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[radioheadrule83]

Zelda games have been living in Link to the Past's shadow for 10 years.
For some even Ocarina of Time didn't live up to it. Considering the game is much older, and without the 'wow' factor of Zelda in 3d for the first time, I'd say thats pretty significant.

Anyone with half a wit can see that the early Zeldas like LttP and the Gameboy Zeldas wrote the rule book on deep, compelling overworlds, massive bestiary, and good puzzles, and all other Zeldas are trying to live up to that fine tradition. What does it matter what you thought of the game on a recent play through? Especially given the fact you resorted to an FAQ... and forgive me for a moment, but I don't doubt for a moment that you're in the minority if you didn't like Kondo's work on the soundtrack. Right down to the end theme, which is one of the best tracks, its just good work that shines through the horrible SNES synth and stays in your memory. If your overall opinion of the game isn't grounded in the sane reasoning that this is A GAME FROM 1991, then whatever anyone says to deride the game is bollocks as far as I'm concerned. Maybe the reason it seems boring to some today is because not much has changed since it came out. The N64 generation might have been lighting torches and pushing blocks for the first time in 1998, but some of us had been doing it somewhat longer. I'm not taking anything away from Ocarina of Time, it brought about big changes in the franchise that were cool: 3d combat and cinematic values obviously the big pullers. But Link to the Past is a classic, from 1991, and its influenced every subsequent Zelda heavily. The general style in the Gameboy games. The light and dark world dychotomy was aped with the time-warping in OoT. The colours, bestiary, boss-battles and overall feel of the Wind Waker. It spawned Four Swords Adventures, one of this generations most understandably unappreciated multiplayer games (boo to connectivity requirements).

 

[Jiggy]

I'm almost beginning to agree with you; having recently bought the GBA version, it didn't seem quite as powerful as when I played it when I was younger, possibly because I've beaten it several times already.

Still... No console Zelda game has yet to approach LttP as far as the item set goes, so I think LttP is still the technical masterpiece of console Zeldas even though it's not quite as awesome as it used to be. And it's not like it has to be the masterpiece; others which would have the potential to utterly destroy LttP if not for a few glaring flaws--the fewer dungeons in LA/OoS/OoA, the weaker item set in Link's Awakening, the semi-tedious world-switching in OoS/OoA the minute number of dungeons in The Minish Cap, etc.

I mean, honestly.
Link's Awakening has my favorite story in the series if for no other reason than that Marin is an infinitely superior character to Zelda (Zelda = boring stock princess who wasn't interesting until they made her a ninja and a pirate for no reason, Marin = tomboy island maiden who picks up guys with cranes, has a bizarre fetish for shovels, and has a much cuter outfit as seen in the SSBM trophy).
Oracle of Seasons and Ages have great, interesting sets of items (yay for Magnetic Gloves, the Switch Hook, the Roc's Cape, and so on).
The Minish Cap is a tightly-knit experience that never lets up for as long as it goes.

Again, though, each of them just have one or two really annoying things holding them back.

 

[Future]

Zelda games aren't gonna hold up as well since they are all about discovery in the overworld and figuring out the dungeons. If you've played through the dungeons many times before, already know everything about the overworld, or pull out a faq to get through an area, then the core gameplay is gonna have to entertain you....and it won't. Combat is simple and repetitive. Tasks are tedious and feel like work when you know exactly what to do. Of course it's gonna feel boring. Didn't we just have a thread were people were dissing Ocarina for the same reasons?

The game was awesome for its time. Set the tone and style for basically every Zelda afterwards, a style that has been a huge success for Nintendo. Dissing the music is ridiculous, because the fact that these melodies have shown up in practically every game since proves their worth regardless of anyones personal taste (even Wind Waker had many of these themes in small spurts). Dissing the inventory screen is even more ridiculous. You have a bunch of items and you select the one that is active. What's wrong with that?

Does it still hold up? I think so. I've played Links Awakening and Minish Cap and I don't see much of a difference in the core design, or any reason why they would hold up anymore than LTTP. They've added more story elements in newer Zeldas, and maybe that helps things. Other than that, when you break things down you are always wandering through dungeons, using the boomerangs to flick switches across the room, and fighting tons of mindless enemies over and over.

