Daily Debate: Did the Tingle Tuner Make the Tingle Statue Side Quest Irrelevant?
Posted on May 23 2019 by Michaela El-Ters
When I first started playing The Wind Waker as a kid, I followed the player’s guide pretty religiously — at least when it came to the story and collectible items. I remember skimming over the parts that mentioned anything about a Tingle Tuner since I didn’t have a Gameboy Advance of my own, so it represented a mechanic I had no interest in.
The reward for the Tingle Statue side quest in The Wind Waker isn’t the worst (you get Rupees for finding the statues, and they also give hints to a respawn point for even more Rupees), but because of the limited nature of the side quest and the required Gameboy Advance, it became buried under a gimmick instead of being a legitimately fun side quest for all players to enjoy. Between the shoehorned mechanic required to even discover the side quest and the fact that the Tingle Tuner is replaced with the Tingle Bottle in The Wind Waker HD (which eliminates the side quest entirely), the result is a side quest that is limited to the original game and rendered irrelevant. Collecting Tingle Statues could have been a fun idea for a side quest if it didn’t require the Gameboy Advance to complete it.
What do you think? Did the Tingle Statue side quest in The Wind Waker really need the Gameboy Advance, or did it just reinforce the Tingle Tuner as a forgotten blend of handheld and home consoles? Let us know in the comments!
Michaela El-Ters is a Senior Editor for Zelda Dungeon. She is also an Senior Writer for Boss Rush Network, and writes blogs and streams games on Objection Network. Her favorite Zelda game changes with the seasons, but the series as a whole is near and dear to her heart.
