aged the legend of zelda: oracle of ages

i’m getting near to the end of finishing all the games in the zelda series. of the three i had remaining i decided to tackle oracle of ages for game boy color. i’d played its companion, oracle of seasons, a few years ago and had enjoyed that game, but since i knew the games were going to be very similar i’d held off on it, and for better or worse the game does feel very much like seasons. both were heavily based on link’s awakening, so already the game felt overly familiar, just in terms of the presentation.

in terms of the gameplay there really weren’t many surprises, aside from one wholly unique item, a unique race, and the occasional minor variation on previously seen items. as with seasons it was fun to see the animal helpers again and some 2-d versions of characters from ocarina and majora’s mask. although the general reputation seems to be that seasons emphasizes action more than ages, which emphasizes puzzles, the amount and level of the puzzles in ages didn’t seem much different than usual. the game’s central past/present game mechanic felt tired by now, so it suffered in comparison with the slightly more-unique ability to change the seasons in seasons, even though seasons is probably less unique overall due to its many references to the original NES zelda. as with seasons the rings felt fairly pointless, and the pair’s linking system didn’t really grab me either, although a playthrough in the other direction might make me appreciate that more. i didn’t end up bothering with the password feature at all which put me at a distinct disadvantage for the linked endgame since i hadn’t gotten any of the linked-game powerups, including the best sword in the games. this ended up making the final battles harder and more frustrating than they should’ve been, but i suppose i can’t really fault the games for that too much.

all in all this was a typically solid zelda game, but coming near the end of my zelda experiences it really didn’t feel like it adds much new to the series as a whole. hopefully by the time i finish the last two games there will be some new zelda games to tackle, and although i haven’t made much progress on replaying the other series that i’ve finished, it’ll definitely be interesting to see what i think about this game the second time through.

aged the legend of zelda: oracle of ages links:
- many of the links in my post about oracle of seasons are relevant
- official site for the game: includes screenshots, movies, and info on the cast of characters
- entry at zeldawiki.org for this game and for the pair, including details on the the linked-game passwords
- official FAQ and walkthrough at zelda.com
- official japanese site for the games with even more official character artwork
- an interesting article on early versions of the games

gunnin’ for a high score in link’s crossbow training

although there have been almost countless mario spin-offs, spin-offs of other 1st-party franchises have been fairly rare. link’s crossbow training, released for wii, was a fairly recent exception, being, of course, a spin-off of the zelda series. when the wii was announced it was immediately clear that light-gun style games, which nintendo pioneered even before the NES’s duck hunt, would be a perfect fit for the new pointer-based controls, and link’s crossbow training was released just a year after the wii debuted.

the game is a fairly straightforward arcade-style shooter. there are several different type of stages: one that’s more on-rails and focused on hitting the bullseye of targets or approaching enemies; one where you stand in a fixed location and pivot around 360 degrees, machine-gun turret-style; and one like an FPS where you actually walk around and take out targets. the latter takes advantage of the zapper peripheral. the zapper is a plastic shell that the wiimote and nunchuk slot into, and the game was sold with it. although the zapper never really caught on otherwise, it’s decently well designed (not quite as perfectly as the wii wheel, though). the trigger is a bit mushier than i would like, but otherwise it fulfills its purpose of providing a bit more weight and balance than just holding the bare wiimote with a stiff arm.

although having different types of levels is good and it was fun to be back in the world of twilight princess (without the hazy sunlight graphics), the game feels fairly basic overall. as you’d expect with a light-gun shooter, the game emphasizes not breaking your combo streak by not missing any shots, and you can earn medals based on your high scores. the medals serve no purpose other than to help you track your progress, but levels are presented in groups of three so even if you poorly in one stage you can still make it up in another. aside from a pair of fairly basic boss fights that help provide some variety, there aren’t really any surprises. the game’s clearly not up to the level of something like house of the dead 2, and even wii play felt like a more fun and more complete experience.

overall link’s crossbow training is serviceable as a side game and on a wiiware sort of level, but otherwise is fairly disposable. it’s nice to see a zelda spin-off, but i’m glad i didn’t have to pay much for the fairly forgettable experience.

