The graphics and the sound for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess are updated since the Nintento 64 Ocarina of Time, but still recall back to earlier games. Sometimes this can feel a bit dated, but with all the new places and faces to see, do you really care? The story is carried on with written words rather than spoken, which also seems a bit dated. But, again, with all the emotion put into the faces of the characters, it just doesn't seem that big of a deal in the long run. The Twilight realm is absolutely gorgeous. The shading and the blurred texture make you feel as if you are traipsing through a dream world. Overall, it still looks like a high-end Cube rendition with pixilated edges, but if you stand far enough away, it all blends together nicely.

One perk of playing on the Wii is that sound travels through the tiny, cheap speakers on the Wii-mote and enhances the sounds a bit. When you pluck the bow, you hear it on your Wii-mote and then the screen. It is pretty spiffy. The intro music is worth playing over and over; really, most of the soundtrack is. Many of the sounds are recycled from past games, but I think that has its appeal.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess follows the tried and true Zelda storyline that we have all come to love over the years. You know the one; Link must save the princess Zelda and all of Hyrule from the evil and dastardly (insert scoundrel here). However, Twilight Princess is not without its share of dark plot twists that leave your mouth wagging open in awe.

Link is a tall, rural-looking goatherd tucked away from Hyrule proper in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and yet still manages to bungle himself into the main plot. When Twilight descends upon Hyrule, Link is once again chosen to usher in the dawn. With the help of a very cute impish girl named Midna, our hero is set with the task of uncovering the mystery behind the fall of shadows over his world.

The Twilight that has overtaken the land leads Link into an alternate reality that is somehow conjoined with his own. Upon first walking across the threshold from light into dark, Link becomes a blue-eyed wolf and is captured by some very ugly twilight creatures. With the mysterious Midna's aid, Link escapes and begins his adventure into setting the Kingdom free of its dark prison.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess will easily send you into the happy world of nostalgia where you yearn to pop your Ocarina of Time cartridge into your Nintendo 64 and stare at pixels until your eyes bleed. However, the massive landscapes, new weapons, puzzle-icious temples, hideously odd bad guys, and the dark spin on the game will give you more than enough incentive to keep you playing with your Wii-mote.

The puzzles in Twilight Princess are very classic block and lever pushing and pulling, and the creators even added in some cannons and cannonballs to trip you up. While you may end up stuck on a certain puzzle for what feels like an exorbitant amount of time, a small break to check on your cats will refresh your brain enough to confirm that you are a moron, and the puzzle was a lot simpler than you initially thought. As with most Zelda games, the water temple has the most obnoxious, frustrating, and curseword-inducing of all the puzzles. The puzzles, moreso than the boss battles, are what carry the game forward. Because of the limited amount of maneuvers you can do with the Wii-mote, Link pretty much hacks and slashes his was through most of the boss battles.

For the most part, Link keeps his standard weapon fare from every Zelda game (slingshot, bow, sword, boomerang, and the bevy of other traditional weapons), but the new additions - and there are a few - are a blast. I'm especially fond of the dual clawshot - a devious looking hook and chain that gives Link Inspector-Gadget-like reach - although I find myself examining every wall for more time than is really necessary in hopes of finding a well-camouflaged spot on the wall where I could clawshot to. The new gale boomerang has a very fitting name, and the massive ball and chain still confounds me as to how it fits under Link's tunic.

One of the most entertaining features of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is the ability to combine your inventory. Link can combine his bombs with his arrows and rain down mayhem on his enemies or combine a scope with his bow and snipe keese from ages away. A gear-like object called a spinner works both to get Link to unattainable ledges and attack one of the temple bosses.

Link's wolf form even serves as a weapon. He can attack with his mouth just like any hideously mutated creature from the dark would do, and use his paws to dig out hidden holes only visible while Link is using his "senses." Midna even makes herself useful as a weapon while riding atop Link's back. Link's "sense" action in wolf form ends up being exceptionally helpful while trying to chase down baddies that are just too fast for you. It also allows you to talk to spirits and animals. You would be amazed what the local cat thinks about you.

Link's attire gets a bit of an upgrade with the Magic Armor, although you have to be closely related to King Midas to get much use out of it. Buying the armor is expensive, but wearing it is where you really start to feel it in your money pouch. For every second you wear the armor, rupees tick steadily away and when you are totally broke the armor becomes too heavy to wear. On the upside, you are all but invincible while wearing this luxury suit.

Gameplay is at a good difficulty throughout the 35-40 hour game, except for the wagon chase. I had serious issues while attempting this part of the game. At one point, I was overly tempted to heave my Wii out the third story of my house and dance around the shattered pieces. Riding Epona while slashing bulblins riding giant boars, trying to keep a wagon from catching fire with your gale boomerang, and attempting to keep the bloody twilit kargaroc's from dropping bombs to derail your wagon is about the most frustrating thing you will ever undertake in your lifetime. Of course, a few of my friends were able to do this on their first try. I buried them alive for my entertainment. But then you sit back and realize you can slash enemies while on Epona, and you rejoice for you realize the game you waited years on has arrived.

The controls on your Wii-mote and Nunchuk are fairly similar to every other Zelda game. In The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, you control link with the Nunchuk's thumbstick, (Z) is still lock on, and you still cannot jump unless you are running off a ledge. The best part of being Link while holding a Wii-mote is that you can slash and hack just like the little green-clad boy on your screen.

You wiggle the Wii-mote to have Link draw his sword (this can be annoying if you are on a tiny ledge and have to itch your nose), and then Link has three basic attacks. If you swing the Wii-mote horizontally, Link will slash his sword side to side. Jostling the Wii-mote up and down will get a downward slice from Link, and to get a thrust you swing your Wii-mote and hold the Nunchuk directional pad forward. Oddly enough, most motions you make with your Wii-mote are not directly translated into an action that Link makes - which kind of makes me wonder what the point is. There is a lot of (A) pressing and directional pad moving, but it still looks wicked as all hell on the screen. The Nunchuk is used as your shield and can be shoved forward to perform a nice knock against your opponent.

The most entertaining part of using the Wii-mote (and probably the part that takes the most skill) is using it as the Hero Bow. I rightly suck at it; however, I can always hand the controls over to my sister and watch in awe as she takes out keese like a mad woman.

Attacking in wolf form is very standard... you shake the Wii-mote. The end. However, his conjoined attack with Midna perched on his back is a time saver and, in some cases, necessary to move on.

Lastly, we have fishing. Hours and hours of fishing. Using the Wii-mote for this is as simple as it looks. Pull it back like you would a rod, and toss it forward (please remember to wear your wrist strap at all times lest you chuck your Wii-mote through your television).

All in all, Twilight Princess was totally worth camping out on a cold and filthy cement sidewalk for - even if the ending did make me tear up a tad.