The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. N64

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Zelda Rating: 9.5/10
Difference from Prior Zelda Titles: Entered the 3rd dimension, Target System, Fishing, Ganondorf
Using the Console: Another Item slot due to controller increase, Z-Targeting

Boy do i remember purchasing this game. Well, by purchasing i mean getting the game from my sibling from a blockbuster bin. Yes, this game, this holy grail of game, one that you find in a retro game store, cartridge only $50+, was in a bargain bin for $15 at Blockbusters. This is why i feel sad when i hear blockbusters is gone. 

Enough of sentimentalism for a video store off to the game! By now, if you've followed and read the other entries i've done, you can kind of understand the rating system, and see that this one scored a 9.5, why? Because it's my favorite Zelda title, ever.

It gives the Demon a face, Ganon, great pig monster, is seen as a man, a man who thrived for power. But a man non-the-less. Ganondorf. Now you may not think much of it because so many games these days have seen it happen, Ganondorfs a human/pig monster ect. But this one show's the current evil happenings of Ganondorf. During the game he kills, steals and freezes the people Link saves, except for the one he killed... sorry deku tree.

Probably one of the few real sad moments of the game, your surrogate father just died even though you saved him...

In the first three games, even the show that isn't canon, show Ganon as a pig monster, no human feature, wielding a trident like spear, on occasion. Whereas this game changed all that. They gave the monster a face, a background a History. 

Ganondorf, scary looking yes, but now i'm going to tell you how tall he is. 7"6.

Ganondorf is born into a tribe of thieves called The Gerudo. Now, this tribe is all women, and once every 100 years a boy is born among this tribe. BUT WAIT WHAT?! How can a tribe of only women give birth or even have children? Geeze c'mon this isn't earth where we discriminate because of race. The gerudo's occasionally went away from their tribe to find boyfriends. Because of this i'm sure you can put two and two together. 

So eventually, Ganondorf is born, and when a male is born among the Gerudo tribe, the male becomes King of the tribe. Having this taste of power from ruling the gerudo tribe, Ganondorf seeks out more power, Hyrule. Ganondorf begins to cozy up to the king, and learns of the secrets of the Temple of time, and goes throughout Hyrule, his first stop, the Great Deku Tree. 

Ganondorf curses this tree because it refuses to relieve itself of one of the keys to the door of the Temple of time, for behind the door lie two things, one, the Master sword, and two, the sacred Realm, and within that realm, the Triforce.

The Spiritual stones, three magical keys that open the Door of Time.

And this Ladies and Gentlemen is where Links story begins. He destroys the curse on the Deku tree, clears out a cave of monsters for some rock eating Mountain creatures, called Gorons, and rescues the fish people's, called Zora's, Princess.

So because of Links adventures and saving people, he was given the magical keys to the Temple of time, Link opens the door and see's only the master sword, he goes in pulls it and is forwarded 7 years...

Now when you play the game, you just find out you've been sleeping for 7 years and the game continues, and you eventually, bit by bit find out what happened. I will tell you, because it's all really trivial.

After link opens the Door, it stays open, like no security or anything, and Ganondorf goes in, and finds the "sacred realm" which quite honestly i don't believe exists because in that room there was only a sword... so i don't know how Ganondorf found the triforce... 

Anyway, he found it, and it split apart because of the many rules of the triforce.

1. The one who lays his or her hand on the triforce will have their wish granted, whether it be good or evil
2. If one who touches the Triforce does not have their will's   in order, Power, courage and wisdom, The Triforce will split and the person will only inherit the piece they believe in the most.

So Ganondorf touches it, it splits up, and Link gets the Triforce of courage and Zelda gets wisdom. 

You may be thinking now, this is a review of OOT, where's the review. And all i've got to say to that is, There are tons, TONS of generic reviews, Link does this, and link does that and gameplay.

No Love for Link...

