Some Zelda Things
10 hours ago
Minish Cap
Capcom did quite well with this, and I'm curious how much of Nintendo's direction was involved. It's curious why they enlisted Capcom in the first place. I kept trying to sniff out whether it had a different feel and in the end, I don't think I'd have been able to tell that it wasn't a first party creation.
I like the big/small gimmick. The Kinstone system was kinda neat. I was a fan of controlling multiple Links and solving puzzles that way. The way they brought it out in the final battle was fun. The villain wasn't terribly inspired but I mean it's Zelda. It's not like Ganon isn't much more than a stock bad guy.
What I didn't like: that the shield had to be wielded as the secondary weapon. No no no. Every other Zelda I've played (outside of the 3d versions I guess) let you just carry it around. If they wanted it to be a toggle (which I wouldn't have minded), I think they could have used the L button for that. It feels a little odd that the only use of L is to swap Kinstones but whatever.
Zelda 2
Still underrated imo. The knights that raise/lower shields and their swords are fun as always, even if the blue knights are obnoxious. I don't in the least mind that this is a side scroller. I'm a fan of being able to jump and stab downward. The only other Zelda game I've seen that be a thing is Minish Cap, and iirc I got it later on in the game and hardly used it.
Still making my way through this and it's fun to revisit.
Link's Awakening
This is pretty fun but for some reason it didn't gel with me. I beat maybe 4 dungeons before my attention wavered. No real desire to go back to it. I'll give it credit for giving Link the ability to jump with a special item. There was something about that I liked. Why DOES Link never jump, apart from walking off a ledge? It's like he sees all the legwork that Mario does and is too shy to attempt the same and focuses on swordplay instead. Where's Mario's sword? Yeah, that's what I thought.
Link to the Past
Solid game, though it feels dated. I played through it and they definitely improved upon many aspects of LoZ 1. I never played it as a kid, so the other Zeldas have a sense of nostalgia that is missing here. Still, I can see why it was popular in its time. I even revisited a thread here recently that suggested LttP was overrated. I'm inclined to agree but given that it was a pioneer of its time I think it deserves grace. It's like criticizing Citizen Kane for not holding up.
It feels more like a museum piece than something I'd replay. I can't say the same for other Zelda games: Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask are still fantastic. I suppose nostalgia could be driving that but I don't think so.
Capcom did quite well with this, and I'm curious how much of Nintendo's direction was involved. It's curious why they enlisted Capcom in the first place. I kept trying to sniff out whether it had a different feel and in the end, I don't think I'd have been able to tell that it wasn't a first party creation.
I like the big/small gimmick. The Kinstone system was kinda neat. I was a fan of controlling multiple Links and solving puzzles that way. The way they brought it out in the final battle was fun. The villain wasn't terribly inspired but I mean it's Zelda. It's not like Ganon isn't much more than a stock bad guy.
What I didn't like: that the shield had to be wielded as the secondary weapon. No no no. Every other Zelda I've played (outside of the 3d versions I guess) let you just carry it around. If they wanted it to be a toggle (which I wouldn't have minded), I think they could have used the L button for that. It feels a little odd that the only use of L is to swap Kinstones but whatever.
Zelda 2
Still underrated imo. The knights that raise/lower shields and their swords are fun as always, even if the blue knights are obnoxious. I don't in the least mind that this is a side scroller. I'm a fan of being able to jump and stab downward. The only other Zelda game I've seen that be a thing is Minish Cap, and iirc I got it later on in the game and hardly used it.
Still making my way through this and it's fun to revisit.
Link's Awakening
This is pretty fun but for some reason it didn't gel with me. I beat maybe 4 dungeons before my attention wavered. No real desire to go back to it. I'll give it credit for giving Link the ability to jump with a special item. There was something about that I liked. Why DOES Link never jump, apart from walking off a ledge? It's like he sees all the legwork that Mario does and is too shy to attempt the same and focuses on swordplay instead. Where's Mario's sword? Yeah, that's what I thought.
Link to the Past
Solid game, though it feels dated. I played through it and they definitely improved upon many aspects of LoZ 1. I never played it as a kid, so the other Zeldas have a sense of nostalgia that is missing here. Still, I can see why it was popular in its time. I even revisited a thread here recently that suggested LttP was overrated. I'm inclined to agree but given that it was a pioneer of its time I think it deserves grace. It's like criticizing Citizen Kane for not holding up.
It feels more like a museum piece than something I'd replay. I can't say the same for other Zelda games: Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask are still fantastic. I suppose nostalgia could be driving that but I don't think so.