gunnin’ for a high score with these link’s crossbow training links:
- official page at nintendo.com
- entry at zelda.wikia.com, has details on game modes and scoring
- the entry at strategywiki.org includes faqs on the locations of scarecrows and orange rupees
- iwata asks feature

hyrule sports resort in the legend of zelda: skyward sword

i continue to make progress on playing through the zelda series, and recently i finished the latest entry, skyward sword. the game has been a long time coming and the developers were promising that the game would take the series in some new directions, but although there are some notable diversions from the series the majority of these new game elements just feel borrowed from other series.

of the reviews i’ve come across, the one at 1up.com hits most of the same criticisms that i have of the game. my topmost complaint is that the use of wii motion plus throughout the game just feels too similar to wii sports resort, specifically the bomb mechanics (previously seen as basketball tossing and bowling), the bow and arrow (archery), and the beetle piloting (skydiving). only the latter offers something new to the wii library’s gameplay mechanics as a whole, not just the zelda series. the swordfighting is better than it was in wii sports resort, but although it requires some fast reflexes the novelty wears off quickly and it didn’t end up keeping my interest throughout the game. by the end i was mostly just back to waggling and spin attacking except for the times i absolutely had to slice in the right direction. the combination of sword and shield could have led to some more interesting gameplay, but i pretty much completely ignored the shield mechanics since shields break easily. also, the harp is probably the least-integral instrument in all the zelda games, and the few times you do have to play it the interaction is as mindless as playing instruments in wii music. the biggest new mechanic is also the least exciting, which is dowsing, where you point the sword in different directions in order to locate items. this works pretty well and offers some novelty, but it’s used throughout the game and overstays its welcome.

aside from the addition of wii motion plus, the biggest changes to the game were due to changes in pacing. these took many different forms, none of which seemed like much of an improvement. first off, in the three main land areas of the game there’s no distinction between dungeons and the overworld, so that getting to the dungeon requires as much puzzle-solving as there is actually inside the dungeon. this has happened in varying degrees in the other games, but not nearly so extensively as in this one. on the one hand this lack of break in the action does make these outside environments feel more necessary, but on the other hand it makes the game’s pace feel somewhat relentless and actually becomes monotonous. to provide a break there’s skyloft, the central town located in the sky, which has a large cast of characters each with their own problems. much like majora’s mask solving the townspeople’s problems draws you back to that area (as well as earning you optional items that provide some small aid to link on his quest), but the town itself is not always as much of a hub as it should be, since most of the time you can skip past it and go directly from one land area to the next. there’s also a series of small, unconnected islands in the sky that much like wind waker‘s great sea allows you to stop and explore, but most of the islands contain treasures that can only be retrieved after finding “goddess cubes”, which removes the sense of discovery and exploration. goddess cubes, introduced in this game, are scattered around the land areas and provide a mostly enjoyable sidequest centered on solving even more puzzles to gain even more, only somewhat-useful, treasures.

this “density” of content has been much touted and no doubt many zelda fans will revel in it, but i found myself wishing that the developers had edited the game more instead of keeping every idea they had. the other departure to the series is that the game is structured so that you visit many areas multiple times with different objectives. this feels directly taken from the concept pioneered by super mario 64 and carried through its successors, but unlike those games here it just feels like extra, unnecessary padding especially since the repetitions are mostly fairly rote (for example, on one revisit you’re tasked with an escort mission, which is about as tedious as all escort missions are, and in another one you’re given a collectathon task, which easily ranks among my least favorite gameplay mechanics ever). this emphasis on revisiting previous areas was an effort to provide the game with an epic scale without the large (and thus less dense) world of twilight princess, but the game already has enough content without having to tack on these extra tasks.

the game has a few other, relatively minor, new features, including a nice watercolor aesthetic, a stamina meter that provides link with a more prince of persia-like spryness, and a new limit on the number of items you can hold in your “adventure pouch”, requiring some minor strategy in resource management. it also has a system whereby you can collect bugs and treasures in order to upgrade your special items and potions. the game’s secondary weapons feel fairly substandard in general as it is, but as all of the upgrades are optional they don’t feel integral to the game in any way. the game’s most notable addition to the series is the expansion of the zelda mythology and the introduction of a host of new character types that no doubt will be riffed on in many future games. none of them match midna from twilight princess, however, and fi, link’s companion in this game, particularly suffers from the comparison. the new races, unfortunately, also feel completely interchangeable with any of the more-familiar races of the series, but the new villain, ghirahim, is a memorable, albeit melodramatic, antagonist. also, this is the most plotted zelda title yet, and although that’s not saying much there is a host of cinema scenes that help bring the world of the game alive. as a nice bonus, the deluxe version of the game features a snazzy gold wii remote and a CD of symphonic recordings of some of the music from the series (including a nice medley that opens with the great overworld theme from spirit tracks).

