Gaming Forums => Nintendo Gaming => Topic started by: Khushrenada on August 20, 2018, 04:24:38 AM
Title: Run the Series 6: 2D Zelda Games.
Post by: Khushrenada on August 20, 2018, 04:24:38 AM
Hello NWR Forum users. Welcome to the 6th edition of Run the Series, the latest installment in one of the most favorite series of threads among NWR Users. There was so much demand for another installment after the last edition over a year ago that I just don't have time to cover all zero posts asking when this next installment would be released. :'(
Run the Series Mission Statement
From past posts, I am sometimes surprised at what games users on these forums have played or missed in a franchise and it's made me curious about the gaming habits of all our various users here. It also made curious as to what my gaming experience looks like compared to others. I thought I'd see if I could find out more information on the matter by creating a series of threads designed to look at different franchises found on Nintendo systems to see what series the users here like. What franchises do people still find important to keep up with and what series have they let lapse or play infrequently? What are the franchises people haven't even touched or have fully completed? Which games are the most common shared experience in a series and which ones are the least?
For each entry, I've created a poll and the poll lists all the games considered as franchise entries.* Users can then select which games in the series they have beat. When I mean beat, I'm just referring to completing the main quest or storyline and seeing the credits and not if you've completed every other side quest or mission similar to how Backloggery would classify those terms. This poll is a chance to let all users see how they stack up again users from this forum.
In addition, if you want to provide more information about what your level of completion is on games, feel free to post about it. For that matter, feel free to give your thoughts on the series. Why you play it, why you don't, what's your favorite entry, least favorite entry, how you'd rank the entry in the series, what you'd like to see, what you don't want to see, etc. You know the drill. Whatever comments you want to make based on the series under discussion or specific games in the poll, this thread is open for you to do so.
*Or at least my take on what the series consists of. You are welcome to tell me how wrong I am with my selections. :'(
Past Entries in the Series
1st Edition - 2D Mario Platformers (http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?topic=50413.0) 2nd Edition - Pokémon Main Series (http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?topic=50526.0) 3rd Edition - Donkey Kong (Country Style) (https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?topic=50733.0) 4th Edition - Wario Platformers (http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?topic=50889.0) 5th Edition - Mario Kart (https://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.php?topic=51289.0)
If you are new to this forum series or missed an entry, feel free to check out the past entries and comment on them too if interested. Bumping Khushrenada threads is always a welcome practice on these forums.
Title: Re: Run the Series: 2D Zelda Games.
Post by: Khushrenada on August 20, 2018, 04:57:53 AM
The Series Up for Discussion
The last time I did one of these articles, Breath of the Wild hadn't even released yet and with Zelda fever in the air, I had always planned to do a Zelda entry next. However, rather than a 3D entry with a new 3D game about to release making such an installment a bit obsolete or needing a return and update in a few months, I was going to go in the direction of focusing on the 2D games since there was nothing currently being planned along those lines and currently there still is nothing in that regard. So, with resurrecting this series, I figured I might as well stick to the plan I'd always had for the next entry.
Although originating on consoles, this style of Zelda gameplay has pretty much become the domain of handheld gaming hence its placement in this forum. With the 2D games spanning from the NES to the 3DS, I'm expecting the amount to have run the series to be low but I'm also interested to see just how well the older entries get represented compared to the newer ones especially with their difficulty compared to newer entries even though Nintendo has re-released a lot of these over the years.
Why Are These Games Part of the Series?
Basically, these games feature all or a majority of their gameplay in the top-down view associated with the first game in the series The Legend of Zelda. Although it could be argued that the series really keeps the same structure in a lot of ways either in the 3D or 2D mode, I feel the puzzle and battle elements change the gameplay enough between the two that separate entries for the main series should be based around that fact.
Four Swords and Triforce Heroes are multiplayer which may make them more of a different experience than a normal single player Zelda game but they still rely on the same type of 2D combat and dungeon/puzzle exploration as the single player games so I didn't think they were completely different enough to warrant a separate entry. I'm sure the connectivity requirements will probably keep them low on the completed list though thus there might not be too many users disagreeing about their inclusion anyways.
