Back in 2001, when the popularity of The Legend of Zelda video game series was at its peak, Nintendo revealed the next installment in the series, The Wind Waker. Replacing the dark, gritty art style of past Zelda offerings was a new toon-shaded look, deliberately designed to look bright and cartoonish, with caricatured characters and saturated colors. Much to Nintendo's surprise, fans were extremely disappointed, and this change in art direction remains one of the most controversial design decisions in video game history. Those expecting a darker Zelda adventure in the vein of the previous games were outraged that Nintendo was apparently shifting the series' focus to a younger demographic. This all changed when the game was released in 2003, when it received rave reviews from critics and fans alike and was a commercial success, becoming the most successful pre-order campaign in Nintendo's history. The gamble had paid off.

The toon-shaded art style, which met a generally negative reception prior to the game's release, turned out to be surprisingly well done. The game plays much like an interactive cartoon, always colorful, lifelike, and whimsical. Despite the simplicity of the artwork, there is a surprising amount of detail as well. Nintendo has become infamous in recent years for having its consoles and games graphically underpowered compared with the likes of Microsoft's Xbox and Sony's PlayStation consoles. While The Wind Waker isn't exactly the most graphically detailed video game ever made, there are nonetheless plenty of great lighting effects, beautiful color schemes, and rich textures to be found here. At the same time, however, the designers admirably refrained from overplaying the cartoonish look by complementing it with a genuinely compelling story that's rich with memorable characters and deftly balances humor with dramatic tension. The Zelda games rarely have terribly complex storylines, but The Wind Waker manages to join the select few that do.

Overall, Nintendo may have made some controversial choices when making The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, but they definitely proved worthwhile in the end. It may not have satisfied every Zelda loyalist, but the game took a risk and came through.

References:
"The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker" 29 September 2009.
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