The Legend of Zelda (NES)

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Herschie
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The Legend of Zelda (NES)

Postby Herschie » March 5th, 2017, 3:22 pm

In speaking of the newly-released "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" for both the Wii U and Switch:

BanjoPickles wrote:I'm seven hours in, and I'm actually going to admit that this is either the best Zelda since LttP, or the best game in the series! It gets rid of the hand holding that, in my opinion, dragged the series down, ramps up the difficulty, and brought back the sense of wonder from the first game!

I was seriously not expecting the game to be this good! If I were to put a grade on it, based on what I've seen up to this point, I would easily give it an A+!


David wrote:Total freedom. 10/10, A+, superlative, superlative, superlative. I wonder how it will be going back to the other Zeldas after this one. In comparison the previous entries are very rigid and linear.


Well, I decided to find out. And you know what? To truly capture the feeling I had in 1988 (When all my friends played this), I have to play "Breath of the Wild". In both games, you are plunked down into this huge world (LoZ was huge in NES standards),and it's on you to figure out what to do. In Legend of Zelda, my mom would interrupt my game to have me clean my room. In BotW, my wife interrupts the game to have me fill the dishwasher. And they say you can't go home again! Although, back then, I never figured out that if I just took fifteen friggin minutes to clean my room instead of pouting about it, I could have been back playing in no time.

But I digress. When I played LoZ, I put on my 1988 shoes (My Reebok Pumps), and imagined myself as a kid playing this for the first time. The game is harder than I remember when you just have a go at the dungeons, instead of collecting every heart container and item you can before completely annihilating Level 1. Secrets and locations that I've known for years I can see myself struggling to find if I didn't know any better. Just like in Breath of the Wild.

The thing of it is, now I wonder which Zelda game was the best for its time. They both had very little hand-holding, and they both gave you that sense of adventure and nostalgia that has become the predominant reason for playing Zelda.

And I can't forget where it all started.

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Rookie1
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Re: The Legend of Zelda (NES)

Postby Rookie1 » March 6th, 2017, 2:15 pm

I dont think the first LoZ gets enough credit due to the fact it is out-shined by the beauty of other Zelda games. However, I think it has the best gameplay of the series, and was the most groundbreaking. Other Zelda games look great, but never gave you that freedom that the original gave you, up until now of course.

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Gentlegamer
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Re: The Legend of Zelda (NES)

Postby Gentlegamer » March 6th, 2017, 2:40 pm

At least the wooden sword in Legend of Zelda doesn't break.

Voor
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Re: The Legend of Zelda (NES)

Postby Voor » March 8th, 2017, 6:55 am

I fired up the original zelda a few days ago and couldn't really get into it. I'm just not really into open world stuff--too much time is spent wandering around, backtracking, etc.

Maybe I'll try again later.

twilighthotel
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Re: The Legend of Zelda (NES)

Postby twilighthotel » March 9th, 2017, 10:36 am

For NES LOZ, the game was definitely a little different than Zelda titles that followed and less linear than people seem to remember. Right from the very beginning of the game, you can enter dungeons 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6. Getting into Level 8 only requires a candle that you could farm enough rupees for within 10-12 screens of enemies. Just for a challenge and to make the back end of the game easier, the minute I get the candle I like to enter Level 8 and defeat both of the Manhandlas that appear within the first few rooms since they don't regenerate anyway when you go back. I also like to get the Magic Book from Level 8 around the same time, too, before even hitting Level 1. That sort of freedom of gameplay didn't necessarily reappear in later Zelda entries. Until now it seems.

Herschie
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Re: The Legend of Zelda (NES)

Postby Herschie » March 9th, 2017, 3:48 pm

twilighthotel wrote:For NES LOZ, the game was definitely a little different than Zelda titles that followed and less linear than people seem to remember. Right from the very beginning of the game, you can enter dungeons 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6. Getting into Level 8 only requires a candle that you could farm enough rupees for within 10-12 screens of enemies. Just for a challenge and to make the back end of the game easier, the minute I get the candle I like to enter Level 8 and defeat both of the Manhandlas that appear within the first few rooms since they don't regenerate anyway when you go back. I also like to get the Magic Book from Level 8 around the same time, too, before even hitting Level 1. That sort of freedom of gameplay didn't necessarily reappear in later Zelda entries. Until now it seems.