What Games Weren't Included
These articles are sticking with the games released on actual Nintendo consoles so save your Wand of Gamelon fandom for another day. There's only other spin-off type game that might be considered a part of this half of the Zelda series and that's Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland. It is not included with these other games, though, since I've mainly been sticking to the Nintendo games released in the North American region as that is where the majority of the users on these forums are located. Sorry, European users but at least you got the game released in your region. Plus, although in top-down view, the game diverges quite a bit in most of its elements compared to how other 2D Zelda games operate that it is too different to include anyways and would be part of the oddities section of the Zelda series. Like other series, I feel all Zelda games can be divided into these three categories: 2D, 3D, Oddities. If we were doing the latter then it would be Tingle's time to shine.
So, with that quick little rundown, let's open it up to the rest of you forum users and let's see how well NWR has Run the Series!
Title: Re: Run the Series: 2D Zelda Games.
Post by: BeautifulShy on August 20, 2018, 06:07:05 AM
So my history with 2D Zelda goes back to the NES and The Adventure of Link. That game was actually the first game I played. I played the original as well at friends houses and I would get the original myself as well. I think I managed to beat the original back then or later on with The Legend of Zelda: Collectors Edition disk. I never beat Adventure of Link in all those years.
Backtrack to fast forward to the SNES era I beat A Link to the Past more times than I can count and it was so engrossing. Just playing the game and trying to find all the heart pieces was a great accomplishment. I even managed to have a 000 file at the end of the game. That basically meant I didn't die at all through the game.
After playing through LTTP I picked up Link's Awakening and it was a little different from what I was used to because it didn't really take place in Hyrule. I did like how the puzzles were a bit more difficult then previous games. There also was the way you could experiment with the different item combinations and get surprising results. This was the game I played most on my original brick Game Boy till I got one of those "Play it Loud" clear GBs. I also liked the way the game pieced areas of the world with others in many ways. I loved beating the game over and over even though it was pretty large for a GB game.
Between the SNES era and the DS era of games I did play the oracle games but never managed to beat them. I don't think my eyes were on the 2D Zelda games during this time I think I was more focused on the 3D titles like OOT, MM, OOT: Master Quest and The Wind Waker.
After that my games that I beat takes a long hiatus till the DS and Spirit Tracks. It was a little frustrating traversing through the world in retrospect but I did like that Zelda had some role in the game.
I am looking at A Link between Worlds and Triforce Heroes to obtain but I haven't gotten them. I'm sorry Mop it up. Triforce Heroes looks really fun.
I guess if I were to rank the 2D Zelda games that I have played it would be like this...
1.The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past 2.Link's Awakening 3.The Legend of Zelda 4.The Adventure of Link 5.Spirit Tracks 6.Oracle of Seasons 7.Oracle of Ages
Title: Re: Run the Series: 2D Zelda Games.
Post by: Khushrenada on August 20, 2018, 06:44:20 PM
What this entry in Run the Series has taught me is that I seem to be more interested in the 3D Zelda games then the 2D. There are 13 2D games and I've only completed 3 of them. The Four Sword stuff require other people has held me back from really trying to get into them but most of the other games I've always been interested in playing or want to play (aside from Zelda 2) but I've put them off for one reason or another and I'm really surprised at how little I have actually played of them.
My first Zelda game was A Link to the Past. It was the GBA edition which I borrowed from a friend after I had gotten a DS and was catching up on past titles. (Then I got a Famicom Micro GBA for cheap and never used the DS again for GBA. The rumble pak now sits in its GBA slot.) It really blew me away. It made me again appreciate the SNES software but I totally understood why this series was so popular. I was more used to Metroid at this point and it felt like a neat deviation from that series. I also appreciated how 2D games made it easier to search and explore everything. 3D games were starting to feel like these large massive worlds already but as I went screen by screen across the overworld and through dungeons, I would tap on every portion of walls to check for any hollow sound to make sure I didn't miss anything. When I got the shovel, I started digging up all the earth to make sure nothing was missed.
