The Legend of Zelda Preview

By Tom Bramwell Published 12 May, 2004

We had to wait until the end of the conference, but for many the Zelda trailer didn't disappoint. Ever wondered what grown-up Link would look like on the Cube?

'The Legend of Zelda' Screenshot 1

We knew it was meant to be there. But as Nintendo's hugely detailed conference crept into its fortieth minute, we were beginning to wonder if it would actually show up - our cramped legs, in particular, were starting to complain bitterly. But of course it did. It started with a shot racing over valleys and water, before flicking to a shot of giant horse-like creatures and warriors creeping over the fiery horizon to dramatic pangs of music. Then we glimpsed the castle, and saw flashes of somebody galloping past the camera on a horse - and suddenly there he was, and we had our first lingering shot of Link, reunited with his horse Epona and tearing across the front of a horde of enemies.

The camera circled him and it was immediately obvious that Nintendo had abandoned the cel-shading approach that defined The Wind Waker, returning to a more mature look, Ocarina of Time style. Close-ups showed lots of detail around his face and particularly his hair as he raised his sword in preparation. From here the trailer switched to a shot of Link fighting one of the giant boar-like enemies from The Wind Waker in a darkened corridor, deflecting blows with his sword as the light from a nearby fire danced on the blades and illuminated their faces on one side. Switching focus into the open again, the camera showed Link fighting two enemies at once, back-flipping out of their reach, before flicking back to an interior again and demonstrating Link pushing a block; his body arching up against the hard surface before he thrust his arms forward in a mighty surge.

From here the crowd's reaction just went beyond extreme and we thought our ears were going to shatter. It was a mite embarrassing - was this a press conference, or a Backstreet Boys concert? But what was on the screen was undeniably impressive - particularly when we caught sight of Link fighting on horseback, taking a fellow rider clean off a giant boar with his blade before uppercutting another as the sun enveloped him briefly and the reins danced in his hand. "Blades will bleed," the screen proclaimed, before showing Link fighting enemies inside again, the combat system demonstrating a similar sharp-pause-on-impact mechanic and the juggling of enemies.

'The Legend of Zelda' Screenshot 2

"Shields will shatter." Link appeared in a forest next, the dark bows of mighty trees creeping up into the black canopy above, a few flames lighting up his face, and a lot more combat followed, before the trailer switched back to those hordes of enemies sauntering forward under a fiery sky. "But as the light fades... will the hero rise again?" At this point we were shown an enormous boss-like enemy - a sight arguably equivalent to the first shots of the beautifully realised lava boss in one early section of The Wind Waker, only a lot, lot darker. "Or will darkness reign?" a splash screen interjected, as if on cue. More savaging of enemies followed as Link raced past them on horseback, before we saw him fighting up close, the level of detail on both characters astoundingly high. Then the logo flashed up. "Coming soon."

The logo faded, and Link struck a pose with his sword and faded out... to reveal a live shot of Shigeru Miyamoto, who crept on-stage and assumed the same pose with his own Master Sword and shield. He swung the blade around for a while, lapping up the crowd's unbridled adoration, a huge grin plastered on his face and sound effects playing to match his swinging blade. It was a pre-planned spectacle, and the endless cheering wasn't particularly professional, but it was still embarrassingly infectious. "We are now taking you to a world where Link has grown up," he told the crowd, "a world where he will act different. In order to grow, Link must not stand still. And neither can I. So thank you, and goodbye!" By the time he left the stage, memories of last year's disappointing spectacle and painfully scripted jokes with Will Wright and co. were long forgotten.

As for the game - we hope to see more of it at the show, but regardless of whether or not we do, it was arguably symptomatic of the overriding theme at Nintendo's presentation - showing us what we wanted to see. DS had every feature we could possibly desire in a handheld, arguably delivering Nintendo's obsession with connectivity in a single device. The Cube had Advance Wars, Metroid, Star Fox and plenty more. The GBA even had its fair share of interesting titles, most notably Donkey Kong: King of Swing and the new Zelda title, The Minish Cup. As for The Legend of Zelda on the Cube - we all hoped to see a return to the series' most significant achievement in 3D, and that's what we got. We only hope that in returning to these former values, Nintendo doesn't resort to rehashing in order to win approval - although judging by the innovation-centric tone of the rest of the conference, that's about as likely as another Virtual Boy...

The Legend of Zelda is due out in 2005. Watch the entire Nintendo press conference for yourself, including the entire Zelda trailer and Miyamoto's crowd-pleasing appearance, by downloading the video for free from Eurofiles.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (43) Latest comment 7 years ago

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  • malloc #1 8 years ago

    Woot!

    And for goodness sakes put this at the top instead of the HL2 interview.

    Nice description of the cheering, it was hilarious hearing everyone go bananas. As for Miyamoto, genius!

  • bungalooBunny #2 8 years ago

    No, keep the HL2 interview on top.

    This one looks good too.. thank God they got rid of the ocean and the over-cartoony look. So RE4 and WW2 on the Cube then.

