So, after about a month of delay, I have finally been able to experience the wii. I only own three games, but that will change, wiiports, LOZ:TP, and Trauma Center. And what more could I be playing than Zelda!? Well, alot, actually, as addicting as it is, Wiiports and Trauma Center deserve some play time too. I've also been fiddling around with all the other channels, and I havn't even started on the VC titles that I will (despite pc emulators out there), eventually get. 10 hours in, and I am just about to go and explore the Lanayru province. So, without further ado, here's is what I think of it.
The Graphics:
Defenatly, GCN level. But (in my opinion) the best of GCN, even better then resident evil 4's graphics. Still, a slight disapointment for the wii however. The large amounts of bloom lighting, especialy in the twilight realm are nice, but they do almost nothing to hide some of the game's hideous mesh textures. The model skins look surprisingly good though. The choriagraphy engine is 2D, but can still combat with Half-Life 2's source enigne; which is most impressive.  
The Sound:
The sound in this game is hurting badly, the games largest dissapointment, I'm afraid. The sound effects are the best part of it, they are good, but most were just tacked off form wind waker, so a loss in orignality. There is barely any voice acting,  and this, really, isn't a problem at all; the chartacters little grunts and such are enough. The music is not that great, no, it's not the fact that it's mainly midi (even the chorus is midi, sheesh) it's the fact that it just doesn't sound great. Wind Waker's music and majora's mask music were spot-on, but this? no... The tunes that are actually pleasing are the twilight realms surreal sounds and the hyrule day theme. and even the hyrule day theme just sounds like a watered down version of Oot's.
The Design:
Beutiful. Appsolutly impressive. The Zelda series has always been like this, but this truly smashes it out of the park. I thought Wind Waker's design was it, but this is inredible, the dungeons to the massive hyrule field, it's all been spectacular.
The Story:
Most of you know the deal by now. The story is so far a blast, the hyrule castle stuff was great and I think midna was a great character for the series. Each major character has their own personality which helps too. If the story keeps up like this I will be impressed.
The Gameplay:
Well the control is pretty smooth, and I only have a few problems: first of all, the battery life is much too quick, if I keep playing the wii at this rate I'll be switching batteries every week! Second, sometimes, the nunchuck just looses response and Link keeps walking in one direction. Finally, the wiimote speaker tends to choke up sometimes. So far the wiimote for zelda feels more tacked on then actualy enjoying it more then the button mashing. Except for fishing. Fishing is really fun with the wiimote and don't get me wrong about the wii's control scheme, I love using the wiimote in wiisports and trauma center. The gameplay, is of course über fun. It's a refind zelda, like all the good things about previous zeldas' in one. And there's so much to explore and do, like wind waker, but with epona. And that is MUCH, MUCH, MUCH, MUUUUUUUUCH, funner then that god-awful sailing. Still, it doesn't fell... Orignal. I think it's because the Twilight realm doesn't feel as orignal as it should, I mean wolf has some features, and so does the Twilight, but it doesn't feel... epic, maybe? I don't know, but it's definatly missing something.
So Far:
Awesome, it ties Ocarina of time as my favorite game of all time right now. I hope it doesn't drag on later in the game, and get tedious, but right now it's great. Expect a review from me of this game and trauma center in due time.

i thought that the sound was really cool. i had read (other) reviews saying it was crap but i think that it was actually really good. i dont mind the graphics being crap... well the background was shite but the character of link was actually pretty good. And what is with your batteries? I got my wii on the 7th of December and I haven't had to change them yet, lol.

Good review overall, but :O HOW COULD YOU NOT MENTION THE CINEMATICS?!?!?! THEY WERE LIKE ONE OF THE BEST PARTS OF THE GAME!!! I just beat the "Ruler" of the Twili (Zant) and so far for me it hasnt got tedious.

well, i've only epxeirenced one, and it was pretty good, but I figured I'd leave off the cinemas until the final review

great pre review or whatever

I agree with toad the sound was fine it was good in some places especially zora place because it was midi didnt matter it sounded good

The textures on some of twilights princess environments like ground  mountains walls and stuff were terrible they were all blurry and streched but the characters were good as taaod said link looked awsome so did all the enemies and bosses

im looking forward to the final review

i thought the boss fyrus looked really good. he was actually pretty cool too. the temples, such as the fire temple, show how great the gameplay is.

Those graphics are the best the nintendo gamecube could do...cause remember this game was made for the NGC first...the Wii graphics in my opinion are underestimated cause everyone says there crap....The few people ive talked to that work at a local gamestop said the wii graphics are gonna be sweet on later games.....ex.you can see marios shoelace on his shoes.....cant wait

Ok, I'd like to clarify on a few things. First of all, I am fully aware that the graphics are ported from the GCN, I also am aware of what the Wii's potenial is, not just that "30% better then xbox" I know right down to the G-FLOPS.
Secondly, anybody who uses PAL, will see some decently higher resolution than NTSC, so the graphics will look better. But, look at the texture of the mesh (terrain, mountains, ground, etc...) it has been so anti-aliased that not even the lighting can hide it. The lighting is very good, it definaly shows the potenial of the GCN. Also, look at the model textures, or skins. They are very high qualtiy, because they weren't anti-aliased as much. (yes that's right, anti-aliasing can be bad too) But the best is, the choriagraphy. I mean the facial expressions are 2D textures, now look at those and look at half-life 2's 3D face engine... Zelda can actually pose a threat to it. Most impressive...

woooooo go  PAL