i’m continually hoping that nintendo reworks their core franchises more, and although there is the sense that the developers were trying to break new ground, by borrowing so heavily from themselves the team has missed out in exploring something that’s really new. as it is skyward sword lands pretty much smack in the middle of my ranking of the zelda series, and although it’s a high-quality game that beats out the majority of games by other developers, for me it just doesn’t match the high bar the zelda series sets.

raise your sword skyward to these skyward sword links:
- zeldadungeon.net provides the best site on the game
- nintendojo’s review is also worth a read
- official site: includes a spoiler-filled run-down of all the items and loads of videos
- iwata asks feature
- if you’re wondering what happens if you choose the other option for what to do with cawlin’s letter, check out this video on youtube
- in case you don’t already know about the game-breaking glitch check out this link. you can find the info on the fix here.
- observant fans quickly discovered that the game’s main theme, “the ballad of the goddess”, was actually “zelda’s lullaby” backwards. sweeet.
- entry at metacritic
- entry at zelda.wikia.com
- entry at wikipedia

spirited spirit tracks

even though it had been little more than half a year since i’d finished phantom hourglass i ended up playing through its immediate sequel the legend of zelda: spirit tracks. zelda fans seem to be divided when comparing it to its predecessor: they either strongly prefer one or the other. (the comments in this post at gonintendo.com about the difference in sales between the two games provides a good sampling.)

i fall squarely in the spirit tracks camp, for several reasons. first off, i, along with many other people, was initially very skeptical about the central train mechanics, and was worried it was too un-zelda-like. the creators themselves (as discussed in the as always insightful iwata asks feature for the game) were initially unsure about this as well, but it works quite well as a variation of the ship-sailing mechanic seen in hourglass. although there are occasional reprieves, travelling by train gets to be rather dull, but after wind waker and hourglass i was just relieved that i didn’t have to endure any more of that monotonous sailing.

in general phantom hourglass cribbed too much from wind waker, and in spirit tracks you can really feel the creators enjoying the freedom of not having to rely on a previous template, despite reusing the same game engine. in fact, as with majora’s mask‘s reuse of ocarina of time‘s engine, being freed of focusing on the game engine seems to have given the zelda team the opportunity to develop some almost completely new ideas for the series, and in this case the biggest one is the successful dual-character mechanic involving zelda herself in a starring role for the first time (although similar gameplay has been used to a lesser extent in other zelda games). this in itself would be noteworthy, but aside from some slightly awkward controls the ghost/link partnership provides some great gameplay that doesn’t get stale, helped by the fact that, as with phantom hourglass, these sections take place in the central multi-part dungeon and alternate with the more-traditional dungeons. (although unlike hourglass thankfully you don’t have to trek through the same sections over and over again.)

the game also wins points for being notably more difficult than hourglass. the touchscreen controls are almost identical, as are many of the items, but there are a few new items, one of which is completely new to the series. the DS’s mic input is a bit overused for my taste, but it does help make the game distinct from others in the series. the sidequests are as useless as ever and the useless ship parts make a reappearance here as train parts, but i definitely appreciated that the tedious and slow treasure-hauling mechanic from hourglass is replaced by a snappy “hunt the rabbit” mini-game.

all in all even though i played it a bit too soon after hourglass, spirit tracks feels superior in pretty much every way, and not only that but it it’s a highlight to the entire series as well. so much so that it somewhat surprisingly chugs ahead of many of the other zelda games i’ve played recently and onto my “greatest games of all time” list. the game’s mechanics are so well-integrated with the DS itself that it’s hard to imagine how the inevitable 3DS zelda is going to top it, but if any company can be counted on to continue to impress, it’s nintendo. looking forward to that whenever it comes, but in the meantime i’m excited to see what they come up with in the upcoming skyward sword, due out in just under a month.

