Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past. SNES

Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past. SNES

Zelda Rating: 8.9/10
Difference from Prior Zelda Games: Side-quests, Important Npc's, detailed storyline
Using The Console: Multiple (two) item slots to use in comparison to 1.

My first Zelda game I called mine, Not my siblings.

This game was the first Zelda game i owned and could call mine. I slapped that puppy in the Super Nintendo and man, can i say that that intro music is just nostalgic goodness to my ears. And after playing a Link between worlds, i have to say, the classic game is still as beautiful as ever.

I honestly don't know where to start with this game, it was and is simply beautiful. It has tight controls, graphics, at the time, were pretty good and the storyline was great for this game, not too much where you wanted to skip everything, but not too little that you had no idea what the hell to do. I'm looking at you Zelda 1 an 2.

So the big difference, when the game came out, was that this game didn't seem to be connected to the first two in any way. The idea in the first game is that Ganon has destroyed and ravaged hyrule, that is why there are no towns. Afterwards people start rebuilding, thus in Zelda 2 there are villages, multiple ones. Many speculated where it would go on the chronologically, but it soon just became too much as later installments came out, some thought the games were never connected... UNTIL THE HYRULE HISTORIA.

What? Can't read Japanese? Well thats ok the important parts are in English.

As seen in the Huge picture above, Link to the past is technically a prequel, but years and years before the first two games. 

The game starts out quite differently than the first two, whereas you simply just start and wander around with no direction but the manual telling you the story, this game starts off with you being asleep and Zelda's voice calls out to you to rescue her from the castle Fungeon Dungeon. 

So you set off on a mission to save a person you've never met, you a random kid who lives with his uncle. Through hardships you eventually Pull out the legendary blue sword of death Light. Which, trivial information, this is the first game that included this mighty blade, and called it "the Master Sword".

You continue on to the castle where an evil wizard has captured Zelda, and you go to the chamber where he resides to do battle. An Epic final battle, Wizard Vs guy who has a lot of time on his hands. And how do you defeat him? Well there's really two ways, one the boring canon way, and two the lolsy more extreme non sensible way. 

This man earned the trust of the King. Does no one have any Evil Radar senses? Look at him, diabolical hand gesture. Check. Red coat dyed with the blood of the innocents. Check. Grey skin? Check!

For everyone to understand i will explain both ways to fight the evil final boss wizard of evilness. Now the Master sword can reflect light type magic, and whattya know, the wizard shoots lightning magic, and you swing your sword and reflect it back at him. 

Now that you understand how that works, you could also use, a Bug Net. Just swing that baby like you're catching bees. 

The Bug net, Same properties as a magical sword that can reflect light magic.

After this point, SURPRISE the game goes on. The evil diabolical wizard sends you to a dark world, Ooooo. and from there on you must save some crystal ladies and go fight the REAL final boss. Ganon.

The story line is firm and well made, and there are many tiny things in the multiple dungeons that just make this game amazing.

The game's Dungeons and Temples are very unique and you really do get immersed in your own way. Compared to the last two games where the Temples and dungeons were just recolours, these ones are wholly themed experiences. 

This game, I find, introduced Side-quests. Finding bottles under the bridge, getting a bug net to catch bee's (ok not a side quest), and little things here and there to improve your arsenal. But while not only side quests that made this game so unique, but the gambling and minigames. Race here, Race there, and "OPEN A CHEST, MAYBE YOU'LL GET MORE MONEY THAN WHAT YOU PAID" hated that game... 

Grammar, who needs that stuff. 

The world itself is amazing, especially when you have to venture to the Dark World, where Ganon resides. Link loses his form and turns into a bunny. It's so odd but quite appealing, and until you get a magical orb, you'll never get to be yourself in the Dark World, and as a bunny, you can't use your sword.

There are many things i can write about this game, about how good it is, about how well it pulled things off, how well it introduced others. But the one thing i will leave this post at, Is the 3rd Temple boss.

This is by far the hardest boss in the game.

It may not look like a hard boss, for those who've never played this game, but by god i'd rather fight any other boss twice over than this guy once.

He moves randomly, and if he hits you, there's a high chance you're going to fall off  the edge to the room below, and if that happens, the music stops, he regenerates all his health back and you have to hope you can kill him this time before he knocks you back down and you have to do it all over again...

...I get knocked down, i get up again... 

Pros:

-Brought back Top-Down Zelda

-Introduced side quests and fun NPCs

-Tough and challenging bosses, Unique

-Memorable 

-Replay-ability

Cons:

-Third Boss is ridiculous

-I can't think of another Con for this game, because seriously it was a well done game, and if you died, it wasn't the games fault. Except for the Third boss

And now i leave you off with Links Canon Hairstyle colour.

