Score one for the SNES hipster look.

June 15, 2004 8:07 AM

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (2d). Though the original 3d version on the Nintendo 64 is still one the best of the series, Daniel Barris's recreation of the game is graphically allowing Ocarina of Time to take its rightful place beside the reigning champion, A Link to the Past (flash required). The lack of a 3d Epona aside, it just feels right.
posted by Potloaf (30 comments total)

Aw man, A Link to the Past was so bad. One of the worst NES games and considering it was a sequel to likely the best NES game, all the more treacherous.

But thanks for the link-- looks cool.

* goes back to playing RC Pro Am on the emulator *
posted by xmutex at 8:25 AM on June 15, 2004

xmutex: you mean perhaps The Adventure of Link, the crappy side-scroller?

A Link to the Past (on SNES and later GBA) has always been my favourite of the series. I've never played OoT, not owning an N64, but I'll be trying it in this form.
posted by infidelpants at 8:40 AM on June 15, 2004

Yes, A Link to the Past is one of the worst NES games, and also, I am the QUEEN of frickin SHEBA.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 8:41 AM on June 15, 2004

oh cool, thanks Potloaf.

a link to the past is the best game *ever*...! how many years has it been since it came out...? yet i will still sit down once in a while and play it from beginning to end, i just get hit with a massive craving for it from time to time. no other game on any platform has ever owned me like alttp has, heh.
posted by t r a c y at 8:57 AM on June 15, 2004

i was always a sucker for the zelda series. still have my original gold NES cartidge, although the NES is flaky enough to randomly overwrite the saved game files for no reason now and then. i bought an n64 specifically so i could play ocarina of time. that game sucked up my free time like nobody's business. thanks for the link potloaf - now i'll never finish my thesis.
posted by caution live frogs at 9:00 AM on June 15, 2004

holy CRAP!

I knew virtual PC would come in handy one of these days. Great post, potloaf.
posted by ulotrichous at 9:01 AM on June 15, 2004

Yeah, Link to the past is sweet. Adventure of Link? Lame.


posted by John Kenneth Fisher at 9:03 AM on June 15, 2004

aw, lost my fake HTML there.
</fake seconding>
posted by John Kenneth Fisher at 9:04 AM on June 15, 2004

Nice post. I am going to check this out during lunch. After work, I am meeting up with some friends to play the new Zelda Four Swords game.
posted by toddst at 9:09 AM on June 15, 2004

If you have a GameCube, Nintendo had a "Collector's Edition" Zelda disc with the original Zelda, Adventures of Link, and the N64's OOT and Majora's Mask, (Majora's Mask is a dark-horse favorite of mine). The transfers are uniformly well-done, although there's a note for the N64 transfers that warn of some audio inconsistencies.

Since you can get A Link to the Past on the GameBoy Advance, Nintendo expects you to shell out for the cart and the GBA and/or the GameBoy Player for the GameCube, so it's not a definitive disc, but it's still pretty impressive.

You could originally only get them by subscribing to Nintendo Power, or registering a couple of specific games (I think Mario Party, Mario Kart and a few others). You can probably still pick it up in used game stores or on Ebay, though.
posted by phong3d at 9:30 AM on June 15, 2004

Sweet. I can't wait to try this out later, when I'm home. Thanks, potloaf!

This past week I had a ton of fun playing these great remakes of King's Quest 1 and 2, which have been reinterpreted by "Tierra". Highly recommended, and will bring back lots of memories. King's Quest 2 (originally called Romancing The Throne but renamed Romancing The Stones) is actually quite challenging. There are walkthroughs on site. Can't get enough of that King Graham.
posted by iconomy at 9:37 AM on June 15, 2004

D'oh, I did in fact mean Adventures of Link. I humbly apologize and shall go back to playing Bionic Commando on my emulator.
posted by xmutex at 10:01 AM on June 15, 2004

I can understand my affinity for the Atari 2600, Colecovision and NES, but my thinking that SNES has retro cred makes me feel old. And I'm 26.
posted by ArcAm at 10:55 AM on June 15, 2004

Am I the only person who liked Adventures of Link? True, it was worse than the first in the series, but it kept my interest the whole way through. Which is rare for me. I still don't know what "I AM ERROR" means.
posted by skryche at 10:56 AM on June 15, 2004

For those that have never played any of these Zelda/Link games - what's the appeal, exactly? The screenshots don't exactly look compelling...
posted by Jart at 11:40 AM on June 15, 2004

skryche,

i liked adventures of link as well, times like these i think folks like us need a support group
posted by yeahyeahyeahwhoo at 12:04 PM on June 15, 2004

Jart, Zelda games are action/adventure of the highest pedigree. They all involve some riff of the basic tale of 'save the princess' and they are all epic, well-thought out games with large, interesting dungeons and fun puzzles. Wind Waker (the newest) was only slighted for being too damn short. Only 5 (or 6, it's been a while) dungeons compared to the usual 9 or so +. If you haven't played a Zelda game, you haven't experienced the best that action/adventure type gaming has to offer.

