The Legend of Zelda

Friends, I've been negligent to my favorite game series of all time. It started back in 1986 with the original Nintendo platform. The Legend of Zelda features a constant overhead view of the hero, Link, as he searches for the Triforce in order to rescue Princess Zelda from Ganon. Simple, really, and nothing really overly original to the story, but amazing and hypnotizing.

I've been playing Zelda games since I was a wee lad, and I've always enjoyed them. In particular, I loved the complex puzzles that had to be solved in order to progress the game. In fact, I remember when I first played The Legend of Zelda and was looking for Ganon that I had to find Spectacle Rock; I didn't know what spectacle meant at the time, and so I looked it up and grew my vocabulary. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link was dreadfully difficult, and I honestly cannot remember beating this game, though I know I must have. The advent of the SNES brought A Link to the Past, which is one of the greatest games ever made. The story grew more complicated and the puzzles a bit more challenging, as well as enhanced graphics and a larger weapons inventory made this game remarkable. Plus, being able to travel to the Dark World was pretty sweet, too.

And then 64bit graphics hit the media and the best game of all time was out: Ocarina of Time. There are so many things I enjoyed from OoT that I can't think to list them all. The soundtrack was beautiful. The deeper storyline was emotional and passionate. The graphics was astounding. This game frequently tops lists of best games ever, and I wholeheartedly agree. Ocarina's sequel, Majora's Mask, was not as interesting as its predecessor, but still a fun and cool game. The idea of collecting masks and stopping the destruction of the world was interesting.

Wind Waker is a beautiful game. The cell shading concept is visually appealing and makes for an interesting point of view playing. Also, "Link" was a small boy in this game and the legend of the Hero of Time were intriguing, and the explorable world was huge.

Then came Twilight Princess. This game was enormous and the expectation for it huge. The new controls offered by the Wii were exciting and testing the capabilities of the Wii would be interesting. The storyline was now deep and the familiar characters were legends in their own right. The new Twilight Realm was reminiscent of the Dark World from a Link to the Past and the quest was humongous.

I've left off the gameboy games--Oracle of Seasons, Oracle of Ages, Four Swords, Minish Cap, and the Phantom Hourglass--but the ones I've played are just as puzzling and fun.

Overall, the Zelda franchise has long been hailed as one of the greatest ever, and I completely agree. I eagerly await the next installment on a major platform, and I'll certainly love it, too. Link will always have a special place in my heart, like Cloud, MegaMan, Luigi, and Sephiroth.

Curse You, Mega Man!

My friend recently bought the newly released 8-bit retro style Mega Man 9. I grew up playing Mega Man games, and I always liked them, especially the X series. So with the release of MM9, I felt like playing the old ones again, and so I went out and bought the anniversary edition, which means I now own Mega Man 1-8, as well as Mega Man X-X6. And I sat down to play yesterday, and I started with the original Mega Man.

Cutman was easy, and so was Bombman. Then I tried Iceman's world, and I died. Over and over and over. And I kept dying. So I quit. Then today I beat every other level and had only Iceman's stage left. I kept dying. In fact, the only time I even made it to Iceman was when I had 1 life left, and he quickly depleted my little energy bar.

I've really never been a gamer who gets mad at playing my games and stuff, y'know, those people who throw their controllers or call the computer a cheater. No, that's not me. But today, my friends, I really really wanted to crush my GC control. And so through it all, I've come away with 3 conclusions:

1. Don't play Mega Man for a very long period of time without frequent breaks, as your temper will quickly get to you.

2. Wipe out those little things that are low to the ground and speed up when you're on the same level as them. If you don't, you'll get ticked at them and yourself.

3. Don't play Iceman's stage unless you're in a great mood and ready to be heavily frustrated.

Good luck.

Wii

After a very long week of waiting semi-patiently, I finally got my Wii. I shoulda got it on 11.19, but the preorders did not get delivered to FYE like they should have. They still do not have them, actually. I got mine from inside info at Best Buy. I showed up early and was eighth in line, and Keisha was there with me. I shoulda bought her Cracker Barrel like I told her I would, but I was worried that there would be no spots left, so instead she went to McDonalds. But I got my Wii. Sports is great. Twilight Princess (Zelda) is absolutely gorgeous. Oh so much fun and interaction. I enjoy it very much. Hmmmmmm. I recommend that other people at least play one, because it does involve movement and it is very unique.
Anyway, I just wanted to put it out there.
I got my Wii. And it is fun.