Have you ever tried to explain the basic premise of the Zelda series to someone?
I have, and I can tell you that people get hung up on the fact that Link is the main character. "But it's called 'The Legend of Zelda,'" they say. So I tell them that Princess Zelda is more like the linchpin for the overarching story, a perennial "damsel in distress," doomed to be forever kidnapped, then saved, kidnapped, then saved.
That explanation always leaves me feeling a little sheepish -- as if I subscribe to some outmoded vision of gender roles just because I enjoy the games.
Thankfully, the upcoming DS release Spirit Tracks flips that script. In it, Zelda finally gets to kick as much butt as Link does -- and she manages to save his green-tunic-loving hide in the process.
The game does start in familiar territory: Zelda is once again snatched away by a nefarious character. But, unlike previous games in the series, her spirit separates from her body and becomes Link's partner throughout the adventure. She offers advice, fills in backstory, and even possesses one of the über-powerful Phantoms from Phantom Hourglass to fight side-by-side with Link. During these portions of the game, you must use teamwork -- swapping control between Link and Zelda -- to solve puzzles and overcome obstacles.
It's a cool gameplay mechanic, but it also indicates the broadening demographic of Zelda players, especially on the DS. Parents and grandparents, boys and girls, twentysomething dudes and fortysomething ladies -- they're all DS owners. And they don't want to play a game with chivalrous attitudes straight out of a Victorian novel.
They want female characters with spunk and male characters that know when to ask for help. Characters, in other words, that reflect the world we live in today.
So after 22 years of forcing us to save the princess, Nintendo went back to the drawing board and came back with the capable Zelda of Spirit Tracks.
It's about time.
