Legend of Zelda: A Retrospective  (page one) (page two)

Ocarina of Time

Ocarina of Time is the most highly acclaimed videogame in history, and with good reason.  In moving to 3D, Zelda was completely re-worked, and the result showed the world how 3D adventure games (and 3rd-person 3D games in general) should be made and played.  

Ocarina of Time kept true to the series with an expansive overworld and awesome themed dungeons and bosses, as well as all the familiar items and abilities for Link.  It added new gameplay concepts such as Z-targeting for 3D combat (and camera centering), and context-sensitive buttons with popup text to show you what they do.  It re-introduced old characters such as the Zora, and added new ones like the Gorons.  

The central item is the Ocarina, which is used for musical puzzles, 'warping' travel (as introduced in Zelda 1) as well as time travel, this game's version of the Alternate World concept.  Like past Zelda games, Ocarina dwarfed most other games of its time in scale, providing a huge world to explore, a long main quest, and plenty of side quests and diversions, mini-games, etc.  such as the fishing pond, finding Skulltulas, hunting Po ghosts, and the eternal Zelda heart piece quest.  You could even just sit and play your Ocarina as a real instrument, using the Z button and the control stick to alter tone and pitch.

The Zelda series has always had great bosses, and Ocarina of Time is no exception.  It had 9 dungeons, each with its own boss.  Some of the levels had sub-bosses as well--one of which was Shadow Link, the end boss from Zelda 2!

Majora's Mask

Majora's Mask always reminds me of Zelda 2.  After selling 6 million copies of Zelda, Nintendo decided NOT to release a cookie-cutter sequel and rake in millions more.  After selling nearly 8 million copies of Ocarina of Time, Nintendo made the same decision once again.  

Majora's Mask is probably the most original of all the Zelda games.  It uses a unique time system where you play the game through the course of the same 3 days, re-living them over and over again.  You have to learn the events of those 3 days in order to take advantage of that knowledge to acquire items and abilities that allow you to progress in the game.  Using his Ocarina, Link can also speed up or slow down time, which is essential to the game.

On top of that, Majora's Mask has a mask system that allows Link to morph into characters of other races (a Goron, a Zora, and a Deku), each of which has abilities that allow for new gameplay ideas.  

It also uses the mask system to give Link other abilities that he uses during his quest and the many side quests.

There are 20 "extra" masks Link can find besides the necessary Deku, Goron, and Zora masks...

...and if you give them ALL up, you can get this mask:

Majora's weak point, though, is its focus on side quests over the main quest.  It has only 4 dungeons (that's 'craptacular!), which means an extra 16 heart pieces (vs. Ocarina of Time)  to find in the overworld -- hence even more side quests. 

Oracle of Seasons / Oracle of Ages

Back on the Game Boy (color), Nintendo and Capcom teamed up to make a new trio of Zelda games themed around the Alternate World concept.  That trio eventually became two games, Oracle of Season and Oracle of Ages.  Seasons seemed to me to be the better designed and more fleshed-out of the two, and in fact, I never finished Ages.  But Seasons is an excellent game that makes good use of the Alternate World system, with 4 versions of the world (winter, spring, summer, fall).  Ages does a similar thing with time, naturally.  

The Wind Waker

The Wind Waker is an extremely controversial Zelda game--even in my own mind.  It's graphically stunning, but artistically sickening.  It's "kiddie", but more violent than any other Zelda, thanks to its enhanced combat system (and shock ending).  Its world is huge, but it ends abruptly and feels short.  It's an excellent, polished and refined game, and yet feels as though it added less than other Zelda games to the progression of the series.  It's the only Zelda game that has in-game continuity with another (Ocarina), but it's the most out-of-place game in the series.

Make of that what you will.  The Wind Waker is an outstanding game by any standard, but it has its weak points--the most obvious of which is the Boy Garbed in Green (or as we like to call him, Piss Boy).  The story thankfully makes it clear that he's NOT Link, the Hero of Time.  But he's a complete bad-ass anyway, even though he looks like a pansy (partly that's due to the fact that he takes minimal damage, making the game too easy).

Wind Waker also suffers from the same problem as Majora's Mask: not enough dungeons.  Although it technically has 6, several of them are short, and there is one expected dungeon (the 3rd pearl) that is just _not there_.  You get the 3rd pearl in a cutscene instead.  And the fact that you end up fishing for Triforce pieces in the ocean the same way you fish for chests with 10 rupees inside makes it feel like the game was cut off.  

And even 6 dungeons is poor compared to the landmark Zelda games--Zelda 1 had 9, Link to the Past had 11, and Ocarina of Time had 9.  Even Link's Awakening on the Game Boy had 8.

Four Swords Adventure

This one isn't really a Zelda game, it's a party game and a gimmick (it requires the GBA link cable).  It's linear and isn't really comparable to the rest of the series.  Having said all that, it's a fun time while it lasts.  You should have seen us with 5 Gamecubes, 4 Game Boy Players, 2 monitors with TV converters, and 2 portable Gamecube LCD monitors, all hooked up for 4-player mode, to avoid having to play on the Game Boy screen.  :-)

The Minish Cap

Impressions soon.

Twilight Princess (due in fall 2005) 

Personally, I regret that Wind Waker may have cost me something I've wanted since Zelda 2: a game where Link looks like the art out of the game manuals.  Cell-shading would have been perfect for it, but instead they made him look ugly.  I want him to look like the art!  Such as these shots below--imagine a cell-shaded game with this Link instead of Wind Waker's toddler art style.

Back on track: rumors about the new Zelda game's original points and theme are circulating.  It could be that Link can control or talk to animals, and he even changes into one--a wolf!  That's part of the new form of the Alternate World concept (yeah!), a 'dark world' type of thing called "Twilight".  When Link is in "Twilight", he changes into a wolf.  Bomb Arrows are back, and possibly a whole new item-combining system.  For the first time in 3D, Link can downstab (I love downstabbing--Smash Bros baby!).  He can also fight on horseback, and there are more combat refinements (see the picture below of Link using a two-handed strike).  Other abilities include "seeing" scents, underwater exploration, travel by boat, horse, and other animals (giant warthogs, so far), and fishing is back as well--maybe in the overworld instead of just one pond.     

I got to try out Twilight Princess at E3, and it left me with a great impression.  It looks, feels, and plays great, and the improvements over Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker's play controls are welcome.  For example, locking on to multiple targets with the boomerang (a new boomerang, called the Gale Boomerang, that creates whirlwinds) is faster and more intuitive than in Wind Waker, and horseback riding is smoother than in Ocarina.  It looked to me to be coming along very well.  I'm busting a gut waiting for this game, but at the same time, I hope they don't cut any corners to get it out in time for Christmas--which they are supposedly going to do (very important from a business perspective).

Note: Twilight Princess has been delayed into next year; it's now listed for April 2006.  Bad business decision, probably, but great news for gamers, despite the agonizing wait.  We want to play a finished game, not one rushed to market with corners cut (like Wind Waker).

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