Look back at The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

I'm approaching an island that I can see in the horizon; only a mere silhouette at the moment. As I gradually get closer I notice that there is something wrong. The island starts to come into focus. The weather, as I edge closer to the island, changes and it seems that a storm is brewing. The King of Red Lions tells me to approach with caution; there seems to be a darkness which is spreading around this world.

I was fourteen years old in 2003 when The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker was released. I remember from the first moment I saw the trailer to the game, over a year before its release, that I wanted it. Up until that point, I had never played a 3D Zelda game before, so I had no previous experiences to compare it with. As I had never owned a Nintendo console, I had missed Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask and only had a hazy memory of the former from a time when I was at my friend's house and we were hunched around a small, boxed television, watching his older cousin running across a green field, fighting zombies and throwing chickens in a pen. Suffice to say that my brief encounter with Ocarina of Time had left a lasting impression on me; one of: "wow, I've never seen a game as good looking as that ever" followed shortly after by "damn, why did my dad get me a PlayStation instead of a Nintendo 64!"

As that console generation passed, I was more than content with my PlayStation and shortly after, the PS2. In particular, I was obsessed with the revolutionary open world of Grand Theft Auto 3. Despite being way under age to be allowed to play it, I nevertheless did and, for me, it took what games were capable of to a whole new dimension - in terms of scope and freedom. However, from time to time, I would still think back to Ocarina and how I felt there was something I was missing out on.

Now, back to the unveiling of Wind Waker... When the first tidbits of news about the game were released, I was hooked. The trailer showed off the new cell-shaded graphical style and it was incredible. It was a living and breathing cartoon - if you will - that would not look out of place on Cartoon Network. And the best bit? I would seamlessly be controlling it all in this gorgeous, charming and large open world - called the Great Sea. It was Nintendo's answer towards Sony exclusives, such as Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, the GTA series and Kingdom Hearts, as well as Microsoft's behemoth console seller Halo.

A limited edition console bundle, which would include Ocarina of Time and - the never before released outside of Japan - Master Quest was announced and I immediately pre-ordered it from my local GAME store. (Those were the days before ordering off the internet became the norm!) My level of excitement was palpable.

When release date came by, I did something that, now, I would never do. Initially, I opened my new silver Gamecube, set it up and put in the Wind Waker. Sure, on the surface this is what every teenage boy would do. The difference was that I only did this to make sure everything was working so that when I did play it a couple of months down the line - once my school exams were over - I would not be left with a faulty console (just in case I was one of the unfortunate few people to receive a console with a problem with it). Well, as it turns out, everything worked perfectly, and after 'testing' out the console and the game for an hour or so, I packed it up again and left it sat underneath my desk table in my room. Yes, it was and is an unheard of thing for a 14 year old boy to do; especially so for someone who was looking forward to it as much as I was (as I knew many people who weren't at all). This was the deal that I had struck to buy the Gamecube bundle: I would be allowed to buy it if I did not play it until after my exams were over. Suffice to say that it took every ounce of self-restraint to do so, but it was the only way to get my hands on it. Quite simply, if I didn't do what I promised at the time then I would not be writing this post about this pivotal gaming experience in my life - and that would have been a travesty to not have experienced this game. The Zelda series has since introduced me to many other games that I may never have tried as a result; games that are also full of action and adventure, art and innovation (hello Shadow of the Colossus and Okami, to name two). Otherwise, it is possible to assume I would have continued to be a sports nut (no offence to those FIFA and Madden enthusiasts out there)!


The months passed, I sat my final exam with confidence and as soon as it was over I rushed home to (again) open and play Wind Waker. Now I could take it all in, knowing no one would be able to stop me and I had nothing to worry about. From the prologue, to that first stroll through Outlook Island, to sneaking past Moblins in Ganondorf's fortress, to sailing the high seas with The King of Red Dragons, it was and still is one of the most memorable experiences I've ever had in my eighteen years of gaming.

The Forsaken Fortress - no try braking into this place and evading enemy sight!

It is difficult to talk about just one 'thing' which makes Wind Waker so good, even to this day. I've already noted the cell-shaded graphics - which at the time was very divisive. But what I should add to this are the little things that were done with the graphics; for example, if you were stuck with a puzzle and did not know where to go or what to do, then you could turn the camera and observe Link's eyes which would show him looking at something of interest for the player to consider. This would act as a subtle hint to the player and you'd soon be on your way to the next challenge. Little things like this were spread throughout the game and were well ahead of its time.

The combat is still the most fun, intuitive and rewarding aspect of the series; especially when confronted with the more difficult enemies (and I've taken into account Skyward Sword's motion plus sword wielding controls on the Wii before anyone argues). And because of the more seamless and open world of Wind Waker, compared to Twilight Princess in particular, there are many more places (in the shape of islands) to explore, which results in their being an infinite amount more side-quests to distract you from the main stories quest.

In reality, there are too many moments and aspects of Wind Waker to mention here that make the game still endear today. All I know is that, in 2013, I can still hook up my Gamecube and start playing the game and it would not have aged at all. Sometimes, when you go back to classics they leave you with a bad taste in the mouth, not because they are all of a sudden a bad game, but because they have aged badly; the graphics and gameplay have since been bettered and the game that you once remembered loving has now dated. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is one of those, amongst others. Sure, it is still a very good game, however there is an adjustment period needed now to play it on the PS2. Not Wind Waker, though.

Very few games age well, and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is one of them. I would do a fine wine analogy, but I can't taste the difference between an old fine wine and a new one so I will use this instead: The Wind Waker is like Casablance; it is still as amazing as when it originally came out and as good as you remember from your first viewing. It is a masterpiece and you will find it hard to better. It is still my favourite Zelda game in the series and that is high praise when you see the company that it is amongst.

The Tower of Gods finally allows me to enter. I do not know what I will find inside it, but maybe I will discover the answers to the mysteries that preceded. Now that I have entered, everything is frozen in time - unchanged from a lifetime ago. So too is the Hero of Winds; its experience undimmed and enduring, as if time had stilted...