legend of zelda class for game boy: too easy?

[kylerexpop]

i just bought the first legend of zelda and the monkey "link" sequel ($10 each: awesome!) the other day, and after playing "zelda" for about an hour and a half i'm already through dungeon 5 with the blue ring, bracelet of power, magic sword, blah blah blah.

however, i recall when i bought my original nes with zelda, it took me like five years to beat the game.

so: does anyone else think that it's a lie that this is a "direct port" of the original zelda? i wouldn't have thought so, but i'm breezing through here and i seem to recall that triceratop boss requiring like five bombs to blow him up, but i took care of him on my gba with two. wtf? or am i the greatest gamer who ever lived?

[DocD83]

I've not played either version, but I suspect that it's an illusion created by the fact you're older and more skilled than you were when you played the original. I've noticed that happened with a couple games that I hadn't played in years (Metal Gear Solid comes to mind).

I mean, why would they bother screwing with the coding and claim they didn't? It would cost money to modify a game and wouldn't increase the marketability of the product.

[PoolMan]

Kyle actually raises a suspicion I've had for a while; that the game companies are making games easier and easier to play (in an effort to expand their marketplace). It's been a LONG time since I came up against a game that made me want to hurl my controller like I did so often in my (misspent) youth, and I think I was a better player as a kid than I am now.

But I haven't played the new GBA Zelda. Interesting.

[TheLuckyOne]

I'll echo Poolie's suspicions- I actually didn't think there was any doubt, they're definitely easier these days. I can't tell you how much I'd give to watch a modern gamer try to play Marble Madness or the original Castlevania. And Contra without the 30 guys code... man, let's not even go there.

-D

[kylerexpop]

let me throw this out there, though:

i also bought classic metroid and classic castlevania. i figured i kind of remembered liking metroid back in the day. and castlevania: aria of sorrow is an INCREDIBLE gba game.

metroid quickly reminded me how BORING and STUPID the game was back then. i remember there was more excitement trying to get my friend steve to loan me metroid after he borrowed rygar for the longest time, and i must have transferred that fun to the game. metroid = lame, and the gba classic catridge is just as lame. a true direct port.

the original castlevania absolutely KICKED MY ASS then, and it kicks my ass now. i have no idea how anyone ever beat it, then or now. wow.

the original castlevania reminds me of the gamecube player's choice resident evil 1 i bought. the first re i ever played was re4, and loved it. i saw re1 was back and only $20 and went for it. i took it home, did nothing for about a month, then finally tried to play it. after trying to learn how to walk properly for the next half hour, i gave up and went swimming.

castlevania + resident evil 1 = aggravation!

[PoolMan]

Actually, I have to agree. The original Metroid was, for very long stretches of time, a complete bore. It also offered moments like no other in video games at the time (the fights against Kraid, Ridley, and the Mother Brain were scream-inducing, pillow-throwing riots at my house). It also offered the cool concept of "gathering equipment so your character actually gets more fun to use" that was so new back then, though. I'm a huge Metroid fan, but admittedly the high points of the series for me are Super Metroid, Metroid Zero Mission (a LOT more fun remake of the original on GBA Kyle, you should try it), and Metroid Prime.

And Resident Evil lost me forever the first time I tried to play it. Oh my god, I can't stand games that control like that. Couldn't be bothered with Metal Gear Solid, either. I'm controlling a human, not a dump truck, thank you.

[kylerexpop]

i hear a lot of good about zero mission and fusion. i must check these out!

i think i already said this, but whatever: resident evil 4 is easily one of the best games i've ever played in my life. tremendous replay value, because you just go around shooting stuff and getting better and better at it. really fun!

i'm close to beating it, i just can't master the "it" stage: running through a metal lab contraption before it all falls into a chasm. suck!

anyway, i own a total of four gamecube games: re4, re1, james bond: everything or nothing, and metal gear solid: twin snakes. re4 is the best, bond is fun, i don't know how to walk in re1, and i can't get out of the first room in mgs. where's meryl?

[Head Mutant]

Resident Evil I can see, but you've always mentioned MGS as having horrible controls -- why? I thought they were very smooth, the guy wasn't slow as molasses, and the inventory control was sublime.

Just thinking back to early NES -- Super Mario, Zelda, metroid and the rest -- it hit me that while these might not be the best nostalgia games right now to go back and play, they just felt so bloomin' new at the time it was scary. I don't know if kids growing up today will ever get that feeling of "I've never seen this before" that we had when we got some of those games.