Yep. You can enter Level 8 early on, but it'll be tougher than me convincing my wife to let me purchase a Framemeister. You're certainly better off collecting items and hearts, but it's not required.

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Gentlegamer
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Re: The Legend of Zelda (NES)

Postby Gentlegamer » March 13th, 2017, 11:18 am

Dungeon 6 is the hardest and I always saved it for last.

radar
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Re: The Legend of Zelda (NES)

Postby radar » April 1st, 2017, 5:59 pm

I hated zelda and role playing games as a kid. It was pre internet and without a strategy guide i kept wandering around trying to figure out where to go and what to do next. You could play forever, not get further ahead, and the game may never end unless you quit. I was more of a contra guy. You didnt need a guide and you won or lost in about an hour. At the time it was futuristic. A gold cover instead of gray and it saved your game data instead of password. Later in life I beat it using an internet guide to help when I got lost. I dont mind on a game like this using a guide a couple of times but if you have to almost completely rely on a guide to find out where to go next it takes the fun out of the game for me. I ended up trading mine for karnov.

Herschie
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Re: The Legend of Zelda (NES)

Postby Herschie » February 27th, 2019, 7:06 pm

radar wrote:I hated zelda and role playing games as a kid. It was pre internet and without a strategy guide i kept wandering around trying to figure out where to go and what to do next. You could play forever, not get further ahead, and the game may never end unless you quit. I was more of a contra guy. You didnt need a guide and you won or lost in about an hour. At the time it was futuristic. A gold cover instead of gray and it saved your game data instead of password. Later in life I beat it using an internet guide to help when I got lost. I dont mind on a game like this using a guide a couple of times but if you have to almost completely rely on a guide to find out where to go next it takes the fun out of the game for me. I ended up trading mine for karnov.


You know, it helps that I don't know the second quest like I do the first. So there's still some challenge to be had. Last night, I could not for the life of me remember where the letter to the old lady was, because them Wizzrobes in Level 5 had me needing some potion! But then I remembered a Nintendo Power that I had as a kid that I was able to Google, I believe it was July 1988:

Image

Remember that? As a kid, I got confused, because almost nothing was where that map said it was. But finally I figured out that it was for the 2nd quest while I was still piddling around on the 1st quest. Then that little lightbulb in my head went off!

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Gentlegamer
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Re: The Legend of Zelda (NES)

Postby Gentlegamer » February 28th, 2019, 7:31 am

Herschie wrote:
radar wrote:I hated zelda and role playing games as a kid. It was pre internet and without a strategy guide i kept wandering around trying to figure out where to go and what to do next. You could play forever, not get further ahead, and the game may never end unless you quit. I was more of a contra guy. You didnt need a guide and you won or lost in about an hour. At the time it was futuristic. A gold cover instead of gray and it saved your game data instead of password. Later in life I beat it using an internet guide to help when I got lost. I dont mind on a game like this using a guide a couple of times but if you have to almost completely rely on a guide to find out where to go next it takes the fun out of the game for me. I ended up trading mine for karnov.


You know, it helps that I don't know the second quest like I do the first. So there's still some challenge to be had. Last night, I could not for the life of me remember where the letter to the old lady was, because them Wizzrobes in Level 5 had me needing some potion! But then I remembered a Nintendo Power that I had as a kid that I was able to Google, I believe it was July 1988:

Image

Remember that? As a kid, I got confused, because almost nothing was where that map said it was. But finally I figured out that it was for the 2nd quest while I was still piddling around on the 1st quest. Then that little lightbulb in my head went off!


There's a complete map of Metroid in the same issue, which is why I was able to beat it back in the day.


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