Evolution in Zelda games
When The Legend
of Zelda was first released, it had the pixel graphics and odd logic. But that’s
what made Zelda games grow to become what they are now. Some people think that
variety in Zelda isn’t so hardcore, but if it wasn’t for it, many gamers couldn’t
have tried the franchise at all.
Zelda has dual genres, but it is not always
the same all the time. When pocket gaming wasn’t so strong, it was mainly home
consoles that featuring the adventuring RPG type, and the Game Boys having the
puzzle types. Of course, games like the Minish Cap and Link’s Awakening did
have RPG elements, but the dungeons had a unique style that surpasses some of
its home-consoled counterparts. Especially when the boomerang came in; the
top-down view of the room made it more of a puzzle than exploration. That’s
what made the Phantom Hourglass deserve a sequel. Exploring the dungeon,
however, isn’t on the other side of the lake; it is so cool to feel the
adventure.
Zelda has a lot of beautiful places to visit and funny side-quests. Places
such as Kakariko Village and Clock Town are so memorable that some have been
almost copy-paste into other games. Obviously Kakariko is in other Zelda games,
but surprisingly Clock Town resembles Twilight Town, from Kingdom Hearts. Maybe
Clock town has more terror than in the peaceful, quiet, and rather non-existent
residents of twilight town, but both towns have the same feel and the textures
are the same:
If the
similarity is not obvious, then at least the name hints that both towns’ name
has something to do with time, and in their roles, both towns have a weird existence
and do get destroyed (well, Link saves Clock Town, but Twilight Town wasn’t
saved). Zelda had a lot of impact in many other games and it is very unique.
One of the most ridicule subjects is the ESRB
ratings. This is for all games. ESRB always says “crude humor” “fantasy
violence” “mild cartoon blabla” but the fact that Nintendo gets lucky to give
most Zelda games E+ doesn’t automatically conclude that Zelda is “just another
kiddie game”. If it wasn’t for E+, my parents wouldn’t have bought me a Zelda
game and I would’ve never been into the series. It is good to make sure what
you are buying, and nobody wants an M-rated Zelda game, although the
probability may occur. Zelda games have always been rated E+, except the recent
ones: Twilight Princess got a T (13+) Spirit Tracks got a E10+, Link’s Crossbow
Training got another T (13+) and Skyward Sword got an E10+. Sure this pattern
is normal, and I do love a non-gloomy T+ game (like Link’s crossbow) but never
an M game. This isn’t an argument about how those Xbox fans go like “Wahwah,
now you babies go play Zelda” or “leave the conversation for real CoD fans”
Well, I do have an Xbox for Halo and it isn’t anywhere near as hardcore as
Zelda. You want a comparison? You want Proof? Well, if this article isn’t proof
enough, then I CAN load this entire blog with proof. Just wait until the next
article cooks up.
So, although the title says “evolution” there
is no gorilla-monkey-human diagram. That
theory is false. 100% false. And Zelda rules. Just saying.