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[Deleted member 125677]

My memories playing those kind of games back in the late eighties / early nineties involved

1) A very limited amount of games (expensive and I was a kid) and lots of time invested in each of them
2) Lots of discussion with friends with elder brothers
3) Nintendo Power Magazine guides
4) text guides from BBS servers

 

[Imperfected]

Oh yeah, and it required skill. I died over 100 times just in my first playthrough a couple of years back.

The hell are you on about now, man? Zelda did not require anything resembling fast reflexes, complex pattern recognition, or extremely precise inputs. If you died over a hundred times playing it, you need to stop playing video games with your feet.

Seriously, are you sure you're thinking of The Legend of Zelda, here? Are you sure you haven't been playing Dark Souls or something?

 

[zsidane]

If you can't beat a game without a walk through, then I consider that the game is bad and poorly designed.
While I never, played the first Zelda, I played nearly all the others and managed to beat them without an official guide or looking for the internet because:
1) I had no access to the internet until 2000
2) No official guide/magazine around where I live (yes, gaming isn't an exclusive hobby to NA and Western Europe )

 

[ZackieChan]

One of my sister's friends came over one day and I watched her beat LoZ on NES from beginning to end. Probably should have married that girl (but I was like 7).

 

[urfe]

I beat them all as a kid, but used a FAQ at one point when I replayed LA last year.

Zelda 2 I do yearly without a guide. I suppose doing it yearly makes you remember it all though.

 

[Ensirius]

OoT was beat for the most part solely relying on nothing but my awesome skills.
Following playthroughs I used a gguide in French, which in hindsight actually helped me a fair lot in learning the language.

 

[Persona7]

1-206-885-7529

Yes, I still have that memorized.

Only called it in the NES and SNES days, by the time N64 came around, I had the internet, and could get information there.

Spoiler

This call may be a toll call, so remember to get permission from whomever pays the phone bill.

I can't remember exactly how I found that number but it might have been Nintendo.com or a game manual

now that I think about it, I might have found the hotline while looking for DKC3 tips.

 

[angrygnat]

Beating the Original Zelda without a walkthrough (an Internet based walkthrough anyway) is probably the purest form of gaming there is. 12 year old boys having sleep overs. Snow days where a few friends stop by after sled riding all day. Friends sitting around the lunch table in the cafeteria leafing through a worn edition of Nintendo Power. Giving each other tips and tricks to get through their favorite games. The warp zones in Mario, what rock to blow up in Zelda, the Konami Code, all attained by word of mouth.

 

[jb1234]

It was so communal back then. We had Nintendo Power, our friends, the cranky video rental lady and that was about it. In retrospect, I'm surprised I best LoZ at all.

 

[Eusis]

Nintendo Power or Nintendo hint line

Yep! And the school yard.

Link to the Past stumped me forever though because I didn't realize the last part of Dungeon 3 in the Dark World required you to use the flame staff. Which in hindsight... uhhh, isn't that how every Zelda is, demanding the Dungeon Item to be used to complete it?

 

[FlyingSaucer]

It tooks me MONTHS to finish Zelda 1 when I was young.
We had quite a bang for our buck with the games we bought in the 80s

 

[Kattbuss]

In Zelda 1, I did a lot of drawing maps with a pencil to get to grips with the dungeon layouts.
As for specific things, like burning that bush with a candle, some of it was just a general trial and error and some of it was hearing the solutions from friends school.

 

[Axass]

I've finished aLTTP for the first time last year without any help, it wasn't that difficult. After completing Fez... NOTHING will be as difficult without a FAQ ever again.

Though the Oracles games that you mention, especially Ages, are IMO some of the most difficult Zelda games, at least speaking of knowing what to do and solving puzzles. Some dungeons are really hard.

 

[styl3s]

We had skills back then.

As someone who destroyed the TMNT game at 10 and can't get through the first level at 30 i have to agree with this.

