Topic: Miyamoto confirms new Zelda title for GBA

[Dr_Pill]

Read the news on http://www.zeldauniverse.net/

"...Miyamoto  continued with stating   that   this   game   will  most likely be revealed at the E3  convention in  Los  Angeles,  May 2003."

I'm much too giddy to comment right now.                                  

[Gibdo Master]

I wonder if this could be the Legend of Zelda: The Legend Forgotten referred to in this thread. I'm happy about a brand new 2D Zelda game but I'm a little nervous about Capcom handling it again. I mean there Zelda games have been good so far but they seem to be missing something that the games Miyamoto really has his hands in have. At the very least I hope Miyamoto provides the story for this game since I felt there were several problems with the Oracle games story. One being it was to complicated even for a Zelda game and seemed to have a lot of things thrown in for the hell of it.

[Ian Sane]

"The game is developed by Capcom, who did the Oracle games as well as the SNES port A Link to the Past and the multiplayer game Four Swords."

If this is true it's being developed by Capcom which seems pretty likely considering their recent relationship with Nintendo and the Zelda franchise.  Still I found the Oracle games to lack the extra bit of "soul" that Zelda games need.  They felt more like they were going through the motions with the Oracle games which resulted in games that were generally pretty good but lacked the magic of the other Zelda games.  I would much prefer it if EAD was working on a new GBA Zelda.  Capcom is a good developer but likely won't do much more than "A Link to the Past 2".  EAD would change the way we think of 2D adventure games.

Still a new GBA Zelda is pretty damn good.  Let's get a new Mario too please.

[RockmanX]

Well I started a thread in the Gameboy forum about this earlier.  And EAD will oversee the development of the game along with Capcom.  Also, I thought that the Oracle games were pretty good, no LttP, but I don't think that game can be topped.

[Gibdo Master]

Since EAD is over seeing it does this mean Miyamoto won't have any involvement? If that's the case it makes me really nervous. What exactly is EAD anyway? I probably won't get an answer to this but I've been wondering for some time if Capcom made the story for the Oracle game themselves or if Miyamoto provided it.  

[RockmanX]

To my knowledge EAD is team under Nintendo.  I'm sure Myamoto has the last say about the game.  Who came up with the Oracle story, I dunno.  Maybe Myamoto layed the groudwork, and Capcom did the rest.  But I can't say for sure.

[Mingesium]

EAD makes most of Nintendo's GCN games. Miyamoto is general manager of EAD and he overlooks all their games.

NSider has a great feature showing Nintendo's development teams.  

[Gibdo Master]

Okay, thanks. So at the very least Miyamoto will still be looking these games over like he did with the Oracle games. That makes me feel better since I thought he decided to hand the reigns completely over to them. Also I'm hopeful that this game will be better than Oracles since Capcom has had a little more experience with the series since then. Not to mention they will be able to take advantage of the GBA's power.

I'm still worried they are going to try to throw in some cutesy characters like Ricky or Dimitri. I don't know about the rest of you but I didn't exactly care for some of the over the top cute and silly characters those two games have. Basically I just want it to be more of a serious game like A Link to the Past or Ocarina of Time and from what I've heard Wind Waker are. I'm also pretty nervous about the story since the Oracle games don't really fit perfectly in the time line.  

[Ian Sane]

"I'm still worried they are going to try to throw in some cutesy characters like Ricky or Dimitri. I don't know about the rest of you but I didn't exactly care for some of the over the top cute and silly characters those two games have."

I totally agree.  Unlike Nintendo Capcom tends to group their games as either mature (RE, Devil May Cry) or "kiddy" (Mega Man).  The idea of a game with cartoony graphics that is designed for all ages and can be played by kids and adults is actually a really foreign concept to most developers except Nintendo.  I have a feeling that Capcom regards Zelda as a series for kids and therefore designs everything with that in mind.  You would never see Link riding in the pouch of a kangaroo with boxing gloves in a EAD Zelda game.

Did anyone find it really dumb that Link could ride a DODONGO in the Oracle games?  What's next?  Link makes friends with Moblins?

One thing I'm wondering is what Link will look like in this new game.  In the Oracle games they just used the sprite from Link's Awakening.  Are they going to design a brand new sprite?  Hopefully they won't just use the Four Swords' sprites.  As cool as I think Wind Waker looks I don't want "super cartoony Link" to become the standard.

