Zelda Retrospective Part 2

In 1992 North America finally got their hands on the SNES' A Link to the Past.  I remember countless hours playing this title as a kid yet just like it's NES predecessors, I never quite reached the end, at least not when it first released.  I had no idea as a child that this would eventually become my favorite game of all time.  While it's true that I've spent more hours playing other titles (Halo 2, COD, etc) I can't think of many other titles that I've beaten multiple times, at different ages, that aged this gracefully.  My most recent playthrough was a couple years ago on the GBA port and I periodically do so because of how much I love this game.  Why do I love it so much?  Where do I begin?

SNES Zelda returned Link to the top-down perspective from the first title and solidified the system we all know today.  The evil wizard Agahnim is threatening to break a seal created by the Seven Sages hundreds of years ago.  The seal is the only thing keeping recurring villian Ganon trapped in the Dark World and the only way to stop Agahnim is with the Master Sword.  In order to obtain the sword, Link must first prove his worth by retrieving 3 pendants.  After successfully gaining the sword Link comes face to face with Agahnim but really old SPOILER he's too late and Princess Zelda is sent to the Dark World.  After defeating Agahnim Link is also sent to the Dark World where he must find and save the seven sages descendants until the final confrontation with Ganon. 

I spent so much time trekking Hyrule and enjoying it's lush environment that I was actually upset when I saw it's state in the Dark World.  As nervous and excited as I was when I first entered this parallel universe, I was thankfully greeted with one of the greatest videogame themes of all time.  Seeing the state of Dark Hyrule truly made me sad the first time and made matters worse by granting Link the Magic Mirror.  With this mirror, players could instantly transfer from the Light World to the Dark and vice versa.  While this was an integral mechanic of the game, I hated having to transfer happy towns into broken down buildings filled with monsters.  Even though I was still a kid at the time, doing so today still kinda tugs at some strings and is a true testament to this game's timelessness.  Aside from aesthetics and such, gameplay also got a huge boost.  Instead of jabbing enemies to death, Link actually swung his sword now.  Link also could move in all 8 directions and was given new weapons that have become trademarks today (hookshot).  Bosses now filled the screens, puzzles were more creative, the game looked gorgeous (still does!) and the adventure was grand and memorable.  For anyone who has played this game, they can testify as to how great an adventure it truly is.  If you have yet to play it, your best bet is to get it on the Wii Virtual Console because the SNES version as well as the GBA port can be pretty pricey these days.  No matter how many games I've played, this is truly and may always remain my favorite game of all time. 

A few years later, development began on a port of A Link to the Past for the Game Boy.  Eventually, the Game Boy game became it's own original title and we were granted the excellent Link's Awakening.  Considered non-canonical (then again, is there really much order in Zelda lore?) Awakening is ONCE AGAIN OLD SPOILER ALERT sort of a dream, which makes sense since it has little to do with Hyrule and Princess Zelda gets barely a passing mention.  Seeking further training following the events of A Link to the Past, Link has an accident and washes up on Koholint Island.  Here he is greeted by Marin (also seen in Zelda 64) and is told by an Owl that in order to return to Hyrule, he must awaken the Windfish.  In order to do so, he must gather the 8 instruments around the island.  The island is inhabited by Nighmarish creatures that wish to rule the Windfish's dreams but eventually Link accomplishes his task and is then SPOILER THAT YOU SERIOUSLY SHOULD KNOW BY NOW told that this whole ordeal is just a dream. 

Link's Awakening had memorable characters and added mechanics rarely seen even today in Zelda titles.  Players were granted the ability to jump (last seen in Zelda II) and many fourth wall breaking jokes were also put into the games dialogue.  Cameo appearances from Kirby, Wart (Mario 2), Yoshi, and even Chomp helped to further Awakening from previous Zelda titles but gameplay was classic Zelda and is widely regarded as one of the greatest games of all time, even warranting a color remake released in 1998.  As much as I'd like to, it's kind of hard for me to differentiate my memories of the original version and the remade DX version since I played both at a young age, but one thing that remains constant is the amount of fun both games brought.  Minigames like fishing and the claw machine actually had me amazed at what Nintendo's classic handheld could do and I believe this was the first Zelda game I ever beat.  I know most gamers get upset when developers pull the "it was all a DREAM" twist at the end of games but I actually didn't mind it.  I appreciate the game for what it is and that's a memorable and well-made game that I'd recommend to any Game Boy owner anyday.  Various trading side-quests, robbing the store and having my name changed to THIEF, and Link's relationship with Marin.  Thinking back, I might have to say that Marin may be my first videogame character crush ever!  Not really something to be proud of, but I could care less because I was young, Marin is an awesome character, and if you think I'm a loser then you're an even bigger loser for reading the ramblings of a Zelda nerd! 

