Continuing off of my first comparison review of Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, today’s matchup consists of Zelda’s two GameCube titles instead, “Wind Waker”, and “Twilight Princess”. During my Twilight Princess review I mentioned some similarities and differences between the two titles, and here I’m going to put a spotlight on the game that overall is a superior adventure. Plus, the winner of this matchup will go against Ocarina of Time for the best 3D Zelda adventure yet, but even that winner may lose the crown once Skyward Sword is released on November 20th of this year. So sit back and get ready to find out which GameCube title is the best!
We begin our comparison review with what is perhaps the closest and most controversial of all categories: graphics. In all honesty all of the categories I had zero trouble deciding on except for this one, which took me quite a while for me to find my verdict. So here goes, Wind Waker is an amazing game, and it has amazing graphics which are clearly the most unique in the series. The cel-shaded cartoon world is a brilliant concept, and even better in the finished product. The game’s scope, like Twilight Princess, is fantastic, and the character models in both games are great. Twilight Princess specializes in more realistic graphics than Wind Waker, and looks great in that respect. It’s really difficult to compare these games as they each have complete opposite art style of each other, one being realistic, the other being cartoon. As to which is better comes down to which holds up better, and whereas they both hold up quite well, Wind Waker holds up a bit better with its unique art style and animation. Both game’s graphics received a perfect 10 from me, but in the end only one can win (unless I occasionally awards both titles with a point which is rare). Both games have my favorite visuals in the series, and both are deserving of this point (which may be the deciding point for these games), and I love both dearly. Overall, my point has to go to Wind Waker for being the most unique, creative, expressive, intriguing, holding up the best, and whereas Twilight Princess had some bad texture work, Wind Waker looked perfect. Wind Waker is sheer visual perfection folks.
Best Graphics: “TLOZ: The Wind Waker”
The audio in both games are great. I’d say Twilight Princess has the superior sound effects and character voices, and the music is definitely better in Wind Waker. In my original reviews, Twilight Princess received a 9.5 for audio, whereas Wind Waker received a 10.0. Sure, Twilight Princess had some good themes, but only a few whereas Wind Waker has Dragon Roost Island, The Great Sea, The Title Theme, Outset Island, and so much more. Wind Waker’s themes perfectly match its artistic visual qualities, whereas Twilight Princess’ music is much more dull and dreary, Wind Waker’s are more upbeat and fun. So there you have it, Wind Waker has the superior audio for sure.
Best Audio: “TLOZ: The Wind Waker”
Another lopsided victory is which game has the best story. Yeah sure, Twilight Princess has a good story complete with Midna and other cool things, but its characters are more dull and boring, and the story seems sort of convoluted. Wind Waker on the other hand has much more energetic characters, and the story has tons of twists and turns such as the revelation that Tetra is Zelda, or that Hyrule is underwater. Plus the ending scenes in Wind Waker are much better than Twilight Princess, and that’s all there is to say, Wind Waker wins!
Best Story: “TLOZ: The Wind Waker”
So here we are at the most important category, and the one that is worth double points: the gameplay. Both games have great items, puzzles, fighting, and tons of other stuff, but I’m going to keep this short: both games are drop dead amazing. But here’s the catch, Twilight Princess’ dungeons are far superior to Wind Waker’s, and not only that, but Wind Waker’s gameplay gets bogged down thanks to the tedious sailing across the ocean and the hunt for Triforce charts. My review scores agree with my decision here, as Twilight Princess got a perfect score while Wind Waker received a 9.5, and that’s all there is to it. So in the end, Twilight Princess has the best gameplay, and therefore receives two points.
Best Gameplay: “TLOZ: Twilight Princess”
The final category before my verdict is the gameplay amount. This category should come as to little surprise for Zelda fans, as one game is much longer than the other. Both Wind Waker and Twilight Princess have massive worlds to explore in which you can complete sidequests, but Twilight Princess’s main quest is nearly double the length of Wind Waker’s. For one, Twilight Princess has nine dungeons compared to Wind Waker’s six, and Wind Waker’s latter half of the game has Link completely boring tasks of fetching the Triforce charts which is not all that fun, and I’m not counting it towards the main quest since it is essentially a sidequest integrated into the main quest. So Twilight Princess wins yet another category, and takes home its third point.
Best Gameplay Amount: “TLOZ: Twilight Princess”
VERDICT:
The decision between Wind Waker and Twilight Princess is a much more difficult decision than that between Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask. You see, Wind Waker received three points for winning best graphics, audio, and story, and Twilight Princess received three points for winning gameplay amount, and gameplay (2 points) which put them at a tie. If only Wind Waker had Twilight Princess’s gameplay, or Twilight Princess had Wind Waker’s artistic qualities we would have the defining Zelda adventure, and that’s what Skyward Sword looks to be doing. I can never say for sure which is better as Wind Waker certainly is better in the arts whereas Twilight Princess is a better playing game. My final score for Wind Waker was a 9.5 in the original review, whereas Twilight Princess received a 9.7 overall score, and I’m happy and sad to say that this comparison will remain the same. Sure, graphics, audio, and story are important to a game, but it’s the game itself that really matters and is why my choice for today’s winner is going to “The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess”.
These are my final decisions for each category including overall:
| Graphics | Wind Waker |
| Audio | Wind Waker |
| Story | Wind Waker |
| Gameplay | Twilight Princess |
| Gameplay Amount | Twilight Princess |
| Overall | Twilight Princess |
“The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess”
Is our Winner!!!
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