I've been in a very Zelda-like mood lately, what with my time in Twilight Princess and all, so for today's Throwback Thursday I thought I'd discuss the best SNES game ever created (it is... I promise*): The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (LttP).
LttP came out for the Super Nintendo back in 1992. In paying homage to the original Zelda game, LttP could be purchased as a special edition gold cartridge in addition to the standard gray SNES carts. Being but 10 years old at the time, I was a huge fan of all things Nintendo/Zelda and I was very proud of my gold cartridge.
The game starts with you being awakened by your uncle with rain pouring down in the background. In typical gaming fashion, you chase after your uncle, obtain his sword, and use it to save the world. The game also introduces you to Princess Zelda quite early, something which was a big departure from the NES entries in which Zelda was just a nebulous entity you only saw at the end of the game. Doing it this way really made your goal much more tangible.
With Zelda safe (for now), the game finally "starts." In what became typical Zelda fashion, the game has you working through a series of dungeons. You begin with a set of 3, followed by some sort of mid-game denouement, with a final set of 7. In LttP, the mid-game excitement introduces you to the Dark World. Without a doubt, this feature was probably the single thing that made the game so amazing.
Initially, your travel between the worlds is limited to special portals, but before too long, you get a mirror that allows you to travel between the two at will. While the worlds are very similar (often just a small darkening of the hues), there are some minor differences. There could be a bridge in one that isn't in the other or even a missing cave in the light world. By traveling back and forth between the two worlds, you are able to get to places and things (and a fair number of secret areas) that you couldn't get to otherwise. While this game mechanic may sound really familiar to people who have played later Zelda games (young vs. old Link and twilight-covered areas vs. normal areas), LttP really pioneered the idea. Such a thing had just never before been seen in a Nintendo game.
The game had a pretty large number of all of the most beloved Zelda items (bow, bombs, etc), but without a doubt there was one that trumped them all: the Pegasus Boots.
Ahh... the Pegasus Boots. In subsequent play throughs of LttP, there are exactly two parts to the game: the time before you get the boots (the crappy part) and the time after you get the boots (the good part). What did these magical boots do you ask? Simple: they let you dash. Hold down the 'A' button and Link winds up and then flies across the screen. I have exceptionally fond memories of dashing from screen to screen, dashing into trees (to knock out secret items and entrances), and especially dashing into enemies for a quick kill. I'm not sure why the simple act of running fast adds so much awesome to a game, but I promise you, it does.
While LttP definitely set the stage for future Zelda games, there are a few things that were never seen in later Zelda games. Most notable in my mind are the two canes in the game. One of these, when used, makes Link invincible for the duration of his magic meter (not very long). The other actually creates blocks that can be used to depress switches. There are some other pretty unique things to the game, but as far as I know, no other Zelda game had anything like the canes.
In proper Zelda tradition, the game ends with you using light arrows to fight Ganon and rescue Princess Zelda. The ending is fully satisfying and I guarantee you will have enjoyed your time.
In conclusion, let me just say that there is a very profound reason that this game ranks so highly on top games of all time lists. It was WAY ahead of its time, had a great story, great items, great dungeons, and was overall just a lot of fun. If you've never played it, it's easier than ever. You no longer have to scavenge an old SNES or resort to a shady ROM site, just fire up the Virtual Console (or play the GBA version!) and knock yourself out. I promise you won't regret it.
(*Editor's note: Super Metroid. I'm just saying.)
Showing posts with label Throwback Thursday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Throwback Thursday. Show all posts
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Halp! There's pop culture in my post-apocalyptic future!
First off, let me apologize for not posting for a few days... I contracted a ridiculous diarrhea/vomiting illness (including both at the same time) that sort of stopped me from doing much of anything for a few days. Hopefully my posting schedule will pick up in the coming days.
For today's Throwback Thursday, I'm going to be discussing Fallout 1 and 2. For those of you young'uns who have only played the third Fallout game... shame on you. The originals were truly brilliant games. To start us off, I'll give some basic background of the games.
Both Fallout 1/2 are played from a 2D isometric perspective (think Diablo 2) as they were both released back before 3D graphics we
re the norm. Also, unlike Fallout 3, the combat in the game is entirely turn-based. Basically, just imagine that you are always in VATS when you are in combat.
