Wind Waker; or, My First Zelda

I was never good at NES games. The original Zelda, Castlevania and Mega Man entries still elude me. More specifically, I could barely get past the first screen in The Legend of Zelda for the NES:

I saw this screen a lot

I recently tried to play it again, and actually managed to beat 3 dungeons before taking a break. In N64 land, I had never come across Ocarina of Time or Majora's Mask in the wild, so I hadn't owned them either. It hadn't helped that I got the N64 as the system was being phased out of our local Blockbuster.

RIP - I spent my summer paychecks here

However, I got my Gamecube for Christmas, during its lifespan. One game that I was given for it The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. For me, it ranks in the my top 5 of Gamecube games, along with Super Mario Sunshine and Paper Mario 2. However, enough with top 5s.

Since Wind Waker (WW) was my first Zelda game that I played and enjoyed, I never understood the hate that it got. I still don't, but it doesn't seem as prevalent anymore. Sure, the sailing bits could get a bit tiresome, but it was still a bit fun. Exploration! Discovering secret islands! All that jazz.

Link, you've got to find Ganon's secret base!

Because of WW, I came to appreciate 3D Zelda games and would later beat Twilight Princess. I don't have a life story about how the game changed my life, but in my early years of downloading video game sheet music and midis, WW's music was in the mix. Those sites lead me to other great music, and even to the games of those pieces.

Wind Waker's a fun game, and the end boss fight is pretty satisfying.

The end.