The Legend of Zelda - The Twilight Princess is an action adventure game released for The Nintendo Gamecube and The Nintendo Wii. The initial release date was November 2005 however the game was delayed for further development to improve the depth and to add additional content. The Wii version of The Twilight Princess was released on November 19th 2006 alongside The Wii console in North America and December 2006 for Japan and The Uk. This was a first for The Legend of Zelda series since The Twilight Princess was released along with the launch of a new Nintendo console, The Wii. The Gamecube version of The Twilight Princess was released in December 2006 and was the last Nintendo game made for The Gamecube. In early stages of development The Twilight Princess was referred to as The Wind Waker 2 and it wasn't until the announcement at the E3 show of 2005 that the official name was given.

The Story of The Twilight Princess

Link works on a ranch in Ordon Village which is attacked by monsters whom kidnap some of the children. Link follows the monsters only to be stopped by a strange wall of darkness. From within the wall of darkness a hand appears and drawers Link in. Link has transformed and taken the appearance of a wolf while being unconscious he is taken prisoner. Midna helps Link to escape and learn his destiny. Link must recover The Mirror of Twilight and banish the evil back into The Twilight Realm.

The History of The Twilight Princess

Nintendo made an announcement in the year of 2003 that there was a Zelda adventure under development for The Nintendo Gamecube by the same team that worked on The Wind Waker while it was said it would reflect a similar graphical style. However there was great concern with using similar graphical style to The Wind Waker because of slow sales and Zelda fans wanted to see a game like the footage showcased from Spaceworld 2001. There was still the fact of adding new gameplay features because graphics are not everything and simply updating these would make an update of any classic Zelda game. This is where ideas such as combat on horse were included while riding Epona enemies could be slayed.

A trailer was revealed at E3 2004 with a horseback scene of Link and it was revealed how the graphics are more grown up to appeal to an older Link fitting in with the whole style and theme. Once before The Legend of Zelda games have been known to travel between two different worlds, like in A Link to the Past and The Ocarina of Time, and this idea was updated for The Twilight Princess with a character change amongst worlds. Development was struggling for The Twilight Princess in regards of adding new controls, lacking any real inspiration such as The Phantom Hourglass which introduced a new way of interacting which was being developed at the same time. Nintendo's new console code named revolution was under way and it was suggested that the new pointing interface would be suited for Link's controls in The Twilight Princess.

The Changes for The Wii

New controls were developed by The Nintendo team with ideas taken from development of The Phantom Hourglass whereby touching points on the screen would denote an action by link such as shooting arrows. Adding interactive controls to The new Zelda title would add a great new feature if done correctly. The new development would result in a delay for the game which was still in development for The Gamecube as not to disappoint fans. To develop the game for both systems was quite simple as The Wii is back compatible with The Gamecube. At the E3 show of 2005 a limited number of Nintendo DS game cards were handed out featuring a trailer for The Twilight Princess furthermore it was announced The Twilight Princess would make an appearance on The Nintendo Wii previously code named Revolution.

The Nintendo team had a task ahead of them adapting the camera and mechanisms in battle. Initially a concept of a first person view was used but had its drawbacks since it was hard to see Link's movement. The third person view was restored and the sword hacking was issued to a button. Nintendo originally claimed that if a Gamecube copy of The Twilight Princess was played on The Wii then you would be able to chose between controls however this was not the case and was dropped. The Nintendo Gamecube version was delayed one month after the official release of The Twilight Princess for The Nintendo Wii, only to annoy loyal Gamecube fans however if you have a copy of The Gamecube version hold on to it as it is out of production now and a lot rarer.

Early development for The Wii reports were coming through that the controls were difficult and forced users to adapt. Camera movement was further changed and item controls to avoid accidental presses. The swing of The Wii control was reintroduced depicting by swinging gestures by the user. However there was the problem of using a right-handed swing for the sword which was a left hand attack on screen since there wasn't enough time allowed Nintendo decided to mirror the entire game and that's how The Gamecube and Wii versions differ slightly.

How The Twilight Princess Plays

The Legend of Zelda - The Twilight Princess returns to an action adventure collecting and using items in certain given situations to advance further in the quest. The controls are similar to those used in The Ocarina of Time and the Z-Target formula is used to lock onto items and enemies. You can control Link to walk or run depending on the pressure applied to the joystick. Not to complicate things one button is assigned to allocate an action displayed at the top of the screen for instance talking to someone or opening a door when standing by it the action will display.

There are several differences in the controls between The Gamecube and The Wii versions. The Nintendo Wii version makes use of the motion sensor and the built in microphone which discover sounds, Midna's laugh etc come through. For The Gamecube version this is the first time that the player can freely pan the camera around the environments around Link and only two of Links secondary weapons can be equipped.

To cater for the hardcore we want action Zelda fans the game features 9 very larger dungeons with the usual exciting discover of a key item and killing beasts along with a final battle of a big boss. Hyrule is huge and this is the largest land ever used in a Zelda game fortunately you can travel most place on Epona's back. Link can enter The Twilight realm not out of choice early in the game and he will transform into a wolf accompanied by a small imp called Midna. Becoming a wolf changes the controls for Link he can run, jump, swim but his attacks consist of a bite furthermore wolf Link can sense smells and see hidden creatures, people and items.

The enemies respond well in this game if Link fires an arrow an attack will be thrust upon Link as the AI is more advanced than any other Zelda game so far. Enemies are more intelligent and can detect Link from a further distant than before. To remain true to The Zelda series Link does not speak and the only sounds are grunts and laughing as such.

Links Greatest Adventure Ever

I can definitely see why some people would say that this is the greatest Zelda game made so far, it definitely rates highly up there with The Ocarina of Time. It was very similar to The Ocarina of Time yet adding tasty new features like The Wii remote controls for firing arrows etc. I originally bought this game on The Nintendo Gamecube and it goes for quite a bit of money when it appears on Ebay today so I can tell it's much rarer and worth holding on to if you own it. The game is massive and took me many hours to complete I don't have as much time as I do to play games as the days of The Ocarina of Time when I was still in school so it took me quite some months but I appreciated it and loved it.

Sounds - More of Zelda magic, new stuff introduced fits well with the theme of the game.

Graphics - Awesome Links really brought to life despite people's critics about The Game being a Gamecube port to Wii.

Replayability - Like with The Ocarina of Time not so much unless there are things you missed.

I Award The Twilight Princess: 10/10

Facts & Secrets Talk to Epona while Link is in his beast form she will tell you to hurry up and change into your human form. If you proceed into Hyrule town while in Link's beast form the guards will surround you pull off a spin attack and they will drop rupees.

Zelda is copyrighted to Nintendo

Designed by sivlock