That's because in addition to swinging a sword and brandishing various Zelda-esque weapons like bombs and boomerangs, you spend roughly half your time in Twilight Princess cavorting on all fours in the form of a wolf. As a concept, it owes a debt to Majora's Mask, which allowed Link to transform into nonhuman creatures to complete guise-driven tasks (the lead director for both Majora's Mask and Twilight Princess is, no surprise, the same). As a game mechanic, it allows the design team to show off the differences between the tale's unique but dualistic worlds: sunny Hyrule and the shadowy Twilight realm. It seems someone's attempting to cram the two together—not a happy prospect for denizens of either—and as darkness invades Link's homeland, it's up to him and his mischievous Twilight sidekick (a magic-slinging creature named Midna) to discover why and throw on the brakes.

Twilight Princess adheres to the same control conventions that made the Nintendo 64's Ocarina of Time so famous, which means the action still pivots on a "z-trigger" targeting system that lets you focus on objects or enemies while performing different context-driven activities. Instead of hitting buttons to wield a weapon (or attack in wolf form), you swing the Wii Remote to pull off combos, or wave the Wii Nunchuk side-to-side to execute Link's trademark spin attack. You move with the Nunchuk's thumbstick, automatically jump at ledges and target by pulling the Nunchuk's z-trigger; holding the trigger while tapping the "A" button initiates Link's jump attack in either form.

As you progress, Link accrues a mix of traditional items and special abilities, including mainstays like the fishing rod, slingshot and bow when in human form. As a wolf you're restricted from using those items, but alternately able to initiate energy field attacks (hold the "B" to snare a group of enemies in a range-limited circle that yields an instant combo assault), dig in marked areas for goodies or to enter buildings, howl to enlist the aid of a hint-dropping hawk, and use your lupine senses to catch scent trails or "see" things invisible to the naked eye.

As with prior console-based Zelda titles, Twilight Princess for Wii is single-player only.

Reliably Zelda from tip to toe

The last time Nintendo released a mediocre Zelda game was Zelda II: The Adventures of Link for the original NES way back in 1988. So it's almost enough to say that Twilight Princess is everything 1998's revolutionary Ocarina of Time was and be done with it. Really, it's that good, even if by now the "Zelda game experience” on the whole has become almost as predictable as its ineluctable parade of sequels. But what everyone wants to know is: Do the funky new wave-your-hands-in-the-air Wii controls help or hinder that experience?

That depends on whether you're terminally wedded to button mashing or change-averse in general. If you are, that's a shame, because while a few of the gestures feel grafted on due to Twilight Princess's Gamecube genesis, the intuitive sense of connectivity you feel with what's happening on screen as you wave your arms in the air is indescribable. Remember the hand-driven interface in Minority Report? This isn't that, but it's a firm nod in that direction, and it certainly beats the indirect feel of a standard gamepad.

Technically speaking, the Wii Remote and Nunchuk merely trigger on/off button states when you slash/bite as a wolf or spin attack as Link. This makes those specific actions feel less visceral because they're really just binary hand motions overlaying the designed-for-Gamecube combat controls. On the other hand, once you've acquainted yourself with the notion that you're essentially holding an inverted mouse (the Wii Remote) that you swivel with your wrist, wielding aimed weapons like Link's bow, slingshot or boomerang is both quicker and considerably more precise than panning with a thumbstick. The only quirks are occasional pointer lockups if you flip the remote too far in a given direction, or moments where you'll swing the remote and nothing happens.

Is it worth dropping $250 on a Wii for this game? I think so. Sure, you can pick it up for Gamecube, but then you're back to thumbing buttons and dragging the camera around with the thumbstick when you could be precision-shooting (fishing, skiing, etc.) with the Wii's wireless remote. In short, Twilight Princess for Wii draws a line in the sand that might as well spell "This is why we're not selling $600 hardware." Because it's the gameplay, stupid.