GoKawiilYup, I'm counting The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess as one of my favorite GameCube games, despite the fact that it was a launch title for the Wii. Just as Breath of the Wild was simultaneously released for the aging Wii U as well as the brand-new Switch, Twilight Princess was the last big title for the GameCube. And as an under-employed 25-year-old Zelda fanatic without the cash to get a new console, the GameCube version of Twilight Princess was more than good enough for me — and, if you ask me, the definitive version of the game.
For starters, Link is still left-handed in the GameCube version of Twilight Princess. This makes sense; the game was originally developed for the console before Nintendo delayed it to add motion controls and bring it forward to the Wii for its 2006 launch. The Wii version flipped everything so that the player "swung" their sword with the Wii controller in their right hand and the company wanted what was on screen to match up. When Nintendo released the Twilight Princess HD port for the Wii U in 2016, it used the game's original layout rather than the mirrored Wii version.
But enough about the oddities of developing a game for two different control schemes. Twilight Princess remains one of my favorite interpretations of the classic Link and Zelda story. Just as Wind Waker's cell-shaded graphics and more whimsical vibe felt like a departure for the series when it arrived in 2002, the more grown-up version of Link and the correspondingly more realistic art direction felt like another nice change of pace. Being back on land instead of the vast oceans of Wind Waker was a bit of a relief for me; you can't beat riding Epona across the vast and varied land of Hyrule. From open plains and the Lost Woods to the massive Lake Hylia and towering Snowpeak Mountain, Twilight Princess gave players an absolutely massive environment to explore. It may not feel as big of a deal now that Breath of the Wild redefined the scope of what a Zelda game can be, but in 2006 it felt positively epic.
Link also got some major upgrades in the swordplay department, with a number of hidden skills you can unlock throughout the game that make him more capable — this is probably the most lethal Link we had seen in a Zelda game thus far. And, of course, the mysterious twilight that turns Link into a wolf added a whole new wrinkle to gameplay. While I didn't love the sections where you were forced to play as the wolf, the ability to switch forms becomes super handy as the game goes on. While the response to Twilight Princess was extremely positive when it was released, some feel like it's one of the more derivative Zelda games in retrospect. There is some truth to that, but for me it's the epitome of the classic dungeon-based, Link and Zelda versus Ganon games that the series is known for.
— NI