How Gaming Has Changed
by DesertDwellerOk, I'll admit it. I like the Zelda series a lot more than most people like their favorite series. I guess I got sucked into the massive array of characters and complex storylines to follow, and now I'm playing whichever Zelda games I can. I've finished The Wind Waker, Ocarina of Time, am almost finished with Majora's Mask (done everything but summon the giants), have dabbled in The Legend of Zelda, and am currently furiously working my way through the nigh-impossible Adventure of Link.
While I do love the huge emphasis on the story that so characteristic of the LoZ series, I always think about how the series can help me better understand game development and how it has progressed over the years.
As stated above I have been playing the second game in the series: The Adventure of Link. Many say that AoL has easily the most difficult gameplay of the series. So...I think that it can't be all that bad and begin playing. I was way wrong. Majora's Mask, considered to be another hard game in the series, doesn't hold a candle to the AoL in terms of difficulty level. The game is a pure nightmare. I tried to get through the Death Mountain maze probably 10 times today (no exaggeration). Each time, after 30 minutes of long, laborious fighting, I would accidentally fall into lava, or get killed by yet another , Ironknuckle, Stalfos, or Daria (red ones are the worst!).
This guy's supposed to be easy...
More than once I shouted out loud, "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" as I fell into a lava pit, completely wasting my last life and having to start back at the beginning, again.
Gotta Be Careful Even With These Guys
They'll Spring Ya!
However, one thing I've noticed as I play the old NES games, is that the game isn't spoon-fed as in most modern-day games. There is no tutorial, they don't tell you any moves, no nothing, you figure it out, especially after you die for the bajillionth time on a red Daria you just might try upgrading Link before you go thrust yourself into certain destruction again. You might realize that when Link is standing his shield blocks high attacks and when he is crouching his shield blocks low ones.
Back then, there were no walkthroughs, no whole level-long tutorials to show you every single move available. If you couldn't figure it out, you sufferred along till you did.
And Suffer I Did
So as I play through the Adventure of Link, I contrast it with less archaic games like The Wind Waker. I immediately notice that AoL is far less graphically appealing, so it is lacking in that area. Story-wise Wind Waker I do think is much better, although this might just be because so much less is said in Adventure of Link. (characters use words sparingly because the text takes up so much room) However, I have to ask myself, which is more addicting in the end?
Of course this isn't something I can give an objective, absolute statement on. Some will like WW more than AoL because the graphics and scenery are gorgeous. In AoL you're lucky to find anything unnecessary in terms of visuals. What AoL has on WW though, and I would say most games these days, is a very carefully crafted difficulty curve. It's easy for a game to become difficult to the point of leaving the player dejected and unlikely to play the game again. AoL is almost like that, but instead it leaves just enough of a hint of fun and adventure. While I do hate going through all the steps to get to Death Mountain for the umpteenth time, it's way too much fun going all that way and barely missing it. It's a hard-to-explain feeling when you hate and love the game at the same time; Nintendo keeps a seemingly-perfect balance that keeps the player interested.
Guard high strike low
Just playing such a simple game that is so addicting, makes me wonder why such and emphasis is made on the look of the game. With only 256 colors and 2-dimensions, Nintendo did so much; maybe we don't need X bajillion polygon characters and real-time world emulation.
[Images courtesy of Zelda Shrine]
I agree completely. I think that today, simplistic 2D games are often under rated. Look at Canabalt, that made a huge hit everywhere, and guess what? It's a 2D game, with 6 colours, and only 1 button control.