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[Kathian]

This started as a Zelda thread. But look, Zelda and Mario have never been even close to beaten. Zelda is basically a simple action game with all the beats of an RPG at a much faster rate. Mario is pretty much the basic foundation of any platformer.

Yet no one can come close. Zelda I shouldn't think is too difficult to copy or 'try on' but honestly whose come close? Meanwhile modern 3D platforming non-Mario is represented by Knack.

It just seems odd seeing the rest of the industry around this one standard bearer whilst Nintendo exists so far away on its own.

 

[wonderful103]

it sure is selling consoles

 

[Enter the Dragon Punch]

i think it comes down to two things

a) people who want mario, zelda, etc are buying nintendo systems and buying those games. they don't really care about buying clones

b) nintendo has a certain level of quality and charm to their titles that a lot of developers can't quite nail down. easiest example for me is to compare the physics in games like super mario bros to games like sonic, giana sisters, etc

 

[alr1ght]

You should play more games.

Nintendo dominates 3D platforming because nobody else makes them. Knack is not a platformer.

 

[Guevara]

The Souls games took over for Zelda, at least they have for me.

Many indies have given us great Metroids, now that Nintendo's lost interest.

I agree with you on Mario however, no one is making decent 2D or 3D platformers.

 

[Escalario]

Their games aren't uncopiable.

Spoiler

It's just that others suck at it.

it sure is selling consoles

Yep. Over 60 millions of 3DS ain't gonna sell themselves.

 

[vincenth69]

Brand recognition.

We had the same gameplay over the times. But between two exact same products, you pick the brand you know.

 

[Kathian]

it sure is selling consoles

Well the only thing selling their consoles is Nintendo games so objectively I agree.

 

[NOLA_Gaffer]

It's not that they're immune to being copied, it's that nobody wants to copy them.

The Wii U isn't exactly flying off of shelves.

 

[Little Mons†er]

It's called the Nintendo Philosophy

 

[Enter the Dragon Punch]

You should play more games.

Nintendo dominates 3D platforming because nobody else makes them. Knack is not a platformer.

knack may not be a platformer but it is the game of the generation

 

[DJ_Lae]

I'm actually surprised there are fewer Zelda clones than there are - although I thought Darksiders did a pretty good job of it in many ways.

I'm playing through Oceanhorn at the moment, which was billed as Zelda-like. It's not, really. I mean, I can see the inspiration but the whole structure is off and it's not particularly fun to play.

As for Mario, there are plenty of platforming games out there but none of them feel right. The physics aren't as satisfying, they're either too floaty or too heavy, and at least compared to the last handful of Galaxy games the level design has never been as inventive as Mario either.

I have high hopes for Yooka Laylee, although I realize it's aiming more for Banjo than Mario.

 

[Arttemis]

Darksiders was the best Zelda game last gen.
Rayman Origins / Legends were the best 2D platformers.

 

[wonderful103]

It's not that they're immune to being copied, it's that nobody wants to copy them.

The Wii U isn't exactly flying off of shelves.

to be fair to my previous statement... the handheld, although not reaching its lines previous heights, is selling quite well to the demographic that does want those kinds of games

Darksiders was the best Zelda game last gen.
Rayman Origins / Legends were the best 2D platformers.

only if you like jank and dislike precision

 

[Mellahan]

If anything, these games have provided a foundation for other developers to expand and explore their respective genres. That's better than copying.

it sure is selling consoles

Stop.

 

[Azure J]

It's not so much that they're uncopiable so much as "who is really willing to put in the effort/resources necessary to deliver solid copies in the modern era". There's also that little annoying thing that happens where the imitation adopts half-hearted measures to differentiate itself and thus bogs down the entire experience instead of trying to deliver a solid base and then go down its own path over time.

 

[Neoleo2143]

What do you mean by "uncopiable"? Do you mean from a quality sense because that's quite subjective? Mario clones have existed for years, it's called the mascot 2d platformer genre. Zelda clones and alikes such as Ys and Alundra were present as well, in fact I would argue that Zelda is a refined clone of Hydlide.

 

[Cleve]

Huh, I thought darksiders was better than any of the 3d zeldas. I'm probably in a huge minority on that though.

 

[AncientDiety]

This started as a Zelda thread. But look, Zelda and Mario have never been even close to beaten. Zelda is basically a simple action game with all the beats of an RPG at a much faster rate. Mario is pretty much the basic foundation of any platformer.

Yet no one can come close. Zelda I shouldn't think is too difficult to copy or 'try on' but honestly whose come close? Meanwhile modern 3D platforming non-Mario is represented by Knack.

It just seems odd seeing the rest of the industry around this one standard bearer whilst Nintendo exists so far away on its own.

Don't agree at all....sorry. Give me souls over anything nintendo has done for years.

