Support NeoGAF

[womp]

I beat the game without any hints or guides back in 85. If I recall correctly, it took about 3 weeks of playing to beat it. Then another 2 weeks to beat the Master Quest. After that, I was able to beat the first quest without losing a life. Probably still have a Polaroid screenshot of it at my parents home.

It was hard, but not impossible. Like a lot of NES games, it was memorization of enemies movement patterns and trial and error (ie dying) to acheive this. Which means accepting that you need to do some things over and over and over... which is a foreign concept for some gamers today.

That is why it is so hard for me to play later iterations of Zelda. They are so ridiculously easy that I don't really have any emotional attachment to it when I beat it.

You really nailed it.

I beat Zelda Twilight Princess last night. Just under 48 hours. Beautiful game but outside a few tricky ass puzzles, fighting with the camera and getting the right game plan to fight that dragon boss I basically breezed through it. I may have died ONCE and it was a stupid death at that. At no time did I feel utterly defeated and once I had 15 heart containers I don't think I ever dropped below 10 filled at all times. Even Ganon which gave me the willies at first was a friggin cakewalk in comparison.

The only feeling I had was "Wow, I finished it...48 hours...whew" it wasn't a "AWESOME! I DID IT! I BEAT IT!" vibe like I actually won or accomplished an amazing feat. Its hard to explain.

I swear they've made games EASIER but maybe this is due to companies fearing Japanese gamers not wanting difficult games? Is there any truth in that? I haven't played any hardcore tough games since at least the 16 bit era.

 

[womp]

Something that I always loved about early NES games (and especially Zelda, Metroid, Kid Icarus) was that collaboration with friends or family would often help in being successful in the game.

It wasn't uncommon for me to sit in the living room with my family and watch as my father navigated a dungeon. And if he'd get stuck, often discussing and deciding on some logical strategy would work.

I think today, much of what we play is devoid of logic. Now, if you don't own the strategy guide for the game, you're unlikely to ever complete it, which is unfortunate. My father has sat in on some of my latest gaming sessions, and when I mention that I'm stuck in a certain area, he's quick to mention that there must be some logical way of moving foward.

And usually, that's not the case.

I used to love discussing tips and crap with classmates in high school and friends at the time. This was before even Nintendo Power came out.

These days are over...Now its "Oh I gotta hurry and beat this game so I can move onto the next one, get me my guide!" then "OK time to trade this into Gamestop!".

 

[Yoschi]

Back in my day we only had two buttons! We had to blow into our cartridges to get them to work and we liked it!

:lol

I beat the game without any hints or guides back in 85. If I recall correctly, it took about 3 weeks of playing to beat it. Then another 2 weeks to beat the Master Quest. After that, I was able to beat the first quest without losing a life. Probably still have a Polaroid screenshot of it at my parents home.

It was hard, but not impossible. Like a lot of NES games, it was memorization of enemies movement patterns and trial and error (ie dying) to acheive this. Which means accepting that you need to do some things over and over and over... which is a foreign concept for some gamers today.

That is why it is so hard for me to play later iterations of Zelda. They are so ridiculously easy that I don't really have any emotional attachment to it when I beat it.

that is one thing i miss a lot in the new games of this generation. You have much less emotions like the one you mention attached to it
i nearly kept stopping to play games completely. And then i found REZ! This Game makes me so happy, i never had so much emotions in one those new games. Now i analyse games more and understand why many things of those early games like zelda NES, mario 3 or Secret of Mana (only some of my personal favourites) have got lost.
The Games are mostly too easy. what i see in many games nowadays is that practically no effort is put into them, okay some of them have great graphics and all but they won't keep you playing for as long as those classics. It's also that a lot of people don't appreciate the efforts put into the games as they did back in the days.
Also, why won't some firms want to retain the good feeling of some classics? i mean for example comix zone or earthworm jim for GBA, they're miserable! Even if some people wanted to try one of those old games on this system, they would get the wrong feeling because the games have been ported so badly!

oops... a little offtopic sorry =/

 

[Dina]

How any kids made it though this game I don't know.

I made it until Death Mountain / Dungeon 9. Couldn't beat it for the life of me.


Btw, anyone notice that the layout of dungeon 3 resembles a swastika?

 

[Vrolokus]

Btw, anyone notice that the layout of dungeon 3 resembles a swastika?

