System: Nintendo Gamecube, Nintendo Wii
Release Dates (Wii): November 19th, 2006 (North America), December 2, 2006 (Japan), December 7th, 2006 (Australia), December 8th, 2006 (Europe)
Release Dates (GameCube): December 2, 2006 (Japan), December 11, 2006 (North America), December 14 (Australia), 2006, December 15, 2006 (Europe)
Developer: Nintendo EAD
Units Sold: 5.6 million worldwide (estimate; includes both versions)

History

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was first shown as a realistic, nameless Zelda at E3 2004 with a trailer right before the end of Nintendo’s conference, and was met with an incredibly enthusiastic response from the crowd (watch below) and overwhelmingly positive comments from Zelda fans around the world.

Although the game was originally planned as a GameCube exclusive, Nintendo decided to delay the game and launch it with their new console, the Nintendo Revolution (the codename for what became Nintendo Wii). After a seemingly endless wait, Twilight Princess finally launched with the Wii in November of 2006. It released for the GameCube a couple weeks later.

The differences between the GameCube and Wii versions of Twilight Princess are relatively minor. Twilight Princess for the Wii is unquestionably a GameCube port, with the only visual difference being the availability of 16:9 widescreen on Wii. However, the major addition of motion controls which replaced some button presses (like sword swinging) with gestures and all of the aiming with pointing provided something fresh to the Wii port. Still, some fans preferred the GameCube controller for its more traditional Zelda set-up.

Twilight Princess was critically acclaimed at the time of its launch, and was received quite well by fans, although its familiarities to previous console Zelda’s was seen as a negative by some, and many felt the game didn’t live up to its astronomical hype.

Story

Coming soon…

Walkthroughs

Coming soon…

Reviews

Metacritic: 95/100 (Universal acclaim)

GameTrailers Review: 9.7/10
“Twilight Princess gives you just about everything you were hoping for in a new Zelda game while supplying things you didn’t even know you wanted in the first place. The tone is decidedly darker, the overly melodramatic moments are subdued, and it deliverers that razor-sharp Zelda gameplay…It’s easily one of the greatest games ever created.”

IGN Review: 9.5/10
“The greatest Zelda game ever created and one of the best launch titles in the history of launch titles – second only, perhaps, to the at-the-time ground-breaking “Super Mario 64.” It is also one of the finest games I have ever played.”

Gamespot Review: 8.8/10
“Twilight Princess contains the same expertly designed puzzles and time-tested gameplay that you’ve come to expect from the series, though parts of its presentation feel stuck in the past.”

Game Informer Review: 10/10
“As monumental as each entry has been, nothing, and I repeat, nothing can prepare you for the adventure that unfolds in Twilight Princess. The debate that has waged for decades over which Zelda game should stand as the series’ best will at long last come to a satisfying conclusion, as this is unquestionably the greatest Zelda yet.”

You’re welcome to add your own review in the comments section below.

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