Title: Re: Run the Series: 2D Zelda Games.
Post by: Khushrenada on August 20, 2018, 06:45:21 PM
When I finished, I then moved on to Wind Waker and other 3D Zeldas. The next 2D game I played was the original Legend of Zelda. I had a GC Zelda Anniversary Disc with 1, 2, OoT and MM on it. I thought I'd start from the beginning and start catching up on the series. I found LoZ to be rather tough and confusing at first. I started checking out a guide after awhile to figure out where the dungeons are that I needed to get too. After some time, I did start to get better at the game and learn how to use my shield to protect myself. I'm pretty sure I even got through the first 4 dungeons in the game and was working on or to the 5th.
But then, I got sidetracked and didn't get back to the game and later the save data was corrupted. I'd have to start over but I never have. In addition to NES Metroid, the experience taught me that NES games really don't compare to SNES or beyond. They can still be playable but they really require effort since they've got a higher difficulty in addition to or because of their technical limitations. Still, once I started making progress in the game and getting better at it, I did and do have a bit of fondness for the title but not enough to make me go back to it yet.
The next game I actually played and beat all the way through was Phantom Hourglass. As a big Wind Waker fan, I'd been interested in the title for a long time in the hopes of getting more of that experience. I knew it had a lot of divided reviews over its controls and a central dungeon you had to keep going to but I really, really liked this game when I played it. Revisting the dungeon didn't really bother my that much and there were ways to warp down further over time so it wasn't constantly a lot of backtracking. The touch controls really won me over and I think they're brilliant. It's kind of a shame no other game makers felt like following or adapting that control scheme into other titles. Part of me wanted to dive into Spirit Tracks right after to play another game with those touch controls but I told myself I should save it for later and now I've never gotten to it because there are always other games I'm wanting to catch up on and finally play.
Title: Re: Run the Series: 2D Zelda Games.
Post by: Khushrenada on August 20, 2018, 06:46:00 PM
The last 2D Zelda game is Link's Awakening DX. I played it when it launched on the 3DS eShop and in some ways, I think of it as part of the 3DS launch software and was a big part of my experience with the 3DS in its first year. There had always been a lot of love for this title from users on this forum, like UncleBob, so I was really looking forward to diving into it. In the end, I wasn't quite as blown away by the experience as some were. I did get annoyed at the GB's 2 button limitation requiring a lot of item switching and having known a picked up a lot of the special moments and story of the game from others talking about it, there weren't a lot of big surprises in it.
Like the NES, having played a bunch of GB games from the eShop that I'd always been interested in as a kid but never had the resources to acquire, I discovered I wasn't missing that much and am not really that enthusiastic about its software. The Kirby games seem to have been able to hold up pretty well but I've been disappointed by a lot of what I've played. Link's Awakening is one of the few games, like the Kirby games, that actually are worth it from the GB software library. I've got to admit it is pretty impressive how well they made a worthy series entry at that point especially with A Link to the Past to compare it too. Even though I had played a lot more Zelda games by this point, it has some pretty tricky dungeons. I was stumped a few times on what I needed to do in order to progress and figure out what I was missing. If you like puzzling dungeons, LA does deliver. The Overworld does deliver some interesting sights and moments like Animal Village and I really did enjoy my time with this game but I do feel the tech it was designed on holds it back from being a total masterpiece in modern gaming and I'm also more a fan of exploration than dungeon puzzles so those two things are a factor on my opinion of it but I do still endorse the game as something everyone should play and check out. I still enjoyed my time playing it and part of me has felt like going back through it again at some point but, as of now, that hasn't happened.
