Zelda Retrospective: Part IV: A Link to the Past - Day 1

Dear Zelda II: The Adventure of Link,

I concede defeat. You are the better man... er, game.

Sincerely,
- Nate


Yes, dear readers, much to my chagrin, I have given up on my attempts at Zelda II. The game is beyond me.

Quite simply, I suck at it.

So, today I booted up the Wii and clicked on the third game in the Legend of Zelda series, A Link to the Past, which was released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1992 (in the USA, at least, 1991 in Japan). While I had an SNES when I was a kid, I had not yet discovered Zelda when I was playing it. So, I never owned the game until I downloaded the Virtual Console version for the Wii a couple of years ago.
Unlike the previous two Zelda outings, I've actually taken the time to play this game. However, I've never gone further than the first three or four dungeons - mainly due to obligations to school and simply choosing to spend my time on other things. Sacrilege, yes, but it's just the way it is. Also unlike the first two Zelda games, I feel as though I'm in familiar territory. Even though I didn't get into Zelda until Ocarina of Time, I have played through Link's Awakening and The Minish Cap, which are both very similar in game play to A Link to the Past. So I feel I'm far more prepared for the experience. I believe this is a game I can play without help from a walkthrough - unless I get horrendously stuck. I feel that I probably won't, though, because this game is much more merciful about giving some hint at where one is supposed to go next. I've already got the first two pendants today (and zero deaths!).
I guess Nintendo decided that they wanted to be a little more friendly to everyone after the brutal beast that was Zelda II. The SNES was supposed to reach a broader audience, so it would make sense that they would want the game to be more accessible. After playing the first game and attempting the second game, I was immediately grateful for the longer reach of Link's sword and the relative ease of finding hearts and rupees. This game, in tandem with the first two, helps to illustrate how the overall difficulty of games have been generally toned down as they become more popular amongst the general population.
I also noted things in this game that were reminiscent of more recent games in the series. In the field that you pass through before reaching the desert where the second pendant is, there are a number of statues similar to ancient Aztec or Mayan art. Similar designs would show up in The Wind Waker, especially in the Tower of the Gods dungeon midway through the game, and also in Twilight Princess. An obvious thing is the music and locations. I swear that the Kakariko Village theme MIDI file in A Link to the Past is the exact same one as the one used in Ocarina of Time. As a musician, I can generally tell the difference from one recording to another, but I couldn't detect any difference in this one. And of course, Kakariko Village goes on to make appearances in Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess.
All in all, I'm looking forward to finally playing all the way through A Link to the Past. It's been a long time coming.

- Nate

Zelda Retrospective: Part III - Zelda II: The Adventure of Link - Day 3

Folks, I just don't know what to do here. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is quite simply kicking my ass.
I have made no progress since the restart. I just now got all the way to the bridge after Spectacle Cave. But guess what happened? I received one of many game overs thanks to those red axe-throwing assholes that populate Death Mountain and the bridge that follows it.
This is a game that requires incredible reflex and observation. I simply just can't seem to progress. The fact that every time I game over puts me all the way back to the Northern Palace, where Zelda sleeps, is ridiculous. It means making any actual headway in the game is practically impossible (for me, at least).
As I've said before, this game is merciless.
Unfortunately, I don't have much else to say. I had an amusing series of pictures planned out that would have made up this post rather than the words preceding this sentence. Unfortunately, my camera was stolen some months ago and I can't get my webcam to work. Sorry guys!
I suppose I'll keep at it for a few more days, but I might have to just go ahead and move on to A Link to the Past soon, or else Adventure of Link is going to keep me in some kind of eternal limbo.
I feel like Sisyphus in Hades pushing the boulder up a hill only for it to come tumbling back down, for all eternity.

Ugh.

- Nate

Zelda Retrospective: Part III - Zelda II: The Adventure of Link - Day 2

Okay, so, I haven't been playing much. I've spent much of the time between this and the last Zelda blog. I played a little last night, trying desperately to get through Death Mountain without a guide, only to fail miserably each time. One of the biggest problems I have with this game, and it might just be a result of the port onto GameCube disc, but every time I lose all my lives, I get sent all the way back to the very beginning of the game. This makes making progress incredibly difficult. I felt that perhaps I hadn't levelled-up Link enough and then had a Final Fantasy-inspired idea that I've done a couple times after going to nearly the end of the game and discovering my characters weren't powerful enough (and was at a point where I couldn't dungeon crawl to upgrade).
So today I picked up the controller for a few hours and decided to start a fresh file. I made the quick jaunt to Rauru Town, then went up to Parapa Palace, where I levelled-up Link enough to where I needed 1200 to make it to the next level. This time, I made mince meat of Horsehead on the first try and got the upgrade after placing the crystal. So that left Link with level 4 attack and level 5 health and magic. Much better than the first file.
So, I went to tackle Death Mountain yet again, trying to make my way to Spectacle Rock. I was almost there when I got hit that one last time.
I've been seeing that screen way too often for my tastes. This game is absolutely merciless. If I have to start from the very beginning every time I get a game over, retaining only my level and my items (but none of my gained experience points), I don't know how I'm possibly going to get through this game in a reasonable time frame. If I could play the game non-stop and without a single game over, then maybe I could get through.
I guess I just suck at Zelda II. I'm going to keep at it though.

- Nate

Zelda Retrospective: Part III - Zelda II: The Adventure of Link - Day 1

Initial Thoughts on Zelda II:
1. When did Zelda turn into an RPG/Platformer?
2. When did they decide to ban recovery hearts?
3. Man, Link likes hookers.
4. F*** you, Horsehead!
5. "I am Error." Huh? Do you mean that your name is Error or that you are in error? People, you need to speak more clearly.
6. When did the Crusades hit Hyrule?
7. "I found a mirror under the table"? Did Link just talk?!
8. All these old wizard dudes sure like to live with young girls.


Enemies I've quickly learned to hate in Zelda II:
1. Iron Knuckles.
2. Fox-Headed Dudes who throw boomerangs.
3. Bearded little demon toads.
4. Flying/walking/fire-breathing bone fish that live under a bridge.

Yes, I started playing Zelda II: The Adventure of Link today. Some of you warned me as to the difficulty of that game. You were quite correct. It's atrocious. How did those developers sleep at night when they released the game in 1988? I mean, did they know how many people who would probably be driven insane. The fact that it took me about eight tries just to beat the first boss, Horsehead, doesn't bode well. I have a feeling this one's going to take me longer than two days.
It hit me immediately how vast a departure this game is from its predecessor and from its successors. Between an experience point-fueled upgrade system to a semi-random encounter system, this game is very reminiscent of a traditional role-playing game. On the other hand, there's a large emphasis on jumping and hacking in a side-scrolling platformer environment.
This game either didn't know what it wanted to be or wanted to be many things at once.

Well, let's see how this goes.

- Nate