First Impressions: Zelda Gaiden

I had already made up my mind weeks ago which game I would play first at Space World. It wasn't a choice, actually - there was one game that just deserved more attention than the rest. That game was Zelda Gaiden. And indeed it was the first game I sat down to play.

Judging from the pictures that have been released in Famitsu over the past few weeks, I was looking forward to something a little more fantasy based, and that's exactly what I found. Ocarina of Time was a more traditional adventure title, while Gaiden seems to incorporate fantasy themes in the strange world that Link has entered. The strange characters you'll come across, the obscure scenery around you, and the fact that you can now transform into one of the Deku Nuts as you hover around spewing flowers, are all prime examples of this title's departure from the more traditional Ocarina.

The demo at Space World included three main scenarios: the speed tour, the dungeon tour, and the battle tour. The speed tour then offered four sections: a race with Zora, a race with Goron, a race with Epona, and a hunting area with Epona. The Dungeon tour offered a jungle area, a snowy land, and a nuts city. And the Battle tour had a boss battle stage and a battlefield area.

One of my favorite sections of the speed tour was the Goron race. You race by spinning in a ball, very similar to Sonic the Hedgehog. In fact, there's even a spin dash-like move to help boost you along when you need it. I had quite a blast with this.

Zelda Gaiden seemed to look a bit more visually impressive than its predecessor - I noticed certain new effects. For example, when you first enter the water as Zora, there's a really cool water effect that seems so real that it's very deceiving.

We'll of course attempt to get more time in with Zelda tomorrow, so stay tuned for more impressions soon.