A Green Mushroom

With my Zelda series lite playthrough done and my rankings locked in I just wanted to take a bit to reflect on how I feel after sampling the series in order.  Once again, here's how the rankings shook out for me personally: A Link Between Worlds (2013) A Link to the Past (1991)   The Wind Waker (2002) Oracle of Seasons (2001) Oracle of Ages (2001) Majora's Mask (2000) Ocarina of Time (1998) The Legend of Zelda (1987) Tri Force Heroes (2015) Twilight Princess (2006) Link's Awakening (1993) The Minish Cap (2004) Skyward Sword (2011) Spirit Tracks (2009) Phantom Hourglass (2007) Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (1988) The most surprising thing for me is how poorly the 3D Zelda games held up.  I enjoyed most of them a lot the first time I played them but going back to them in the greater context of the whole series made them feel clunky, slow, and just generally not as compelling.  Their 2D counterparts held up much better than I remembered and A L...

Before starting this chronological series sampling, Tri Force Heroes is the Zelda game I had played most recently.  It only came out last year and I played it right when it released.  I didn't think my opinions of it would have changed much, but I was interested to see how it held up in the context of the rest of the series.  Mostly, I was curious where it would rank. I actually just picked up my old save file for this one since the game is designed to be replayed.  You unlock different costumes and levels as time goes on so I figured I would start with the full game unlocked this time. I was quickly reminded that hell is other people.  Well... sometimes.  When you get grouped with random people online it's always a grab bag.  You never quite know what you'll get.  Maybe someone will disconnect.  Maybe someone will just not understand the puzzle even if you walk them through the entire thing with emotes.  Maybe they'll just stand...

A Link Between Worlds is my favorite Zelda game.  If I wasn't so close to the end of my playthrough of the series I wouldn't be confident enough to say that, but now I am. It takes everything I love about all the 2D Zelda games before it and includes those elements... then improves upon them in many ways.  Plus, it renders them in a cool 3Dish way on the 3DS.  A Link Between Worlds is also a huge homage to Link to the Past, which has been sitting at my number one spot in the rankings up to this point. And it really shows.  Everything from the overworld to the dungeons pays tribute to Link to the Past.  It's not a one to one copy or direct rip off but there's no question that this is supposed to be the same world and deal with the same themes.  It was a brave choice since it could have made this game feel like a retread instead of something new.  Instead, it feels amazing. I love the open and non-linear style of Link Between Worlds.  ...

Skyward Sword, more than anything else, has just made me realize how much I hate motion controls.  They were a gimmick I didn't like in the first place and they've aged horribly. Out of all the games in my playthrough this is the only one I hadn't tried at least once.  I was coming to this game completely fresh and it immediately put me off with the motion controls.  And these are even the "improved" motion controls with the Wii Remote Plus.  It tries to be 1 to 1 with Link's hand but it isn't... instead it just makes him look dumb when he's running with his sword out. I tried to get into this game, I really did.  I played something like five hours of it before finally throwing in the towel.  The structure and the content of the game seemed fine.  The story and world were perfectly serviceable.  I probably would have played the whole thing if it weren't for the motion controls. Now I'm glad I skipped this game when it came out and nev...

Spirit Tracks is the second DS Zelda game and it shows.  It's improved over Phantom Hourglass in a few ways but at it's core it's basically the same. The controls once again trip it up.  The only notable thing here is that it adds some cool touch screen train gameplay that actually works fairly well. I ripped on Phantom Hourglass controls a lot yesterday so I'm not going to reiterate all that except to say that I still hate the controls and all my complaints still stand. Just because it adds some train gameplay that's decent I'm going to put this one barely above Phantom Hourglass in the rankings: A Link to the Past (1991)    The Wind Waker (2002)  Oracle of Seasons (2001)  Oracle of Ages (2001)   Majora's Mask (2000)  Ocarina of Time (1998)  The Legend of Zelda (1987)  Twilight Princess (2006)  Link's Awakening (1993)  The Minish Cap (2004)  Spirit Tracks (2009)  Phantom Hourglass (2007) ...

Phantom Hourglass is a Zelda game I enjoyed and finished when it first came out.  I remember thinking it was really clever on the DS. Coming back to it now makes me realize how much the touch controls have aged.  In an age of smart phones and precise controls going back to early DS touchscreen controlling is super frustrating.  It works... but not all that well.  It's inexact and definitely feels like I'm fighting the controls. And that kind of colors the rest of my opinion on this game.  I played a few hours to really get a feeling for it again and just couldn't get over the controls.  I didn't want to play past the first 10 minutes because of the controls and it didn't really get better even after I got into the meat of the game, which is how I knew to put it down. Phantom Hourglass deserves some praise for it's innovation at the time but it just doesn't hold to up modern control standards. I'm realizing I don't like it when Nintendo go...

