Ifm living here in an old, drafty house in Kyoto, living here until September of next year, the ostensible purpose of my visit being to write a book on Japanese video games. It all seems so perfect and yet the one thing holding me back is my stupid perfectionist nature, which keeps telling me that Ifm not yet at the point where itfs okay to finally put pen to paper and write a book. Luckily, sometimes I think this is the same annoying attribute that will finally push me to success.

One other thing that as of late has gotten me writing again is a now-notorious article that appeared in this monthfs Wired. You can read all sorts of talkback about this piece all over the Interweb at this juncture, and Ifm sure you donft want to hear mine. I only bring this up because this article throws into tangible bas-relief the stark difference between Nintendo the software publisher and Nintendo the image.

Zev Borow wrote about Nintendo the image, and for better or for worse hefs dead on: a whole lot of people look at Nintendo and just see what they want to; in most cases that means they see only the brightly colored, all-ages parts of Nintendofs catalog and ignore the rest. As much as I self-deprecatingly don the mantle of efanboyf these days, I get the feeling sometimes that Ifm one of the only people who is observing the situation objectively. If I have any desire for Nintendo to succeed over Microsoft and Sony then it is fueled by nothing more than a serious professional respect for Nintendo the software designer, not Nintendo the image. The games are better. I want more of them. I want Nintendo to kick ass so that will happen.

The last few weeks have had my mind spinning around this subject, because I can no longer play a video game without pondering what this particular game Means and the past few weeks have seen me acquire, in rapid succession, the US versions of Metroid Prime and Star Fox Adventures and the domestic Zelda no Densetsu: Kaze no Takuto. Playing these back to back to back leads me to want to assign Meaning to the whole mess; regardless of my actual ability to do so you now have to read my attempt.

If I didnft know better, Ifd say Japanese people designed Metroid Prime in Japan because it is just that smooth. Retro Studios took their sweet time doing this and ONLY this; remember that all other projects were cancelled. Damn if it didnft work, but I get the feeling that most of the really cool stuff came from Miyamotofs influence. I havenft read any interviews with Retro that spell this right out, but you know itfs probably true. I think that the idea for the different visors was Miyamotofs, and right there you can see how much he impacted the gameplay with one small suggestion.

You can really feel Miyamoto in the parts of the game that arenft there: loading screens. He hates them, and I love him for his single-minded passion in this area. To be fair, Metroid lends itself to the elimination of loading times: since the entire world is divided into chambers, all that ever need to be loaded are, at maximum, the three or four exit rooms, and those rooms must be just long enough to load the next chambers and so forth. In the case that Samus is jumping to an entirely new area that requires more serious loading, you see her on an elevator and get to view a scene that never gets old: a glimpse of her face underneath her massive helmet. (As my thesis advisor used to say, pornography is what is shown, but erotica emphasizes what is left covered.)

If I hadnft played the original NES Metroid, which featured both small chambers and elevator rides between areas, Ifd say that the structure of Metroidfs world itself was designed to minimize loading time. It would have been cool if it was, but whatfs really amazing is that it wasnft.

Metroid blends a fully realistic and yes, mature game world with the typical Nintendo touches: tantalizingly out-of-reach areas, intuitive puzzles, beautiful graphics, and of course an impeccable control scheme. This is where Miyamotofs touch can be most profoundly felt. Jumping is actually what turned me off of FPS games in the first place. I played an incredible amount of Wolfenstein 3D back in the day, and was actually pretty excited for Doom. But as soon as I hit the first jumping task, the very first part in the game where you had to jump a small pit, I became so completely frustrated with it that I stopped playing and never, ever started again. That said, jumping in Metroid Prime is far easier than it should be. Ifve never even had to think about it, I just press the button and I jump from ledge to ledge. I think Ifve fallen once in ten hours of gameplay.

Whatfs most important to say about Metroid Prime is that, well, even Nintendo defenders thought it was going to be at best a superbly designed FPS with Metroid characters. But itfs beyond even that. Itfs Metroid. Itfs a Metroid game through and through, undeniably, tangibly, unmistakably Metroid.

Star Fox Adventures, meanwhile, will never, ever be mistaken for a Star Fox. Remember way back when Nintendo first announced that what was then Rarefs N64 title Dinosaur Planet would be moved to the Gamecube and dicked around with until it was a Star Fox game? Around that time, a friend of mine was nearly indignant over this, saying something to the effect of gThis is so stupid of Nintendo. Why should they force Rare to compromise their original vision of the game and put Star Fox characters in it?h
Now, I actually agree with him that Nintendo should not have put Star Fox characters into Dinosaur Planet, but not because it compromised Rarefs original gvisionh for the game but because the game sucked then and sucks now. Rare took bits of the Star Fox games, huge chunks of the Zelda engine, mixed them all together, then the Stamper brothers apparently went through their concoction with a miniature pair of tweezers and an electron microscope, removing all minute traces of fun.

