Preview: 'Zelda' gets new look for GameCube

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By Star Dingo

(IDG) -- Tokyo let out a collective "Zuh??!?" when Nintendo showed off the first footage of "Legend of Zelda" for GameCube at Space World 2001.

While everyone in attendance was fully anticipating some info on Link's first GameCube incarnation, no one was quite prepared for the bizarre new form that Hyrule would end up taking.

These screens from the first GameCube "Zelda" trailer -- taken from the big screen above the Space World press conference floor -- provide proof positive that, like it or not, Link's got a whole look that's one part "Paper Mario," one part "Jet Grind Radio," one part "Parappa the Rapper" and entirely unexpected.

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Shigeru Miyamoto says that he decided to take this cartoony approach (rather than the darker, more realistic stance most people were probably expecting) to extend "Zelda"'s reach to all ages... and it definitely falls right in line with Nintendo's E3 promise to shake things up. And even though the exterior may be all new, the gameplay looks like it will be an extension of the old "Zelda" we know and love.

Nintendo says we'll have to wait until the end of 2002 to get with Link's new groove, but the Dingo and the Drifter are already in love with the little guy's rejuvenated fashion sense. What do you think? Is this new direction the surest sign yet that GameCube is the system to get? Or has Miyamoto just lost his mind?

Publisher: Nintendo

Developer: Nintendo

Release date: 2001

Genre: Adventure