The assembled audience held their breath. Satoru Iwata had played them all. He said there would be no new Zelda announcement at the Game Developers Conference. He lied. The lights dimmed, and the trailer rolled.
Wind Waker’s Toon Link sits on bended knee. Text appears:
"Link, you have crossed a vast ocean and found a new Hyrule for us to settle!"
A golden railroad spike descends into a fire-red z in The Legend of Zelda: Manifest Destiny.
Cut to a monocled Link checking his pocket watch impatiently on a train platform. A moblin tries to sell him the day’s paper. Link chases him away with the new Dandy’s Cane item.
“Join Link as he brutally wipes out the indigenous people of Zelda's new kingdom!”
Flash to Link negotiating with Gorons to run Zelda’s railroad tracks through their traditional lands. He gives them one case of whiskey and three bails of grain.
“Watch as he forces Zora laborers to dig his tunnels!”
Link has Navi and other fairies whip Zoras into exhaustion as they dig. Link races John Henry through a dungeon before facing off against Henry as a boss. Link must stab him in the heart with The Master Sword of Industry.
Coming Fall 2009
The crowd freaked out.
Nah, I’m playing. As soon as I read that the new DS Zelda’s big item-theme this time out was trains and railroads, I couldn’t stop laughing at the idea of Link living in the golden age of the American railroad. Despite some notable locales and objects — the steam engines of Phantom Hourglass, clock tower of Majora’s Mask, etc. — it’s pretty jarring to see something as familiar in its modernity as a train in a Zelda game. I like the premise though, even if there isn’t abuse of Gorons and Zoras. As a man who travels by train with some regularity, I can attest to the feelings of adventure a locomotive can inspire. What else does a Zelda need?
Related links:
Trailer Review: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
Konjak: Legend of Zelda Platforming the Right Way
For Love of the Game: The Legend of Zelda – The Shadowgazer
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Stupidity
Miyamoto Says Something Was "Missing" From Zelda: Twilight Princess. We Know It, Too.