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Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon

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Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon
The box art for the US version of Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon
Developer(s) Animation Magic
Publisher(s) Philips Media
Release date(s) October 10, 1993
Genre(s) Action Adventure
Mode(s) Single player
Platform(s) CD-i
Media 1 CD-ROM

Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon is a video game developed by Animation Magic and released for the Philips CD-i in 1993, on the same day as Link: The Faces of Evil. A follow-up to both games, Zelda's Adventure, arrived in 1994. All three CD-i Zelda games were the product of a compromise between Philips and Nintendo after the two companies failed to release a CD-based add-on for the SNES.

[edit] Gameplay

The gameplay of The Wand of Gamelon

The Wand of Gamelon was the first Zelda game where the player plays as the eponymous Princess. It is played using the side-scrolling view introduced in Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. For a variety of reasons, it is generally accepted that this game does not play as tightly as Zelda II. These range from the quality of the CD-i controller, to the speed of the gameplay and the jerkiness of the character animations.

[edit] Plot

Non-canon warning: This article or section contains non-canonical information that is not considered to be an official part of the Legend of Zelda series and should not be considered part of the overall storyline.

The intro sequence for The Wand of Gamelon

In the land of Gamelon, the realm of Duke Onkled falls under attack by Ganon, who has somehow escaped from his prison. To aid his ally, King Harkinian travels to Gamelon and orders Princess Zelda to send Link if he doesn't return in a month. A month passes without a word from the King, so Zelda sends Link to find him. When he too goes missing, Zelda ventures off to Gamelon together with Impa to find both Link and the King. During Zelda's time in Gamelon, Impa discovers that King Harkinian has been captured, and that Link has engaged in a battle, of which the outcome is unclear. As she adventures across the island, Zelda meets many friendly characters and also defeats the villains Gibdo and Iron Knuckle. She also rescues Lady Alma from Wizzrobe. As a reward for saving her, Alma gives her a canteen that she claims Link gave her in exchange for a kiss.

Eventually, Zelda reaches Duke Onkled's palace, Domodai Palace, where it is revealed that Duke Onkled has betrayed the King and is working for Ganon. She storms the palace, kills Ganon's minion Hectan, and saves Fari, an agent of the King who was captured. He reveals the secret entrance to Onkled's chamber, they blackmail him into revealing the entrance to Reesong Palace, where Ganon has taken residence. Before she can battle Ganon however, Zelda requires two items: in the Shrine of Gamelon, she obtains the Wand of Gamelon after defeating the head-switching chimera Omfak; and in Nokani Forest, she obtains the Magic Lantern that can dispel the darkness surrounding Ganon. At Reesong Palace, Zelda fights Ganon and incapacitates him with the Wand, and rescues her father. Back at Hyrule Castle, Duke Onkled is turned over to the king, begging for mercy. He is arrested and sentenced to "washing all the floors in Hyrule". However, it is still unknown what has happened to Link, until Lady Alma makes a derogatory comment about him, prompting Zelda to throw her mirror against the wall, smashing it. This causes Link to magically materialize, seemingly having been trapped in the mirror (why he was in there is never explained). The game ends with everyone laughing at Link's general obliviousness.

Non-canon warning: Non-canonical information ends here.

[edit] Criticism

An example of the animation style used in the game's cinematics
The ending of Zelda: Wand of Gamelon

The full-motion videos (FMVs) that are used for most of the game's story elements are frowned upon by the Zelda community for containing what they consider to be some of the worst scripting, drawing, animation, and voice acting yet seen in a video game. This, combined with its gameplay, vastly different from even Zelda II, has caused the game to be rejected by the Zelda fanbase; the same is said for its canonical status. The game is known throughout the industry as one of the worst ever; Electronic Gaming Monthly once heralded the game as the sixth worst, and on a January 2005 episode of G4's Filter, it claimed the number one spot. Because of it's poor reception with animated cutscenes, like it's counterpart, The Faces of Evil, it has become popular in a huge series of viral videos on YouTube, remixed and spoofed.


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