I beat Zelda when i was a kid without a guide and yeah it was a lot of trial and error and i have a notebook with maps and tricks/tips i discovered myself and there was something magical about doing that. I have a lot of info for a lot of nes/snes games i wrote out when i was a kid and some of it is incomprehensible because i had/have terrible penmanship and grammar. I miss that magic, i know i can just not look at a guide online but games are so linear and hand holding you don't need them.

I've finished aLTTP for the first time last year without any help, it wasn't that difficult. After completing Fez... NOTHING will be as difficult without a FAQ ever again.

Though the Oracles games that you mention, especially Ages, are IMO some of the most difficult Zelda games, at least speaking of knowing what to do and solving puzzles. Some dungeons are really hard.

You know a lot of people shit on Phil but Fez is the first game i have played in 15+ years that gave me that feeling of being a kid sitting in the living room playing nes/snes. That feeling of wanting to explore and discover on my own and i was totally engrossed and it's a goddamn shame the dude went mental on twitter and cancelled Fez 2.

Fez to me is the best game of "last generation".

 

[kcxiv]

For the Original Zelda my cousin would come spend the night and we would play it all freaking night. Did that with zelda 1-2 and Ultima. Id go at it for a few hours, then he would and just bomb and burn everything. The hardest part i thnk for us was getting the the maze part done. Nintendo Power saved us i think! Its been so long. I was just a little ass kid.

I see people now speed racing on Mike Tyson's punch out and i tried to do it, but im to old for that shit. Lol my reactions arent the same. I used to tear through that game fast. I guess its alot easier at 11 then it is at 37. lol There was no looking online to see what to do, just alot alot alot of time testing stuff out.

 

[NewFresh]

Zedd 1 - schoolyard and cousins.
Zelda 2 - no one I knew had it and I never finished it.

Everything after has been increasingly simple to finish.

 

[Shin Kojima]

My 13 year old nephew is currently playing through Zelda 2 without a guide. I'll be damned if I let him turn into a softie like you lot.

 

[EvaUnit02]

Maps
Learning
Exploring

the basics of humanity

I guess this only surprises people who are younger and are used to their hands being held throughout everything (in games today... and in life I suppose... )

Oh give me a break. A game shouldn't require you to randomly try various sorts of bullshit just to proceed. It's not hand-holding to expect an objective to be made clear to the player. That doesn't mean you need to tell them *how* to do it but you do at least need to tell them *what* to do.

Imagine this conversation with someone in real life:
"I need you to accomplish a task."
>What task is that?
"I'm not telling you. Now, go do it."
>What am I supposed to do, then?
"Use maps. Learn. Explore. You know, the basics of humanity. Christ, I can't hold your hand through everything. Oh, by the way, a princess is in dire need of help so try not to dilly dally."

 

[Shin Kojima]

Oh give me a break. A game shouldn't require you to randomly try various sorts of bullshit just to proceed. It's not hand-holding to expect an objective to be made clear to the player. That doesn't mean you need to tell them *how* to do it but you do at least need to tell them *what* to do.

Finding out what to do by yourself is infinitely more gratifying than just following objectives. It also creates a much more memorable experience (unless you're a rage quitter I guess).

 

[keuja]

Patience and determination that only kids with very limited number of games can have.
Nowadays with the endless number of free and ultra-simplistic games, many of them will just give up and play something else.

 

[JimmyRustler]

People used to be much more patient with videogames when there was nothing else to do at home.

 

[EvaUnit02]

Finding out what to do by yourself is infinitely more gratifying than just following objectives. It also creates a much more memorable experience (unless you're a rage quitter I guess).

Perhaps for you but, with respect, you're an outlier. They're not asking for hand-holding, they aren't rage quitters, and they're not being robbed of a more memorable experience by being given clear objectives. They just want to play the game. It's like trying to play a board game without being given the rule book.

A well designed game has clear goals to achieve. That doesn't preclude exploration and discovery.

 

[RE lover]

Quest 2 is where the real challenge is at, good luck finding dungeons like this one

Not to mention some of the dungeons themeselves are a nightmare (fuck the floating red skulls that steal your sword)

 

[Garcia]

We just had more free time as kids.

