Best of the Decade - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Platforms: GameCube, Wii

Release Date: November 19, 2006 (Wii version)

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Nintendo EAD

The announcement of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess way back at E3 2004 was one of the most ridiculous game reveals of all time. Geeks everywhere basically lost their shit, screaming their lungs out and crying literal tears of joy.

While that level of emotional reaction may seem silly to some, there was good reason for it. There was something about that more realistic take on the beloved Zelda universe that fans absolutely fell in love with. The anger over Wind Waker’s art style largely subsided once people actually got their hands on it, but there was no denying that most were still aching for a return to the vision of Hyrule shown to us by the classic Ocarina of Time.

In that respect, Twilight Princess was a return to form and then some. It combined the realistic art style introduced by Ocarina with the darker tone of Majora’s Mask. By lifting Majora’s Mask’s shape shifting concept and altering it to suit its story, Twilight Princess also provided a hefty dose of something somewhat different from Zelda norm.

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Best of the Decade - The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Platform: GameCube

Release Date: March 24, 2003

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Nintendo EAD

The Legend of Zelda series is often accused of being stagnant, of reusing the same tricks over and over again without embracing new ideas. Sure it’s true that most Zelda games feature a similar progression, set of weapons, and basic thematics, but if you look beyond the basics, this is a series that has actually done quite a bit to play around with the formula over the years.

Link’s Awakening brought the series to the portable realm and gave us a rather bizarre little story not at all like the Zelda norm. Majora’s Mask dared to take things in an even darker direction than Ocarina of Time. It featured a more touching storyline and played around with the accepted Zelda mechanics more than perhaps any other game in the series with its time-traveling antics. The handheld pair of Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages saw Nintendo dare to hand the development reigns partially over to an outside studio. Phantom Hourglass showed us how much fun a Zelda game could be when controlled entirely via the touch screen.

The Wind Waker deserves to stand among these series entries that dared to be different. At a time when gamers were clamoring for more Ocarina, for more of that dark, brooding world they had come to love, Nintendo created a vibrant, colorful, and cheerful world that rubbed many the wrong way when it was first announced. Despite the initial skepticism, the world gamers eventually had the opportunity to explore in The Wind Waker is one of the most enthralling and memorable in Zelda history precisely because it was unique.

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