Almost every game with the word Zelda in it equates to instant classic. I have friends who swear Adventures of Link is great. Though, personally, I think it's ridiculously hard and crappy. To each his own, I guess.
posted by graventy at 12:20 PM on June 15, 2004

I am meeting up with some friends to play the new Zelda Four Swords game.

It's not all that fun single player. Unfortunately I don't know anyone with a GBA.
posted by Pockets at 1:23 PM on June 15, 2004

I can understand my affinity for the Atari 2600, Colecovision and NES, but my thinking that SNES has retro cred makes me feel old. And I'm 26.

posted by ArcAm at 10:55 AM PST on June 15

yeah. me too.

i think kids are getting into retro sooner nowadays.
posted by Miles Long at 2:28 PM on June 15, 2004

For those that have never played any of these Zelda/Link games - what's the appeal, exactly? The screenshots don't exactly look compelling...

The gameplay, puzzles, combat, recurring themes and characters. That they're some of the best designed games going. That sort of thing. The game thing.
posted by inpHilltr8r at 2:48 PM on June 15, 2004

Am I supposed to download 1, 2, and 3c to play?
posted by iconomy at 2:57 PM on June 15, 2004

This is really cool, but I would much rather see brand new adventures created with this engine. Indeed, Nintendo could release a new Zelda game every six months, rewriting the engine maybe a couple times per console, and I'd be more than happy to pay.
posted by Eamon at 3:02 PM on June 15, 2004

By the way, I don't want anyone to think that I'm saying that Daniel Barras shouldn't be able to make whatever he damn well pleases (he gets serious props for sticking with this for over a year). It's just that a "2D OOT remake" isn't as high on my wishlist as "new levels for Link to the Past".

For the record, neither is as high as "massively multiplayer River City Ransom".
posted by Eamon at 3:17 PM on June 15, 2004

OMG. I think the phrase "massively multiplayer River City Ransom" just replaced "cellar door" as the most beautiful in the English language.
posted by grrarrgh00 at 4:45 PM on June 15, 2004

I've spent the last week obsessed with THE WIND WAKER (which I bought a GameCube a couple weeks back specifically for), so I really didn't need to see this link -- I've been out of the Zelda fold for years, the last game I played was LINK'S AWAKENING on the Game Boy. Having another Zelda game available to me is just gonna result in more time-wasting.

Anybody seen the trailer for the next Zelda game? It looks so far beyond hot it's unreal.
posted by logovisual at 4:48 PM on June 15, 2004

grrarrgh00: that idea is free for the stealing. If I had half the resolve of Daniel Barras, a playable demo would've been released years ago.
posted by Eamon at 5:38 PM on June 15, 2004

I still don't know what "I AM ERROR" means.

It means exactly what it says: the guy's name was Error. A weird name, ues, but one that I'd attribute to bad localization (what game wasn't poorly localized back then!?). I guess it would have been more sensical if it said "I AM STEVE.", but then we wouldn't be quoting it fifteen years later.
posted by mkn at 5:51 PM on June 15, 2004

The Adventure of Link... I enjoyed it but man I got frustrated in the castles where you get lost so easy. Especially 6 and 7. A lot of the game seemed really random too, like the giant angel in the last castle. WTF?
posted by bargle at 7:26 PM on June 15, 2004

Am I the only person who liked Adventures of Link?

Another supporter here. It wasn't a classic, granted, but compared to all the shit side-scrollers that came out for the NES back in the day it was competent and in fresh. Hard as hell near the end, sure, and a little bit slow in the middle, but still a totally solid game.

And it's not like it ruined the Zelda series, so it doesn't even deserve guff for that. They recognized that the original formula was better, they went back to it, and there was much rejoicing.
posted by cortex at 8:15 PM on June 15, 2004

I am meeting up with some friends to play the new Zelda Four Swords game.

It's not all that fun single player. Unfortunately I don't know anyone with a GBA.

As a multiplayer game, this is fantastic. I only have 2 other friends with GBA's and I can't get their schedules to come together (marriage, children, etc.), but with 2 players, based on the first 2 adventures, this game is fantastic. Just think cooperative Zelda done in the old style. The switching of views from the GCN to the GBA is amazing.
posted by toddst at 7:34 AM on June 16, 2004