Posts Tagged ‘Zelda’
Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011
For the past twenty-five years, The Legend of Zelda has captivated many a gamer with its green-clad hero, golden triangles, ocarinas, talking boats, and chatty fairies. It’s a series that defined the adventure genre for years on the early Nintendo consoles, and its legendary status still pervades the Internet today. As a kid, I never owned a console, but the fascinating kingdom of Hyrule was still a thrilling experience to me as I watched my friends playing on their N64. My first taste of the series was the GBA port of A Link to the Past, which had the multiplayer game Four Swords bundled in as well. I was thrilled to begin playing.
It was a stormy night over Hyrule Field as Link lay restless in bed, when Zelda calls him up to rescue her. All of her companions, the descendants of the seven Sages that sealed the evil Ganon several hundred years ago, have been systematically sealed away in crystal by the evil wizard Agahnim and sent to the Dark World, which weakens the seal that keeps Ganon trapped there. Link is tasked with sneaking into the castle, breaking out Zelda, and getting her to safety. It’s simple, but they way it is presented is great. The music is suspenseful, giving you a sense of tension as you delve deeper into the dungeons. (more…)
Tags: Link, Tyler Thomas, Zelda
Posted in Editorial, Tyler Thomas, Video Games, Writers | No Comments »
Monday, February 7th, 2011
It is a very safe assumption to say that delays are one of the causes, if not the major one, of agitation and rage amongst gamers. There isn’t whole lot worse than setting a date on your calendar, waiting for the game you’ve been following, and then finding out you have to wait an extra few months or even years for it to hit shelves. Most gamers don’t really like to listen to the reasons why the game is being delayed. Some developers give sound reasons for delaying games, such as tweaking combat, adding necessary content, or fixing bugs. Other developers may hit a wall in a particular stage due to poor planning and find it necessary to delay the game in order to sell a finished project. Once gamers see their title pushed back, they tend to neglect all of the possible benefits. Such benefits include a smooth combat system, an intriguing plot line, or just a lot more juicy content. The real problem lies when a developer delays a game and promises to deliver a much more polished game in return, then falls short.
Take a very hyped game, such as Age of Conan. Funcom promised an intuitive combat system along with an eye-popping environment. Along with these were supposed to come siege warfare and even bar fight PvP. Who wouldn’t want to bash in your friend’s skull with an iron mace while being drunk to boot? It was no secret the game would be delayed as more promised content was not seeing much progress during development. After the game was finally released, the most anticipated feature was not implemented into the game properly and rarely functioned. (more…)
Tags: delays, diablo III, Duke Nukem, Gears of War 3, Josh, Josh Thompson, Link, Skyward Sword, Thompson, Video Games, Zelda
Posted in Editorial, Josh Thompson, Video Games, Writers | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, December 8th, 2010
ZOMG FIRST!!1!! Many of you can see the utmost importance in being first in absolutely everything that you do. Naturally, you must be the first to finish your test, eat your meal, or even first to post about an article. (READY SET GO!) This style of thinking really broke through with the Internet and trickled its way to the gaming world. Is it a true accomplishment to be the first player to defeat a ruby weapon-caliber of a boss? Without question, that is a true accomplishment. But is it a true accomplishment to be the first to gather ten flowers in the Happy Gumdrop forest? Not so much. Gamers are achievement hunters. Every gamer wants the sense of accomplishing everything the game has to offer at one point or another. Some players like to blow through the game and then go back for all of those achievements. Others cannot inch towards the end of a game without having completed every side quest the game has to offer. (Golden Skulltula’s anybody?) However, going into the game with your troll gear can be quite destructive to you and to the other players involved.
I want to make it clear that I do NOT think achievement hunting is a problem. Rather, how the attitudes of gamers are gearing toward finding every niche the game has to offer, creating a silly task, and griefing about being the first to do it. I remember my first experience was with the Zelda franchise. I SWORE on my mother’s grave that I was the first one to back flip off of this particular ledge, stick the landing with a signature Link roll, and finish with a killing jumping sword attack. (more…)
Tags: Cataclysm, first, Trolls, Zelda
Posted in Editorial, Josh Thompson, Video Games, Writers | 5 Comments »
Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010
10. “Rolling Starâ€â€”Katamari Forever
You may have never heard of this song if you’ve never played Katamari, but I highly recommend that you look it up because, despite the fact that it will probably get stuck in your head too, it will make you laugh. The lyrics are just ridiculous, and the tune itself is terribly catchy. I challenge you to look this one up on YouTube and take a listen.
9. “Green Hill Zoneâ€â€”Sonic the Hedgehog
This is the first of a few songs on this list that have been derived from older 8-bit or 16-bit games, and there is a reason for this: these songs have a very distinct sound because of their bleeps and bloops that make it very easy for the tunes to become ingrained in your head. This song is a classic for any Sonic fan, and the patterns within the music just make it so catchy that you’ll end up thinking about it hours after you’ve played a good, nostalgic round of Sonic. (more…)
Tags: Chocobo, Dault, ddr, Final Fantasy, Games, katamari, Kirby, mario, pokemon, songs, songs that get stuck in your head, Sonic, Star Fox, Stephanie, Stephanie Dault, Super Mario Bros, Tetris, Video Games, Windmill Song, Zelda
Posted in Editorial, Top Ten Tuesdays, Writers | No Comments »
Monday, November 8th, 2010
Side-quests are mostly thought of as a means to stretch the main story line in a game and give it a different approach—not to mention the awesome goodies players can get by accomplishing certain side-quests.  The rewards can range from new titles, rare items that cannot be found anywhere else, and sometimes a new character.  However, besides the rewards behind the side-quests, why do games include them?  Is there a deeper purpose behind why some games might include certain side-quests?  Side-quests could take a couple of possible turns in their motives and meanings that parallel real life.  One is that some of them could serve as a device to ingrain morals in gamers, to teach a lesson, rather than to merely act as an extension of a storyline in certain cases.  The other possibility is that they are placed in some games to remind the gamers to take a break from saving the world to have some fun—kind of like taking a break in one’s busy, everyday life to have pointless fun.
