Miyamoto: Galaxy was “conservative,” Twilight Princess was “missing something”
Thursday, October 30th, 2008 at 1:54pm by Derek
Super Mario Galaxy played it safe, and Twilight Princess was missing what makes Zelda games special.
Or so says their creator.
In an interview yesterday with MTV Multiplayer, Nintendo development guru Shigeru Miyamoto addressed the most common criticisms of his latest Mario and Zelda games by essentially agreeing with them.
What I’ve been saying to our development teams recently is that Twilight Princess was not a bad game, by any means. But still, it felt like there was something missing. And while I personally feel like Super Mario Galaxy was able to do some things that were very new and were very unique, at the same time, certain elements of it do feel somewhat conservative in terms of how far we branched out with design.
Miyamoto also discusses development philosophy, Spore, DSi and Punch-Out!! in the interview, the last of a three-part discussion.
According to VGChartz, Super Mario Galaxy has sold 7.19 million copies worldwide since launching less than one year ago. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess has sold 4.85 million copies worldwide on Wii, more than any Zelda game since 1998′s Ocarina of Time.
October 30th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
One interesting fact that Shiggy pointed out in this interview really grabbed my attention:
“With DSi there’s a couple of things. One is just the DSi music player. It’s almost kind of silly. While you’re listening to your audio tracks you can sit there — and we haven’t really talked about it a lot — but you can press the buttons and play drums along with the music you’re listening to. Or even the way you can speed it up and slow down independently of pitch.”
That’s definitely a new feature I wasn’t aware of. With this piece of creativity established for the DSi, this definitely increases my yearning for a DSi to be released here in North America.
October 30th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
I loved both Twilight Princess and Galaxy. With TP, I thought that the epic feel of Zelda games was missing, but at least it was better than Phantom Hourglass. As for Galaxy, I loved it the whole way through.
October 30th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
[...] (via MTV Multiplayer, Infendo.com) [...]
October 30th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
I’m with you, DmNt. Only I’d take the TP praise a step further; I think it was the best Zelda I’ve ever played. Ocarina of Time was the “greater” game, but TP controls better, looks better, has better bosses, better dungeons…I much preferred Twilight Princess.
October 30th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
yup- I gave up on TP pretty quickly. it definitely missed something. Given the direction of recent Zelda games, I’m pessimistic that Nintendo will fix it for me. Wonder what Miyamoto thought was missing…?
Galaxy seemed like good ol 3D mario fun. I never thought mario 3 was really a radical change to what came before, just a supremely polished version of what we’d always wanted.
October 30th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
I was not very impressed with Zelda Twilight Princess, compared with how I was (and still am!) with Zelda Wind Waker…
October 30th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
I agree TP was missing something… but it doesn’t change the fact that it was still the best version of Zelda to me. Honestly, OoT hasn’t aged well at all graphically and even something as simple as the bow is something I don’t ever want to go back to doing with an analog stick (and hate it when I must).
Nice to see he recognizes what’s missing and I can’t wait to see what this new creative energy does for the franchises. Anyone care to bet on whether we’ll see these for the Wii or Wii2?
October 30th, 2008 at 6:26 pm
Wind Waker is the best Zelda game, I don’t care what people say. I got all the stars way too fast in Galaxy, I didn’t play through with Luigi, lol. I can’t stand that character.
I am still waiting for the day of the Zelda werewolf orgy. Come on Nintendo. And oh LoZ Gaiden FTW…must have blood.
October 30th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
All I have to say is “yay”. Seriously, yay.
October 30th, 2008 at 7:29 pm
I have to agree with all those who said that Wind Waker is the best Zelda game, since A Link to the Past at least. Twilight Princess was definitely missing something. It is the only Zelda game I have ever played that I put down half-way through and didn’t come back to it for almost a year. Thinking back on it I think that the problem was that it tried too hard to be Ocarina of TIme, just bigger and better. The locals felt familiar, but without that same sense of awe we all felt when first playing the N64 masterpiece. The whole game felt very cut and paste. But I do believe that the story picked up in the end and differentiated itself from previous entries. Also, as cool as it was to play as a wolf, I feel that it broke the Zelda feel of the game. Just wanted to put in my sixteen cents.
October 30th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
Oh, and completely off the subject, but does anyone else feel like Nintendo is way behind on announcing a new Luigi’s Mansion game for the Wii? I mean, come on Shiggy; Wiimote = Flashlight = Fun = One less reason for me to cry myself to sleep on my big, fluffy, Kirby-shaped pillow.
October 30th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
Yup. Looks better, has better bosses and dungeons…if you’re a hardcore gamer looking for a shallow attempt at recreating the magic of Ocarina of Time, skip Wind Waker and play the suckfest that was TP…
October 30th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
@ Dark Jinjo:
Do you really have a pink, fluffy Kirby pillow?
If so….
Where?! And for how much?! 0_0
October 31st, 2008 at 5:16 am
Galaxy was great. If Miyamoto thinks it was too conservative, that can only bode will for a possible sequel (pretty please).
I think Twilight Princess missed out on the ‘living world’ feel that Majora’s Mask and Wind Waker managed to convey so well. Compare Kakariko and Hyrule Castle Town to Windfall Island or Clock Town. Without the ability to affect the lives of others in the towns, Twilight Princess just felt like a superior dungeon crawler.
Finally, in sales you missed out the nearly 2m (iirc) on Gamecube for Twilight Princess. That really takes it up there with OoT as far as sales success goes.
October 31st, 2008 at 12:50 pm
I guess I should clarify my point. I appreciate the arguments to the contrary, but Twilight Princess had me captivated and compelled to continue even more so than did Wind Waker or Majora’s Mask.
TP is, in some ways, an ultra-polished version of Ocarina of Time. But I think there are enough differences between the two to warrant such criticisms mostly inaccurate. And really, TP has as much in common with OoT as do MM and WW; they all share the same superb control scheme and general structure, and to me, that’s not a problem.
It’s what I expect from a Zelda game, and I don’t mind it. I’m not sure why so many folks are suddenly down on the Zelda formula with TP; if OoT is “identical” to TP, then so too is WW, save for mood and style.
Speaking of which, TP is darker, moodier, more atmospheric and surreal, which suits my tastes much better. The bosses are more compelling in design. The combat is better than in any Zelda game, from sword-play especially to arrow shooting. The Wii controls are superb. The scope is greater, like you’re embarking on a serious journey. I guess I just don’t see what is so bad about it as to warrant so much negativity.
I noticed some above haven’t played through the entire game yet; with all due respect, how can you write off a game you haven’t played entirely though? Like OoT, TP is an entire package, from beginning to end. And it admittedly starts slowly before really picking up as it progresses.
To each their own. But I was hooked from the very first temple.
October 31st, 2008 at 1:12 pm
TP was good, but it was just a retread of previous Zelda games. Super Mario Galaxy was fantastic. Miyamoto did not invent Metroid like that picture suggest.
November 1st, 2008 at 8:57 am
I do agree with Shiggy saying that TP was missing something. It was a great game, no doubt but there was something that just made it feel like a retread of other games for the most part. Still awesome though, great story.
As for Mario Galaxy, that was awesome, there could have been more spherical levels though, but it was still phenomenal
November 1st, 2008 at 9:33 am
@RoyalRook: I agree that Wind Waker is the BEST Zelda game ever. But come on, Luigi is my favorite character!