As far as story goes, Fallout 1 has you leaving good old Vault 13 in search of a water purification chip, while Fallout 2 has you leaving your tribal village (you are a descendant of the original vault dweller from Fallout 1) to find a G.E.C.K. Sound familiar? In both games, you trek all across the west (California, Nevada, etc) fighting bandits, mutants, and solving local squabbles. Both games have traits, S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats, and skills all similar to Fallout 3. Additionally, in both games you accumulate an entire party of followers (somewhere between 1 and 5 if I remember correctly). Okay, background aside, let's delve into some of the interesting stuff.
In my opinion, one of the greatest things about these original Fallout games is the way they reference pop culture pretty much constantly. At one point (I think in the second game), you find a little wishing well. If you attach some rope appropriately you can climb down. On the ground, you'll see a bunch of bottle caps (the game's currency). Try to pick one up, and you are greeted by this:
This is MY dream, MY wish, and I'm taking it back. I'm taking them all back.
I don't want to exaggerate here, but that is pretty much the most awesome thing in the history of the world (you caught the reference right? If not, more shame on you). Also, throughout the course of the games you can find a Star Trek away shuttle that has crash-landed, King Arthur and his men (in full power armor) looking for the Holy Hand Grenade (then later find them fighting a VERY deadly rabbitrat), and even have a run in with the bridge keeper who asks you 3 questions (his robe is a SOLID piece of armor).
The other thing I really enjoyed in these games was the over the top combat. In my playthrough of Fallout 1, I took the Bloody Mess Perk, which unlike Fallout 3, does nothing more than make things explode more. Call me sadistic, but it is very fulfilling to walk into a big crown of bandits and watch all of them explode and/or vaporize as my alien blaster hits each of them in turn. Of course it does add insult to injury when one of those bandits lands some sort of crazy crit on you that hits for 3 times your max HP and you watch pieces of your own torso fall off... stupid bandits. All of this should still sound familiar to somebody who has played Fallout 3, but where do you think they got the idea from?
As far as rating the two games, in my opinion, the first game is MUCH better than the second. The second game really didn't have any improvements by way of graphics, interface, or items. The story in the second game felt much more convoluted to me as well (I'm a tribesperson, who is a descendant of a vault dweller and I need a GECK, no wait, I don't, I need to rescue my people, but I do need a GECK, but wait, there is one right by them). The second game was also a fair amount longer than the first -- too long in my opinion. I had started the second game last year around September, then got bored of it and only just picked it back up and finished it this last weekend. Finally, the second game had one other crazy flaw: disabling the "get the hell out of my way" flag from various NPCs. Allow me to provide an example.
At one point in the second game, I had two normal companions in my party and I freed an intelligent deathclaw who also decided to join me. This guy took up 2-3 times the space of a normal NPC. During the 10 minutes or so I had this fool in my party, I manged to get stuck in no less than 3 different rooms. Basically, I would walk into a room, say between a bed and a wall, and this deathclaw would walk in behind me... and then just stand there. No amount of clicking or yelling at the screen would get this idiot to move. I literally had to reload the game. In another place, I took take an elevator up a floor, and then it would placed the NPCs around me... in such a way that I couldn't move. While this deathclaw seemed to be particularly bad (I was tempted to kill him just for that), it definitely happened in other places as well, and while I suppose it might have been a problem in the first game, I certainly never noticed it until I got to the second one.
So what's the take home lesson here? The first Fallout game is great fun. I'd recommend it to anybody, especially if you are already a fan of the series via Fallout 3. The graphics really aren't that bad, and it is surprisingly playable even today. The second game is just okay, and if you play the first one and find yourself craving more old school goodness, check it out, but it really doesn't add all that much.
For today's Throwback Thursday, I'm going to be discussing Fallout 1 and 2. For those of you young'uns who have only played the third Fallout game... shame on you. The originals were truly brilliant games. To start us off, I'll give some basic background of the games.
Both Fallout 1/2 are played from a 2D isometric perspective (think Diablo 2) as they were both released back before 3D graphics we
re the norm. Also, unlike Fallout 3, the combat in the game is entirely turn-based. Basically, just imagine that you are always in VATS when you are in combat.As far as story goes, Fallout 1 has you leaving good old Vault 13 in search of a water purification chip, while Fallout 2 has you leaving your tribal village (you are a descendant of the original vault dweller from Fallout 1) to find a G.E.C.K. Sound familiar? In both games, you trek all across the west (California, Nevada, etc) fighting bandits, mutants, and solving local squabbles. Both games have traits, S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats, and skills all similar to Fallout 3. Additionally, in both games you accumulate an entire party of followers (somewhere between 1 and 5 if I remember correctly). Okay, background aside, let's delve into some of the interesting stuff.