And that's been it. I got Minish Cap from the Ambassador games but held off to save it for the end since I had high hopes for it and wanted to play through Ambassador games and get them out of the way. Ended up playing through and completing all the games I had played and completed before and then lost interest in the Ambassador games from Mario Kart Super Circuit and F-Zero Maximum Velocity so I never got around to Fire Emblem or the Minish Cap. When the Oracle games came out, I downloaded them and wanted to see how they held up compared to Link's Awakening having finally played it and never got around to it. I think I was busy in New Leaf or Smash 3DS whenever they came out and just kind of forgot about them. I have Four Swords on my 3DS but have never had people to play it with me. I have Four Swords for the GC but same situation plus I need a couple more GBAs and link cables. I have the NES Zeldas on my 3DS thanks to the Ambassador program but only touched SMB from the NES games. I did acquire A Link Between Worlds but I've been wondering about playing A Link to the Past again to remind myself of that overworld a bit more but maybe I should just play it regardless. Have also acquired TriForce Heroes and have put off trying to get a crew to play it with me from NWR because I was so into Breath of the Wild at the time. But I may just start getting into that game now instead of putting it off.
It's a case where I've got the games because I have always wanted to play them. I just need to do so at some point.
Title: Re: Run the Series: 2D Zelda Games.
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 20, 2018, 07:27:00 PM
I'm going to go against the grain here and say I'm not really fond of the 2D Zeldas. The series to me is just so better in its 3D iterations. Honestly, the only 2D Zelda I really liked was Link's Awakening, the rest are pretty forgettable.
Title: Re: Run the Series: 2D Zelda Games.
Post by: pokepal148 on August 21, 2018, 05:27:32 AM
Link's Awakening is still the best Zelda game. Outside of that the 2D Zeldas are strong entries that can't hold a candle to their 3D counterparts that aren't named Skyward Sword.
If the Oracle games ever got a rerelease that made secret sharing not kind of a clunky annoying thing they'd probably make my personal top 5 list though if we're counting them as a linked game.
Title: Re: Run the Series: 2D Zelda Games.
Post by: NWR_insanolord on August 21, 2018, 10:59:52 AM
Link's Awakening and the Oracle games could really benefit from remakes that had more buttons to work with.
Title: Re: Run the Series: 2D Zelda Games.
Post by: Khushrenada on August 21, 2018, 11:19:43 AM
Actually, isn't there a rumor going around that Grezzo might be working on a remake of Link's Awakening? If they were to update it with more buttons and better visuals then there's a good chance I could start to love it like UncleBob. The success rate of Nintendo's remakes basically obsoleting the original they are based on is pretty solid.
Title: Re: Run the Series: 2D Zelda Games.
Post by: Krushrenada on August 21, 2018, 02:25:02 PM
It looks like an alt decided to go ahead and post my idea for the next entry without waiting for the week to be over. As I said though anything goes this week, so I'll allow it. But don't think I'll forget about this.
I guess I might as well go ahead and throw in my two cents while the topic is here. I was never big on NES so my first Zelda game was A Link to the Past. It was the GBA edition which I borrowed from a very generous friend who I ended up coldly screwing over by never returning the game. It was after I had gotten a DS and was catching up on past titles due to all the non-gaming crap released in the early DS days. Dark times. Then I got a Famicom Micro GBA for cheap and never used the DS again for GBA thank goodness. The rumble pak now sits in its GBA slot to cover it up. It really blew me away. It made me again appreciate the superior SNES software especially in the case of sound quality which was usually terrible on GBA. I totally understood why this series was so popular. I was more used to Metroid at this point and it felt like a neat deviation from that series even though Zelda technically came first but who cares. I also appreciated how 2D games made it easier to search and explore everything. 3D games were starting to feel like these large massive empty worlds already, looking back it's kind of ironic I thought that but still enjoy Breath of the Wild. But that's a topic for another day. As I went screen by screen across the overworld and through dungeons, I would tap on every portion of walls to check for any hollow sound to make sure I didn't miss anything. When I got the shovel, I started digging up all the earth to make sure nothing was missed.
When I finished, I then moved on to Wind Waker and other 3D Zeldas. The next 2D game I played was the original Legend of Zelda. I had a GC Zelda Anniversary Disc with 1, 2, OoT and MM on it that I obtained by screwing over another friend. I thought I'd start from the beginning and start catching up on the series. I found LoZ to be rather tough and confusing at first, which is unusual for someone as intelligent as I. I started checking out a guide after awhile to figure out where the dungeons are that I needed to get to, which is again unlike me. After some time, I did start to get better at the game and learn how to use my shield to protect myself. I'm pretty sure I even got through the first 4 dungeons in the game and was working on or to the 5th.
