Graphics: the sprites had relatively detailed animations, and the background/foreground tiles were designed well. By that, I mean that the rocks actually look like rocks, and the monsters actually look like easily recognizable monsters, as opposed to many NES games who just used copy/pasted tiles sets that were usually just a bunch of colored blocks with a few black lines in them. While they were well detailed, they were also very bleedy. Perhaps it was just the fact that I played this on an old CRT, as most tiles do not bleed into their surrounding on the emulator versions, but playing an irl cartridge on a real tv (even lcd/plasma, I still own this game.), the results are the same. Terrible tiles sets that bleed their colors into everything touching them.
sound: the music in this game is wonderful. Nearly every tune is catchy, an I for one am constantly walking around with the dungeon theme going in my head. It never leaves your head. The songs aren't particularly well composed, and don't stretch the limits of the NES sound chip by any means, but they DO sound good enough that it doesn't make you want to shut off the system, and thy aren't so un-detailed that you feel like you're walking through a barren landscape with random sound effects playing, like most NES games.
Addictiveness: this is one of those games that you pop in the NES, and you just cant stop playing. The controls are tight and well done, the dungeon layouts are well made and not the same thing every single room, every single dungeon (Zelda 1), and the enemies require some actual strategy to defeat. really everything about the game wraps it together into a neat little package that just screams "PLAY ME!"
story: a lot of people seem to think this game lacks any story. That's generally because they never got past the first dungeon, or couldn't get passed the first spot you need to jump spell for. Compared to nearly any NES side scroller, the story is well thought out, and deep. Granted, its not some final fantasy type stuff, but its decent. For an NES game however, the story is superb. I will not go into it, because if you don't know the story then you probably haven't played the game, and should skip this part anyways, but suffice it to say that even the story is filled with clues and hints on what to do and where to go. It requires you to think, and the story never ends up having some deus ex machina plot twist.
depth: there are a decent number of spells to obtain, 3 stats to level up(which takes far too long), a large and well made world map to traverse, a decent number of dungeons, some being difficult to get to, but all being unique and challenging. There's a few items to get, not a lot, but enough to keep you trying to obtain something to move forward. the only gripe I have with items, is that most are useless. They are essentially just items to use in specific spots to progress, and though navigating with no candle can be annoying, it is completely possible by simply paying attention to the top of the visible floor tiles.
difficulty: the game aint easy, let me tell you that, but unlike its predecessor, the game is difficult because of the ai programming, not the terrible controls. And a little bit because the game can be very easily broken by glitches that get you stuck in walls and ceilings, and can sometimes lead to a warp to the end game boss, one particular glitch that every Zelda game ever seems to share. Enemies now avoid your attacks, they actively jump over your hits or block them with shields, they chase you relentlessly and demand that you stand and fight. In Zelda 1, all enemies were only difficult to kill because they took 9999999 hits from any sword, or the aforementioned problem of being 1 pixel to high to hit the enemy right in front of you.
overall, this is a game well worth your time. Its not long, slow paced and boring like ocarina, nor is it overly simple and pathetically easy once you get the controls down, like every other 2d Zelda game. The puzzles require actual thought, instead of "bomb a wall" or "push a block", and the boss battles require you to stay active, instead of moving a few pixels up or down, left or right to avoid a fireball or walk slightly out of the enemies random path (Zelda 1, again). If you're going into this game expecting a very simple Pokémon-esque challenge you wont like it. The challenge actually exists here. If you're going in expecting the boring slow paced, thoughtless gameplay of Zelda 1, you will hate this game. If however you're looking for a unique game with a decent difficulty curve that actually requires real effort, you'll love this game from start to finish. Graphics: the sprites had relatively detailed animations, and the background/foreground tiles were designed well. By that, I mean that the rocks actually look like rocks, and the monsters actually look like easily recognizable monsters, as opposed to many NES games who just used copy/pasted tiles sets that were usually just a bunch of colored blocks with a few black lines in them. While they were well detailed, they were also very bleedy. Perhaps it was just the fact that I played this on an old CRT, as most tiles do not bleed into their surrounding on the emulator versions, but playing an irl cartridge on a real tv (even lcd/plasma, I still own this game.), the results are the same. Terrible tiles sets that bleed their colors into everything touching them.
sound: the music in this game is wonderful. Nearly every tune is catchy, an I for one am constantly walking around with the dungeon theme going in my head. It never leaves your head. The songs aren't particularly well composed, and don't stretch the limits of the NES sound chip by any means, but they DO sound good enough that it doesn't make you want to shut off the system, and thy aren't so un-detailed that you feel like you're walking through a barren landscape with random sound effects playing, like most NES games.
Addictiveness: this is one of those games that you pop in the NES, and you just cant stop playing. The controls are tight and well done, the dungeon layouts are well made and not the same thing every single room, every single dungeon (Zelda 1), and the enemies require some actual strategy to defeat. really everything about the game wraps it together into a neat little package that just screams "PLAY ME!"
story: a lot of people seem to think this game lacks any story. That's generally because they never got past the first dungeon, or couldn't get passed the first spot you need to jump spell for. Compared to nearly any NES side scroller, the story is well thought out, and deep. Granted, its not some final fantasy type stuff, but its decent. For an NES game however, the story is superb. I will not go into it, because if you don't know the story then you probably haven't played the game, and should skip this part anyways, but suffice it to say that even the story is filled with clues and hints on what to do and where to go. It requires you to think, and the story never ends up having some deus ex machina plot twist.
depth: there are a decent number of spells to obtain, 3 stats to level up(which takes far too long), a large and well made world map to traverse, a decent number of dungeons, some being difficult to get to, but all being unique and challenging. There's a few items to get, not a lot, but enough to keep you trying to obtain something to move forward. the only gripe I have with items, is that most are useless. They are essentially just items to use in specific spots to progress, and though navigating with no candle can be annoying, it is completely possible by simply paying attention to the top of the visible floor tiles.
difficulty: the game aint easy, let me tell you that, but unlike its predecessor, the game is difficult because of the ai programming, not the terrible controls. And a little bit because the game can be very easily broken by glitches that get you stuck in walls and ceilings, and can sometimes lead to a warp to the end game boss, one particular glitch that every Zelda game ever seems to share. Enemies now avoid your attacks, they actively jump over your hits or block them with shields, they chase you relentlessly and demand that you stand and fight. In Zelda 1, all enemies were only difficult to kill because they took 9999999 hits from any sword, or the aforementioned problem of being 1 pixel to high to hit the enemy right in front of you.
overall, this is a game well worth your time. Its not long, slow paced and boring like ocarina, nor is it overly simple and pathetically easy once you get the controls down, like every other 2d Zelda game. The puzzles require actual thought, instead of "bomb a wall" or "push a block", and the boss battles require you to stay active, instead of moving a few pixels up or down, left or right to avoid a fireball or walk slightly out of the enemies random path (Zelda 1, again). If you're going into this game expecting a very simple Pokémon-esque challenge you wont like it. The challenge actually exists here. If you're going in expecting the boring slow paced, thoughtless gameplay of Zelda 1, you will hate this game. If however you're looking for a unique game with a decent difficulty curve that actually requires real effort, you'll love this game from start to finish. |