No childhood was complete without a Nintendo, let alone a sword-wielding hero named Link.

The Legend of Zelda sits on a pedestal with the best video games of all time and, while so much has changed in the Zelda saga's latest adventure, The Wind Waker, everything we have loved about the series has stayed exactly the same.

The game starts eons after the events in the similarly astounding The Ocarina of Time, released in 1998.

To no one's surprise, Ganon, the game's antagonist, has yet again found a way to menace the now-flooded kingdom of Hyrule.

As the player, you take on the role of a young boy coming of age on one the world's many islands. After a menacing bird kidnaps his sister, the hero must set off to track her down.

It wouldn't be a Zelda game unless his journey takes him across the world, forcing him to face greater threats than he ever expected.

The ocarina found in the game's predecessor is now replaced by a baton known as the Wind Waker, which helps the hero control elements of the world such as time and, unsurprisingly, the wind. Classic items are in abundance here as well and are used often, adding loads of variety to the gameplay.

When introduced to the game more than a year ago, gamers worldwide balked when they discovered the game would use cartoony-looking, cel-shaded animation for its primary graphics.

The Link character looked like a 2-D midget rather than a flesh-and-blood hero utilizing the GameCube's powerful graphics system.

However, the first pictures released did not do the game justice.

Wind Waker is beautifully drawn and animated. The lighting effects are stunning and Nintendo went above and beyond to detail every nook and cranny you can possibly see. Character's facial expressions are also stunning to watch as they constantly change depending on the events going on at the moment.

For those who have played Ocarina, there is little problem adjusting to the control scheme.

The item menu and battle engine builds on those established in Ocarina of Time, an already flawless system.

College gamers might find Wind Waker a bit too easy for them but still entertaining for every minute of gaming.

The most difficult part, as always, is maneuvering through the massive dungeons, solving puzzles and roadblocks along the way.

The bosses are a spectacle in themselves, often taking up far more than the entire screen.

The final battle, however, is a wonderfully simplistic swordfight that's thrilling to watch or play and climaxes on a more violent note than one would expect from Nintendo.

This game succeeds as a modern addition to a classic series where Super Mario Sunshine did not.

Wind Waker achieves a perfect balance between the old and new elements on a graphical and technical level, whereas Mario Sunshine simply rehashed the game play of its predecessor Super Mario 64 to a T.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is a perfect way to relive your childhood without having to dig up and dust off your older gaming systems. It's classic, save-the-world fun as it's never been seen or played out before.