[Gibdo Master]

Yeah, it's ironic that everyone accuses Nintendo of being "kiddy" but when Capcom gets to make a game for Zelda they make it the most "kiddy" out of the whole series. The boxing kangaroo that wore boxing gloves really irritated me too and I felt that Dimitri would be better suited as a co-star of Barney rather than in a Zelda game.

As far as how Link will look I wouldn't doubt it if they use the Four Swords sprite again. In that summit interview (I believe that's the one) Miyamoto said, "In the past you'd have a Game Boy Zelda game and a home console Zelda game where the art styles didn't match. On top of that, the art style on the boxes didn't match the art style in the games. We've really tried to cut back on that, so you can see the same Link across the different platforms. We think that this is a good style with which to do that." So it seems they are going to want to use the same design for Link for sometime to come. Honestly I like the cel-shading and feel it's perfect for the Zelda series but I do wish they would use a less deformed design for Link and the rest of the characters. Something along the lines of the art style used for Ocarina only cel-shaded would be nice.

[Dr_Pill]

Maybe I'm nuts, but I rather liked the Dimitri and Ricky characters.  The Oracle of Seasons was the first Legend of Zelda game I'd ever played, and I thought it was absolutely brilliant.  I'd often find myself humming along to the charming Subrosian underworld theme.  Personally, I thought that some of the goofy characters were very entertaining, but that the gameplay itself was still serious enough to keep me entranced.  I bought it shortly after I got my Game Boy Advance in June 2001, which also happened to be the first Nintendo system I'd ever owned.  First of all, I'm not 8 years old (16 actually), I just hadn't taken too much of an interest in Nintendo until then.  About two years later, I bought a Game Cube.  I guess that shows just how well Nintendo's "Trojan Horse" strategy worked with the GBA.

I can't really think of anything that I would or wouldn't want to see in the coming Zelda game.  I trust that it'll be a thouroughly entertaining game as most of the releases in the series have been.

[Gibdo Master]

Well, for the Zelda series having really cute characters like that was a new and really unusual thing. Although the games have had humorous and goofy moments (mostly since A Link to the Past) they've been fairly serious. I've been playing these games since I was like 5yrs old around the time The Legend of Zelda was released and I more or less feel that they are The Lord of the Rings of video games. So it is a bit shocking and disturbing for some of us when we see cute colorful characters in these games. It would be like if someone wrote a new book set in J.R.R Tolkien's universe and they had cute loveable trolls or friendly Orcs. I don't know if you've read Tolkien's books or seen the movie but since practically everyone has I figured that example would help you understand where we are coming from a bit. The game play in those games was pretty good actually other than the fact I felt they went over board with cramming to much in them (especially in Ages). I can't really blame Capcom though because god knows what kind of mess I would make if I was able to make a Zelda game.  

[enigma487]

it would appear that i am in great agreement with quite a few Zelda fans out there.  I've grown up with Link.  First playing The Legend of Zelda, and Moving on to The Adventure of Link.  I used to say The Adventure of Link was the worst of the series, however, when the oracle games were released, and i actually got into the games, i couldn't play them.  I found myself going back to tAoL because it was great after the oracles.  I still say the best one is LttP.  I can't count how many times i've played through that game (4 times straight through    hows that for an accomplishment).  The Zelda games on N64 almost lived up to LttP, but not quite.  I'd be happy with a sequel to LttP for gameboy even if they use the sprites from 4 swords.  Just come up with a story that makes sense.  i.e. NO DAMN KANGAROOS!  but i digress.  I'll probably buy it, just because i've grown up with Link, but i can't say that it will be the most enjoyable game ever.  I dont' have much faith in Capcom.  That's my story, and i'm sticking to it.

[Dr_Pill]

Ah, I see.  You make an interesting point with Tolkien there, I have to say that would be fairly unorthodox to see his works include "cute loveable friendly trolls", so I do see why the Oracle games faced some hostility from longtime fans of the series.    

[steve]

It seems that i may be th only one who thinks that the oracle games were very good link games. I own or have played every single link game for the nintendo consoles and i have to say that they all are equally good except for the ocarina of time master quest which i have come to the conclution that it stands out because of its amazing story. Anyways i have tottal confidense in capcom to give the zelda series justice.