Link and his Pink hair. He can save the world, one strand at a time.

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

Wii U vs PS4 vs Xbox One. Game count

So the fact you're reading this means you already know a little about video games, if not, well prepare to be informed. 

Nintendo released a console last year, titled the wii u, and it has currently sold quite poorly, though picking up speed as of late. And the major reason many, MANY players decide not to purchase this glorious system, is that is has NO GAMES. 

Now while i can agree with you on that that when it launched it has a devastating lack of games out with the console, but as of right now, c'mon people this system has games, has exclusives and is bloody innovative!

Now you're probably wondering why the title is a VS for the next gen, well im going to compare the games in a hopeful unbiased way. 

First the amount of games currently out for each system.

Wii U: 236
Xbox One: 77
PS4: 174

Now the first thing you're thinking if you hate nintendo because they came into your room when you were an infant and took your teddy bear. You're going to say "Well they released their console a year before, they had time to get more games out than the other groups" And that is completely true, As of right now, nintendo has the most games, So the phrase "Wii u has no games" Doesn't quite work...

"But wait!" you say, "Nintendo likes to have shovelware titles that boost the numbers!" I agree whole heartily. Titles like jeopardy on the wii u leave a bitter taste in my mouth whenever i go to a games store. Well lets break down that big number again shall we? The amount of games for each one, but this time only counting exclusives.

Wii U: 49 
Xbox One: 15
PS4: 26

Again you're jumping to that thought that nintendo had a whole year to come out with these games, And again you are very right. Nintendo had a whole year to pump out games for their console that they have, the one that does in fact have games. 

I'm not going to tell you that the wii u is superior, nor that ps4 having more games an exclusives than the xbox one proves it's better. I'm just trying to give you some facts that nintendo's current console, the one that has "no games" CURRENTLY, has games, CURRENTLY. 

So whats stopping you from buying one? Price? No, because it's the cheapest of the 3. Game count? No because i just covered that. You know what it is?

Status. 

Social Status. You want the ps4 or Xbox one because you want the world to know how much of a big player you are (and gamer). Maybe the games you got that are out right now are amazing, and you are entitled to that feeling. I understand many of the exclusives are fun, but i also know that many people buy AC4 and CoD, which is also out for the wii u. 

You may say, "oh i'm waiting for certain games to come out for the system is why i bought it", then why not wait for those certain games to come out? I had preordered a PS4 since E3, but cancelled it because i realized, the games i wanted to get on the PS4 were going to be on the Wii U. 

Final statement, stop saying the wii u has no games. Just say you hate nintendo because they stole your teddy bear. That's at least more believable.

I'm sorry if i brought up any traumatic memories.

Pikmin 3. Wii-U

I played Pikmin 1 on the gamecube oh so long ago, and boy i hated the heck out of it. It was annoyingly hard to get the best or even a good ending. Heck i couldn't even finish it. Granted i don't remember how old i was, but nevertheless. You had to collect 30 parts of you ship in 30 days for good ending, i believe 22 for O.K. ending and if you missed even one, bad ending. Which can be really disheartening.

This box just showed you what you were getting into, A giant lady bug that's what. 

Never played Pikmin 2, but i don't think it matters.

Giant lady bugs are so last year, GIANT CRUSTACEAN!

But Pikmin 3, Hot diggity damn. Good reviews aren't entertaining because everyone on the internet wants to see some trash talking about games, and especially this year for nintendo because they're wii-u seems to be flopping. But let me say this! Pikmin 3, while it won't be the console saver, it definitely will keep it afloat until that game does arrive. Let me begin.

And now, peace, no giant monsters in this scene. Blissful peace.

Now most of you understand the premise of pikmin games, grow pikmin, use them to collect and ect ect. Now im strictly comparing Pikmin 1 to 3. This game does not have a game limit, you can go exploring as much as you want, but you still have the daytime restriction like morning to dusk, but that is not a problem, timed games increase the thrill, least with this game.

The game uses a fruit timing system in which when you collect fruits during the game, similar to treasure, and in turn depending on the fruit it turns into various amounts of juice. At the end of each day you spend 1 thing of juice, like a life force of something. Theres enough fruit in the game that if you are diligent you will never have to worry about not having enough. 

This is how i imagine the game when it squeezes all the juice from the fruits i've collected

The two new pikmin types are definitly interesting, and they, at least to me, dont feel gimmicky. The first newest one you meet are rock-pikmin, they destroy glass like structures and when initially thrown, hit really hard. It's surprising how many places they actually come in handy and the times they do blend into the illusion and doesnt take away from the game. 

