Silicon Fusion >> News >> Zelda screenshot overload!

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4th December 2002:
Zelda screenshot overload!
It's only weeks away from release in Japan - get the latest Zelda screens and details here!
Posted by Marc Hull - GameCube - UK and Europe

It may not see light of day over here until mid-2003, but the new Zelda game is busy making waves in Japan where it is only two weeks away from release. Although taking the series in a controversial new direction by giving it cel-shaded, cartoony graphics where many were expecting a highly detailed, more realistic GameCube title, having been lucky enough to play the Japanese version at a recent Nintendo press event we can happily report that it retains a lot of the old Zelda greatness from Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. Anyone who's familiar with the controls of the N64 titles should feel instantly at home with the GameCube game, which still has the great lock-on combat system that made fighting enemies a very enjoyable experience. Also, while the graphics may not be to everyone's tastes, Nintendo has still been able to show off the GameCube's graphical power to a certain extent by adding in lots of nice special effects, including depth-focusing and heat distortion.

Up until now, little about the game's storyline has been leaked to the press, apart from the beginning scenes in which Link's sister is kidnapped by a giant bird, and he sets off on a quest to save her. However, this week Nintendo announced the full name of the Western version of the game to be The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker, at the same time hinting that wind plays a large part later on in the game.

Meanwhile, to make the wait for the game more bearable, those who pre-ordered the game in Japan have been treated to special GameCube ports of Ocarina of Time and the previously unreleased Uru-Zelda. The former is rumoured to have been altered so that objects appear in new places compared to the N64 game, while Uru-Zelda is a whole new game touted as an extention to Ocarina of Time which was originally intended for the ill-fated DD64. Both titles have also been graphically beefed up over their N64 versions to take advantage of the GameCube's higher resolution, although character models and textures still remain the same.

With the current European release date estimated to be about half a year away, we really hope that Nintendo is bringing the Ocarina of Time and Uru Zelda ports to Western shores to make the wait a little less daunting, although nothing firm has been announced yet. However, we'll pass on any information we get on the subject, as well as further details of the GameCube game itself, as soon as we get it. Meanwhile, check out the veritable feast of eye candy we retrieved from Nintendo's recent press event.

Marc Hull

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Related Games:

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
for GameCube

Screenshots