Neal had to stealthily enjoy Wind Waker when it first released.
In a way, The Wind Waker is the reason why I’m here, writing for Nintendo World Report. The 2001 reveal of the cel-shaded art style was, at the time, the last Mario-shaped straw for my dim-witted 13-year-old self. I wasn’t a huge fan of the new art style and desperately wanted to see that realistic Zelda shown off the year before in a demo reel. For a few months there, I was looking into getting a PlayStation 2 instead of a GameCube.
Luckily, before Christmas 2001, I witnessed a demo of Luigi’s Mansion and Rogue Leader, which oddly sold me on the system. I followed it up by going over to my friend’s house when he got it on launch day and fell in love with Super Monkey Ball, and soon after, Pikmin and Super Smash Bros. Melee. I took that flow of Nintendo love to the World Wide Web, landed upon Planet GameCube, and then proceeded to follow the site religiously through its transition to Nintendo World Report. Now I run this place. Screwy, ain’t it?
But back to Wind Waker. I wasn’t sold on the cartoony art style until pretty late in the game, likely around the time when I could see a video or demo in stores or something. It’s funny looking back, because now I’d jump for joy if someone used that art style in a game. Regardless of exactly how it went down, I was hyped. Wind Waker was on my list of games I wanted to get as soon as possible. I followed import coverage (mostly on Planet GameCube, of course) and managed to not spoil the story. Finally, March 24 arrived and I got my grubby mitts on the latest and greatest Zelda game.
Around that same time, report cards for that quarter of school went out. When I was 14 in the early days of high school, I was, to put it nicely, a lazy piece of shit who didn’t do any homework. Naturally, that reflected bad on my grades, and my parents didn’t look too kindly on bad grades. So, they took away my GameCube controllers so I couldn’t play video games. If I recall, I had just entered the Forbidden Woods when this happened. I was crushed.
Immediately, I tried to concoct schoolyard deception and borrow a friend’s controller. The plan was flawless; I’d bring my friend’s controller home, keep it stowed away, and play it when my parents weren’t home. The benefits of being a latchkey kid were finally shining through. However, said friend totally bailed on me and the next day at school, he didn’t deliver. Heading home, I came up with Plan B.
I dug around my parents’ closet for all the old Christmas present-hiding stomping grounds. Without much prying, I found where they stashed my Cube controllers. I carefully removed one like Indiana Jones in the Raiders opening and proceeded to play Wind Waker for the nearly two-hour window I had before my parents came home from work. It was glorious.
That charade lasted for a week or two before my parents finally gave me back my controllers. As far as I could tell, they were none the wiser. I did confirm recently that they had some inkling that I was sneaking in and “borrowing” the controllers, but I don’t think they realized how much I played. By the time I got the controllers back, I was knee-deep in the Triforce hunt.
I actually think playing Wind Waker that way colored my initial perception of it. The sailing was incredibly monotonous and I despised the Triforce hunt. I attribute that mostly because, since I had a limited time, I was all business. I wanted to get to the next dungeon because those were good stopping points when I ran out of time. I never got into the sailing aspect until I replayed it a few years later.
All is well that ends well, though, as Wind Waker has developed into my favorite Zelda game. Replaying it again in Wind Waker HD just cements it even more. I love this game and I’ll cherish my dumb 15-year-old rebellious streak that tainted my first playthrough and furthered my dubious distaste for homework.
