The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

1001 Video Games

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Delay

The game was originally announced for release for the GameCube in November 2005. This was delayed to November 2006 so that the developers could add more content to the game and release it on the Wii as well as the GameCube.

Development

• During development, Midna's hair was red and green, while in the final version it's red but ends in blonde-yellow.
• Although Sheik, Zelda's ninja-like alter-ego from Ocarina of Time, does not appear in Twilight Princess, an updated design of the character was drafted up in its development. He is however available as a playable character in the Wii game Super Smash Bros.: Brawl.

Characters

Throughout the game you'll encounter the strange Shadow Beasts (the dark blue/black coloured humanoids with the bizarrely shaped disc-heads and tentacle hair). However, in two cut-scenes, you can see two big Shadow Beasts with differently designed disc-heads flanking Zant like bodyguards.They don't appear in-game as enemies.

Glitch

There is a bug in a room with a big cannon Link can use to warp. If you save in that room, an invisible character won't let you leave, but he can't be spoken too. Link can't transform into a wolf either. Customers could return the disc to Nintendo to have it replaced. A video of the glitch is available in the related links section.

Inside Zelda

Nintendo of America's official magazine, Nintendo Power, published a monthly series of articles called Inside Zelda, which revealed how the game was developed. The series can be read in its entirety here.

Inspiration

• The Oocca race appears to be inspired by M.C. Escher's painting Another World.
• The masks worn by the Ancient Sages resemble those worn by chorus members in Ancient Greek dramas.

Midna

The character Midna, who speaks gibberish, is actually speaking English that has been scrambled beyond comprehension. Some of her unscrambled voice lines are related to the game's story whilst others are related to key gameplay elements (such as "I'll take you there with my power", which is used when warping to other areas. This is especially interesting as Midna's voice actress, Akiko Kōmoto is Japanese.

References

• if you look around the fishing hut, the owner, you'll see an old black and white photograph of the Fishing Guy from the Lake Hylia fishing pond from Ocarina of Time. The hut's owner and operator Hena refers to him as the "legendary fisherman" and comments that she may be a descendant of his.
• In Hyrule Castle Town you meet a character named Thelma, who owns a bar in the city and is a fairly important NPC to the storyline. She also owns a cat named Louise, who helps you as well. The two characters are a reference to the movie Thelma & Louise.
• The characters Malo and Talo, children living in Link's hometown Ordon Village, are named references to Malon and Talon from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, who are references to Marin and Tarin from The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening.
• The symbols that represent each Sage are the Six Medallions from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Version differences

Unlike every other Legend of Zelda game, Link is right handed in Twilight Princess. This is so most people (right handers make up 85% of the population) can make use of the Wii controls in the same hand as Link. Sword in the right, shield in the left. The GameCube version has Link using his left hand as usual. To make the game work for the right handed Link of the Wii, the Wii and GameCube versions of this game have the world map and everything in it mirrored So everything stays the same relative to him.

Awards

• GamePro (Germany)
  • February 01, 2007 - Best Console Game in 2006 (Wii version) (Readers' Vote)
  • February 01, 2007 - Best Console Action-Adventure in 2006 (Wii version) (Readers' Vote)
• GameSpy
  • 2006 – Game of the Year
  • 2006 – Console Game of the Year
  • 2006 – GameCube Game of the Year
  • 2006 – Wii Game of the Year
  • 2006 – GameCube Game of the Year (Gamers' Vote)
  • 2006 – Wii Game of the Year (Gamers' Vote)
  • 2006 – Wii Adventure Game of the Year
  • 2006 – Wii RPG of the Year

Information also contributed by Keeper Garrett, Mark Ennis, Sciere and Thomas Dowding