From what i've reviewed, you can in the least understand that this game is heavily story driven. I've barely talked about Link and the multiple Dungeons and Temples he goes in. And trust me, i can talk about a single dungeon and the mechanics behind and niche with them for a good while. And i chose to review this game by talking about Ganondorf, why? Because when i get to Wind Waker (Gamecube/Wii U) i'll bring it full circle.

And now a brief paragraph on Gameplay. The game brings back many items from previous titles. Hookshot, bow and arrow and bombs. But because it's in the Third dimension, things have to be changed. So Link enters first person when using the Bow and Hookshot, which is quite nice, or if you wanted you actually can be in third person when using them, though strictly to combat.

The controls are well done, and i find are well suited to this kind of game. Z targeting works because the Z button you use so often, is right in the place your finger lands on by simply holding the controller. 

Three spots to hold the controller. GENIUS. if we had 3 hands.

The only area, which personally i never had a problem with, is the water temple. Theres a way to actually never be able to finish that temple, by using the key in the wrong door. This was fixed in the 3DS release of the game. Which was a perfect remaster for anyone considering it.

And the reason that, for me, the water temple is my favoite, is battling Dark Link. It's just a shame that he's only a mini-boss...

The final boss of Zelda II, becomes the mini-boss of not even the final temple.

Pros:
-Ganondorf is created, background given
-Easy target lock system made for the 3rd enviorment
-Detailed storyline
-Diverse npc's
-A lot of Sidequests (Not covered in the review)

Cons:
-Water Temple
-Some, camera problems
-Dark Link reduced to Mini-boss

And now i leave you with the average players final fight with Ganondorf.

Zelda II: Links Adventure. NES

Zelda II : The Adventure of Link. NES

Zelda Rating: 5/10
Difference from prior Zelda games: Legend of Zelda; Camera angles, Level up system, Towns
Using the console: No difference from Prior game

Oh boy, this game was the first Zelda game i had ever played. I remember watching my older siblings play this game, as i was too young to understand how to push buttons appropriately at the time... 

Gold Box and a Gold Cartridge, Classic

I remember this game being so dark and weird. I had no idea what the game was about but that the person sleeping in the bed was Zelda and you were a person in green, Probably Link. I never beat the game as a child sadly, but i own the game now and can say this game was a perfect sequel. 

Losing in this game meant Ganon comes back and kills everyone. Well Shit.

Many believe that Zelda games follow a formula, Go to dungeon, get item, beat boss with item. While that is true for some games, many don't see the other formula Nintendo uses for Zelda games. Each of them reinvents the game in some weird quirky way, which i will get to over the course of these reviews.

In The Adventure of Link, you find out that Zelda from the first game wasn't really Zelda and you have to save a new Zelda by claiming the ancient power of the Triforce, But what? You already reformed the triforce of wisdom, and Ganon had the Triforce of Power. There's only 2?! Ok enough i know no one fell for that, I mean the word TRI kinda also means 3... Well Spoilers ahead, link has to battle to the end to receive the Triforce of Courage.

The first game in the series to really say that Link isn't just an ordinary guy, but chosen by fate.

So the game follows a interesting path for the most part, you start in a room where Zelda sleeps and must travel throughout Hyrule, visit towns and Temples (Not dungeons) in order to place jewels to unlock the final Temple where you can receive the Triforce of Courage. 

One of the more interesting things that has not been used since this game, was not only the Level system, but the fact that items are strictly exploration. All the items Link acquires are all used to help him get further on the overworld map but not in battle.

Get hammer, Break rocks, Do not use hammer on enemies, Do not pass go, Do not collect $200

 But what does he use in battle you ask? Well his sword, shield, and multiple spells he's learnt from wizards living in basements. ...Yea i never understood that either.

Gee, thanks Mr. Old wizard in a basement! Pew pew, fire sword!

So Links arsenal in this game are, exploration items, A multitude of spells (Many help with exploration as well, but not strictly to overworld map) and a leveling up system to increase your Health, magic meter and sword strength.

This game i have to say out of the whole entirety of the Zelda series has never been remade, or redone like this. Where link grows as he fights everything, as compared to when he grows when he picks up heart pieces from bosses or pieces by exploring, or upgrading the sword through side quests. 