The swastika is a very ancient symbol, and you see it all over the place on ruins and statues in the Far East.

And all the dungeons resemble something... I remember the original came with that fold-out hint and tip guide that showed what they were supposed to be. My memory is rusty, but I think:

1 = Eagle
2 = Moon
3 = Swastika

And then the rest, I don't remember the order: a snake, a dragon's head, a dragon, a lion's head, and... err... I forget.

And obviously Death Mountain looks like a skull.

2nd Quest was weird, it started with the letters for "Zelda", but the last few didn't look like anything to me.

 

[DJ_Tet]

Not quite. You can get all the way to Ganon swordless, but you can't win without it. It's pretty tough, but you're right, it's damn fun. Haven't done it in the second quest though--is that even possible?

And yes, Zelda was indeed hard back in the day. You had to get together with your friends and share information--no FAQs! It was an awesome feeling finding a heart container though, since every one actually made a difference in your chance of survival. Not like today's Zeldas--heart piece? meh, like it even matters.

Now I sound like an old person sitting on a porch. :lol

That's true, I nearly mentioned it in my post. Although, you could beat Ganon with the Wooden sword, it just took a lot more hits. Zelda 1 is my favorite all-time game, but I didn't know the second quest well enough to try it without a sword. I'm probably due to play Zelda again, but my skills are deteriorated significantly from when I could beat the game without a sword. I don't see any reason why you couldn't do the same thing on the second quest, but I never tried it.

 

[HylianScribe]

I did clarify before you posted. You do not need to buy the Blue Candle, but the fastest and easiest way is to buy it and skip the Red Candle.

 

[heavenly]

Level 6 kept kicking my butt, repetitively (those blue flying ghosts), so I said forget it and went and found level 7 due to the hint given in level 6. What's weird is that I breezed right through level 7, getting my red candle, and upgrading my bomb pouch. I geared up for level 6, again, and after a few attempts I finally found the dungeoun boss...but I have no idea how to kill him. The sage said something about his eye...but nothing in my inventory works (not even my sword).

Is it something simple? Can someone lead me with a small hint, rather tellling me outright? Thanks.

 

[Swordian]

Level 6 kept kicking my butt, repetitively (those blue flying ghosts), so I said forget it and went and found level 7 due to the hint given in level 6. What's weird is that I breezed right through level 7, getting my red candle, and upgrading my bomb pouch. I geared up for level 6, again, and after a few attempts I finally found the dungeoun boss...but I have no idea how to kill him. The sage said something about his eye...but nothing in my inventory works (not even my sword).

Is it something simple? Can someone lead me with a small hint, rather tellling me outright? Thanks.

It's simple. It's not your sword. The eye has to be open when you hit it.

 

[womp]

I made it until Death Mountain / Dungeon 9. Couldn't beat it for the life of me.


Btw, anyone notice that the layout of dungeon 3 resembles a swastika?

Just go here...this is nothing new...It has nothing to do with what you may think.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika#Buddhism

 

[PepsimanVsJoe]

The blue wizards are IMO my most hated enemies in the game.
Most enemies pause before they fire a projectile(like an arrow) but they can shoot you with their waves of death while moving. Plus that teleport crap and when they hit you it took quite a few hearts away..ugh

Always used bombs or ran away whenever I encountered them :/
TSA is the greatest btw, I've watched his many many speedruns(including the one where he beats Ocarina in like four hours with five hearts)

Oh and this thread reminded me of this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zelda_Classic

Pretty damn cool..I think I'll sit down one of these days and check it out thoroughly.

 

[cbjars]

I beat the game without any hints or guides back in 85.

Nice try but the game came out in 1986 :lol

 

[sphinx]

Level 6 kept kicking my butt, repetitively (those blue flying ghosts), so I said forget it and went and found level 7 due to the hint given in level 6. What's weird is that I breezed right through level 7, getting my red candle, and upgrading my bomb pouch. I geared up for level 6, again, and after a few attempts I finally found the dungeoun boss...but I have no idea how to kill him. The sage said something about his eye...but nothing in my inventory works (not even my sword).

Is it something simple? Can someone lead me with a small hint, rather tellling me outright? Thanks.

you need something bought in a store...

(I hope it wasn't too much)