In my opinion, one of the greatest things about these original Fallout games is the way they reference pop culture pretty much constantly. At one point (I think in the second game), you find a little wishing well. If you attach some rope appropriately you can climb down. On the ground, you'll see a bunch of bottle caps (the game's currency). Try to pick one up, and you are greeted by this:
This is MY dream, MY wish, and I'm taking it back. I'm taking them all back.
I don't want to exaggerate here, but that is pretty much the most awesome thing in the history of the world (you caught the reference right? If not, more shame on you). Also, throughout the course of the games you can find a Star Trek away shuttle that has crash-landed, King Arthur and his men (in full power armor) looking for the Holy Hand Grenade (then later find them fighting a VERY deadly rabbitrat), and even have a run in with the bridge keeper who asks you 3 questions (his robe is a SOLID piece of armor).
The other thing I really enjoyed in these games was the over the top combat. In my playthrough of Fallout 1, I took the Bloody Mess Perk, which unlike Fallout 3, does nothing more than make things explode more. Call me sadistic, but it is very fulfilling to walk into a big crown of bandits and watch all of them explode and/or vaporize as my alien blaster hits each of them in turn. Of course it does add insult to injury when one of those bandits lands some sort of crazy crit on you that hits for 3 times your max HP and you watch pieces of your own torso fall off... stupid bandits. All of this should still sound familiar to somebody who has played Fallout 3, but where do you think they got the idea from?
As far as rating the two games, in my opinion, the first game is MUCH better than the second. The second game really didn't have any improvements by way of graphics, interface, or items. The story in the second game felt much more convoluted to me as well (I'm a tribesperson, who is a descendant of a vault dweller and I need a GECK, no wait, I don't, I need to rescue my people, but I do need a GECK, but wait, there is one right by them). The second game was also a fair amount longer than the first -- too long in my opinion. I had started the second game last year around September, then got bored of it and only just picked it back up and finished it this last weekend. Finally, the second game had one other crazy flaw: disabling the "get the hell out of my way" flag from various NPCs. Allow me to provide an example.
At one point in the second game, I had two normal companions in my party and I freed an intelligent deathclaw who also decided to join me. This guy took up 2-3 times the space of a normal NPC. During the 10 minutes or so I had this fool in my party, I manged to get stuck in no less than 3 different rooms. Basically, I would walk into a room, say between a bed and a wall, and this deathclaw would walk in behind me... and then just stand there. No amount of clicking or yelling at the screen would get this idiot to move. I literally had to reload the game. In another place, I took take an elevator up a floor, and then it would placed the NPCs around me... in such a way that I couldn't move. While this deathclaw seemed to be particularly bad (I was tempted to kill him just for that), it definitely happened in other places as well, and while I suppose it might have been a problem in the first game, I certainly never noticed it until I got to the second one.
So what's the take home lesson here? The first Fallout game is great fun. I'd recommend it to anybody, especially if you are already a fan of the series via Fallout 3. The graphics really aren't that bad, and it is surprisingly playable even today. The second game is just okay, and if you play the first one and find yourself craving more old school goodness, check it out, but it really doesn't add all that much.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Throwback Thursday
I decided to start a couple of theme days on my blog, the first of which I'm calling "Throwback Thursday." Every Thursday I'm going to discuss an old school game: an old PC game, something from the 8/16 bit eras, etc. I decided to retroactively start it last week with my post on gambling in Diablo 2, but this week I'll be discussing my time in Chrono Trigger which I conveniently just finished last night.
Chrono Trigger DS is a remake of a SNES jRPG from the early 90's. It has a rather interesting time travel premise that plays a huge part in the game; you essentially visit the same world in 5 different eras of history spanning from 65,000,000 BC (BC? Did the world of Chrono Trigger have a Christ? Why didn't HE save us from Lavos?) to a post-apocalyptic future. As far as a game premise, it's actually quite clever and works pretty well. Early on, your time travel escapades are limited to entering and exiting times at very specific locations, while later in the game you get a ship that basically lets you fly anywhere/anytime you want. The combination of the two is perhaps my first beef with the game.
