Ocarina of Time and The Oracle of Ages were harder to solve.
The bosses are also very simple. Normally I get stuck at the bosses, but here I had only trouble with 1 boss…
Your weapon collection is much the same like in the other games, hookshot, boomerang, the hyrule sword and of course the master sword. They’ve added some other stuff like the dekuleaf (floating in the air) and the grappeling hook.

Tingle, the weird tingely creature…

Tingle
A nice new function in the game, that you can use if you have family or friends, is the so called “Tingle Tuner”. You can use this if you have a GBA with the Cube connection wire, and if you’ve got the tingle tuner in the game, then you can call tingle (hooray) and throw bombs at the enemy, heal Link and do other nice stuff.
But be warned, if your friend is in a evil mood, he can kill you throwing bombs on your head… I must say, that will make the game a bit harder.
You can get lower prices for this tingle stuff with special tingle-sidequests.

Of course, if the world ends, Link seeks help from a tree…

And, what’s to do?
Enough, it takes some time to finish the main mission, but if you’ve done that, there are enough things to keep you busy like to get all the heart containers, all the treasures, take pictures of all the evil creatures and characters in the game (I say, 300 or more?). If this bores you, you can also play weird mini games or make up stupid music with your magic wand, or play Harry Potter (it’s two games in one if you see it that way). If you’ve killed the last boss, you can always start all over, and play the whole game in a Hawaii shirt….

Conclusion
An ingenious game that really is one of the best games on the Gamecube, a must-have for your game collection.
Graphics: Very nice, but I hoped it would be some more realistic like the Ocarina of Time version.
Sound: The music isn’t irritating and it gives the dungeons their right ambience.
Gameplay: Smooth controls, but maybe the game is a bit simple…
Lifespan: There is really a lot to do, to beat the game 100%, you probably need months. If you only want to clear the game in a very basic way, you will have at least one month of fun.

Score: 9

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