Twilight Princess worthy of Teen rating?

In the Legend of Zelda game series, the 13th installment, Twilight Princess is the only game that has received the T for Teen rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) due to fantasy violence and animated blood. Whether this rating is actually deserved will be explored shortly.

Hyrule Field before the Twilight

Twilight Princess is set in the land of Hyrule like most Legend of Zelda games. There are a few exceptions, of course. Link is a young farmhand who gets transformed into a wolf due to the Twilight that has descended over Hyrule.

Hyrule Castle covered in Twilight

Link discovers his destiny as the one to save Hyrule after he returns to his human form and goes on to clear dungeons, solve puzzles, and defeat many, many bad guys.

All of these are trademark parts of the Zelda series so why exactly has Twilight Princess received a T rating when fantasy violence is the meat and potatoes of the game series? One could argue that the realistic graphics have something to do with it.

Link exploring a cave full of Keese

Twilight Princess is one of the only Zelda games that focused on visually detailed graphics that looked lifelike. Link's enemies are more intricately designed, but the violence is the same as in any game. Our hero uses anything and everything in his inventory to eliminate his foes, but a sword is his weapon of choice.

In Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, sweet little cell-shaded Link finishes Ganondorf by plunging the Master Sword in his forehead. Now if that isn't fantasy violence then I don't know what is. So why Wind Waker was given an E for Everyone while Twilight Princess earned T is yet to be seen.

The other reason ESRB claimed was "animated blood." Now I've played this game multiple times and never have I seen anything that could logically pass as gore. When enemies are defeated they disappear in a puff of smoke just like in every game before them.

Link administering the Ending Blow to a Skulltula

So my only conclusion for this rating is the darker story line. Link is older, there are many people who die that he cannot save, and also a cursed people that he must fight and kill without having any way to save them. There is a grittier tale in Twilight Princess than most of the other Zelda games, with exception to Majora's Mask, which has a reputation of being the darkest.

Let's not forget about this creepy scene with the Dark Links

Nintendo's use of Zelda titles to boost console sales

Nintendo is known for several iconic characters and their brands, namely Mario from Super Mario Bros. and Link from The Legend of Zelda. While most other video game companies focus on their realistic graphics or game play, Nintendo cares more about story plot.

The Legend of Zelda game series is one of Nintendo's bread and butter video games. They have a devoted and sometimes delirious fan base that will buy anything with a Hylian crest on it, simply on principle. The series started in 1986 and has 16 official console games, along with spin-offs.

The Hylian Crest

It is very obvious that Nintendo is aware of this staunch allegiance because whenever a new console is released a new Zelda game is sure to follow shortly afterwards. Handheld devices, however, do not have an immediate game. An example of this is the fact the Game Boy Advance debuted in 2001 and The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap was released 2004.

In 1985, the Nintendo Entertainment System, better known as NES, was introduced and in 1986 The Legend of Zelda was born. Over 60 million units were sold during this time.

In 1991, the 16-bit processing Super Nintendo Entertainment System was released and soon after in 1992, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past became available.

Nintendo 64 set the new standard for 3-D gaming graphics in 1996 and in 1998 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time set the new standard for all the Zelda games to come. Ocarina of Time is still so beloved that it was recently remade for the Nintendo 3DS handheld in 3-D.

The Nintendo Gamecube debuted in 2001 along with the new Game Boy Advance. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker was released in Japan in 2002 and in North America in 2003. The Wind Waker is still one of the most controversial of the Zelda games to date due to the new art style used, which was cell-shading.

Nintendo introduced the ground-breaking motion sensing Wii in 2006 and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess also came out in 2006. Twilight Princess was originally supposed to be exclusively for the Gamecube, but as the unveiling of the Wii was approaching, Nintendo went ahead and made two versions of the game with the Wii version being a mirror of the Gamecube's edition.

One excellent example of Nintendo's savvy marketing skills is the Wii Zapper, an accessory that turns the Wii remote and Nunchuck into a sharpshooter format. The Wii Zapper is bundled with Link's Crossbow Training, a non-canon Zelda shooter game set in Twilight Princess graphics.

The Wii Zapper

There has yet to be any other must-have games that require the Zapper and it's unlikely there will be. It simply used the title of Zelda and it sold to those hard-core fans who can't get enough of Link, Twilight Princess graphics, or just some good ole fashioned shoot 'em up games.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword launched in 2011, also marking the 25th anniversary of the legendary game series, but more importantly Skyward Sword required the Wii MotionPlus, which is an accessory that improved the accuracy and recognition of users' movements of the remote. Coincidence? I think not.

The newest Nintendo console is the Wii U, which came out in 2012, and for the first time there will not be a new Legend of Zelda game ,but instead The Wind Waker will be rebooted in HD. There are rumors that later a new Zelda game will be made for Wii U, but there is insufficient information at this time for any facts.


Facts from http://www.nintendo.com/corp/history.jsp and http://zelda.com/universe/games/index.jsp