The vast majority of your time in Chrono Trigger is relatively linear; the game actually blocks off your time travel portals on a number of occasions forcing you to complete some sort of goal in the time you're in before you can resume time surfing. While I generally prefer more open ended RPGs, I thought it worked pretty well here. It was pretty much always clear where I was supposed to go while still giving me a bit of freedom. Once you get the time travel ship though, perhaps 5/6th of the way through the game, the game opens up dramatically. Generally I would think that it would be a good thing, but it was such a stark contrast with relatively little explanation, that I suddenly found myself having no idea where, when, or what I was supposed to be doing. The game also throws you a handful of option sidequests at this point, which, once again, I felt weren't quite clear enough in a lot of their goals. Also, this all happened so late in the game that I almost felt like there was just no need; my gear was quite good and I was already at a decent level. If all these side quests had been available in some shape or form throughout most of the game, it would have been excellent. Perhaps I just took to long to play the game, but by the time I got to that point in the game, I was pretty much just ready to be done.
Chrono Trigger DS is a remake of a SNES jRPG from the early 90's. It has a rather interesting time travel premise that plays a huge part in the game; you essentially visit the same world in 5 different eras of history spanning from 65,000,000 BC (BC? Did the world of Chrono Trigger have a Christ? Why didn't HE save us from Lavos?) to a post-apocalyptic future. As far as a game premise, it's actually quite clever and works pretty well. Early on, your time travel escapades are limited to entering and exiting times at very specific locations, while later in the game you get a ship that basically lets you fly anywhere/anytime you want. The combination of the two is perhaps my first beef with the game.
The vast majority of your time in Chrono Trigger is relatively linear; the game actually blocks off your time travel portals on a number of occasions forcing you to complete some sort of goal in the time you're in before you can resume time surfing. While I generally prefer more open ended RPGs, I thought it worked pretty well here. It was pretty much always clear where I was supposed to go while still giving me a bit of freedom. Once you get the time travel ship though, perhaps 5/6th of the way through the game, the game opens up dramatically. Generally I would think that it would be a good thing, but it was such a stark contrast with relatively little explanation, that I suddenly found myself having no idea where, when, or what I was supposed to be doing. The game also throws you a handful of option sidequests at this point, which, once again, I felt weren't quite clear enough in a lot of their goals. Also, this all happened so late in the game that I almost felt like there was just no need; my gear was quite good and I was already at a decent level. If all these side quests had been available in some shape or form throughout most of the game, it would have been excellent. Perhaps I just took to long to play the game, but by the time I got to that point in the game, I was pretty much just ready to be done.
There was another thing about the game that just didn't quite live up to hype: "techs." Techs (or techniques for short I guess) is the magic/special moves that your characters can perform. As the game progresses you earn dual and even triple techs that your characters can perform together. It sounds like a great idea on paper, but in my experience the power of the dual and especially the triple techs wasn't any more (and sometimes less!) than it was to have each character do a tech on their own. If you are going to go through the effort of leveling up 3 characters together (or even equipping a special item for lots of the triple techs), they should be AMAZING, but they just... aren't. I'm pretty sure I could count on one hand the number of triple techs I performed in the whole game and on two the number of dual techs. It was disappointing to have such an interesting feature be so utterly worthless.
While there were certainly plenty of things that I didn't really like, the game as a whole was definitely a pleasant diversion. It provided over 20 hours of game play for a direct play through, which is a pretty big helping for a DS game.
Expect a full set of final thoughts on Saturday, while tomorrow will introduce my other new "special" daty: Flashgame Friday. See you then.
In the meantime, feel free to suggest any old school games (preferably ones that you think I've played, although I'm not opposed to firing up an emulator) that you'd like me to discuss next week.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Gambling for Gear
I haven't started into any new games recently, so I figured I'd post something I've been wanting to since I started this blog. I want to gab about the glories of gear gambling.
A friend of mine (Plisskin in the comments here) and I recently decided we wanted to play through a co-op game together. After comparing what we both had and were willing to play, we settled on Diablo II.
For those of you who aren't up on your gaming history, Diablo II was released in 2000 and it's expansion was released in 2001. At this point, you are probably saying, "YOU WERE PLAYING A 9-YEAR-OLD GAME!?! ARE YOU CRAZY!?!" To which I would respond, "Yes, yes I am, but that has nothing to do with Diablo II."
