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GameSpotting


 Giancarlo Varanini
News Editor, GameSpot VG
Recent Favorites: Final Fantasy X, Return to Wolfenstein, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Mario Advance 2

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Cel or Zelda

If you haven't seen Nintendo's Web site recently, the company put a poll up the other week that asked its visitors what they wanted to see in the next Zelda game, and the choices were "a somewhat realistic game, a not so realistic game, and just give me a new Zelda game." The results of this poll weren't exactly surprising seeing as how so many people expressed their disdain for the look of the new Zelda game for the GameCube, which features a cel-shaded, lacking-in-detail Link. To those disgruntled over the look of the new Link, I don't get it.

Wait, maybe I do.

 
 Which of these best describes you?

I like the new Zelda
I hate the new Zelda
I don't care what the game looks like
I'm a semiaquatic egg-laying mammal (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) of Australia and Tasmania, having a broad flat tail, webbed feet, and a snout resembling a duck's bill

 
There seem to be three camps of thought, one of which completely dwells in the realm of GameCube "fanboyism," while the others are based more on technical reasoning. That first camp can be seen on message boards, in stores, and in arcades, constantly defending the GameCube against all who would attempt to point out any possible inadequacies it might have or say that it might be a baby's toy. So when the GameCube version of Zelda was shown, these people felt as though Miyamoto himself jabbed a dagger into their backs. The new Zelda game looked undoubtedly "kiddie," making it impossible for them to defend their system against others when the evidence was so clear.

screenshot
Auto Modellista has a cool cel-shaded look.
The other two camps are a little more palatable because they actually make sense. There are some people who simply don't particularly care for the cel-shading technique in any game. Whether it's Zelda or a racing game like Auto Modellista, it's simply a style of graphics that they don't like, and that's completely understandable. Then there are those who think the new Link isn't representative of the graphical feats the GameCube hardware is capable of performing, especially after seeing the original Space World demo that showcased an amazing-looking battle between Link and Gannon. For instance, the new Link barely has a nose. There are certainly more reasons why people object to the look of Zelda, but the people in these camps I've mentioned seem to be the most vocal.

screenshot
Do you prefer this kind of Link instead?
As for me, I have to admit that I was a little stunned when I saw the new Zelda. It wasn't necessarily because of the cel-shaded look, but rather because Nintendo had alluded to that Space World demo as being representative of what the final GameCube Zelda game would look like. And like some of the aforementioned people, I was disappointed more by the fact that the game wasn't quite as technically awe inspiring as the Space World demo. But as I looked at it more and more, I thought that the GameCube representation of Zelda is probably what a 3D version of Link to the Past would look like, which of course isn't a bad thing at all.

In any case, all of this talk on how "different" it looks seems almost irrelevant, considering no one outside of Nintendo actually knows what it plays like. And unless they hand the development of the game over to the same people responsible for the horrendous CD-I Zelda games, I don't think any of us will have anything to complain about, at least in terms of gameplay.
 

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