30th May 2003, 7:48 PM
Favorite Zelda...
Hard to say really... For naustalgia, Zelda 1 of course is my fave. My favorite 2D outside that goes to Link's Awakening. Had I played LTTP before any other Zelda like LL, I'm sure that would end up being my fave, it's very close even without being the first Zelda I played, but in the end the awesome item combining system plus the very cool dungeon layout, the 20 or so forms of the final boss, and to top it all off the confusing yet cool story really did the trick in making that a fave. As a result I ended up getting DX even though I had the original twice over (counting the first copy that was stolen, which I do, since it's obviously still mine even if someone did steal it), and loved the additions to that as well. The Oracle games were also very nice, and out of those I have no set favorite (nor did I notice one favoring combat while the other favored puzzles, as I kinda sensed they had a decent balance), but in the end I wasn't nearly as obsessed with those as I was with LA, so LA wins.
For 3D (and due to the difference in the way they play, I rate them seperatly, plus it's a cop-out of having to give an actual opinion :D), I think I pick OOT. It's very close though. MM was just so well done that it's like RIGHT there in my opinion, but in the end OOT just beat it for me. Plus, they ended up releasing new dungeons for it and gave it away for free with Wind Waker, making me fall in love all over again with one of the best transitions to 3D ever. Wind Waker is also a very awesome game, but it just kinda fell short in the end compaired to OOT if you ask me. Um, that pun wasn't intended at all, though now that I realize it I don't intend to change how that last sentence was phrased. All 3 3D Zeldas have awesome story to them, though OOT is a bit more subtle and hinty about the depth of the story than WW or MM (I think it's very obvious what the inside of the moon is supposed to represent myself), so with them pretty much tieing as far as story, I went with sheer gaming goodness to decide.
As far as Zelda platformer/RPG/action/adventure games, the winner has to be Adventure of Link, because that's the only one of those kind of Zelda games :D. Sure it's different, but it was a good kind of different that was VERY fun indeed and presented great challenge. The only "fix" would be replacing experience points with specific challenges you need to do to attain strength, but since gaining experience isn't something I hate or enjoy per say, that's not really a problem, just something I would have enjoyed seeing a more Zelda-esqu twist on.
Hmm, now comes the tricky part... Which of all these do I like the most? Zelda 1 was the first, Zelda 2 was most different... I have played those more than any others, but likely that's due to them coming out first anyway so that doesn't count. Hmm... Then comes LA vs OOT... Again, so hard to decide because they are both such perfectly designed games within their own format... Any other combination has the same problem... Well then, I guess I have to live with having 4 favorite Zelda games, which no matter how I think of it I can't find a single flaw in doing :D.
Hard to say really... For naustalgia, Zelda 1 of course is my fave. My favorite 2D outside that goes to Link's Awakening. Had I played LTTP before any other Zelda like LL, I'm sure that would end up being my fave, it's very close even without being the first Zelda I played, but in the end the awesome item combining system plus the very cool dungeon layout, the 20 or so forms of the final boss, and to top it all off the confusing yet cool story really did the trick in making that a fave. As a result I ended up getting DX even though I had the original twice over (counting the first copy that was stolen, which I do, since it's obviously still mine even if someone did steal it), and loved the additions to that as well. The Oracle games were also very nice, and out of those I have no set favorite (nor did I notice one favoring combat while the other favored puzzles, as I kinda sensed they had a decent balance), but in the end I wasn't nearly as obsessed with those as I was with LA, so LA wins.
For 3D (and due to the difference in the way they play, I rate them seperatly, plus it's a cop-out of having to give an actual opinion :D), I think I pick OOT. It's very close though. MM was just so well done that it's like RIGHT there in my opinion, but in the end OOT just beat it for me. Plus, they ended up releasing new dungeons for it and gave it away for free with Wind Waker, making me fall in love all over again with one of the best transitions to 3D ever. Wind Waker is also a very awesome game, but it just kinda fell short in the end compaired to OOT if you ask me. Um, that pun wasn't intended at all, though now that I realize it I don't intend to change how that last sentence was phrased. All 3 3D Zeldas have awesome story to them, though OOT is a bit more subtle and hinty about the depth of the story than WW or MM (I think it's very obvious what the inside of the moon is supposed to represent myself), so with them pretty much tieing as far as story, I went with sheer gaming goodness to decide.
As far as Zelda platformer/RPG/action/adventure games, the winner has to be Adventure of Link, because that's the only one of those kind of Zelda games :D. Sure it's different, but it was a good kind of different that was VERY fun indeed and presented great challenge. The only "fix" would be replacing experience points with specific challenges you need to do to attain strength, but since gaining experience isn't something I hate or enjoy per say, that's not really a problem, just something I would have enjoyed seeing a more Zelda-esqu twist on.
Hmm, now comes the tricky part... Which of all these do I like the most? Zelda 1 was the first, Zelda 2 was most different... I have played those more than any others, but likely that's due to them coming out first anyway so that doesn't count. Hmm... Then comes LA vs OOT... Again, so hard to decide because they are both such perfectly designed games within their own format... Any other combination has the same problem... Well then, I guess I have to live with having 4 favorite Zelda games, which no matter how I think of it I can't find a single flaw in doing :D.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)