It was a mixture between having more free time and a lack of good videogames to choose from. You were basically bound to a couple of cartridges and there was a motivation to beat the game only because you felt like perfecting or at least finishing it.

With age the time allowed to play reduces in the same way as patience does. Faqs, guides and forums are a godsend whenever you get stuck in a game. I wouldn't be enjoying La Mulana so much if I wasn't able to overcome some of its most obtuse challenges by getting outside help from time to time.

If you can't beat a game without a walk through, then I consider that the game is bad and poorly designed.

I think exactly the way you do. No need to hand-hold the player in order to show him where should he/she be heading to. If you get completely lost in a game for hours then it's not your fault but the game's (and anyone who thinks otherwise comes as an obtuse apologist in my eyes).

 

[Rentahamster]

By playing the game and beating them.

Rose colored glasses, and an excess of free time, perhaps, but nothing was that hard.

Except for the damn Battletoads speeder bike stage.

 

[Nicktendo86]

It is to my great shame that I have still not beaten the first two Zelda games. I've got really far in the first but nowhere in the second, will be on my bucket list to finish them.

 

[shuri]

Playground rumors, and hint books that would sometimes be published (and treated as sacred gifts from the Gods) and just plain dumb luck.

I remember how me and my cousin were obsessed with finishing CastleVania 2: Simon's quest, and that game is legendary for being mysterious and obscure about stuff; and there was a castle (if I remember well) that only appeared at a certain time when you ducked in front of water while holding a certain object. We only figured out when some random kid we hung out with at the park told us. He had never played the game himself, but one of his friend was obsessed with it too. We ran home and tried it, and holy crap IT WORKED.

Maybe it's because we were much younger, but the whole mysteries and clues and maps you had to draw by yourself made games much more epic and even bonding between between people. Me and cousin kinda drift away over the years but everytime we hang out, we ALWAYS talk about the summer of Castlevania 2.

this kind of stuff reached its peak during the days of Street Fighter 2 and Mortal Kombat, with move lists being traded around and photocopied. It died with the advent of the internet in the mid '90

 

[I.C.Pixels]

Patience and determination that only kids with very limited number of games can have.
Nowadays with the endless number of free and ultra-simplistic games, many of them will just give up and play something else.

Totaly agree, the satisfaction and enjoyment you got from beating old games has become a bit of a rareity now. I remember boss battles where you had to work out which weapon or combination and timing were needed. And even then it would take multiple attempts to get it right. Fast forward a few years and button prompts appeared, for me when a game tells you what to do and when to do it, it becomes incredibly boring....

Or maybe im looking at it through rose tinted goggles, I need to dig out the nes and snes and replay some old games.

 

[MarkMclovin]

Sometimes you'd find a clue in the instruction manual as well. There would be an image in there that had a hint.

I miss instruction manuals.

 

[nubbe]

At school we talked to each other during breaks about what we knew
and we played single player games together

 

[Zing]

The first Zelda is easy to beat without help. Once you know that each screen has exactly one entrance somewhere on it (I believe this is mentioned in the manual, or possibly the included tip guide), you just draw a map and track your progress.

I just played through both Zelda games with absolutely zero outside assistance. I only used the instruction manual. No faqs, internet, friends, ANY outside help. I hadn't played the games in 20 years or more.

Here is part of the map I made:

If you can't get through these older games, it's due to your impatience and reliance on the internet to give you quick answers. In other words, you could do it, you just choose to take the easy way out. It cannot be a coincidence that us older folks got through these games 25 years ago, with far fewer resources to assist us, while the younger generation struggles.

 

[TheContact]

I remember in Season or Ages, I can't remember, I was supposed to go get a bottle somewhere, go to a lake, fill up the bottle, and use the bottle on a little plant that would grow into a vine which I could climb up. The game never told me to do that. I feel your pain.

 

[PdotMichael]

Most people didn't finish their games.