some spirited spirit tracks links:
- the official site doesn’t have many surprises, but it does include some official wallpapers
- entry at zelda.wikia.com. can you believe this is the 15th game in the series??
- great commercial for the game that aired in north america
- as a promotion, aardman animations created several flipnotes for the game
- the game was featured on a recent edition of nintendo week
- and a bit of trivia: apparently only north america got a different box for the game

the original legendary the legend of zelda

obsessive-compulsive that i am, i’ve been working my way through the zelda series. i needed a quick game to finish last week, so even though there are still a few in the series i haven’t played yet i picked up my copy of the original the legend of zelda for NES which i’ve been meaning to replay for a while.

it’s pretty much impossible for me to judge the game objectively as it was the first NES game i ever owned. even though i had played other early NES classics like mario and duck hunt, excitebike, and gyromite at friends’ houses, zelda was my first and i played it compulsively (some things never change). my mom wouldn’t let us play on weekdays, so on saturday mornings my brother and i would get up ridiculously early to play. i don’t remember the details about these sessions, but i do remember burning every bush and bombing every wall in order to uncover all the game’s many (and, from a modern POV, completely useless) secrets and being amazed at the fact the game includes a 2nd quest, basically doubling the length of the game. this was also one of the rare games that i remember kids in school passing around now-hilarious misinformation about, such as “did you get the purple ring yet?” ha ha.

replaying the game now, at least 10 years since i last even looked at it and probably at least 20 since i’ve last beaten it, was definitely an interesting experience. although i remembered exactly where every heart container, item, store, and dungeon was, there were some details i’d forgotten, like the clock item, the occasional enemy that hasn’t become a series staple (e.g. vires, patra, manhandla), or exactly what order the dungeons are. (incidentally, another thing that was entertaining that i’d never noticed it was that in the credits miyamoto is referred to as “miyahon”. online people seem to generally assume this was some sort of misspelling, but i remember reading somewhere that in those days companies had their employees intentionally use pseudonyms in the credits to avoid having the poached by rival companies.) dungeons were entirely straightforward and, with perhaps the exception of the last one, lacked the puzzle-solving emphasis that its sequels have. the items acquired are all fun and memorable, as is the music, graphics, and for the most part the enemy design. instead of a focus on puzzles there ends up being slightly more emphasis on combat: parts of the game were harder than i remembered, and i have to admit that i ended up having to continue more than a couple of times. it was also refreshing that the game isn’t so formulaic: you don’t get all the items you need to complete the game from dungeons; the boss of a dungeon isn’t necessarily weak against the item you do get in that dungeon; and some dungeons have more than one item.

the real emphasis of the game is, of course, on the almost entirely unguided exploration, and this is what makes me hesitate in my evaluation. the instruction manual points the way to the first two levels, but i could easily see how people would get frustrated at not knowing where to go. i didn’t have this problem because at the same time i got the game way back in 1987 i also got a copy of the official nintendo player’s guide which contained a basic guide to the majority of the first quest. of course now i would eschew such handicaps, but i have to wonder how my opinion of the game would have been different if i hadn’t had it. even now i’m leery of starting in on the second quest because i really don’t remember much about it except vaguely where the dungeons are and that there’s a lot of time wasted trying to walk through walls (the later sequels let you test walls with your sword to see if you can bomb them or not).

all in all this was a great trip down memory lane, and a great look back at the origins of what has become one of the all-time great video game series. it all started here, but even beyond that this is still a fun and colorful game and astoundingly polished and innovative for its time. the game shows its age, though, more so than the NES mario games, and the inevitable frustrations of the unguided overworld would make this off-putting for the uninitiated today and make me inclined to rank this a little more harshly than i would otherwise. but overall, yes, this is another NES classic that i’m happy to see still holds up for the most part, and it makes it onto my ever-increasing list of “greatest games of all time”.