Twilight Princess is a Zelda game that I never beat despite starting it on at least five different occasions.  In the past the thing that pushed me away from the game was always the motion controls.  I know they were supposed to be a cool gimmick at the time but I never liked them. To avoid that and give Twilight Princess a fair shake I decided to go with the HD remaster that released recently on Wii U.  That way I was able to play the game with a normal controller! First off, this game looks really nice with the HD remaster.  The graphics are crisp and totally up to modern, if stylized, standards.  No complaints there.  The controls are also much better.  They're similar to the Wind Waker HD controls, which makes a lot of sense since they were both redesigned for Wii U.  I found the game much more playable as a result.  I still have negative feelings from the motion controls but I was able to let that go and dig in with the Wii U gam...

The Minish Cap is one of the few Zelda games I've never beaten and going back to revisit it quickly showed me why.  My gripes started mounting almost immediately and I had enough of the game by the time I hit the end of the first dungeon. First of all, the controls just don't feel responsive or tight.  Link to the Past and the Oracle games both control so much better than Minish Cap and I don't know why.  They've already had great controls in the past, why did they mess them up this time around?  Not to mention that a bunch of interactions that are on the A button in every other Zelda game are mapped to the right trigger in this one.  It just feels like I'm constantly fighting the controls when I play. And then once you hit the overworld it feels small yet boring at the same time.  The content density that is in most Zelda games is severely lacking.  Traversing from point A to the point B always feels boring. Although the environments look pr...

The Wind Waker has been my favorite 3D Zelda game for a long time.  If asked off the cuff what my absolute favorite Zelda game is I would often put this one forward.  It's really good. Revisiting it shows that it still holds up.  I love the open ocean, the exploration, the controls, the music, the art style.  There are so many unique things about this game and it feels like they finally hit their stride with 3D Zelda games at this point in the series.  This incarnation of Zelda as Tetra the Pirate always makes me happy too! While it originally came out for Gamecube the last two times I've played it were the remaster on Wii U.  It's extra gorgeous plus it has some nice modern features in it.  The Wii U gamepad holds the map and inventory which is super useful.  Not to mention the "swift sail" in the remaster.  It basically lets you travel at 2x speed and always have the wind at your back without having to reposition the wind through so...

This is probably the easiest part of my Zelda series playthrough because I secretly played both Oracle of Seasons and Oracles of Ages earlier this year... and loved them. I played these games a bit as a kid but never beat them then.  Earlier this year they were on sale together on Virtual Console for 3DS so I picked them up on a whim not remembering much about them. The Oracles games are basically taking everything they learned from Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, Ocarina of Time, and Majora's Mask and using that to make the best Game Boy Color game they could make.  It controls wonderfully, has amazing design, never feels frustrating with progression, and the two games feed into one another.  If you beat one you can import your save into the other and after finishing that... you unlock a true final boss and secret ending to the game! I can't believe how much I love these.  With all that said, they're still a little bit limited by the Game Boy Color har...

The Legend of Zelda The Legend of Zelda is one of Nintendo’s flagship series, but surprisingly, it’s one of the few that actually does a lot better in the West than it does in Japan. Many may not realize the series was created by Miyamoto, the same genius who created Mario, though Aonuma has been in charge of the series since his major success with Ocarina of Time in 1998. Generally, we’ve played them all. Beej has only missed 3 of them, and they’re on purpose. Void has just completed a lite playthrough of the whole series, in which he ranked them all for current playability, rather than nostalgia. Do you guys remember the animated series? Beej sure does! We discuss the difference in 2D and 3D Zelda games, which kind of feel like two separate series of games, but with the same base mechanics. Zelda games! We don’t go in-depth for every one (because some just aren’t worth the time, honestly), but we do discuss our favorites, our memories, and just why some of them stand up fo...

Triforce Heroes is the newest Legend of Zelda game on 3DS.  It came out two weeks ago but I still haven't see much coverage of it.  Maybe it's because Triforce heroes isn't structured like a typical Legend of Zelda game, it's basically a follow-up to The Legend of Zelda Four Swords. If you don't know what that means... it's essentially multiplayer Zelda. The main conceit in making Zelda multiplayer is that the open world exploration is completely gone.  Instead, the game is structured into zones which contain levels which contain stages. You connect online and choose the zone you want to play in.  This will match you with other people who also want to play levels in that zone.  Once you have a party of three you enter the zone and cast your vote for the level you want to play.  It does a little roulette spin and choose the one of your three votes randomly.  Then you actually enter the level and play through the four stages within it as a team...

I'm through the first dungeon in Majora's Mask and I'm really enjoying the game.  I haven't played it since it originally launched on N64, so it's fun to dig in and discover things I had completely forgotten about. It's amazing how all the characters interact and have daily lives.  I love the three day cycle of this game, it's such a perfect fit with how they've constructed the world.  You can learn where characters will be at certain times on certain days.  They are all interconnected with quests, objectives, and masks. To this day, there's still no other game like it. I think the multi-day cycle is a really cool thing that other games could take and run with.  I would like to see it redone by modern game designers, but it seems like a concept that was left alone after Majora's Mask. At this point I'm mostly focusing on exploring the world.  It's really fun just exploring and doing sidequests for masks even though I'm onl...