 

[Ryck]

Life is boring and overrated too.

 

[Musashi Wins!]

Life is boring and overrated too.

True. EDGE gave it a 7. LttP is still a classic, though.

 

[Stink]

It certainly didn't seem as great as I remembered it. I mainly hated fighting the random NPCs, they're no challenge if you're paying attention, and only seem to serve to waste time.

 

[Property of Jumpship]

True. EDGE gave it a 7. LttP is still a classic, though.

Liar. EA paid EDGE to give it a 9. Check your sources.

 

[dante786]

I just recently started and played throught LttP for the first time ever. I was introduced to Zelda with OoT, and pretty much thought it was the best thing ever, and figured going back to the old 2D version would be weak. I gotta say, i was shocked at the quality of LttP and i really cant understand what all the beefs with the game are. After playing throught it i realized how all the ideas i thought were so amazing and original in OoT are just taken directly from LttP. Again, even being about 15 years old, i cant really find much fault with this game. Ive just played through it for the first time, i dont consider myself exceptional at games at all, and aside from a few boss fights, i really didnt have too much trouble, and i rarely got lost. The game was hugely satisfying, and i think it holds up incredibly well, in short....i dont know what ur smokin, but i feel bad that u cant enjoy this amazing game the way u should be able to

 

[AdmiralViscen]

I just recently started and played throught LttP for the first time ever. I was introduced to Zelda with OoT, and pretty much thought it was the best thing ever, and figured going back to the old 2D version would be weak. I gotta say, i was shocked at the quality of LttP and i really cant understand what all the beefs with the game are. After playing throught it i realized how all the ideas i thought were so amazing and original in OoT are just taken directly from LttP. Again, even being about 15 years old, i cant really find much fault with this game. Ive just played through it for the first time, i dont consider myself exceptional at games at all, and aside from a few boss fights, i really didnt have too much trouble, and i rarely got lost. The game was hugely satisfying, and i think it holds up incredibly well, in short....i dont know what ur smokin, but i feel bad that u cant enjoy this amazing game the way u should be able to

Yes.

This game is universally awesome. The only thing that can hurt it is your memorization of it.

 

[tedtropy]

I wish I could erase all memory of this game just for the joy of playing it anew.

 

[djtiesto]

yeah, saving those 7 princesses was really original and clever

in any case I prefer the one with the better gameplay and dungeons and puzzles

if you play zelda games for the story you're even stupider than most JRPGs fans since every zelda game has the exact same story

Hey hey now... I actually thought Link's Awakening was a pretty nice story - especially considering it was on the Game Boy. Definitely was a big surprise after expecting your typical cliche Zelda story.

 

[speedpop]

Before Link to the Past, we had Legend of Zelda and Adventure of Link.

1991.

Anyone looking past these two points are delusional. Also if you had played Link's Awakening before Link to the Past and this fact warps your perception of tastes, then that is your problem.

The fact that Lindsay begins the taunt and admits that she had to go through FAQ's really hit the point home that this is a silly thread and waste of bandwidth.

 

[cicero]

Call me crazy, but I have to wonder why anyone would take seriously the opinions of someone who said that Yoshi's Island was a "fake mario game", and that somehow all Final Fantasy games are "non-games" but Golden Sun isn't?


http://www.ga-forum.com/showthread.php?t=85084

I classify alot of RPGs as non-games cause the most interaction you have with your character is marching 'em around the overworld since battles are all menu based and rarely any require a skill other than grinding to win. Golden Sun is one of 'em I exempt cause of the somewhat stimulating Metroid-style puzzle solving you must do when outside of battle and the also Metroid-style returning to old areas with new powers to go deeper into them. That's far more interaction and intelligence needed then most RPGs give.

Pay no mind to Lindsay's "non-game" ramblings, as she's simply just a total twit. She not only owns around 40+ RPGs in total (including Action & Strategy), but some of her favorites titles are .hack, Phantasy Star Online, and Pokemon.

Now what genres do those fall in? Exactly.

Twit, indeed.