There is a reason why games could get shorter and easier because the average gamers didn't invest more time into games back then than today.

 

[Diodiablo]

For the first Zelda on NES, it REQUIRED Nintendo Power or other cheat magazines to get out of the Illusion Woods, period. There was no way you could get it by yourself.

The second "Golden cardridge" was a pretty heavy offender too, even worse because of a terrible translation. To get to the third castle you needed to explore the woods below the second castle to find a guy called Bagoo (bug), after meeting him the guy at the bridge (error) would open the path to

Spoiler

a terrible nightmare of a zone where you go in and out of caves in a maze across the mountains.

Then to get the last spell (used to open the path to the last castle, aka, beat the game) you had to use for the first and last time in the game the hammer to clean up a forest. Number of hints given by the game:

Spoiler

Zero, I found it because I was so bored I started hitting everything with the hammer to vent out rage.

 

[Axass]

You know a lot of people shit on Phil but Fez is the first game i have played in 15+ years that gave me that feeling of being a kid sitting in the living room playing nes/snes. That feeling of wanting to explore and discover on my own and i was totally engrossed and it's a goddamn shame the dude went mental on twitter and cancelled Fez 2.

Fez to me is the best game of "last generation".

Fez was genius, definitely in my list of the best games ever made. I totally share your feelings about it. Phil Fish as a person though... that's an entirely different matter.

 

[jay]

Quest 2 is where the real challenge is at, good luck finding dungeons like this one



Not to mention some of the dungeons themeselves are a nightmare (fuck the floating red skulls that steal your sword)

I couldn't finish the second quest. God, I'm so casual.

 

[ThatStupidLion]

no internet and technology to distract you...

so just sat and played or you played outside...so if it was raining odds are you were stuck in the house playing all day.

also you draw maps.

how people discovered what random bushes to burn is what blows my mind....

All I know is that if you were the first person to beat the game you were king of the school.

I'm guessing it went like this...everyone in the neighboring towns bought the game... everyone ended up reaching a certain part that they got stuck at....and after lots of time and lots of people randomly trying things out and drawing out maps, one person would hit on it. and slowly the secret would be let out from one friend to another. which would cross through towns due to kids being on sports teams and at arcades. so the sharing of info would spread like wildfire. kind of like a REALLY slow internet/crowdsource.

those were the fucking days, though I was just on the age cusp by the time i was playing zelda intelligently nintendo mag etc was printing maps, tips, tricks, and hints.

i honestly have no idea how people beat phantasy star 2 without a map book.

 

[Spieler Eins]

Oracles, seriously? I played through them last year for the first time, no problems. I mean, you have a point for the NES titles but the rest? Pretty straightforward, unless all you've ever played so far is Cod/AC or something

 

[Crimsonsky]

Back in the day we didn't have a choice, and didn't want one. Zelda needed to last you until the next good game came out that you had the money to afford and that wasn't very often. Plus it was a social thing, you got with your friends, asked them what they did, and tried to correlate a solution. It was great.

 

[PKrockin]

I remember in Season or Ages, I can't remember, I was supposed to go get a bottle somewhere, go to a lake, fill up the bottle, and use the bottle on a little plant that would grow into a vine which I could climb up. The game never told me to do that. I feel your pain.

Watering plants is one of those things I'm conditioned to try after playing so many Zelda games, along with firing arrows at eyes and bombing rocks.

 

[Triggerhappytel]

As someone who destroyed the TMNT game at 10 and can't get through the first level at 30 i have to agree with this.

Yeah, I definitely agree with this. I tried playing Super Mario World about 5 or 6 years ago for the first time since probably the late '90s, and I was fucking rubbish at it. It's not an especially hard game, but my reactions were shit and I kept dying. Had to stop playing the game as I was getting frustrated and was not improving.

 

[ryanofcall]

Oracles, ALTTP & Links Awakening are doable imo, but I was never able to beat The Legend of Zelda and Adventure of Link. But I guess it's possible with a lot of time investement?

