The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess [GC]

The goal of this particular demo is to knock the Chiefton off his horse. To do that, you have to catch him, which isn't easy. He sprints away from Link on his steed, which is a valiant beast of its own. To gain ground on the Chiefton, Link must kick his spurs against Epona, which enables a temporary speed burst. The drawback is that Link only has six or seven spurs at a time. To gain more, he can fight and kill the other Marauders, which continuously stream in and flank him. Although the enemies shoot flaming arrows and try to swipe at Link with their weapons, he can shield himself (R button) from their attacks and deliver powerful sword slashes of his own. Link's blade easily crashes into the Marauders and knocks them, defeated, from their boars. Link can lock-on to enemies with the L button and the C-stick changes the camera. Still, the hero must not underestimate his opponents. We did that a couple of times and paid a dear price: one or more of the Marauders knocked Link from his horse, leaving him temporarily vulnerable on the ground.

The level is visually striking for a number of reasons. First, and initially the most obvious, is its sheer size. It's huge and it stretches forever into the distance. One look at the stage and it's easy to see why Nintendo says that horseback travel is not only included in Twilight Princess, but also absolutely necessary. Second, the stage is overflowing with the seemingly little graphical details that make a big difference. For instance, a sunbeam shines in the distance and looks fantastic. Meanwhile, as the dark clouds pass over the landscape, they cast shadows onto the ground, which are constantly moving and changing with the weather. And since we haven't mentioned it before, the character models for Link, Epona, and all of the enemies, are intricately detailed. A couple of stiff animations remain in movement, but Nintendo director Eiji Aonuma says that the development team is working hard to create more realistic movement and fluidity.

Eventually, Link is able to catch up with and slash the Chiefton. After several swipes over several encounters, the Chiefton nearly falls from his steed, regains himself, and then races toward a castle in the distance. He jumps a gate and Link follows. On the other side, there's an ambush. An enemy positioned on a high wall in the castle shoots a flaming arrow at the fence so that there's no chance for Link to turn around. Directly in front of the hero and on the opposite side of a drawbridge, the Chiefton stares straight ahead. A joust between the two ensues. We have to race Link toward the Chiefton, dodge his attack (with the analog stick) and then strike with our own. If we do it correctly, we'll slash him with Link's sword and he'll nearly topple from his horse. If we make a mistake, he'll knock Link off his horse and send him careening over the side of the bridge, where an endless abyss awaits.

The duel is very cinematic and entertaining, and it ends with what is quite possibly the coolest money shot of Link yet featured in a Zelda title. When the warrior finally knocks the Chiefton from the bridge, the camera pans back and shoots the action from a distance. It then pans forward. We can see Link on Epona and the shimmering red sun to his right. Suddenly the horse rears up on its hind legs, and link raises his sword into the air in the ultimate badass display of heroic coolness. The scene even takes place in slow motion for added effect. Wow.

Forest Temple Level
Nintendo says of this dungeon: "Once a sacred temple in one of Hyrule's many forests, this area became a monkey lair and has since fallen into evil. With the aid of the monkey, Link must venture deep within." Finally, a convergence of temples and monkeys. Thank you, Nintendo.

The Forest Temple looks reminiscent of previous Forest Temples, except far prettier. The setting is very organic, filled with vegetation, small bits of plant life, and lots of wooden, tree-like walkways. In fact, the Forest Temple seems to take place inside a tree, though we can't be certain. The walls are made of spiraling, twisting wood, which is as good a sign as any. As Link looks around the green-and-brown toned locale, particles flutter through the air for no other reason than to look good, and they do.

Before too long, Link encounters a duo of enemies. The reptilian beasts are capable of blocking some of his attacks. However, persistence pays off and they disappear in a fiery display of impressively animated particles.

Controls feel largely similar to previous Zelda outings. The analog stick tightly moves the hero around. He can lock onto enemies as before. He can swipe and slash with his sword. Meanwhile, the C-stick enables manual control of the camera or a first-person view when tapped up or down. However, that's not to suggest that it's all unchanged. Link can and does perform powerful new moves. For instance, he can now deliver a powerful down-thrust slash unto enemies after they have fallen stunned to the ground. Performing this attack is particular satisfying because there's a lot of "umph" to the animation.

Dusty ropes block Links path, but he throw Deku nuts at them and continue onward. A grotesque spider with a black-and-white checkerboard body and red joins waits on a nearby walkway. It runs toward the hero and a battle ensues. We can easily maneuver around the enemy with the lock-on system, and we try multiple sword swipes in an attempt to knock it down. Eventually, we stun it and then use the downward slash. Link jumps into the air and stabs the spider directly in the head. Ouch! It explodes into a mess of particles and then it's gone.

A treasure chest sits unopened on a wooden plank. We open it and in traditional Zelda style, compete with the classic music, the warrior reaches inside and takes out the chest's contents. Link holds the Gale Boomerang. A new items menu opens up. Here, items exist around a big circle. All we need to do to equip the weapon is point the analog stick in the direction that it's located in the circle and then choose the button that we want to assign it to. We equip the boomerang to the X button and a lantern to the Y button.

In traditional Zelda style, an immediate boomerang-centric puzzle presents itself. A door remains locked on the other side of the room, but using the boomerang we can target a wind flag just above it. When we throw the boomerang, it spins the flap and the door begins to open. We lock onto the flap two more times and throw the boomerang to fully open the door. It's an interesting mechanic, to be sure. When we use the boomerang, the view switches to first-person mode and here we can see a red reticule. When we position it over certain areas, they become surrounded by rotating, yellow icons, which indicate that we can lock onto them. If we then hit the R button, the icons change to red, which means we've successfully locked. What makes the Gale Boomerang so unique, other than the fact that it uses wind to its advantage, is that it allows Link to lock onto multiple targets at a time and in any particular order that he wants, which is extremely handy during certain boss fights. This added functionality is highly welcomed.

In the next room, a cut-scene shows a small monkey being chased across a bridge by a baboon. Just as the tiny monkey traverses the bridge, the baboon takes out a boomerang and throws it at him; it rips through the ropes holding the bridge and the structure crumbles. The baboon, visibly pleased with himself, dances around, flashes both Link and the smaller monkey his rear end, smacks it, once or twice, and then runs off.

The smaller monkey motions for Link to follow him and so we do. What results is a series of environmental puzzles that revolve around the monkey-and-Link dynamic. For instance, in one area a gap proves too large for Link to jump. However, a rope dangles above the gap. The monkey jumps to it, hangs upside-down and then stretches out its arms. Link is then able to jump to the monkey and swing across the chasm.

The dungeon is littered with a few Deku plans, ponds, and darkened caves. In other areas, Link is able to target multiple platforms with his Gale Boomerang, which in succession open a doorway. When Link runs through a pitch-black cave, he can use his lantern to light up the corridors. The lighting effects are second to none, believably illuminating the area with ambient, flicking candlelight.

The demo of the Forest Temple ends shortly after Link frees another monkey from a primitive wooden cell. The animal is trapped inside the structure, which rests at the top of a stone podium. Only by running into the podium can Link topple the monkey from its top and send the cell to the ground, where it crashes open. Afterward, both monkeys aid Link as he travels through the dungeon.