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Tags: Goemon, Sidequests, Stephanie Dault, Zelda
Posted in Editorial | No Comments »
Tuesday, November 2nd, 2010
FUUUUUUUUUU!! Yes, all of us Gamezombies know the feeling. We know we have our own ‘rage quit’ gene. The feeling of a level so difficult you NEED to bust out your player guide or even the game shark. I know there are NUMEROUS amounts of games out there that have given us headaches and sick days from school. The kind of games that-–if we could finish them–-would make us feel like a video game immortal. Now, this list obviously won’t be able to cover every single difficult level you can think of. The majority of these levels will also be a reflection of the entire game, such as, one level may be equally as difficult as another level or fight.
WARNING: Please remove any controllers, remotes, shoes, or any viable object that can crack a monitor or TV, because this list is sure to bring out your dark side. This is the Top Ten Tuesday most difficult levels/fights!
10. The Water Temple: Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
The Water Temple trumps every other dungeon as the most confusing and difficult in the popular franchise. Everyone remembers the immersion Ocarina offered and how we desperately drove our Master Sword into enemy after enemy, until the final showdown with Ganon. Then came the Water Temple. Just like the Iron Boots needed for the dungeon, I felt really slowed down. At first, it almost seems like a routine that is fairly easy to get the hang of. Water up, water down, water up, water down. As you unlock one door in the basement, you realize you probably should have unlocked the door on the upper level. Water up. Wait, I swear there was going to be a small key in this room to unlock that door. Water down. /Facepalm. This dungeon tests the loyalty of the Zelda fan base by creating the most tedious and mind numbing puzzle ever. Sure, it isn’t so bad if you note what every room holds and exactly where it goes to, and what floor it’s on. At least the dungeon holds one of the coolest and most notorious Zelda items ever, the longshot. But still, totally not worth it. (more…)
Tags: Battle Toads, Call of Duty, Contra, Final Fantasy VII, Josh, Josh Thompson, Kingdom Hearts, Ninja Gaiden, Ocarina of Time, Ten, Thompson, Top, Top Ten Tuesdays, Tuesday, Tuesdays, Zelda
Posted in Editorial, Josh Thompson, Top Ten Tuesdays, Writers | 2 Comments »
Sunday, June 20th, 2010
E3 expo
After reading through Dave’s and Cody’s blogs about their favorite things about E3, I thought I should make my own best of E3 post, here is what I think was the best.(I apologize for my terrible grammar and spelling)
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Tags: 3DS, bulletstorm, Dead space 2, Gears of War 3, Zelda
Posted in E3 | 2 Comments »
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010
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Zelda Ocarina of Time has been hailed as one of the best games ever made. Ocarina supplied the user with a beautiful story line that was easy to follow and flowed brilliantly. The process of following Link from a non-puberty girl-sounding lad to him growing up to be a complete badass is wonderful. I still feel that the adult Link is still the best portrayal of Link ever in any Zelda game. As anyone who has played this game knows, you as Adult Link have to beat five differently themed temples, which ranged in difficulty and this made the game what it is. As much as I enjoyed being young Link and beating the Deku Tree and throwing a boomerang, Adult Link was where it was at. The temples were a series of mind-boggling puzzles mixed with action and perfectly done graphics. Each temple had a specific location and a central theme to it and Nintendo did a great job incorporating these themes into the temples. But which temple was toughest to beat and which temple was a cake walk? Well I have broken down each temple and ranked them from easiest to most difficult.
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Tags: nintendo, Ocarina of Time, Temples, Zelda
Posted in Editorial | 2 Comments »
Monday, March 15th, 2010
WE'RE NOT LIKE THE OTHERS WHO GET ALL THE FAME (seriously, what other plumbers get any fame?)
Raise your hand if you watched the Super Mario Bros. Super Show, Captain N: The Game Master, or The Legend of Zelda as a kid!
Yeah, so a lot of us had really bad taste as children. Now, now — no getting upset. I had fond memories of all three of the above, particularly the Super Show. In particular, I fondly recalled an episode about a fountain of youth that turned Princess Peach into a baby so that Toad, Mario, and Luigi had to take care of her while inevitibly ruining all of King Koopa’s plans. Sometimes when I had little else to do (read: all the time) I would sit and day dream about some day rewatching that particular episode and enjoying it even more as an adult.
Oh, those daydreams, always getting my hopes up!
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Tags: captain n game master, Legend of Zelda, nostalgia, super mario bros super show, super mario brothers, television, tv, Zelda
Posted in Editorial | No Comments »
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
4Skin: Gamers Uncut – Episode 11 (02/10/10)
We discuss Dante’s Inferno vs. Bioshock 2, Sonic 4, an Australian hacker, and if Nintendo been dropping the ball
Listen here!
or…
Listen or Subscribe on iTunes!
Tags: 4Skin, Bioshock, Dante's Inferno, hacking, nintendo, podcast, Sonic, Zelda
Posted in 4Skin, Podcasts, Twitter | No Comments »