Part 3 coming soon hopefully!

Zelda Retrospective Part 1

I thank God for granting me another year in decent health and am very thankful to everyone out there reading this.  Today I am 24 and not too long ago, one of my favorite game franchises celebrated it's 25th anniversary.  I'm of course talking about The Legend of Zelda and I felt that this would be the perfect time to reflect not only upon the franchise itself, but also the individual characters and the role they played in my life.  Join me on my retrospective of one of the most influential franchises in gaming history and possibly share your thoughts in a comment below.

Keep in mind, this is all opinionated and based entirely on my own experiences.  You're entitled to your own opinions and I respect them.  Also, this is mainly written fresh from the mind so there may be some errors.

I was born in 1987, the same year that The Legend of Zelda was released in America.  Technically, the Americanized Zelda franchise is the same age as mine but since it was first released in Japan in 1986, it really is 25 years old.  I began playing games at a young age and managed to beat the original Mario Bros at the age of 2 or 3.  I remember one day my pops inserted this shiny gold cartridge into our NES and this odd tan colored background came up.  I've always had a good memory and would often memorize things my dad did whenever he played.  Sometimes, he would forget to hold down reset when turning his system off and *poof* all of his memory would be deleted, meaning he'd start from the beginning.  This ensured that I spent many hours seeing the same sequences repeated which embedded them into my head. 

When I finally decided to attempt this massive quest, I got to about the 2nd dungeon until I began to get lost.  Keep in mind that I was only 4 or 5 at the time and majority of the games we played as kids involved us moving right and beating up everything in our way so it's not surprising I would lose my way.  I eventually would grow tired of not knowing where to go and would eventually play something else but every so often I would go back and as I continued to grow I would get further and further.  This was before the internet was readily available with guides and I didn't have a subscription to Nintendo Power so I had to rely on help from my father or hope to get lucky.  For those who played the original Zelda, this game was ripe with secrets!  Whereas more current Zelda titles usually indicate explodable walls with an obvious crack, some walls in the original NES didn't have cracks and could easily be missed.  This resulted in many hours spent bombing every wall and attempting to burn every bush around which didn't really translate to much fun as a kid. 

Thankfully, I was able to replay through the Legend of Zelda on my GBA and made it all the way up to Ganon, yet for some reason never beat him.  I had a bad habit at the time of making it to the final level/dungeon/boss in most games but never beating them (like Beyond Good & Evil, Jak II) and regret not finishing him off.  It might have had to do with the fact that I was spoiled with controls more akin to A Link to the Past and hated jabbing enemies to death as opposed to Link's sword slash.  This is not to take anything away from the Legend of Zelda and unlike some NES classics (Metroid) this game has actually aged pretty well.  I as well as many others out there regard this title as one of the most influential titles ever created and while I don't consider it the best, it definitely is a great lesson in nostalgic gaming.

While I have warm fuzzy feelings when discussing the original Legend of Zelda, the same can't be said for it's sequel The Adventure of Link.  I know that many fans out there are crying foul but please allow me the opportunity to defend my opinion.  I was a young kid and wasn't ready for the drastic changes along with the increased difficulty so I quickly dismissed this title.  Nintendo took a risk changing it's well praised top-down perspective along with it's formula in favor of a more dominant side-scrolling romp.  These days it's a pretty wide agreement that Zelda II was a very good title, but like Mario 2, there are still some out there that consider it the dark sheep in their respective franchises.  It has been years since I touched Zelda II but I truly can't consider myself a fan unless I make an attempt to play through this underappreciated gem.

*I didn't realize how much I had to say about Zelda so I will be splitting this up into different parts.  I don't know how many parts I'm going to have so I will try to continue as soon as possible.  Please let me know your opinions and feel free to share your own thoughts.  Thanks for reading!