"Idgaf" 

The second newest one is flying pikmin. They are like Blue pikmins cousin. Take these guys over the water, over anything really. The only disheartening thing is the stage they're introduced, is the same stage spiders are introduced, and if you're not careful, they'll fly right into the spiders web, and die. Fly pikmin, Flies. Flying pikmin are the only pikmin i think are a real thing, Fruit flies. Eugh.

You know, most people seem charmed with these ones, i think they're kinda creepy, big blue bug eyed creepy things that fly. Eugh.

Now since you have 5 kinds of pikmin, and only 100 pikmin capacity at any time, it all depends on how you want to get things done. the 20 per group normally works, but it later becomes situational for you to use rock pikmin or flying pikmin.

During E3 they talked about how the game would have 3 interchangeable characters and how you would be able to access more things with more captains. At first i thought i'd hate this idea because i want to love only the main character, but in pikmin, they divvy up the spotlight quite well.

I don't really got anything clever, these were great characters. 

One thing that really struck me as a nice touch was whenever you found a new onion, the home for the pikmin, it fused with the other onion, continually each time you found a new one, this way saving space and time when you want to just get all the pikmin you want. It really shows that small touches really make a game. 

The FUSION ONION! MULTI-COLOUR GLORIOUSNESS

Lastly a feature i like but have not yet enjoyed to the fullest is the camera function. Anytime in the game, as long as its not a cutscene, you can take a picture, bosses, monsters, drowning pikmin, ANYTIME. Because this is a first party nintendo game, of course it's crucially linked to the Mii-verse, even though the naming of the mii-verse sucks, i really quite enjoy the place, but this is a pikmin review.

Pikmin 3 might not be a system seller, but damn mii-verse is. Not kidding. Srsly its the shit.

Now normally I post a spoilers section and go into depth of the storyline, but the game just came out, and quite frankly, i'm not gonna go shouting how snape kills dumbledore. Or maybe i should. Naw. But i'll say this about the story, it does the first two games justice, least it does the first one. Maybe it does for the second who knows. The three characters are unique enough that i feel like i really don't hate either of them. Maybe thats just an opinion. But hey.

Now like all pikmin games ( i think, still havent played 2) the ending is all dependent on how well you did, and i just beat pikmin 3, and hoo boy i did shitty. But i beat the game! So i can tell you this, Pikmin 3, has replayability, maybe until you get a perfect completion, or maybe its a personal thing. But remember, i hated pikmin 1, and for me, buying pikmin 3 was a chance, and i am glad i took it. 

(Chrono Trigger, Snes)

Be glad nintendo isn't as cruel as it was back in the day of Snes

Nintendo, This ain't the game you need to save the wii-u and beat up everything in it's way, but it's the one that's resuscitating it after it drowned. And that's equally as important. I recommend this game to all wii-u owners. If you don't own one, well this wouldn't be a console seller, but it should lean in favour of it. 

Well i'm off to play Earthbound,

Beat up some hippies.

Hide yo kids, hide yo wife... 

Twighlight Princess. Wii Version

*face palm* let's just get this over with...


Now before i begin, i want you, the reader, to know i am a huge Zelda fan. It's my favorite series; i own hylian shield, made by your's truly. The hyrule historia (limited edition) and a self made cell phone case (poorly done) and know meaningless trivia for most of the games. Ah fan-dom... 

Ah glorious sweet Zelda merchandise. 

Now like most Zelda fans, my favorite in the series is Ocarina of Time. It simply is amazing. A good story, great controls and bosses that are intriguing as well as nicely put together. Hell even the handhelds are amazing, and i'm not just talking about the new ones. My personal favorite handheld is minish cap, It was brilliant. I remember i was 12 and i spent the whole weekend non-stop playing this game, ah youth, i don't remember the whole story but i remember feeling such joy playing it. 

By far my favorite sidekick a Link has had

I can go on and on about all the zelda titles i find different and appealing, like majoras mask... that game needs a remake, but I'm talking today about Twilight Princess...

Now before i start the tearing, i want you to know, i think Twilight princess has gotten too much praise for what we got. It simply isn't as good as many of the other games in the series. I don't care if you disagree, nor do i care if you think my reasoning is wrong; compared to the other games in the series, Twilight princess should not be in the top 3. 

This got released on both consoles, I actually wish i had played this for Gamecube.

This game was the first Zelda title on the wii, but it was originally meant to be played on the Gamecube, so when you played it on the Wii many things were off. The wii motion controls were weird, swinging the sword while holding buttons to swing in a specific motion, you could tell the game wasn't meant for the wii. Not only that, the game is supposed to take place after the events of Ocarina of Time. But on the wii version, the whole world is flipped. Things that would be on the right are on the left and so forth (also personal prejudice, link was right handed in the wii one).

yes skyward sword did it too, but i didn't hate skyward sword as much as Twilight princess

That is only the first of the problems i have with this game. Second it copies so much from Ocarina of Time. Chronologically, twilight princess was released 2 games after Ocarina of time, after Majora's mask and Wind Waker, and those two games didn't follow Ocarina this much. 