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask is releasing on Friday and I'm seriously thinking about picking it up.  I'm still sitting on the fence because I had a lot of trouble getting into Ocarina of Time on 3DS when I attempted to play it a few months ago. My struggle getting into Ocarina of Time was that I remembered the game too well.  I had played those 3 intro dungeons so many times as a kid that I still remembered everything about them.  I got bored before I even got to the first adult Link section.  So I promptly gave up on the game. This shouldn't be a problem with Majora's Mask.  I played the game once and only have some scattered memories of it.  Everything I remember about the game is positive.  I still think the 3 day cycle mechanic is really interesting.  Nothing like it has been done elsewhere in gaming.  Majora's Mask is the most unique Zelda game out of the whole series. If I do pick it up, I'm hoping it can rekindle my lov...

I've mostly been gaming during my lunch hour or once my kids are in bed at night.  When I finally get a few free minutes to play a game I almost always turn to my 3DS.  It travels everywhere with me just in case I get an opportunity to bust it out for 5 minutes and play. It's really an awesome system.  The 3D effect is cool, but not required.  It has a great lineup of games that's constantly growing.  It has support for digital purchases.  It's finally a Nintendo console with decent online play.  It's easy to carry around.  But most importantly, it's fun! I've had a blast with Mario Kart 7, Fire Emblem: Awakening, Paper Mario Sticker Star, Donkey Kong Country Returns, New Super Mario Bros 2, and Super Mario 3D Land, Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Not to mention all the fantastic eShop and Virtual Console games I've been playing.  Nintendo has a lot to offer. They're even catering to our nostalgic impulses.  I had a few weeks wher...

I got an awesome combo NES/SNES system for Christmas!  It was totally unexpected, but I've been having a great time playing games on it.  I guess they could be considered old school, but really they're just the games I grew up with. I was born in 86', so the NES and SNES were the most popular systems in my early gaming days.  My brother and I owned both of them but we sold them we the shiny new N64 came out.  It was one of the biggest mistakes of our childhood.  He and I have talked about it over the years and this year he decided to do something about it. Not only did my awesome brother give me a duel retro system, he also picked up the original Legend of Zelda, Pilot Wings, Star Fox, and my favorite Mario game ever made, Super Mario World!  It was the best Christmas present that I've gotten since we got our original SNES years ago. The amazing thing I'm finding out is how well these games hold up today.  Graphics aside, the gameplay truly stands ...

A remastered 3D Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time was released yesterday and there's been a lot of press coverage since it's widely considered the best Zelda game.  Now I have Zelda on the brain.  By the way, if you're interested in doing a community playthrough of Ocarina of Time, along with forum posts and discussions, you should definitely check out The Brainy Gamer  as he's organizing one this very moment. After reading a  round-table discussion about the creation of OoT (seriously, go read this now if you're a Zelda fan) I have an itch to play a Zelda game.  Since I don't own a 3DS and don't feel like buying one just yet that means I'll have to play something besides the new release. Ocarina of Time is considered the definitive Zelda and most people say A Link to the Past is a close second.  Personally, I found Wind Waker, with it's cel-shaded graphics, to be one of my favorite's and I'm extremely tempted to go back and replay it. ...

I was getting pretty pumped for the 3DS launch in the Spring, but new announcements just landed and took some of the wind of out my sails.  In a nutshell: The 3DS releases March 27th in North America It will cost $250 It acts as a pedometer which earns "Game Coins" for steps About 30 games in the "launch window" have been announced A few things worry me about this particular news release.  First, $250 is a lot of money for a handheld system ($50 and I can buy a PS3). Second, the term "launch window" means not all the games will be out on day 1. Third, the launch games don't look all that exciting. If I buy a video game system it's so I can play games on it.  Looking at the list of launch window games I'm only interested in 2, Pilot Wings Resort and Street Fighter IV 3D.  Interested, but probably not enough to buy either game.  Further down the list are the first-party (Nintendo) games in the works which include a new Mario Kart, Pap...

Wow.  This was my favorite announcement to come out of E3 .  With a 3D screen that doesn't need glasses and a hardware upgrade making this as powerful - if not more powerful - than the N64, I can't wait to get my hands on this thing. Want to know what really sold me on the 3DS?  This screenshot from Joystiq . 3D Starfox 64.  That's all I needed to buy a 3DS.  In some ways I'm an easy sell.  On top of it are Kingdom Hearts, Super Street Fighter IV 3D, Mario Kart, Paper Mario, Pilotwings Resort, and Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.  By far the best Zelda game ever made is coming to the 3DS.  Where do I pay and when can I hold one?  I bet my wife will want one too when she finds out that we can kick each others' asses in 3D while playing Super Street Fighter IV.  And those are only a few of the games that have been announced for the system. I still can't get over the fact that they're doing 3D without glasses.  I wonder how muc...

I didn't have a chance to keep up with E3 news yesterday so I caught up this morning.  Playstation Move falls somewhere between the Kinect and the Wiimote.  It has potential but it's another thing I'm filing under wait and see.  The 3DS sounds awesome, but until I get one in my hands how am I supposed to judge it?  I really can't.  Although, I am excited to see a 3D screen without having to stupid 3D glasses.  Zelda looks like Zelda... nothing new there.  I think I was most excited by the Portal 2 teaser trailer.  I'm hoping that some hands on impressions of SWTOR emerge today.