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IGN: "A Link to the Past is the only Zelda game ever made"

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worldrunover

Member
http://wii.ign.com/articles/757/757573p1.html <-- Their review of ALttP VC version.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is the only Zelda game ever made. It firmly established a formula of adventure game design that balanced out overworld exploration, item acquisition and storyline progression, a formula still followed today. Twilight Princess, Wind Waker, even Ocarina of Time – all just copies of the structure seen here. A Link to the Past is the only true Zelda, and Miyamoto and team simply keep remaking it, over and over.
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The Cube Controller is better left alone, reserved for those later Zelda games made specifically for it. Those later Zelda games that were really all just knock-offs of this title, A Link to the Past, the first and only true game ever developed in the series. It's been said that most of our world's storytellers really only have one story to tell. If they find success with it, if they find an audience, then they're finished. Any sequels, any follow-ups will all be unoriginal, as the storyteller can do little more than repeat what they've already said, retelling the tale already told, in new, slightly different ways. You should play The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past – the series has had little new to say since.
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While I agree that A Link to the Past is certainly the foundation for later games, they're making it sound like it was Mega Man 2 or something. Zelda has certainly grown and expanded since 1992.

Thoughts / agree/disagree?
 
this is obviously wrong.

however, i will say that the further Nintendo strays from the LTTP formula, the weaker the final product.
 
twilight princess is a remake of a link to the past in the same way gears of war is a remake of commando.


edit - whatever ign says, alttp is one of the greatest games ever made! :)
 
I give this review an 8.8
 
You know, while I disagree with this article, I will say that I am dying to see where Nintendo takes the series next, especially with the new control method open to them.
 
Such a shallow outlook on Zelda and its gameplay mechanics.


"Hurr hurr They all have boomerangs and bombs. They are all the same. Hurr hurr."
 
Ok so I guess I missed the memo that LTTP is the best Zelda ever and everything else sucks because it seems like a lot of people are towing that line lately. Gimme a break.
 
i love how the gaming sites have tried to become (more) opinionated recently and have ended up sounding like idiots. yeah because majoras mask and TP are just knock-offs of LTTP. idiots.
 
Well, i wouldn't say all subsequents titles are knocks off but A Link To The Past still strikes me as the best Zelda ever.

Its art is amazing and still good looking today, it controls perfect, the music is still good, the gameplay is right there and extremely well balanced, lots of stuff do to without becoming tiring or too repetitive, perfect lenght, superb level design in dungeons, etc etc etc.
This game owns.
 
Lucas Thomas is IGN's unofficial free-lance retro guy (he has a book about retro gaming), and probably a member of the 2-D defense force.
 
Link to the Past really is the only Zelda game. Before lttp, the games were messes. After Lttp, their ideas were just... replacement and not complimentary to the Zelda universe almost completely laid down by LttP.

I've never played a Zelda game past Majoras mask, and i regretted playing Oot and MM for the simple fact it tainted my memory of Lttp
 
While I do agree OoT and to a lesser extent TP copy LttP's pacing (three dungeons, big plot event, 7/8 more dungeons, end boss), I think it's utter nonsense it hasn't changed much since. I mean, ya know, 3D was a big deal, and some games (Sonic) never made the leap successfully. OoT is a complete reinventing of the genre. And personally, I think Twilight Princess is the best one yet. A bit too familiar, but enough of a departure to satisfy me.

ASSHAT AM CONFIRMED.
 
IGN are on the ball with this.

LTTP' DNA is all over every other Zelda. Its also the best looking. The world is more consistant and alive. Only MM comes close. TP seems more like a series of levels.
 
And the original Metroid for the NES was the last great Metroid game. Someone get that reviewer copies of Majora's Mask, Four Swords, and Link's Awakening. And he might need to play Wind Waker again because he must have missed the "sailing/no alternate world to be seen anywhere" parts.
 
While LttP is certainly a superb game.. Zelda TP, Zelda WW, Zelda MM and Zelda Ocarina have their own charm and are true zelda games just as LttP..
 
Super Metroid was the best metroid.

The GBA games were soulless and the less said about Prime, the better.

The SNES really was the best era for gaming. Nintendo have just been treading water since.
 
i can see where they're coming from. as good as TP and such were, the feeling of zelda just wasn't the same to me. again, that's not to imply they aren't great games, just that they don't have that same zelda feeling to me.
 
I love A Link to the Past but..

Its not even near the best Zelda ever game ever. Every Zelda game released after LttP with the exception of Minish Cap and Wind Waker is better.
 
Majoras Mask is completely different than any other Zelda. Not only for its storyline & atmosphere but its gameplay structure ( masks quests)
 
kammy said:
IGN are on the ball with this.

LTTP' DNA is all over every other Zelda. Its also the best looking. The world is more consistant and alive. Only MM comes close. TP seems more like a series of levels.
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Umm no.

Minish Cap looks far better than it does.
 
OOT,MM and WW were huge shifts for the series and improved on the series in many ways.

Many people hate that the Zelda series is constantly praised as one of the best, if not the best series in videogames. I'm sure there are many a rabid fanboy logged on to gamerankings.com right now gritting their teeth in sanctimonious rage at OOT sitting there in the top spot year after year.
At first it was just the 2D purists that started to try to belittle the series. Now it seems like it's become quite the fad to try to look like an unbiased intellectual who can "see clearly" that the sacred cow of the industry is overrated.
 
What the **** does that even mean? The game that created the franchise is not a true member of the franchise? I don't even understand the idiotic gaming elitist point that's TRYING to be made here.
 
bob_arctor said:
Hmm. Too bright and garish for my tastes--I prefer LTTP's somewhat darker/earthy tones.
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LTTP just lacks detail IMO. And the colour palette is far too limited for my tastes. I mean it still looks serviceable, but I don't think it's anywhere near the best looking Zelda game.
 
Well, the N64 versions were crap. Haven't played WW, and can't yet properly judge Twilight Princess.

If you were asking me which versions of Zelda to care about, Link to the Past would be my first answer without hesitation. The GameBoy versions were also pretty good as well, though, but they were basically remakes of the SNES version, so hey.
 
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