[siegeshot]

zelda 1 is easy till you get to the stages with the red, then blue knights. i dont care if you're 4 or 24 those stupid things kill you. zelda 2 (i like it, so there) is easy until you get to the trying to get to the last temple through that freaking lava part

if you want SOLID SOLID proof at how they're dumbing down games in the states, look no further then super nintendo's "super mario allstars" with the mario game that never hit the US called "the lost levels" it didn't make it too the states cuz it was and i quote "too hard" for american video game players. they thought we'd get pissed cuz it was too hard, not play it, not buy it, etc. 100% truth.

i won't buy non puzzle/non rpgs anymore because i'm tired of spending 30 bucks for 3 hours of non replayable games. if i buy a platformer, i know full well going in i'll beat it quick, so i buy ones that i can find many ways to love and replay, final fight, and ninja turtles 1 are two such games for the gba that fufill that. sonic 1 for gba was darn good, almost all the rest of my games are rpgs and puzzles. oh yea i forgot, metroid zero mission, metroid fusion. i want to go back and get another copy of the first castlevania for GBA, i sold it cuz i was mad at the 2nd one that came out.

circle of the moon = awesome
harmony of dissonence = CRAP except for collecting things to put in that 1 room.

dawn of sorrow is going to RUUUUUULEEEEEEEEE, and yea i hear a lot of good things about aria of sorrow

i could write on this all day but oh well. if theres more interest i'll keep throwin my weathered 2 cents of crappy video games into the foray

[Landatauron]

captainkyle said:

i wouldn't have thought so, but i'm breezing through here and i seem to recall that triceratop boss requiring like five bombs to blow him up, but i took care of him on my gba with two. wtf? or am i the greatest gamer who ever lived?

I just recently replayed the original Zelda on my NES. and I beat it much easier than I ever did when I was a kid. So it might just be that it's seems easier now than it was back then. Also the triceratop boss only needed 2 bombs in the NES version also.

Plus I remember it taking longer to beat but that's just cause I forgot to hold in the damned reset button when I turned it off and it wiped my game several times.

[bladestarr]

I do think they are making games easier yes, but I also think that with age DOES come experience and skill. For example, this NES game Deja Vu I loved when I was a kid, I played it non-stop for a year, yet I couldn't beat it! Then I picked up an NES emulator and a ROM a few months ago, and beat the game in 3 hours. What I could not accomplish in a year as a child I could now do in 3 hours as a man. Made me feel very manly! ;D

And for all you people dissing RE1, it is simply a matter of being able to learn new control styles. I got my butt kicked for the first 5 minutes because I didn't expect that "driving a truck" control style that Pooly was talking about, but once I figured out how it worked I was cruising right past those slow moving targets. Making smooth curves here and there, with no movement problems whatsoever. It's merely a matter of being able to adapt, to learn and to change. Or maybe mastering Marble Madness oh so many years ago gave me the skills necessary to put up with any horrible play control.

[PoolMan]

admin said:

you've always mentioned MGS as having horrible controls -- why? I thought they were very smooth, the guy wasn't slow as molasses, and the inventory control was sublime.

"Sublime"? Wow.

Eh, all I know is I tried several times to play MGS (once while you were here, you'll recall) and I found the whole affair tough to control, soap opera-y as all get out, and just generally not that interesting. It had it's moments (I liked the sniper battle), but overall Metal Gear just never grabbed me. And I gave it multiple shots.

I know when they remade MGS for the Cube (which I haven't played) there was a lot of hoopla that they finally made some critical change to the control system, but I don't know what it was. Maybe that would change my mind?

[DocD83]

The only complaint I have with the MGS control system is that it's virtually impossible to aim the assault rifle. Maybe you guys got the hang of that, but I never did. I stayed with my socom and grenades, mostly.

[Al]

poolman said:

I know when they remade MGS for the Cube (which I haven't played) there was a lot of hoopla that they finally made some critical change to the control system, but I don't know what it was. Maybe that would change my mind?

They updated the controls to the MGS2 scheme. Aiming your gun is now done in first person instead of wild scattered shooting of the original. Bodies also stay put once dispatched instead of blinking into the ethereal nothingness of video game afterlife. They now must be dragged into corners, stuffed into lockers, or dropped off ledges to avoid detection. The AI is also significantly beefed up. Try to take out a guard while he's radioing in with HQ? The guy on the other end will get agitated and send a recon squad to check on him.

The other change is towards the end, where your second "run in" with Revolver Ocelot is made worlds easier than the original game. That was the point where I got stuck in the original PS version, so it was nice to finally proceed with the game and wrap it up, even if I felt slightly like I cheated.

If the movement is your beef, however, it's still as *ahem* unique as it ever was.

Al

[siegeshot]

marble madness will always be a hard game, regardless of your age. man oh man! anyway, in zelda, just go fight the orange, and blue knights, its still hard. Too hard I died a million times there as a kid, and still quite a few as a old kid, mwahaha.

I think all the classics they've been porting over to the gba are direct ports. But there has been america dumbing down in the past, video game wise. Or not even bringing them over here at all, maybe cuz of difficulty, maybe cuz of thinkin they wouldnt do well over here, even when we're screamin for some of their games. :/