The Legend of Zelda: The Wind WakerConsole: GameCubePublisher: NintendoDeveloper: NintendoHot: The screenshots speak volumesNot: Sailing sucksScore: 0 0 0 0 0
As pure eye-candy, The Wind Waker is astounding. It's an interactive cartoon swarming with the most spectacular bits the medium has to offer-dynamic facial expressions (our young hero and his co-stars exhibit pleasure or pain with the slightest facial wrinkle or eyebrow wince), excellent character design (playful yet palatable), and vibrant environments (the ocean is only two colors: a body of blue with white, sea-foam crinkles, an expressionist technique that's undeniably simple yet highly effective). Graphically, it's an undying cocktail. The game will always look marvelous, no matter the time or place, since it's not steeped in photo-realism but the exact opposite.
Graphics mean nothing without solid gameplay, yet when compared with foregone Zelda offerings, the quest remains pretty unaltered, albeit enhanced. In fact, it could effectively be argued that this is the best title in the long-running franchise.
Dungeons blueprinted with precision, slick combat mechanics, an epic-sized story, the coolest baddies of the series-it's all there, produced by Shigeru Miyamoto, the legendary creator of Mario, Donkey Kong, and countless other Nintendo icons.
Gameplay features a new "parry" attack, which allows you to roll 180 degrees to slice an enemy from behind. This is the most welcome addition, tying directly into the smarter, more armored baddies. See, unlike most mindless enemies from competing games, Wind Waker's goons will chase you, knock weapons out of your hand, and even hurt themselves when attacking in hordes. What it boils down to is a meaningful challenge; the game isn't filled with hack-and-slash antics like so many adventures as of late (Vexx, Ty the Tasmanian Tiger-the list goes on and on).
To rescue your sister from the clutches of Ganon, you'll also have to set sail, which, for the most part, is the major hitch of Wind Waker. While an incredibly cool gameplay element-both visually and instrumentally-the sea is also painfully vast; you literally have to spend more than a half-hour braving the waves to reach certain destinations. You'll learn how to summon the wind via a musical instrument you'll acquire early in the game, you'll clash with massive serpents, and you'll even struggle to stay afloat amid nasty storms. But all that just can't distract from the time you'll spend simply floating...and floating...and floating.
But in the larger scheme of things, that's excusable; there's just way too much here that must be played to be believed. It's dazzling.-Jon M. Gibson
VexxConsole: PlayStation 2XboxGameCubePublisher: AcclaimDeveloper: Acclaim AustinHot: Cool conceptsNot: Un-cool executionScore: 0 0
Think about this: If you were strolling down the sidewalk and suddenly fell through an invisible hole, how would you feel? There certainly wouldn't be a smile on your face. But let's say that very same day you slipped into another invisible crevice during your jog through the local park. Angry yet? Wait, because when you're driving home, your car gets swallowed by yet another invisible trench. I'm confident that the cussing would be heard in Hong Kong.
Sure, reality would have taken a turn toward Wonka-ness if that actually started happening. Luckily, we only have to deal with such travesties in the world of video games-specifically, games like Vexx-because in the first level alone, you will experience situations like those listed above. You'll be minding your own business, clobbering enemies and climbing along mountain walls, and then all of a sudden you'll drop into oblivion. No explanation; no apologies. You'll just die. Game over.