some legendary zelda links:
- zeldadungeon.net has a nice subsite, with a rundown of all the cryptic clues the old man gives you and the locations of all the secret rupees
- the page at zeldawiki.org is also a good source
- scans of the manual at infendo.com. the instruction manual oddly enough refers to zola as a “she”, and it’s interesting to see how the race of water creatures known as the zoras began. zeldawiki.org illuminates the possible distinction between zora and zola here.
- funny related comic: link visits his mother
- summary of the nintendo channel data of the VC release here
- vgmaps.com has a lot of maps including this interactive one. this map at zeldacapital.com is a bit more readable.
- blast from the past: one of the commercials that aired for the game. not sure if they aired it a lot or not, but i actually remember this one. a classic.
- here’s the review at nintendolife.com for another modern perspective
- entry at wikipedia
- and a bit of trivia: here’s what happens if you try to have less than 3 heart containers by giving up one to the “your money or your life” guy

time for phantom hourglass

been continuing to work my way through the zelda series. although i’ve skipped a few along the way, i decided to finish the legend of zelda: phantom hourglass next, even though i’d really disliked wind waker way back when, not for the visuals, but for the gameplay. in that game i’d found the sailing to be incredibly dull and the dungeons uninspired, so i approached phantom hourglass with some trepidation.

in many ways hourglass fixes some key problems with wind waker. although some people complain that you don’t get to actually steer the ship, using the stylus to draw out the ship’s route puts the DS’s touchscreen to good use and makes travelling much less of a chore. the mini-game to recover sunken treasure is quite tedious, though. it’s been a while since i’ve played wind waker so i don’t have many more direct comparisons to that game, but the world of hourglass feels smaller than that of WW (and most of the other zelda games actually), and dungeons are almost painfully linear. there’s also a dungeon that you have to return to several times that is timed (as measured by the eponymous item), a first for the series and a design decision that was also much more tedious than interesting, especially since in those areas the gameplay centers around stealth as opposed to action, which i find fairly boring in general. customizable ships and collectable ship parts were added fluff that i didn’t pay much attention to, and due to lack of zelda friends (aww) i haven’t yet touched the unique multi-player game.

it’s no secret that, as with many other games of late, nintendo was trying to use this game to reach out to the casual market, and with the almost completely touchscreen-centric gameplay (which, incidentally, works extremely well) i have a feeling they probably succeeded. attacking an enemy is as easy as tapping it with the stylus, and link automatically uses his shield to deflect enemies’ attacks. many critics at that time claimed that although many such concessions were made to make the game easier overall, the “zelda experience” didn’t suffer too much as a consequence, but i’m not quite sure i agree. part of what makes zelda games unique are their epic feel, and although the majority of items get recycled from game to game there are usually a few surprises. hourglass is apparently the first in the series that doesn’t include any new items, and although controlling link’s weapons with the stylus adds a new dimension to them, it’s not nearly novel enough for diehard fans who have been using them for two decades now. there are some occasional surprises, such as some new faces (and even a couple of new races) and some fun map-drawing-based puzzles, but even with the novelty of the well-implemented touchscreen controls the sum just isn’t quite enough to make the overall experience feel fresh. the lack of innovation in long-running nintendo series has been a recurring complaint of mine lately, although games succeed and fail to varying degrees. hourglass easily beats out wind waker and minish cap for me, but in doing so it still winds up near the middle to bottom of my list of favorite zelda games. i’ve got four or so more to go, though, and it seems like spirit tracks could be an improvement on hourglass. i have a feeling the train travelling isn’t going to be much more interesting than travelling by boat, but at least i won’t have to suffer through that sunken treasure mini-game again!

not-so-phantom phantom hourglass links:
- the official site has some wallpapers
- entry at zeldawiki.org
- entry at zeldauniverse.net
- entry at zeldadungeon.net
- entry at wikipedia
- PDF of instruction manual at replacementdocs.com
- zelda turned 25! 1up.com has a series of retrospective lists that are somewhat entertaining.

zelda déjà vu

after a marathon weekend i finally finished the legend of zelda: twilight princess on wii a couple of weeks ago. as with any zelda game there has been a ton of discussion about it, but overall i’m going to have to agree with the folks at nintendolife.com: although this was a pretty solid release, it just feels too familiar (this article at gamespite.net, an interesting discussion of the common criticisms against the game, alludes to this problem by jokingly referring to the game as “super ocarina of time turbo”, which is coincidentally apropos seeing as how my previous post was on super street fighter II).

