I'm back and hopefully I'll be a little more consistent in writing up some blog posts. If you have any suggestions for what I should write about, please comment on any of my blog posts or on Facebook, thank you!
So recently while I've been looking for a job since I finally completed all graduation requirements successfully I've been playing a few video games. Titles include The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX. As I was playing these games a few thoughts came to me:
1. I should ask if people like Mario or Zelda better.
2. I should write about my experiences with some games.
3. I should try to speedrun a few more games besides Portal.
So far I've only completed the first thought and was surprised to see that in my Facebook poll that LoZ (Legend of Zelda) beat Mario 62 percent to 38 percent. I expected more people to pick the seemingly more accessible and ubiquitous Mario, but either way one goes, you can't go wrong with playing a Mario game or a Zelda game.
As for the second point, this post will be the first of two discussing my experiences with games. This post will focus on games within the Legend of Zelda series while the next post will focus on Mario games. To any avid gamers out there, I only speak from my own experiences with the games I've played.
So I'll start with the game that started it all for the Legend of Zelda: The Legend of Zelda. Released in 1986 on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), it was touted for a large overworld called Hyrule that the player could explore from the first button press and a less than linear style of playthrough. Even with three hearts and a wooden sword you could travel to a mountain, a lake, a graveyard, a forest puzzle, and most of the dungeons even if you aren't prepared for defeating enemies. My experience with it was through the Virtual Console (VC) release on the Nintendo 3DS, so I never had the awe and amazement a child of the 1980s would have had playing the game for the first time. Anyways, in my opinion, the combat system was a bit lacking in that the sword attack is a basic forward stab and the enemies had to be in the right place at the right time for an attack to land, also the Bubble enemies were very annoying as they were invincible in this game. I recommend playing this game only if you want to see where it all started or if you want less hand-holding. There's also a Second Quest if you find the main quest too easy.
Next I'll discuss The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX. This is a Game Boy Color game that is available on the Nintendo e-shop for the 3DS. The DX stands for "deluxe" which in this case means the game is in color as the original Link's Awakening was in monochrome for the original Game Boy. Instead of traveling around Hyrule, Link is tasked with going around Koholint Island to collect eight instruments to wake up the Wind Fish and there's no Zelda to be saved. To the people who wanted a Zelda game on a handheld console, you could say it was a Dream come true. Although the sequence of the story is a bit more linear than the original LoZ, the large map still allowed for much exploration. Also the soundtrack was good for 8-bit chiptunes.
Now I'll discuss what more than a few gamers claim is the G.O.A.T: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. This was Link's big splash into 3D and gamers and critics alike loved it. I have the 3DS version of the game, so I still have a Master Quest to complete. Anyways, Link starts out believing he is a Kokiri boy since he's only known his home of the Kokiri Forest up until the Great Deku Tree, the guardian of the Kokiri tells a fairy named Navi to guide Link to him. Link learns of his true destiny as a hero and is set off to meet Zelda and gather three stones to open the Temple of Time to retrieve the Master Sword, also known as the Blade of Evil's Bane. Along the way he gathers the stones and makes friends with the rocky Gorons and the aquatic Zora while saving Hyrule from evil. Once Link has gathered the stones and the Ocarina of Time from a Zelda fleeing the evil Ganondorf (the Gerudo form of Ganon), he pulls the Master Sword from his pedestal but Ganondorf manages to infiltrate the spirit realm and only manages to obtain a third of the Triforce he was seeking. Seven years later, an adult Link sets about Hyrule to gather medallions and wake up the sages so that they may defeat Ganondorf. In my opinion, the hype about Ocarina of Time is justified as it is a great game, I enjoyed most of the combat, the puzzles were good, the soundtrack has memorable tunes, and energy ball tennis with Ganondorf is much better with an empty bottle. I may make a separate post specifically for Ocarina of Time, including my progress through the Master Quest.
Finally, I'll end this post with the Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons games. Released on the Game Boy Color in 2001, like Link's Awakening DX, I have the 3DS VC copies of the games. These games depart from the traditional Zelda formula in some ways while keeping faithful to the formula in others. Instead of taking place in Hyrule like other Zelda games, OoA (Ages) takes place in Labrynna and the person to save is the oracle Nayru, the Oracle of Ages, while OoS takes place in Holodrum and Din, the Oracle of Seasons, is the one who needs to be saved. OoA's main gimmick is time travel, similarly to OoT, except in OoA, the key item is a harp rather than the Master Sword as it is in OoT. Even the final bosses are different as instead of the formulaic Ganon, OoA has the sorceress Veran while OoS has Link fighting Onox who isn't what he looks like at first. I have a lot more to say about the Oracle games, but I'll have to save it for a future post.
I have played other Zelda games, but I have either not completed them, or only had access to them thanks to my mom who loves Zelda. Hopefully one day Nintendo will have GameCube and Game Boy Advance games re-released on the Virtual Console or something similar, I wouldn't mind playing some of my late childhood favorites and try games I haven't tried before. If you have any suggestions for Zelda games I should play, please comment on this post or wherever I share this post. Thanks for reading!
