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The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD

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The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD
ゼルダの伝説 風のタクト HD
Zeruda no Densetsu: Kaze no Takuto HD
WWHD NA box.jpg
Cover artwork of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD
Developer(s): Nintendo EAD
HexaDrive
Publisher(s): Nintendo
Platform: Wii U
Category: Action-adventure
Players: 1
Predecessor: N/A
Successor: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD
Release dates
N. America: eShop: September 20, 2013
Retail: October 4, 2013
Japan: September 26, 2013
Europe: October 5, 2013
Australia: October 4, 2013
Ratings
ESRB: E10+
CERO: A
PEGI: 7+
USK: 6
ACB: G8+
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The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD is a high-definition remaster and re-release of the Nintendo GameCube title The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, released for Wii U in 2013. The game preserves the gameplay of the original while making alterations to enhance or streamline the experience.

For its North American release, the digital version of The Wind Waker HD was released two weeks before the physical version. The game was also released in a special edition bundle including a statue of Ganondorf, and as part of a Wii U bundle including the game, a Zelda-themed Wii U GamePad, and a download code for a digital copy of The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia.

Blurb

Box

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is reborn in HD on Wii U!
Use the Wind Waker to command the winds as you explore the Great Sea in pursuit of a timeless evil!

Improved Controls with the Wii U GamePad
The gyroscope makes aiming a breeze.
Keep your map always at the ready or swipe to command the Wind Waker.
Enjoy off-TV play using the GamePad.

Connect Through Miiverse™
Write a letter, put it in a Tingle Bottle, and send it out to sea to be found by other players via Miiverse.

Nintendo eShop

The Legend of Zelda™: The Wind Waker makes its glorious return on the Wii U™ console with gorgeous HD graphics and enhanced game features. In this timeless classic with a unique and colorful art style, you will guide Link™ as he sets out on the masive Great Sea to find his kidnapped sister. Sail the seas in search of lost islands, fight fearsome enemies, take on mighty bosses, and seek out the legendary Triforce.

In this definitive version on the Wii U™ console, you can experience the game in gorgeous 1080p graphics and manage your inventory and view maps on the Wii U GamePad controller. With the new Tingle Bottle feature, you can connect with others over Miiverse™. Comments or screenshots posted on Miiverse can wash up on the shores or in other locations of other players' games. And if the TV is already in use, you don't have to worry–you can play the game right on the Wii U GamePad.

Gameplay

The gameplay of The Wind Waker has been mostly retained for this version of the game. The game revolves around Link having to sail from island to island over the sea on his boat, the King of Red Lions, to save his sister and defeat Ganondorf. The Wii U GamePad can be used both as a menu interface to switch items and view collectibles from that screen, as well as being able to use it as a map viewer. In addition, players can switch to Off-TV Play mode at any point by pressing the minus button. The Wii U GamePad's gyroscope can also be used for motion aiming with certain items, such as the boomerang, bow, grapple hook, and hookshot.

A new item known as the Swift Sail has been added for this release, which allows the Kind of Red Lions to sail faster and causes the wind to always be blowing behind. The Tingle Tuner from the original game has been replaced with the Tingle Bottle, an item that allows players to make posts to Miiverse. Other players can collect them as messages in bottles and view them in-game. The Picto Box has been upgraded to be in color from the start, can store up to twelve photographs, and can take self-portraits; pictures taken can also be posted to Miiverse using the Tingle Tuner. The Triforce Shard quest has also been revised, allowing players to obtain most of the Triforce Shards without having to collect and translate a corresponding Triforce Chart.

Hero Mode, originally in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, has been included in this version of the game, and is made available from the beginning when starting a new save file. In Hero Mode, Link takes twice as much damage from enemy attacks, and Hearts do not appear. Hero Mode can be toggled on and off at any point from the file select screen.

Development

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD was originally announced during the January 2013 Wii U Direct, meant to fill the gap between the announcement and eventual release of the new The Legend of Zelda game for Wii U.[1] As the team experimented with a variety of art styles for the new game, part of the process involved upscaling previous The Legend of Zelda titles in HD, such as with the Zelda HD Experience shown off at E3 2011[1]; the team had also upscaled The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, but noticed the most impact when the upscaling was applied to The Wind Waker, leading to the decision to create a full remaster of the game.[2]

The Wind Waker HD was developed in six months.[3] While much of the game's development was handled internally, Nintendo contacted HexaDrive to upscale and retool the game's graphics into high-definition.[4]

Technical details

Technical Details
Media

Wii U Game Disc
Digital download

Download size

1715 MB

Save data size

31 MB

Supported features

Nintendo Network (Miiverse), Off-TV Play

Input / compatible controllers

Wii U GamePad, Wii U Pro Controller

Other releases

Title Cover art Platform Release date(s) Notes
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD Wii U (Nintendo Selects) NA: August 26, 2016
EU: April 15, 2016
A re-release of the game under the Nintendo Selects line.

External links

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The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD on other NIWA Wikis:
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StrategyWiki


References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Wii U Direct - Nintendo Games 1.23.2013. Nintendo (YouTube; January 23, 2013). Retrieved March 1, 2017.
  2. Nintendo tested HD graphics for two other Zelda games as well. Polygon (September 11, 2013). Retrieved April 8, 2017.
  3. An Interview with Eiji Aonuma – Wind Waker HD and the Future of Zelda Series: Part 1. Zelda Informer (October 5, 2013). Retrieved April 8, 2017.
  4. The 3rd Birthday Developer Worked On The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD. Siliconera (September 25, 2013). Retrieved April 8, 2017.


The Legend of Zelda series logo
Main series

The Legend of Zelda (Classic NES Series) • The Adventure of Link (Classic NES Series) • A Link to the Past • Link's Awakening (DX • Nintendo Switch) • Ocarina of Time (Master Quest • 3D) • Majora's Mask (3D) • Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons • The Wind Waker (HD) • Four Swords (Anniversary Edition) • Four Swords Adventures • The Minish Cap • Twilight Princess (HD) • Phantom Hourglass • Spirit Tracks • Skyward Sword (HD) • A Link Between Worlds • Tri Force Heroes • Breath of the Wild • Tears of the Kingdom

Other games
BS-X games BS The Legend of Zelda • The Ancient Stone Tablets • Triforce of the Gods
Tingle games Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland • Ripened Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love • Tingle's Balloon Fight DS • Dekisugi Tingle Pack
Other games
Picross games Picross NP Vol. 5 • My Nintendo Picross: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Unreleased games / demos Mystical Seed of Courage • Retro Studios prototype • Tingle horror game • Zelda HD Experience
Publications
The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia • The Legend of Zelda: Art & Artifacts • The Legend of Zelda: Encyclopedia • The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild Explorer's Guide
Related NIWA Wiki: Zelda Wiki icon English Zelda Wiki icon • Zeldapendium icon German Zeldapendium icon