Zelda has at last arrived in the UK and the good news is that it was well worth the wait, from the start the game offers quite a unique experience that other games of it’s type just cannot compete with, riding your horse, chopping down grass and fighting end of level bosses has never been so much fun.

You are helped along in your adventure by a strange creature called Midna, we don’t want to give too much away in regards to her but lets just say that she is a breath of fresh air for the game and is easily summoned using the top D-Pad button on the Wii Remote.

And speaking of our little magic wand that is the Wii Remote, how does it fair when playing the game? Well we are please to say that it is incredible, the sensitivity of the remote is amazing, running, jumping and climbing are all very simple to do and by using the remote in this way it really adds to the experience, sure your arm may get a bit achy after a bit of sword play or from aiming your bow but just you try putting this game down once you start playing it.

In fact the sword play works so well you will probably forget you are holding a remote and not a weapon, you really lose yourself in the game once the real action starts and it is impossible to describe the experience of playing this game for the first time with this unique controller.

One of the other uses for the remote is the fishing, you press B to get your fishing rod out and with just a flick of the Wii remote you cast off,  you are also treated to the sound of the line cutting through the wind and landing in the water thanks to the Wii Remote’s internal speaker. Thankfully you can see the fish in the water so it is quite simple to just hook a fish should one swim near the bait.

It’s difficult to talk too much about Zelda without spoiling it but we have to tell you about the Teen-Wolf aspect of the game, you see once all the games introductions are out the way and the real action begins, Link turns into a wolf, while this is a somewhat strange thing to happen, it does seem to work and this is helped by the fact that you use practically the same controls for the wolf as you do when you are playing and fighting as Link and this makes the game even more of an experience as being a bad breathed dog certainly offers a different experience from exploring the world as Link.

It really is amazing how Nintendo managed to fit all of Hyrule on one disk as it is huge. The main city, Castle Town, is packed with all sorts of characters and as you visit back as the story progresses the town seems to change also. There really is so much to do, in fact there is at least a good 50 hours in this game before it will be complete.

The dungeons are a big part of the game and have massive areas to explore, you are helped along the way with a map which shows you the areas which you have and haven’t explored, you really do need these maps and also a lamp filled with oil because otherwise you will be quite literally in the dark.
 

Graphically the game is beautiful, given that the Wii is not meant to be a next generation console to compete with the Xbox 360 and PS3 it does a good job of presenting this game, the detail on the characters is very impressive, as is scenery with the water looking clear and crisp and the grass blowing side to side in the wind.

The sound is particularly impressive with, as mentioned earlier the inclusion of sounds from the Wii remote’s internal speaker and although there is no voice acting this is more than compensated for by the orchestral soundtrack.

Zelda: Twilight Princess had alot of hype in late 2006, it was to be one of the Nintendo Wii’s must have launch games and we have to say that this was with good reason, in fact if you don’t have a Wii then you should get to the shop and buy one now, because otherwise you are missing out on something quite spectacular.

Words by Wotta