    /Seriously thinks about buying the Cube back.

  • Scimarad #3 8 years ago

    Okay, I loved WW but this looks just fantastic.

  • Dabs #4 8 years ago

    This looks so friggin' cool. I'll kind of miss the cel-shaded feel-good vibe of Wind Waker though, now that I've grown a soft spot for it.

  • otto #5 8 years ago

    Are we absolutely sure Nintendo hasn't been bought by Microsoft?

  • Sid-Nice #6 8 years ago

    This should be out before Half Life 2. Keep the HL2 interview on top so we don't forget about it.
    Miyamoto is God, Link is the son of God: Jesus Sid you've lost it.

  • OnlyMe #7 8 years ago

    As I expected, there was never a direct sequel to Wind Waker in the works. I don't think we'll ever see a direct sequel to any Zelda game, they all need to have different heroes and different stories and different Hyrules and different Ganons.

    The only thing I DIDN'T expect was the return to realistic looking graphics. And this really looks great. I wasn't all that impressed with the Nintendo DS. It was just... interesting. For now it looks too easy to just use one screen for maps and statusscreen, and the other for actual gaming. But we'll see what can be done of it.

  • Zero Beat #8 8 years ago

    I think we'll still see a Wind Waker graphics engine styled Zelda in the future.

  • andrewfromdoncaster #9 8 years ago

    2000 and pissing 5! jesus

  • Kami #10 8 years ago

    I felt a bit more than pleasure when watching that short trailer...

    It is what we always wanted. It looks fantastic - fast. Fighting with swords on horseback? Yes please. Fighting multiple enemies at once? Bring it on.

    Will we have the ocarina back? I'd bet my life on that... I missed the ocarina in WW.


    Tell you one thing though... I expected a cel-shaded affair again and boy oh boy, did I get proved wrong... I'll bet Nintendo have been keeping this title on the backburner in case of emergencies.


    2005? Does cryogenic sleep actually work?

  • read_only #11 8 years ago

    Wow! The forest scenes look absolutely stunning - oozing atmosphere. For me the atmosphere was one of the most breath-taking aspects to OoT. Remember the rain in the graveyard?

    Haven't played WW so don't know how the cel shaded outing compared.

  • Philip Gumm #12 8 years ago

    Best of all it uses the Wind Waker Engine (modded of course) just as Mario Kart DD used the Super Mario Sunshine Engine.

  • Sid-Nice #13 8 years ago

    Long time no see Andrew, do you still work in Game?

  • KraftWerk #14 8 years ago

    Djisus. NDS, Zelda, OutRun2 (and an X-box), Half-Life 2, Doom3, a DirectX9 videocard.. I haven't even picked up F-Zero GX yet. And Animal Crossing coming to Europe?

    /looks sadly at VISA card

  • Blerk #15 8 years ago

    showing us what we wanted to see.

    Hmm... not really. I wanted to see a new Zelda and I got one, but it's not the Zelda I was hoping to see. The 'new' graphics are nice but they're not a patch on Wind Waker. That said... it's Zelda. I'm sure it'll be fabbo. If they bother to finish it before releasing it this time.

    And Tom... Advance Wars! Noooooooooooooooooo! What have they done to it? That is most definitely NOT what we wanted to see!

  • renzo #16 8 years ago

    Advance Wars Under Fire is being developed by Kuju I think, not Intelligent Systems. Still, judging by the gameplay video it doesn't seem to have much in common with the GBA Advance Wars.

  • Nemesis #17 8 years ago

    \o/

    Excellent. 2005 though, ahh well.

  • Killerbee #18 8 years ago

    Looks good to me. And even though I thought the Wind Waker was fantastic, the realistic approach is just as welcome as a cel-shaded sequel would've been.

    No sign of Mario 128 then?

  • Blerk #19 8 years ago

    Heh. Did you really expect that there would be? :-)

  • EVERYGAMER #20 8 years ago

    Didn't like Wind Waker :( But love the return to the more realistic feel of Ocarina and Majoras Mask.
    Playing through Majoras again at moment in anticipation thanks to some fool trading in their limited edition Zelda GC disc :)

  • Khab #21 8 years ago

    Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh. Looks lovely indeed.

  • Diomedes #22 8 years ago

    Oh MY !!This is what I have been waiting for (this and a competent RPG about teh Lord of the Rings ,thats it !)!!!

  • jimmyjimbob #23 8 years ago

    Does look good, hope this doesn't make me buy a GC....

  • funk #24 8 years ago

    excellent, just what i wanted
    consider this another gamecube sold, in 2005 of course

  • Kami #25 8 years ago

    And I said a few months ago that RE4 would be the best reason to own a GameCube... looks like another reason has crept up on us!

    I feel sorry for those who don't want a 'Cube now... I mean, look at this game! Look at what they're passing up! You have to have a few screws loose to NOT want to play this game...

    I'm already impatient... I want it...

    I wonder what it's subtitle will be?