Diablo II has held up better than just about any game I've ever played. I played it back in 2000 and I've played it a handful of times since then. Now, there have been plenty games that have tried to be Diablo but with better graphics (Titan Quest, Sacred, etc), but, in my opinion, they all pale in comparison to the original... 2D graphics and all.
Diablo II is delightfully fast paced with a basically never-ending horde of enemies always coming in the from the edge of the screen. The classes are diverse, the spells/abilities are relatively interesting, and the game is completely random in both loot and dungeon layouts. Diablo II is a classic example of wanting to play just a little bit longer to try and get that new bow or a unique helm, which brings me to the title of my post.
For those of you who haven't Diablo II (Wait. You haven't played Diablo II? Stop reading and go buy it. NOW), there is a fantastic feature in the game that allows you to spend money for a chance at getting
a new piece of gear. You get to choose what type of item to gamble for (belt, ring, sword, etc) and told how much it will cost you (it's generally a LOT), then you click and hope for the best. After you get done holding your breath and look at what you have received (you HAVE to hold your breath when you gamble in Diablo II... it's a rule), you say a little swear word and then sell that piece of garbage back to the vendor (NOTE: if the suffix of the item is "of worth" it's a guarantee that the item is not worth much). This you do over and over and over again until the stars align and you get a mystical rare bow... which of course isn't as good as what you are already wielding.
What then is the appeal of gambling in Diablo II? I DON'T KNOW. I hardly ever get anything I can use and I tend to just waste a lot of money. I do know one thing though... I CAN'T STOP DOING IT.
Here's my general plea to game developers: put this feature into more games. It's awesome and it gives me something to do with extra cash in the late game, something that seems to plague nearly every RPG (even MMOs!) ever made.
Ohh.... imagine if I can gamble for Tier 9 gear in WoW... or for a purple lightsaber in SWTOR...
Drool...
A friend of mine (Plisskin in the comments here) and I recently decided we wanted to play through a co-op game together. After comparing what we both had and were willing to play, we settled on Diablo II.
For those of you who aren't up on your gaming history, Diablo II was released in 2000 and it's expansion was released in 2001. At this point, you are probably saying, "YOU WERE PLAYING A 9-YEAR-OLD GAME!?! ARE YOU CRAZY!?!" To which I would respond, "Yes, yes I am, but that has nothing to do with Diablo II."
Diablo II has held up better than just about any game I've ever played. I played it back in 2000 and I've played it a handful of times since then. Now, there have been plenty games that have tried to be Diablo but with better graphics (Titan Quest, Sacred, etc), but, in my opinion, they all pale in comparison to the original... 2D graphics and all.
Diablo II is delightfully fast paced with a basically never-ending horde of enemies always coming in the from the edge of the screen. The classes are diverse, the spells/abilities are relatively interesting, and the game is completely random in both loot and dungeon layouts. Diablo II is a classic example of wanting to play just a little bit longer to try and get that new bow or a unique helm, which brings me to the title of my post.
For those of you who haven't Diablo II (Wait. You haven't played Diablo II? Stop reading and go buy it. NOW), there is a fantastic feature in the game that allows you to spend money for a chance at getting
a new piece of gear. You get to choose what type of item to gamble for (belt, ring, sword, etc) and told how much it will cost you (it's generally a LOT), then you click and hope for the best. After you get done holding your breath and look at what you have received (you HAVE to hold your breath when you gamble in Diablo II... it's a rule), you say a little swear word and then sell that piece of garbage back to the vendor (NOTE: if the suffix of the item is "of worth" it's a guarantee that the item is not worth much). This you do over and over and over again until the stars align and you get a mystical rare bow... which of course isn't as good as what you are already wielding. What then is the appeal of gambling in Diablo II? I DON'T KNOW. I hardly ever get anything I can use and I tend to just waste a lot of money. I do know one thing though... I CAN'T STOP DOING IT.
Here's my general plea to game developers: put this feature into more games. It's awesome and it gives me something to do with extra cash in the late game, something that seems to plague nearly every RPG (even MMOs!) ever made.
Ohh.... imagine if I can gamble for Tier 9 gear in WoW... or for a purple lightsaber in SWTOR...
Drool...
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