the feeling of déjà vu is somewhat surprising given the amount of new features that were added, but for me compounding the sense of familiarity was that the game feels overly long and very few of the new features felt really worthwhile, particularly since everything is repeated at least twice. the wolf gameplay wasn’t nearly varied enough to sustain those sections, and i found myself getting bored with the look of the twilight world, much as i got tired of the dark world in metroid prime 2. some people loved the emphasis on the new horseback combat mechanics, but i found those sections to be fairly tedious; getting knocked off your horse really brings the battle momentum to a grinding halt. i wasn’t big on the “wild west” settings, or the washed-out, blurry visuals that were clearly taken from prince of persia: the sands of time. it’s interesting that this was the first zelda game to get a T (teen) rating, and in many ways new elements like the inclusion of more “set pieces” and the large-scale boss battles feels like the creators were trying to make the game more like blockbuster hits from other studios, such as sony’s god of war. in doing so they lost a significant amount of the nintendo feel that i (and i’m sure many others) love. the game certainly feels epic, with its huge world and what must be a record number of dungeons and items for a zelda game, but there wasn’t much charm, humor, or surprise, although midna was a great character (and i’m glad to see aonuma supposedly hasn’t completely ruled out bringing her back). there are other minor quibbles as well, such as the dull combat (repeatedly z-targeting in wolf form or waggling for sword attacks usually does the trick) and the fairly useless special sword skills, the usual pointless collectathons (golden bugs instead of skulltullas this time around), the dodgy shield attack nunchuk movement, the now-infamous cannon room glitch that completely ruins your save file, and some atrociously designed puzzles near the end of the game. it’s also too bad that zelda herself is barely in the game.

this isn’t to say that there weren’t some distinct moments of enjoyment. the dungeons are generally excellent; the twilight realm and characters offered opportunities for a unique, memorable style of visuals not seen before in a zelda title (e.g. the teleportation sequences); fishing, usually a chore, was actually more fun than in any other game; the oocca mechanic was added to allow for pausing progress in dungeons (although i never used it); and as with most zelda titles link has some new weapons that are quite fun to mess around with. like majora’s mask (the “other’ mature zelda game) the game is atmospheric and provides a definite sense of foreboding (or melancholy, as this article at zeldauniverse.net suggests, while also positing that the game itself is a comment on the direction the series as a whole is headed), that in the end proves to be almost more memorable than the actual game itself.

with all the excitement swirling over the next zelda, skyward sword, the thing i’m most looking forward to is the promise of the series moving in a different direction. knowing nintendo the differences will probably be much smaller than i would hope, but i’ve started playing some of phantom hourglass and i’m enjoying it despite having ranked wind waker at the bottom of my list of favorites of the series. i’m getting closer to being caught up on the series as a whole though. makin’ progress!

what? more zelda links again?
- a lot of trophies in brawl were for characters in twilight. now i know who the heck all these people are!
- official site with a lot of info including the characters and monsters. this site has the list of the things to click on the site to unlock the special wallpapers and icons.
- zeldawiki.org has tons of info on the game, including some interesting theories about the twili.
- 2006 E3 trailer
- and just for fun, here’s an entertaining use of the fishing rod in the game.

minish cap: a minor episode

i’m still slowly working my way through the the legend of zelda series. the last zelda game i’d played was the first zelda four swords, for GBA. in an unusual move for me i decided to skip over its follow-up, four swords adventures, because after playing it for a bit it just felt like too much of the same. so instead i turned to the next one up, which was the minish cap for GBA.

the general consensus for the game is that it’s one of the easier and shorter entries in the series, but most people still seem to give it high marks. i breezed through it without much effort or thought, and although the game is colorful and has some unique items, most of it feels much too familiar. the series as a whole saw some innovations around this time, particularly from the wind waker, but minish cap is pretty straight ahead, with the exception of the occasional four swords-esque element thrown in for good measure.

surprisingly enough i don’t have that much more to say. it’s ended up pretty low on my list of zelda favorites (which still puts it higher than most games), but i’m looking forward to tackling the next two (twilight princess and phantom hourglass) which i already know are going to have more surprises. huzzah!

mini-list of minish links:
- entry at wikipedia
- official site, includes wallpapers
- zelda.com page with FAQ
- guide at zeldadungeon.net
- PDF of instruction manual and some official art
- entry at metacritic.com

zelda two swords

i played oracle of seasons earlier this year, but i was hankering for some more zelda. i’ve finally found me a gaming buddy, and so instead of hitting up oracle of ages i decided to take advantage of the situation and instead try out the original zelda four swords which was included with the GBA remake of the SNES classic a link to the past.

