NES CLASSICS: The Legend of Zelda Game by Nintendo Reviewed by Philip Wesley Save: battery/3 Slots Released: 2004 Works with: Game Boy Advance, SP, DS, DS Lite ESRB Rated: E Quick Opinion: Own **************************************************************************** Opening Snide Remarks: Once upon a 1986, a game was released that launched a franchise. That franchise would be The Legend of Zelda. About a dozen games later, I decided to sit down and review the NES Classics re-release line for the Game Boy Advance. This game just happens to be a part of the series and because of this, I have settled down to review it! Will this be nasty, or will it be soaked in nostalgia? This review format was made to keep that tendency to tack 100% onto something away from the DMG Ice reviews pages. In an effort to add all sorts of value to this review, I will now transcribe the plot of the game directly from the title synopsis. "THE LEGEND OF ZELDA LONG AGO, GANON, PRINCE OF DARKNESS, STOLE THE TRIFORCE OF POWER. PRINCESS ZELDA OF HYRULE BROKE THE TRIFORCE OF WISDOM INTO EIGHT PIECES AND HID THEM FROM GANON BEFORE SHE WAS KIDNAPPED BY GANON'S MINIONS. LINK, YOU MUST FIND THE PIECES AND SAVE ZELDA." **************************************************************************** Gameplay Description: The Legend of Zelda is an action adventure game that relies on exploration. You start the game out in the middle of a clearing with just your shield. You now have a choice to go left, right, up, or into the cave you see. If you go to the left, right, or upwards; you will be attacked by enemies with no way to fight back. If you go into the cave, you will be given a sword. You do not have to get the sword, in fact, you can avoid the enemies and enter one of eight hidden dungeons to get other weapons or items. This open-ended method of exploration is both unique and frustrating. The basic idea of the game is to find a dungeon, enter it, get the item in it, defeat the boss, and then use that item to find other dungeons. When you defeat a boss, you get a piece of the Triforce. Once you have all the pieces of the Triforce, you can enter the final dungeon, defeat the final boss, and save the princess. Liked: Simple and open-ended Hated: It is completely unclear as to where you should go in the game. **************************************************************************** Graphics Description: The character you play, Link (Or what ever you decide rename him), looks distinct enough. Enemies are large and easy to see. The special effects between the weapons differentiate themselves nicely. Each of the dungeons looks different enough from the previous dungeon. Link takes up a few pixels of information on the screen and looks reasonably nice. The title screen has an awesome waterfall running in the background. The NES Classics collection does adjust the graphics to fit properly in the Game Boy Advance resolution and this usually makes some things look a little squashed. However, this is not noticable on this title. The game looks pretty much the same as it did on the NES. So, the classic feel is preserved. Liked: Classic, easy to see graphics. Hated: Nothing was updated. Fairly simplistic. **************************************************************************** Sound/Music Description: From the opening theme to the overworld music and perfectly creepy dungeon music, everything that comes from the speakers is memorable and awesome. The sound effects are reasonably different from each other and the whole package of music and sound is perfect. One of the best 8-bit soundtracks on the NES. Liked: Amazing music and passable sound effects. Hated: It can be a little annoying after a few hours of being stuck in a dungeon. **************************************************************************** Play Control/Game Design: The game has an open design that can be frustrating for some players; but ultimately rewarding for the player that sticks with the game. The Legend of Zelda is one of the first, really open ended games released onto the market. You can do a lot of neat stuff with the items provided and the exploration feel of it required a lot of community effort. Before the days of the internet and online Frequently Asked Questions, playing the game was a community event. People would consult the included map and ask friends about how to find secrets. That aspect is missing from the game community today; but that does not hurt the game design. This is an exploration game that is anything but straight-forward. The game has a reasonable difficulty level; but it can be daunting for people who are not used to top down action games. The hit detection is spot on and the dungeon design is pretty great. I did not have any trouble hitting enemies with the sword or the arrows in this game. I do like that the arrow takes one rupee per shot in this game. Which is an interesting incentive to collect rupees. Liked: The Legend of Zelda is the first real "sandbox" game. Hated: Easy to get lost and/or confused. You could wander into a dungeon that you are missing items to complete and then die horribly. That could turn away the lesser gamers amongst us. **************************************************************************** Improve: Aside from updating the graphics, there really is nothing in the game that should be changed. However, adding an in-game hint system would be a great way to help younger players. RIYL: Sandbox games, retro games, and The Legend of Zelda series. **************************************************************************** Final Words: The NES Classics series is pretty great and The Legend of Zelda is a great game that is worth owning. I feel it still holds up pretty well; but the formula that it provides has been improved upon and strengthened in later installments of this franchise. Track it down! It is worth it! **************************************************************************** Score Gameplay: **** Graphics: **** Sound/Music: ***** Play Control/Game Design: **** Value: **** Star Total: 63 Personal Opinion Merit: 16 Final Score: 79% Letter Grade: B ****************************************************************************