 

[Kouriozan]

I feel like there is good enough action/adventure games out there, as for Mario, this industry isn't interested in making 3D platformer.

 

[R00bot]

knack may not be a platformer but it is the game of the generation

I respectfully disagree.

 

[Pie and Beans]

They can and often have been, its subjective whether you consider the clones better or not.

Many people thought Banjo Kazooie was a jump over Mario 64.
Some considered Okami better than the Wii generation of Zelda's.
Metroid gave birth to Metroidvania which is an entire genre now that even Nintendo hasn't done anything in for years.
Everyone should know both Sin & Punishments and Panzer Dragoons are better than Starfox.

 

[LegendofLex]

This started as a Zelda thread. But look, Zelda and Mario have never been even close to beaten.

Zelda has never been beaten?

Looking at demand/popularity/sales, Zelda was toppled from its place as king of the action/adventure/RPG genre by contemporaries like Skyrim, Dark Souls, et al. multiple times in the last generation alone.

Skyrim by itself has sold about as many copies as all the 3D Zelda games combined (excluding remakes).

You may say this is an apples to oranges thing, but I don't think most average consumers look at Zelda and Skyrim as anything but different kind of fantasy role-playing adventure type games, and pick the one that looks the most interesting/fun/ambitious.

 

[massoluk]

I honestly think it's their willingness to just stick with and polishing the core mechanics they built upon in opposition to the prevalent the-more-feature-the-better mentality.

Though that mentality backfire last year with a lot of barebone games.

 

[Enter the Dragon Punch]

What do you mean by "uncopiable"? Do you mean from a quality sense because that's quite subjective? Mario clones have existed for years, it's called the mascot 2d platformer genre. Zelda clones and alikes such as Ys and Alundra were present as well, in fact I would argue that Zelda is a refined clone of Hydlide.

one of the very last things that comes to mind when i play ys is that it's anything even vaguely like zelda

 

[Glix]

knack may not be a platformer but it is the game of the generation

I played it on hard and it was cool but became a slog.

As to the OP's question... In the past some others have come close (Alundra, Rayman 2), but there is no way a copy of any of Nintendo's games would get greenlit these days.

Investors/Executives are looking for Always online, micro transaction filled, heavy dlc planned, multiplayer experiences.

 

[MatrixMan.EXE]

I think there are 2D Zelda like games that take a dump on stuff like Phantom Hour Glass, Spirit Tracks etc. One such game is Alundra. It's the 3D Zelda games that I feel haven't been beaten.

Maybe Souls counts? Maybe? I dunno. It's reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda on NES in terms of structure but even that is tenuous. Not sure if they're that comparable.

 

[Holy Order Sol]

Not many have tried to begin with, but you can't really expect anyone to just copy the type of work that goes into that kind of level design. Those who know how to do these things are the ones who have been perfecting them for years in the first place.
It's a lot of work that isn't likely to be worth it.

 

[UCBooties]

Huh, I thought darksiders was better than any of the 3d zeldas. I'm probably in a huge minority on that though.

Yeah, I agree with this. It was also cool to see someone do something other than High Fantasy with the formula. Next up: Space Opera Zelda-like?

Edit: Oh Yeah, and Okami was the best Zelda Game to come out after OoT and MM

 

[Mory Dunz]

this won't end well...

 

[Bear Force One]

Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy was better than a few of the 3D Zeldas.

 

[Neoleo2143]

one of the very last things that comes to mind when i play ys is that it's anything even vaguely like zelda

I was talking about very early Ys. Stuff like origins and Celceta is really different. Ys is more an "alike" .

 

[Kathian]

Don't agree at all....sorry. Give me souls over anything nintendo has done for years.

Not the point am making though. Souls is a good example of someone else though. People have tried simpler souls but no one has gone full in and succeeded.

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

all the beats of an RPG

Not even close. There a shooters with more rpg mechanics than Zelda.

Besides Okami does exists.

 

[Enter the Dragon Punch]

I was talking about very early Ys. Stuff like origins and Celceta is really different. Ys is more an "alike" .

even the first game from 87 on the nec felt more like an action rpg version of final fantasy than zelda to me

I played it on hard and it was cool but became a slog.

As to the OP's question... In the past some others have come close (Alundra, Rayman 2), but there is no way a copy of any of Nintendo's games would get greenlit these days.

Investors/Executives are looking for Always online, micro transaction filled, heavy dlc planned, multiplayer experiences.

if they were copying a modern nintendo game they'd have plenty of leeway to put in DLC, microtransactions, and multiplayer experiences

 

[Trace]

Why copy them when you can make games that are better?

 

[Fawk Nin]

Zelda has never been beaten?

Looking at demand/popularity/sales, Zelda was toppled from its place as king of the action/adventure/RPG genre by contemporaries like Skyrim, Dark Souls, et al. multiple times in the last generation alone.

