The Wind Waker HD Might as Well Be ‘Zelda No Kuni’

Another reason to consider the Wii U.

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=m4hOVb1GCfg]

I’ve had the Wii U version of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD for a couple days now, and while I’m not allowed to express an opinion about it until next Wednesday (you can download it digitally on September 20 for $49.99, or buy a physical copy for same on October 4), I noticed the video up top by way of Kotaku, and I would like to express an opinion about it.

The folks at GameXplain took the time to pull together an 11:28 video comparison of the original GameCube version stacked against the same (or similar) sequences in the high-res Wii U remaster. The remaster updates the original 480p fullscreen version to widescreen 1080p, sharpens the textures, pushes back the draw distance and adds lighting that looks pretty darned sublime.

Check out these stills from the video for a taste, Wii U at left, GameCube on the right:

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GameXplain / YouTube
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GameXplain / YouTube
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GameXplain / YouTube
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GameXplain / YouTube
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GameXplain / YouTube

I’ve played one other game this year as beautiful. It’s hard to imagine gamers threw fits about the cartoony cel shading a decade ago. It’s embarrassing. If this is the direction the entire franchise shifted, I’d be there, humming “Dragon Roost Island” with bells on.