 

[Noema]

The original Legend of Zelda was the second NES game I played. My cousin got it for his birthday. We didn't know anything about it, other than it came in a cool golden box.

For months it was the only game we had access to other than SMB, which we had played to death. We were so incredibly hungry for a new NES game. Under those circumstances you will try everything in the game. Try bombing every single wall / rock tile in the game? Sure! Burn every single tree? Why not?

It took me an my cousins months, but we did finish Zelda with no walkthroughs. And it was an incredibly rewarding experience.

1) A very limited amount of games (expensive and I was a kid) and lots of time invested in each of them

This is key, I think. Getting a new game was an event. The last thing you wanted was to rush through the game. You wanted the game to last you for months.

For the first Zelda on NES, it REQUIRED Nintendo Power or other cheat magazines to get out of the Illusion Woods, period. There was no way you could get it by yourself.

Magazines and Hotlines were not available in my country back then but we still finished the game. Never underestimate a bunch of 10 years olds with all the time in the world.

 

[Jamix012]

LttP, Oracle games, LA are all perfectly beatable without walkthroughs. Zelda 1 is beatable without a walkthrough if you have the patience of a saint. Zelda 2 basically requires a walkthrough.

 

[chemicals]

A lot of it was WORD OF MOUTH. I was in school when it came out (along with every other great NES game) and it's all me and my friends talked about.. trading hints and secrets. The good old days. Not like the NES really had any competition.

 

[RoninChaos]

Most people didn't finish their games.

There is a reason why games could get shorter and easier because the average gamers didn't invest more time into games back then than today.

LOL wat? No.

 

[RetroStu]

A lot of games were like this in the 8bit/16bit days. I think it was because a lot of the games were so short, like 1-2 hours (not Zelda though obviously) and it meant it took longer to finish games, same with the much higher difficulty overall compared to current games.
Its a bit of a myth these days that games are much shorter than in the past, they are not at all and are on average much longer than the 2D days.

 

[matrix-cat]

Hey, while we're... like, kinda on the subject, how does anyone play the Ace Attorney games without a walkthrough? I did pretty well on the first one, but as soon as I hit that fifth case it became a trial-and-error nightmare. I had no idea what I was doing most of the time, no clue what evidence the game wanted me to present or on which statement I was supposed to present it, and when I eventually had to use a walkthrough I was still totally clueless. I don't know how anyone could possibly have worked some of those steps out for themselves, because they don't even make sense to me when I know they're the correct answers.

I've been totally stumped more than a few times in the second game, too (just finished the third case). I've played a lot of point-and-click adventure games, and I feel like I have a good head for logic puzzles (hopelessly addicted to Prof. Layton ), but some of this stuff just totally eludes me. And that penalty bar limiting me to five incorrect answers per trial discourages any guesswork; I just have to go straight to a walkthrough, or hope I see an evidence-presenting moment coming soon enough to save beforehand.

 

[AdventureMike]

Answer: Everyone looked like an ass in the safety of their own home playing games in the olden days. We didn't have walkthroughs, just hint books and Nintendo power every now and again. We had a mess of trial and error and stupid questions. Don't let anyone that tries to claim they flew through these games fool you.

 

[tensuke]

Seriously. I've been playing Lunar Silver Star Story on PS1 this past week. Game itself is pretty straightforward, but I'm using a walkthrough for hidden/secret items. There's this one item that to get, you have to talk to this one guy in a previous town that has nothing in it right after some event happens, and answer a question a certain way. You have to go to him RIGHT AFTER the event, too, if you continue the story by talking to even one person the question goes away. But that's not all, you don't get the item yet. You have to come back and talk to him right after a different event later on, and then he'll give you the item. At no point in the game is there an indication that this guy will ever give you an item. Like, who would figure all that out?

And then there's this girl you can talk to for another item, she's in a back room of a building in a different town. You have to fly back to this random town and talk to her right after another event to get it. But you have to talk to her like 2 or 3 times. I could see people flying around after every event and talking to everyone, but 2 or 3 times? Who the hell has the time for this.