But then, I got sidetracked and didn't get back to the game and later the save data was corrupted. That was easily the worst part about the GCN. I'd have to start over but I never have. In addition to NES Metroid, the experience taught me that NES games really don't compare to SNES or beyond. They can still be playable but they really require effort since they've got a higher difficulty in addition to or because of their technical limitations. It's kind of amazing people actually liked games back on NES since so many are terrible. Still, once I started making progress in the game and getting better at it, I did and do have a bit of fondness for the title but not enough to make me go back to it yet.
The next game I actually played and beat all the way through was Phantom Hourglass, hand cramps and all. As a big Wind Waker fan, I'd been interested in the title for a long time in the hopes of getting more of that experience but with less of the flaws. I knew it had a lot of divided reviews over its controls and a central dungeon you had to keep going to but I really, really liked this game when I played it because I'm not a baby and have a good memory and knew how to use the shortcuts. The touch controls really won me over and I think they're brilliant, mostly just saying this to tick everyone off. It's kind of a shame no other game makers felt like following or adapting that control scheme into other titles, the outrage it would cause would have been hilarious to watch. Part of me wanted to dive into Spirit Tracks right after to play another game with those touch controls but I told myself I should save it for later and now I've never gotten to it because I focused more on playing Mafia games instead.
The last 2D Zelda game is Link's Awakening DX. I played it when it launched on the 3DS eShop and in some ways, I think of it as part of the 3DS launch software and was a big part of my experience with the 3DS in its first year. That first year was pretty terrible and it's no wonder the 3DS tanked then, but at least it had that spotlight. There had always been a lot of love for this title from users on this forum, like UncleBob, so I was really looking forward to diving into it, even if their taste is rather suspect. In the end, I wasn't quite as blown away by the experience as some were, because I don't fall for such sappy storytelling. I did get annoyed at the GB's 2 button limitation requiring a lot of item switching and having known and picked up a lot of the special moments and story of the game from others talking about it, there weren't a lot of big surprises in it. Thanks for ruining this game for me, everyone.
Like the NES, having played a bunch of GB games from the eShop that I'd always been interested in as a kid but never had the resources to acquire and am above being a filthy pirate like so many of you plebeians, I discovered I wasn't missing that much and am not really that enthusiastic about its software. It's clear the system is driven by nostalgia. The Kirby games seem to have been able to hold up pretty well because it's Kirby which is a series full of timeless classic, but I've been disappointed by a lot of what else I've played. Link's Awakening is one of the few games, like the Kirby games, that actually are worth it from the GB software library. I've got to admit it is pretty impressive how well they made a worthy series entry at that point especially with A Link to the Past to compare it too. Even though I had played a lot more Zelda games by this point, it has some pretty tricky dungeons. I was stumped a few times on what I needed to do in order to progress and figure out what I was missing, and as I was saying before this is a very rare occurrence for me and you won't here me admitting that very often. If you like puzzling dungeons, LA does deliver. The Overworld does deliver some interesting sights and moments like Animal Village and I really did enjoy my time with this game but I do feel the tech it was designed on holds it back from being a total masterpiece in modern gaming and I'm also more a fan of exploration than dungeon puzzles so those two things are a factor on my opinion of it but I do still endorse the game as something everyone should play and check out and you can tell I like something by just how long I make a runoff sentence that just keeps going and going. I still enjoyed my time playing it and part of me has felt like going back through it again at some point but, as of now, that hasn't happened because I need to keep hosting forum games since no one else steps up.