To be fair, I love the graphics and music. The fur effects on the characters are beautiful, the levels are large and detailed, and every now and again David Wisefs soundtrack crosses the line from gwell-doneh to gbeautiful.h But that isnft enough to redeem the game. Star Fox fans will probably hate this because the Arwing scenes are miniature, boring, and nothing like Star Fox games in that Star Foxfs primary innovations were the addition of a story that weaved itself throughout the action and supporting pilots who flew your mission with you ? neither of which are to be found here. And as far as the action-adventure sections go, the puzzles are tedious and the solutions are telegraphed, fighting isnft any fun, and there are no really interesting items to collect - although there are a HELL of a lot of boring, stupid ones. That means that Zelda fans will be similarly disappointed.

Luckily, Zelda fans now have Kaze no Takuto, so who cares? What is there to say about Zelda that wonft get me slapped with that perfidious efanboyf label? Well, as a matter of fact Zelda surprised me with more innovations and new features than even I thought possible. I was under the impression that Zelda was going to be a erush jobf (such as they are where Nintendo is concerned) to get it out before Christmas in Japan, and yet somehow it is nothing of the sort. Rather than simply give the standard Zelda formula a graphic overhaul and a new weapon or two ? which would have been fine ? Miyamoto and crew decided to completely reinvent the wheel.

Of course, since boats donft have wheels, the above metaphor is stretched quite a bit thin, isnft it? I imagined that Linkfs boating adventures would be restricted to a few fun little racing games or perhaps action-oriented travels between large islands or continents that would serve as the gamefs overworld. But no. In fact, you have free rein to travel all over the ocean, and you need it because most of the overworld is water. Dry land is so rare in Zeldafs world that I expect at some point during the game a cel-shaded Kevin Costner will sail past me drinking his own urine.

So youfve got to learn the sea, and learn to control the wind, to fill your sail and send you in the direction you want to move. This becomes second nature soon enough since the eponymous Kaze no Takuto is only slightly harder to learn than the Ocarina of Time. When you whip it out, a metronome starts up at the top of the screen. You donft time your wand-waving to the beat. You need to get the wand in position for the gorchestrah to follow. So you have to hold the C-stick in the right direction, not just tap it. It takes a little while to get it but once you do, you see the advantage: the song youfre eplayingf is always on beat. Disadvantage? Well, in OOT you could whip out the Ocarina and just jam. Not with the Takuto. Sigh.

I really, truly mean that everything has been overhauled, and it all seems to fit with the graphic style. Combat is an absolute joy because the enemy characters are just as vibrant, colorful, and emotive as Link. Especially the little devil characters. God, I love those little bastards. It makes me so sad to have to chop them into tiny pieces because they are just that fun to be around.

I think Ifll leave off by talking about the importance Zelda places on self-reliant exploration. You always have a major goal to accomplish next, but I havenft been able to for the past few days because Ifve just been sailing all over the damned place stopping at the dozens of islands and exploring them for secrets. Therefs always something, of course, but can you find it? Be aware that using a FAQ or strategy guide will literally be ruining the experience for you because with Kaze no Takuto, Miyamoto and friends have created a nearly perfect game world that is just non-linear enough. And itfs not all light and sunshine since the sky will turn black and stormy just when you donft want it to, and then itfs time to feel tense and alone, adrift on your tiny little boatc

I was the perfect audience for Shigeru Miyamoto in the eighties and early ninetiesc I was the kind of kid who couldnft go out and play in caves and forests of my own and so perhaps I attached an undue importance to exploring and saving the worlds in his games. And although I can look back upon my childhood now and examine sort of objectively why I felt that way (and then write a book about it, perhaps), I still approach a new Mario or Zelda game with a small feeling of dread, as if once again the princessf ass is on the line and saving her is really a matter of life or death. The sky turns stormy and I fear for my safety even though I am an above average video game player and will probably complete Zelda without dying, ever. I still canft shake it. Itfs that feeling you get when you play a really good video game and it still makes me shiver and itfs Zelda all over again.

See, Nintendo is as grown-up as it needs to be. And I didnft even have to mention the words Eternal Darkness. Arenft you proud?

- Chris Kohler
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