And winner by default! IS!

CDI Zelda! OH BOY! 

(if you really require the answer to the VS. i got bad news for you)

Now besides the fact it felt like a rehashed Ocarina of time, the feel of the game was so dismal... Yes i get it was twilight, but still, i hated being in the twilight area because it was so lack lustre. Zelda games have always been bright and colourful and always have an opposing feel. With Ocarina of Time there was the destroyed world and Link to the past had the underworld (kinda), but twilight was gritty and ugh. When the first time you step out to hyrule field and all you see is a dark area, you don't know what the "Light worlds" area looks like. If they had let you see the colours of the field prior to darkening it with twilight, hell i might have felt obliged to really look forward to fixing the world.

Entering into this place without seeing what it looked like before is... eugh, also there's no daytime

When i first got to hyrule field and saw the vast openness, in the twilight, i lost all interest in replaying the game. All i remember from hyrule field was the fact it was huge, unbearably huge. In Ocarina of Time the field was big, colourful and had peculiar sights to see, but in Twilight princess it felt huge with nothing in it to see, and nothing to sight see. Many areas are blocked off from the start so to make sure you follow the set path. Now yes i know all zelda games have done this, Blocking off certain areas till you get bombs or hookshots whatever. But from what i remember in Twilight Princess, you could only really go in one area at the start. In Ocarina of Time you could essentially go anywhere, while very, very specific areas were blocked off. 

This is the entirety of Hyrule field, all in one map. Pretty big but it's populated and there are things to see.

In this map the "Hyrule field" is seperated into 3 parts. Yep, 3 huge maps with nothing in them, actually i'll be fair, They lack things of proper size to fit the hugeness of the map. 

Now zelda games have usually had the "Recover the land" type of thing to return things to normal and such. Twilight princess does this as well, personally i love that mechanic. BUT, in other games they show you before hand what the place looks like for you to look forward to fixing the whole area. When i walked into hyrule field i saw dark and black. If i was a first time player of this game, i'd be like "I don't like this place". You have to show the area before bad things happen, so you get a sense of what you lost.

The dungeons felt a little too adult like for my taste. I get that they were trying to mature and give the game a dark feel, but i feel out of all the zelda titles, it sticks out the most. Each game has had characters you fall in love with, and im not talking about main characters. For me, Majora's mask would be the "malon clones", Ocarina of time, music man an so forth. But in twilight Princess the characters shown pretty much have a bland persona. Zelda is seen as the princess who lost everything and is so depressing, links childhood friends get kidnapped and if i remember correctly his love interest loses her memory. I wouldn't mind as much if they were a bit more "alive". From what i remember my favorite character was the woman from Kakariko village who drives the cart. I don't even remember her name.

(lady from kakariko village) Now the real reason i remember her is because she hugs link so hard he gets sucked into her breasts and he gives a look of desperation for freedom. Exaggerating a little bit.

Now i do not, I repeat, Do not hate this game. Its like Justin beiber, you don't really hate him, you hate his fans (wait, no i really do hate him) [god this statements gonna bite me in the ass someday i know it]. But seriously, i hate most of the people who worship this game. Twilight princess was good yes, but not that good. When i meet people who are zelda fans and they instantly tell me about Twilight princess, i instantly know what type of fan they are. Band-wagoners. Twilight princess came at the perfect time for new people to get into the series, and for that i'm glad people love it, but please do not worship the game. Midna was cool, not amazing (neither was navi but still).

"WHAT DO YOU DISLIKE A GAME FROM THE SERIES! DIE FOO'!"

Recently i got a Zelda belt-buckle. It looks pretty cool i admit. Generic zelda design on the front, gold and green. Though, once you flip the buckle over the logo on the back is "Legend of zelda: Twilight princess". Why does a generic zelda buckle have a specific game title on the back? I'll be honest if the buckle had Ocarina of time, i'd still be confused. Its generic, it should just say "Legend of zelda". I digress.

Why does something like this need to have a "Twilight Princess" logo on it?

Overall, Legend of zelda twilight princess was a good game. It brought new things to the table, and kept other aspects as well (some really easily comparable to ocarina of time), it is not close to my favorite game in the series nor will it ever be. Does it mean others shouldn't worship it? Yes. Stop worshiping this game. Of course not. Though if your favorite title is Twilight princess, take a look at the other titles in the series, and if after playing those games you still adore twilight princess to the same extent, 
Band-wagoners Then so be it. 

Words cannot express my feelings accurately