First Gameplay Footage of ‘The Legend of Zelda’ on Wii U Hits

2014 has been a whirlwind year for Nintendo fans. While sales of the company’s Wii U have still managed to miss the mark, blockbuster titles like Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. have proven that the house of Mario still knows how to make fantastic games on its hardware. While many fans have been busy digging into the contents of both aforementioned games, fans are still waiting for a brand new entry in The Legend of Zelda franchise to arrive on the platform.

Nintendo finally pulled the curtain back on its next big foray into the world of Zelda during E3 2014, but fans were treated to a simple trailer rather than actual gameplay. During the first ever The Game Awards, however, the Big N finally showed off the immense open-world that awaits Link and his fellow adventurers in the impending Wii U installment.

During the brief hands-on session, series creator Shigeru Miyamoto and franchise producer Eiji Aonuma demonstrated just how massive the world featured within the new game is. Utilizing the Wii U GamePad to showcase the map, it was quickly made apparent that fans are in for one of the biggest worlds ever featured within a Zelda title.

Given the scale of the game itself, Aonuma has added a number of new additions to keep fans engaged. Enemies, wildlife, fruit trees, mountains and more are scattered about the path that separates players from their next dungeon, and the new ability to set beacons will help casual and veteran users get to their intended destination with little interruption. Heck, even Epona is programmed to completely avoid trees – a fact that Nintendo really wanted to drive home during the brief pre-recorded trailer.

The visuals for the game itself look very promising (and familiar to those that have already played through Skyward Sword), but it’s the vastness of the in-game world that easily has the most appeal. Admittedly, the ability to launch from Epona and utilize Link’s bow and arrow in midair is also a tantalizing maneuver, but it’ll be interesting to see if Nintendo plans on limiting that attack’s use so as to avoid spamming and overuse.

Hyrule is looking large and in charge on Wii U.

There are still a great number of details that Ninty has yet to confirm about the new Legend of Zelda for Wii U, but details should be arriving in the new year. For now, however, there is still the recently announced The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D to look forward to in the first half of 2015 and apparently a new Star Fox title on the Wii U shortly after that.

How do you think the new The Legend of Zelda game is looking? Are you looking forward to vaulting off the back of Epona in a slow-mo, bow-happy fit of joy? Get at us in the comments!

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The Legend of Zelda is set to arrive on the Nintendo Wii U in 2015.

Follow Riley on Twitter @TheRileyLittle for more news on The Legend of Zelda for Wii U, as well as everything else in gaming.

First Gameplay Footage of ‘The Legend of Zelda’ on Wii U Hits

Why Ridley Isn’t And May Never Be Playable in ‘Super Smash Bros.’

It’s no surprise that gamers are excited by the new Super Smash Bros. titles for Wii U and 3DS. The pair of games feature a number of new additions and the largest roster in the franchise’s history. Of course, despite featuring an expansive lineup of playable fighters, some fans didn’t get their favorite mascots into the latest series installments. One of the more notable absences in the eyes of fans is Ridley – the purple space-dragon from the Metroid franchise.

The galactic reptile has remained a highly requested addition to Super Smash Bros. ever since the initial reveal trailer for Melee featured the behemoth chasing after Metroid protagonist Samus Aran, and gamers have been longing to see Ridley finally become playable ever since. Despite fan demand, it sounds as if the creator of the Super Smash Bros. franchise, Masahiro Sakurai, doesn’t believe making Samus’ reoccurring rival makes sense.

During a recent interview with IGN, Sakurai admitted that he knows full well that fans want to see Ridley secure a playable role in the fighting game, but felt that shrinking the character down and taking away the monster’s ability to fly is a disservice to the character.

“I definitely know that Ridley’s a much-anticipated name for fans, but if we made Ridley as a fighter, it wouldn’t be Ridley any longer. It’d have to be shrunk down, or its wings reduced in size, or be unable to fly around freely. Providing accurate portrayals of characters is something I want to pay ample attention to. If I don’t stick to that thought, then we’d have to lower the quality or break the balance of the game. Something that goes way off spec could break the entire game.”

Instead of clipping Ridley’s wings and altering the character to fit the template of a playable fighter, Sakurai and his team made the iconic baddie a boss monster that can be found on the Pyrosphere stage in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. The producer feels this is the best way to maintain the essence of the character, while still having it be an interactive portion of the game.

“Instead of going through a lot of very convoluted hocus-pocus to make Ridley a fighter, I figured it’d be better to keep Ridley as it currently is, the correct way, and have it feel like a truly threatening presence. There are other icons, too, like Metal Face and the Yellow Devil, which help effectively portray each of their world settings. They go a long way toward deepening the game world, and I think it’s been fun to experiment with.”

It’s unlikely that Ridley fans across the globe will stop showing support for the character’s inclusion in future installments of Super Smash Bros., but this information will come as a blow for anyone that has supported the purple space pirate. Still, it shows that Sakurai knows what dedicated gamers want to see in future games – Mewtwo being added as DLC is further evidence of that – but fans may be best to never say never in the case of Ridley.

Do you want Ridley to make a playable appearance in Super Smash Bros. or has Sakurai made the right decision by including it as a boss/stage hazard?

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Super Smash Bros. is currently available on the Nintendo 3DS and is set to arrive for the Wii U on November 21, 2014.

Follow Riley on Twitter @TheRileyLittle for more news on Super Smash Bros., as well as everything else in gaming.

Source: IGN

TAGS: 3DS, Metroid, Namco Bandai, Nintendo, Super Smash Bros., Super Smash Bros. for 3DS, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Wii U

Why Ridley Isn’t And May Never Be Playable in ‘Super Smash Bros.’