Following on the heels of Pikmin 3 comes another decade old game from the halcyon days of the GameCube. This time it’s The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, a makeover of the original and another attempt to whet the appetites of Wii U owners until a proper Zelda comes down the pike. Whether it’s enough to do that will probably depend on whether you’ve already played the game or the depth of your fondness for the original.

For those of us who never had a GameCube, including yours truly, the setup for Wind Waker is as follows: Link is celebrating his birthday by wearing that signature green outfit for the first time (an allusion to a previous Link from the Ocarina of Time according to the legend told at the start) when suddenly a giant bird appears, dropping a pirate captain named Tetra on his island’s forest. When Link rescues her, it decides to make up for it by stealing his sister, Aryll, instead and whisking her away to another island called the Forbidden Fortress. After another rescue attempt which is botched, Link happens upon a talking boat called the King of Red Lions, and once acquiring a sail and the Wind Waker, a baton that controls the wind, sets off on adventure to gather everything needed to take on the great bird and Ganon, who controls it.

It’s the sailing aspect which differentiates this from other Zelda games, giving it more of an open world feel even though the progression is still linear for the most part (the boat even stops you from wandering too far off the beaten path early on). Still, you have the option to explore various islands and platforms along the way to your next destination, and even dig up salvage from the ocean floor, something I thoroughly enjoyed. Other than that, once you’re in a dungeon you’re still relying on your trusty sword and shield, bombs, and grappling hook among other staples. The Wii U version throws in a couple new features, including the ability to aim the bow and grappling hook using the built in gyroscope on the gamepad, which can improve your aim a bit. It also replaces the Tingle Tuner gimmick (which used the Gameboy Advance) with the Tingle Bottle gimmick , which takes advantage of Nintendo’s MiiVerse functionality. With it, you can take screenshots with your Picto Box, add comments, and send them off in the bottle to other players. I thought it was a clever use of the MiiVerse, and I ran into some amusing messages along the way, but in the end it’s not really a make or break feature.
Although I never played the original GameCube version, I’m told several adjustments to the difficulty and tedium were made for the Wii U release, including faster sailing through the purchase of a Swift Sail, faster grappling and salvaging, a simplified version of the Triforce quest, and the ability to carry 500 rupees from the start of the game. On the other side of the equation though, Hero Mode is available on your first playthrough, so if you want to increase the difficulty of enemies and reduce your chances to heal, there’s your ticket. After playing Skyward Sword, which changed a number of things including the controls of the game, and held your hand too much early on, I found Wind Waker as a whole to be a refreshing return to the formula, as well as a reminder of The Phantom Hourglass, the DS spinoff which I thoroughly enjoyed. The challenge was just right to me, though I could see veterans of the original being put off by some of the changes.

What nobody can criticize is the graphical makeover Nintendo performed here. Wind Waker HD runs smoothly in 1080p with upscaled textures and nary a pixel in plain sight. The updated lighting engine is absolutely splendid as well, if a bit heavy on the bloom effects outdoors. Seeing the game in action is like watching a well animated CGI feature, so ironically the art style which many bemoaned when it was first unveiled actually ages better than a more realistic style might have. Of course you can also play the game on your gamepad screen, but it’s nowhere near as impressive. The sounds are all the same here of course so there’s not much else to say about that.

While it’s not the Zelda game we’re really waiting for, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD is certainly worthy of adding to your collection in its own right. The GameCube was not the most popular system of its generation, and the Wii U may be following in its footsteps, but for those who missed it the first time like I did, don’t pass up the second chance to pick up this gem.

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