four swords is intriguing in that the game modifies the layout of the levels depending on how many people are playing (i.e. 2, 3, or 4) as well as within each set configuration. it’s still unclear to me how much the levels change within those constraints, although from my limited 2-player experience it seemed that levels do repeat and can be pretty much the same aside from the locations of items, etc. from what i gather from reading online it seems that the bosses are exactly the same each time through, although i haven’t verified that for myself. there were some surprises in the game, including a couple of great new items and some new enemies, including the new main baddie vaati who apparently has gone on to appear in several other games in the series.

not too much to say about the particulars. the game definitely succeeds as a multiplayer romp with a good mix of cooperation and competition (and in a way foreshadows new super mario bros. wii, including its ability to pick up your companions and throw them into a bottomless pit), and although there isn’t much in the way of a true zelda experience in terms of the game’s progression, it’s still fun to play through at least once. playing it through at least twice more is required to “finish” the game, but although there seems to be some variety between the levels it feels like it would get to be a bit tedious because the levels themselves are generally too repetitive. the chance that i’ll be able to coerce someone else to play through the game twice more with me is somewhat slim, but one of these days … in the meantime i’ll have to just play through the one-player version of the gamecube follow-up four swords adventure.

link’s double-edged links:
- the official site for the game includes basic info and screenshots
- nice entry on the game at zeldawiki.org including the story that i assume is from the instruction manual, and info on the bosses, items, etc.
- entry at wikipedia
- zeldauniverse.net also has a nice entry on the game, including a transcript of the in-game prologue and a FAQ that details the requirements to complete the game. the site also mentions this regarding the game’s level generation: “Also note that the layout of each level changes, but it changes in two ways. First off, there’s the setting–which is the outer rim or overall layout of the stage. Then there’s the part–which is the area in the middle. So sometimes you’ll come to a level where the setting is the same, but the part in the middle is changed–or vice versa.” i’m surprised that no one’s tried to generally catalog all the possible level parts or types of level parts because from my limited experience the number of parts doesn’t seem to be anywhere near infinite, but it doesn’t seem that many people have played the game anyway.

season of oracles

even though i’d finished playing a zelda game recently (majora’s mask, as recounted here) i’d been itching to play a 2D zelda game for quite some time, so i started in on the next in line, oracle of seasons for the game boy color. i thought i’d just see how the series’ return to 2D would fare, but by the time i’d gotten the powers of all four of the seasons i was hooked.

it seems a fair amount of the game’s uniqueness is due to the fact it’s paired with the game oracle of ages, so i’m going to withold my final judgement until i play that game. but although i enjoyed playing seasons there wasn’t a whole lot that felt really fresh. the rod of seasons was entertaining but didn’t offer up that much variety; the second world didn’t have a whole lot to make it memorable; and there were a fair number of pseudo-new items, i.e. items that were ostensibly new but had the same effect as items from previous games. there were a handful of unique items that offered up some surprises, though, as well as some animal helpers (a first for the series, i believe, not counting epona), and it was fun to hear some of the tunes (and see some of the characters) from ocarina and majora make appearances here. i also felt nostalgic seeing the game engine, which was clearly based on the classic link’s awakening, and also from seeing the reworkings of elements from the original NES zelda including many of the bosses (and the “pay me for the door repair” man who is back with a vengeance haha).

the useless items to collect in this game are rings which potentially could have been much more interesting as each offers different abilities, but since most of those abilities give only a tiny advantage and you can only equip one at a time the overall benefits are practically nil. also, the game was intended to focus more on action while its companion, oracle of ages, supposedly focuses more on puzzles. i’ll have to see how that ends up panning out, but it did feel that in general in this game the boss fights were a bit more difficult than usual, sometimes pointlessly so. all in all, though, this was a fun game and a classic zelda title, although not likely to end up as one of my favorites of the series. it might be that i prefer my zelda games to have less emphasis on action, so i’m looking forward to playing oracle of ages before too long.

season of links:
- walkthrough and FAQ at zelda.com
- the official site for the game is still up
- nice game site at midnight castle’s zelda site
- the entry at wikipedia includes information on how the two games interact
- review at IGN which recommends playing seasons first
- FAQ that compares the original japanese vs the localized english names
- page at zeldawiki.org, including a gallery of all of the enemies
- guide at IGN