And that's been it. I got Minish Cap from the Ambassador games because I'm a proud ambassador which makes me royalty amongst the Nintendo fandom but held off to save it for the end since I had high hopes for it and wanted to play through Ambassador games and get them out of the way. Ended up playing through and completing all the games I had played and completed before and then lost interest in the Ambassador games from Mario Kart Super Circuit and F-Zero Maximum Velocity which are again bafflingly terrible and makes me question people's tastes. So I never got around to Fire Emblem or the Minish Cap. When the Oracle games came out, I downloaded them and wanted to see how they held up compared to Link's Awakening having finally played it and never got around to it. I think I was busy in New Leaf or Smash 3DS whenever they came out and just kind of forgot about them. You know, modern games that are way better than these old games most people only like because they didn't know any better at the time. I have Four Swords on my 3DS but have never had people to play it with me. I have Four Swords for the GC but same situation plus I need a couple more GBAs and link cables. I have the NES Zeldas on my 3DS thanks to the Ambassador program but only touched SMB from the NES games because that's the one true timeless classic offered. I did acquire A Link Between Worlds but I've been wondering about playing A Link to the Past again to remind myself of that overworld a bit more but maybe I should just play it regardless. After all, it's just a rehash so I don't want ALBW to feel like playing the same game again. Have also acquired Tri Force Heroes and have put off trying to get a crew to play it with me from NWR because I was so into Breath of the Wild at the time. But I may just start getting into that game now instead of putting it off, because you all are disappointing slackers.
It's a case where I've got the games because I have always wanted to play them. I just need to do so at some point and hope that the forums can survive without me. Fat chance.
Title: Re: Run the Series: 2D Zelda Games.
Post by: Khushrenada on August 21, 2018, 03:45:49 PM
It looks like an alt decided to go ahead and post my idea for the next entry without waiting for the week to be over.
I don't know. It's possible this could be a dupe account to fool everyone. Why wouldn't the real Krush start his own? He always goes on about thread proliferation and multiple topics on the same thing are fine. Hmmmmmm.
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As I said though anything goes this week, so I'll allow it. But don't think I'll forget about this.
Well, he is known to be pretty lax about enforcing the forum rules. So, this makes sense and just might be the real user after all.
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which I borrowed from a very generous friend who I ended up coldly screwing over by never returning the game.
Yeah, I can believe that.
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it's kind of ironic I thought that but still enjoy Breath of the Wild. But that's a topic for another day.
Oh come on. You can elaborate further. I can't think of a non sequitor the true Khushrenada wouldn't take on his way to possibly making a point. Doubts are rising again.
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someone as intelligent as I... ...kind of amazing people actually liked games back on NES since so many are terrible... ...because I'm not a baby and have a good memory... ...the outrage it would cause would have been hilarious to watch... ...I focused more on playing Mafia games instead.
Have to admit this really does sound like the way Krushrenada would talk. This probably really is him after all.
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Thanks for ruining this game for me, everyone.
So true. The whole thing is a dream and Link has to destroy the world to wake up. There are Mario character cameos like Chain Chomps and Wart. You can steal from the store and get chased with Marin calling you a thief. Who just goes around spoiling things like that? NWR Users, that's who!
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and am above being a filthy pirate like so many of you plebeians,
Wait! So Khushrenada is following the rest of the forum user filth by not illegally downloading games just as they are not doing so? Remember kids. Honesty is the best policy. It's why I've won so many Mafia games!
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and you can tell I like something by just how long I make a runoff sentence that just keeps going and going.. ..that hasn't happened because I need to keep hosting forum games since no one else steps up.
Oh, lordy, Hallelujah! This is definitely the real Khush. Preach it, brother, preach it!
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and hope that the forums can survive without me. Fat chance.
Story checks out.
Another great wall of text from Krushrenada as usual. You could separate Berlin with that amount of verbosity. Bravo.
Title: Re: Run the Series: 2D Zelda Games.
Post by: Order.RSS on August 21, 2018, 07:45:46 PM
Big Zelda fan here, so I've mopped 'em all up. Even the ones with levels in muddy swamps which make me go aw, dirty floors. Guess that makes me...
...the Floor Master. 8) 8) 8)
Title: Re: Run the Series: 2D Zelda Games.
Post by: that Baby guy on August 22, 2018, 10:55:15 PM
My favorit Zelda game is Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Alma. Mostly because it has all the best Pokémon in it.
Title: Re: Run the Series: 2D Zelda Games.
Post by: Mop it up on August 23, 2018, 12:20:16 PM
