Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was essentially a port from the Gamecube to the Wii with improved controls. Now, “New Play Control” Wii games like Pikmin and Mario Tennis now sell for the reduced price of $30 USD. Twilight Princess, being a launch title on Wii, sold for the full $50 USD price point. I do not regret spending the money; the game was extremely enjoyable and since I had not played it on the Gamecube, it was a fresh and exciting first Wii game for me. At E3 this year, Shigeru Miyamoto announced that a new Legend of Zelda was being created for the Wii and released one piece of concept art. With 3 years between Zelda games and with the newly released improvement, Wii Motion Plus, Miyamoto and Nintendo could turn this into the interactive game of the decade. Without changing the story, gameplay or breaking their predictive Zelda-game model, here are five ways they could utilize Wii Motion Plus to make the Legend of Zelda Wii as revered as Ocarina of Time.
Dual-wielding Wii Motion Plus Wiimotes – I know what you’re thinking, that this would be more badass on a Star Wars game. While I agree with you, let me humbly submit that a bonus feature or DLC where you get to go through a couple “Link’s Crossbow Training”-esque levels brandishing two master swords. Of course there is a movement problem of not having an analog stick when handling two Wiimotes. Perhaps contextual arm movements or the Wii Fit board could be utilized.
Boomerang – By now you probably have seen the mini-game in Wii Sports Resort where you, the user, throw a Frisbee and your dog catches or retrieves it. The Boomerang in Legend of Zelda Wii would employ the same principles. Your true arm movements would dictate where your boomerang (and subsequent tornado, if that returns) will head and the accelerometer would calculate the speed and distance it would receive. This will be tricky to master but locking onto a target would probably aid you in the process.
Bow&Arrow – The bow and arrow is a staple of Link’s repertoire as much as any other weapon in the game. It has been used to trip traps, solve puzzles, snipe enemies and ultimately to help destroy Ganon. Once again, I’ll reference Wii Motion Plus and their archery competition. Being able to pull back on your Wiimote for power and to aim your shot true would be challenging to perfect and extremely fun. Locking onto a target would aid you but I know I, for one, would only use the targeting in dire situations.
Master Sword – You knew this was coming. People have clamored for this since Nintendo announced they were porting Twilight Princess to the Wii. To have one-to-one control between you and Link would truly immerse the game experience to levels yet unheard of outside of science fiction. Playing Red Steel 2 at E3 just a couple months ago showed me that even Wii Motion Plus isn’t perfect (I wasn’t able to stab). Then again, Link doesn't really employ the stab and I’m sure Nintendo is a little better at utilizing their peripheral than Ubisoft.
Customization – None of these suggestions and others that ran through my mind for this article (bomb throwing and using the hookshot on absolutely every surface) would mean anything without being able to customize my experience. Nintendo, don’t force me into a control scheme. If a user doesn't like one-to-one sword control, that is perfectly acceptable to return to swinging a sword with the Twilight Princess setup or better yet, map it to a button. Hell, use the Gamecube or Classic controller. There are more than enough buttons on both of those to sustain an entire control layout. I’m not talking choose one of three control schemes, I mean true customization. I want the new bow&arrow style on, but the boomerang off. We've almost closed the book on the first decade of the 21st century, Nintendo, it is time to give us a Legend of Zelda game where we decide how we will play and ultimately defeat Ganon…again.
