Friday, November 2, 2012

Evolution in Zelda games


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.