Which to level, which to level, save up for attack power? Or just level life right away, oh the choices.

Now for the one thing that i adore about this game, the thing that just makes this game the PERFECT sequel, is the Final boss. 

Dark Link, or Shadow Link, whichever you prefer.

Purple background, Black outline of you, This is just perfect.

So Links goal was to acquire the Triforce of Courage, what other way to test yourself against yourself?

I found this the most remarkable way to end the game, No ganon fight, no beast from the beyond. Just you, and you. The shadow knows all your moves and deals a lot of damage. And i gotta say, if fighting a shadowed version of yourself doesn't warrant a Shiny Triangle that represents courage. I don't know what does. 

Pros:

-Reinvents the game by turning the whole thing on it's head, Level system, sidescroll fighting and items only for exploration.

-Last boss is not Ganon

-Really feels like each monster helps you grow (cause it does)

-Unique and interesting addition to how you acquire the Triforce, and how it comes to existence
Cons:

-So bloody hard, when you have to level up to do better, and when you die you lose exp (needed to level) it becomes a tedious level grind

-Many people are really confusing, especially in the villiage where some people turn into bats...

-When you die you have to backtrack all the way to the place you were at, and that may sound easy enough, but good god is this world huge.

On that note I end off with I am Error

The Legend of Zelda, NES.

GUESS WHAT WEEK I JUST MADE UP!

ZELDA WEEK!

This week i'll review every Zelda game i've played. Sadly while i call myself a fan i still haven't played a couple games in the Zelda series, those titles being, Oracle of ages/seasons, Links awakening and Spirit tracks. 

So you can expect me gushing reviewing and loving all the Zelda games and pointing out why they're so great.

...Except Twilight Princess... If you want to read that already done and posted review, it's been up for a while. Spoiler alert, i didn't like it.

Now i'll be rating these games on a Scale of 1 to 10, now a 4 isn't equivalent to a 4/10 from other sites, this is a 4/10 in comparison to these zelda games. If you want my rating of the zelda games right now, to me are all 10/10. 

I will also be using a "Difference from prior Zelda games" and "using the console"

And with that, lets begin.

The Legend of Zelda. NES

Zelda Rating: 7/10
Difference from prior Zelda games: N/A
Using the console: Implemented a saving feature.

The Title screen that started it all

The Legend starts here, from even before you get your sword to when Ganon disappears into pixel bits. 

The first game in the series to ever come out, and does it hold water to today, Yes. Considering the fact i got this game on my 3DS (i had it on my NES at one point as well) and played it, and loved it again. 

The style for their first game was top down, to see the whole world, and the only time that changed was when you had to go into the basement of some dungeons. 

Link and his sword made out of wood. YA! 

The game was and still is confusing as ever, because you had to figure things out for yourself at the time and this game wasn't a story driven, simply because all the story you needed was either in the manual or in the giant text block before the game. 

Does that mean it's impossible? Heck no. Just means you gotta bomb every cliff you find, oooor go find a guide somewhere, hell there's tons of them now. 

The Naming of the character Link to be named Link, warning trivial information coming, was because the developers wanted the character to be the link, like to link something together, from the player to the video-game world. That idea has still been passed on through the games, but has become much more elaborate and thought out. 

Link, it wasn't his name at the time, but his own class of character. The more you know.

The game did something not many other games had done at the time and that was a save feature. This battery powered save feature made it much more accessible to stop the game and play another time. It also paved the way for the developers to make a longer game with tiny secrets everywhere without the fear it would go unnoticed. After the save feature was known the Password system in games slowly started dying out and made way for save features.

Pros: 
One of the first games to use a save feature,
lengthy game (compared to that of the time),
Tough bosses,
amazing world with actual different well made areas, multiple, different and unique items for exploration and fighting.
Easter eggs, naming your character "Zelda" made you start "Second quest" the harder version of the game

Cons: 
No actual direction given (but really if you can't figure it out i feel bad for you son)
A little confusing at times because of translation errors