Skyrim by itself has sold about as many copies as all the 3D Zelda games combined (excluding remakes).

You may say this is an apples to oranges thing, but I don't think most average consumers look at Zelda and Skyrim as anything but different kind of fantasy role-playing adventure type games, and pick the one that looks the most interesting/fun/ambitious.

I never understood the comparison between skyrim and zelda, they are completely different games. It's like saying mario kart outdid gran turismo, "look at its sales"

 

[eXistor]

None do it better than Nintendo imo, the level of polish is unmatched. They just feel like they spent more time on every aspect of the game than other devs. I'm not saying it's always the case, but Nintendo on their A game is absolutely untouchable. There are definitely other games that have that level of polish, but they're exceptions. Nintendo is the only company (not really fair as they have a lot of studios) that has the most consistent high level of quality over the years.

/edit: do people really think Okami or freaking Darksiders (poor man's Zelda) is better than any 3D Zelda? I like Okami and all, but come on, game design counts for something. Everyone is entitled to their opinion of course, but to me the difference in quality is day and night. Like how someone prefers Rayman Origins over any NSMB (except the DS one). Kinda boggles my mind to be honest. Well this is GAF, opinions differ like nobody's business here.

 

[10k]

Daksiders is the only franchise that comes close to Zelda in dungeon, puzzle solving, item progression and combat. I'm shocked the formula isn't copied more.

3D platformers died in the HD era so nobody tries but Nintendo with Mario.

Zelda has never been beaten?

Looking at demand/popularity/sales, Zelda was toppled from its place as king of the action/adventure/RPG genre by contemporaries like Skyrim, Dark Souls, et al. multiple times in the last generation alone.

Skyrim by itself has sold about as many copies as all the 3D Zelda games combined (excluding remakes).

You may say this is an apples to oranges thing, but I don't think most average consumers look at Zelda and Skyrim as anything but different kind of fantasy role-playing adventure type games, and pick the one that looks the most interesting/fun/ambitious.

Err, what?

 

[theecakee]

EDIT:

Nvm I misread you.

I think some of those platformers were good in the late 90s early 00s that tried to copy the Mario 64 collectathon idea.

Spyro 2 is pretty rad.

 

[Anth0ny]

souls is a better zelda than zelda in the recent years


rare was giving nintendo a run for their money in the kart racing/3d platformer department during the n64 era. since they stopped making those games, no one has stepped up.

 

[Dreamwriter]

One of the great Zelda-style games was Beyond Good and Evil. Another was Okami. Another was Darksiders. It's been done, and done frequently, though they don't sell as well without the franchise name.

 

[Ikon]

To me Okami is the best 3D Zelda style game there is (yes, better than OoT even). It's superior when it comes to combat, world building, graphical design, music and everything else I can think of. The only thing I might hold against it is that it's perhaps too long, but that's possibly a good thing to most.

 

[Doctor_Thomas]

The best 3D Zelda game wasn't even a Zelda game.

Spoiler

3D Dot Game Heroes <3

 

[OrbitalBeard]

Darksiders was the best Zelda game last gen.
Rayman Origins / Legends were the best 2D platformers.

I may not disagree more with a post this year.

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

None do it better than Nintendo imo, the level of polish is unmatched. They just feel like they spent more time on every aspect of the game than other devs. I'm not saying it's always the case, but Nintendo on their A game is absolutely untouchable. There are definitely other games that have that level of polish, but they're exceptions. Nintendo is the only company (not really fair as they have a lot of studios) that has the most consistent high level of quality over the years.

Blizzard is probably the only dev that regularly polishes a game more than Nintendo, and that is because they continue to support them for years and it stacks up.

 

[entremet]

Weird premise because Mario was basically copied for two generations straight--8 and 16 bit generations.

Zelda less so. Zelda is a rare bird. Okami was three Zelda games, though.

 

[Krathoon]

Darksiders out Zeldaed Zelda.

And then the company shut down.

 

[EloquentM]

Skyrim comparisons: check
Dark souls comparisons: check

These games are only similar purely based on their action/adventure aspects. OP is talking about copied formulas. These games aren't even similar in that regard. Especially since both Skyrim and darksouls heavily focus on rpg elements and rarely contain puzzles in their dungeons. A large staple of the Zelda franchise

 

[AncientDiety]

Skyrim comparisons: check
Dark souls comparisons: check

These games are only similar purely based on their action/adventure aspects. OP is talking about copied formulas. These games aren't even similar in that regard. Especially since both Skyrim and darksouls heavily focus on rpg elements and rarely contain puzzles in their dungeons. A large staple of the Zelda franchise

Why would anyone "Copy" the formula? Even if it was well done it would not sell in todays climate unless it had the name "Zelda" in the title.