    And EveryGamer, beware the crashes... thats all I can say. Beware the crashes...

  • weeno #26 8 years ago

    Yeah, it looks fantastic, but my money is on a european release in christmas 2005 at the earliest!

  • Aristagon #27 8 years ago

    What surprised me is how good this looks in comparison to other Cube games. RE4 and MP2 look pretty good as well, but Zelda just blows it out of the water... What are Nintendo doing that other companies aren't. Of course they build the thing, but still. Colour me impressed. Was hoping to see a new franchise from Nintendo for the Cube and I did love WindWaker, and its graphics, but you don't hear me complaining about this. Nope. Not me. Not by a long shot.

    Edited by 2 at 15/05/04 @ 02:09

  • Kengro #28 8 years ago

    That might be one good zelda on gc. I gotta get it out of the closet in 2005 then, to the point of release of this. Until that it will stay in the closet. Not too happy with ww, that was a crappy Zelda. But anyway... Will the game be long enough?? Gc discs are only 1,5 g... Shure hope so, it will get compared too Fable. And that might be a tough one.But let's hope nintendo can show off getter in the future. Online gaming!!! Come on this is 2004... Not 1983. Move your asses nintendo

  • Kami #29 8 years ago

    Actually, Online Console Gaming I heard was at an all-time low...

    Problem is, why do I wanna play games online on my X-Box and take on a bunch of weeny teens who bitch and moan every time I beat 'em, or am I going to play the same game on a PC, against mainly mature adults having fun and a laugh and not whinging every time they get beaten?


    Thats the difference I've seen... consoles online are so much more different to PCs... the demographic for X-Box/PS2 online is younger and they think big words make them look tough (When quite honestly, it makes me sick). The age range of playing via your PC is wider... and yes, you do get the odd t*ss*r who comes in and acts all stupid, but generally most people are grown-up enough to kick that person. Or just gang up on him and frag him to oblivion until he gets frustrated and goes away. Both methods work! :)


    Nintendo may be wise to stay offline for the majority of their games... after all, PS2 online games are a bit shallow IMO. And X-Box is just focusing on them and they're never really THAT good IMO. Online console gaming, IMO, is a novelty and the appeal wore off for me. I don't play my consoles online anymore. Theres no point. Most end up on PC with far more options and often looking much better too...


    In short - Online Console Gaming so far isn't as good as people make it out to be... the vast majority of us stick to the PC - it's faster, friendlier and often more servers to play on...


    I really can't see Online Console Gaming going anywhere fast... yet. Maybe in a few years... I think companies have tried too hard to exploit it this generation... it shows.

  • fangmasmx #30 8 years ago

    i think the new zelda will eb the best out of the lot and make nintendo the greatest!~!!!!!

  • zjoden #31 8 years ago

    i don't know why but i think the next cellshaded zelda will be on the DS

  • Pom-Pom #32 8 years ago

    looks good

  • bort118 #33 8 years ago

    looks trully amazing! cant wait!

    i ddnt buy wind waker cuz of the crappy graphics.

    i cant believe all the people who are raving about the wind waker graphics!

    roll on 2005!
    Edited by 1 at 28/06/04 @ 22:00

  • Blerk #34 8 years ago

    It's already 2004, you idiot! :-D

  • ruttyboy #35 8 years ago

    Is there a link between having numbers in your log-in name and being a cretin? Discuss.

  • Jim-Bob #36 8 years ago

    This last guy has a point. Wind Waker did offer some repetition. Nintendo really need some genuine innovation in the next title. They should have enough timeas I can guarentee it will have 2 more E3`s before release.

  • Homer Simpson #37 8 years ago

    I couldnt agree more PhychoDopeFreek, I havent actually played on WW but I can prouldly say it looked truly and utterly babyish. Hopefully Nintendo will keep this up now after theyre failed machine got such a kiddy image unfortunetly.

  • 14014Link14014 #38 8 years ago

    This game looks fully loaded but i'd like to see more guts flying around instead of little tiny squirts of purple. I mean your slashing a huge monster. But all in all i think its an awsome looking game, the graphics are truly superior to WW.
    Edited by 1 at 07/07/04 @ 20:17

  • Kami #39 8 years ago

    I know, Nintendo are caught in this, "You can't do that! You're for kiddies!" trap. And whenever they TRY and aim for a more mature demographic... they're somehow doing something wrong.

    And... hmm... excuse me.

    /takes Wight_Striker outside and kicks seven shades of **** out of him.

  • 14014Link14014 #40 8 years ago

    Another comment i'd like to make is when you kill something the bodies should stay for awhile and then disintegrate in to the ground while in the feilds and the monsters could then disintegrate in to the air or in a pile while in a dungeon.
    Edited by 1 at 08/07/04 @ 19:16

  • Lutz #41 8 years ago

    Holy shit.

    /loads shotgun

  • westernmusic #42 8 years ago

    Bwah. Leave the kids alone, fat boy.

  • Psi #43 7 years ago

    ^ my hero \o/