The Legend of Zelda

[ultimateemail5000]

I noticed there's not a Zelda thread on here which is weird because its Nintendo's best franchise next to Mario. I'm not going into details about I just want to know everyones opinion on them. I've beat Zelda, Zelda 2, OoT, i'm on the last dungeon of a Link to the Past but decided to buy Skyward Sword finally and I'm about to beat that and I've only had it for a week but have been putting a lot of game time into it. But my first Zelda game I beat was Phantom Hourglass for the DS.

But of all the Zelda games I've beat I think Zelda 2 for the NES is the best one. I like the gameplay and I like its unique style of adding RPG elements and sidescrolling into a single game. Which a lot of games copied after that (Rambo, Castlevania 2, even an upcoming Adventure Time game will follow the same format)

How many Zelda games have you guys beat or played that you enjoyed? This year is the really the first time I've soared through so many of these games and I really enjoy them a lot.

[1upmushroom]

I personally liked Majora's Mask, mostly for the darker tone it had. It's also what I call a "mature" game. The ideas, characters, and stories told in this game are definetly not what you would find in an average kids game, especially a Zelda one (at least at that time.)

The Happy Mask Salesman is hailed as one of the most unsettling Zelda characters and he definetly earns that statement. We don't even know that much about him, even that one manga which basically explains a lot of the unanswered questions in the game, barely gives him any backstory, and what it gives us is even more unnerving.

Then there's the Stone Temple, which is one of the most interesting and most discussed temples in the game. There are a lot of unique designs and just creepy if not phallic imagery scattered around the place.

I could forever about Majora's Mask but that's my basic talk about it. So, yeah.

[ultimateemail5000]

I just beat Skyward Sword less than two weeks of having it. Very awesome game I put a lot of time into it. Now I'll get to beat Link to the Past. Maybe when I'm done I'll try Majoras Mask again. I just didn't care for it because it made me feel rushed.

[Phlibbit]

Majora's Mask is definitely worth investing your attention into. While you might have felt rushed before, it should just make you appreciate time that much more

[ultimateemail5000]

Majora's Mask is definitely worth investing your attention to. While you might have felt rushed before, it should just make you appreciate time that much more

Yeah I know if you don't beat it in time that creepy moon crashes into the planet. Its just beating a game in 3 days, that's Zelda of all things. If it was a Mario gamme that'd be different because I probably could beat a new Mario game in a day(example NSMB for DS). I still will check it out though. I downloaded it on Wii years ago and it just sits there.

But in other news, I'm not to sure how the Zelda timeline works but I think I've figured it out without Twilight Princess and the Windwaker style series. I believe it goes like this

Skyward Sword, OoT, Majoras Mask, Link to the Past, Legend of Zelda, and Zelda II. Its just weird that nothing goes beyond Zelda II, a game that came out in 88 more than 20 years ago.

[1upmushroom]

That's probably because you're looking at Majora's Mask wrong. Majora's Mask sin't about completeing the game, it's about the characters and sidequests that you encounter. In fact the characters are what make Majora's Mask so damn depressing. When they're not happy, you'll easily want to help them but when you do help them and they're happy, all you have to do is look up and you'll realise that this happiness won't last and you'll eventually have to rewind time watching them be miserable again.

[Redstar]

I've only ever played the original Legend of Zelda and A Link to the Past, though I've watched my brothers play Windwaker and Twilight Princess. The games just don't suit me as much as Mario does which is no issue with their level of quality.

I personally find them to be very inspiring. I love the mythology built behind the series, which is such a uniquely Japanese take on the Western concept.

[ultimateemail5000]

Well I finished a Link to the Past a couple hours ago it wasn't bad of an ending but I was expecting more. Skyward Sword probably is still the best in the franchise. It shows how Hyrule came to be, how the Master Sword was created, and explains where Ganon came from.

SPOILER ALERT:

although Ganon is not in the game the final boss is Demise, who looks similar to Ganon. When you defeat him he tells Link he will be reincarnated and will come back to fight his ancestors.

If I am correct Tetra is Links sister who is also Zelda. This gives me a theory at one point in some Zelda timeline, Link and Zelda have kids.

Looking at OOT, when Link is a kid everything is happy and peaceful but when he turns into an adult Hyrule has literally gone to hell. Do you think Nintendo did this as a way of saying things are better when you're a kid?

I'll probably start playing Majora's Mask soon sometime, I just need a break from all the Zeldagames. I'm glad to know I can atleast reverse time, are the sidequests even necessary to do?

Redstar you should check out Zelda II on the NES under the VC. It's really good and straightforward. Plus if you get lost or need to know anything gamefaqs has a map of the entire game showing where all the magic and heart pieces are.

[1upmushroom]

I'm surprised no one brought this up:

http://www.glitterberri.com/the-legend- ... ga/part-1/

Apparently this may be the first Zelda Manga ever made and it happens to be based on the first Zelda game, and shockingly it takes a lot of liberties with the source material. And I mean a LOT of liberties.

[ultimateemail5000]

Apparently this may be the first Zelda Manga ever made and it happens to be based on the first Zelda game, and shockingly it takes a lot of liberties with the source material. And I mean a LOT of liberties.

That's a neat find you have there. This reminds me that an anime is actually being made, and has some actual anime VA tied into it. Vic Monagdjaida however you spell his last name, I believe he's in FMA and DBZ. And two others I can't remember their names. You can google it and it is bound to show up. I really wish in the new stuff they would atleast reference the cartoon Dic made and just once have Link say "Excuuuuuse me Princess!"

[1upmushroom]

Zeldamotion, the anime you speak of is actually based on (I think) a more recent manga of A Link to the Past. There's actually a lot of Zelda manga on that site I pulled up.

Did you see how Ganon looked on that manga. Shudder!

[ultimateemail5000]

Zeldamotion, the anime you speak of is actually based on (I think) a more recent manga of A Link to the Past. There's actually a lot of Zelda manga on that site I pulled up.
Did you see how Ganon looked on that manga. Shudder!

Yes that manga is really old so they probably didn't have enough source material. I didn't really like how they made the characters either. But it's from the old days.

There is a Link to the Past manga boxset for sale at amazon. I read the complete Nintendo Power Zelda comic (similar to the Super Mario Adventures) and it is really good. I have it on my droid, since a realy copy is really hard to find or if found its expensive.

[1upmushroom]

What? You mean how they were drawn or written?

[ultimateemail5000]

What? You mean how they were drawn or written?

I didn't like how they were drawn in that 80s one based on the first game. I kind of skimmed through it. But the Nintendo Power serial is really awesome, along with artwork.

[1upmushroom]

In this post I'll review a surprisingly rare manga that was not only based on the very first Zelda game but was in turn, the very first Zelda Manga itself (maybe)!

It's called the Legend of Zelda, basic enough and besides the saving the princess story, it includes Link, Zelda, Impa, and Ganon as main characters, Link has a sword, there are triforces (only two though as there were only two in the first game as well), there's a scene where fairies replinish Link's health, bombs and boomering are fairly used, and it takes place in Hyrule. Why am I telling you this? Because, shockingly, that's pretty much all the Zelda stuff in this entire manga!

Yeah, it's loosely based on the game! Even in japan Nintendo games have unfaithful adaptions-ok I'm jumping the gun here, for one the writer Yuu Mishouzaki only had LOZ and maybe AOL to work with at the time this was made, plus even though it's pratically a trope codefier for Pragmatic Adaption, the story we have here isn't that bad actually.

In fact, the story is surprisingly good as far as pragmatic adaptions go. Also, Zelda Manga has been known to add certain elements and remove others either to make the story shorter or to just exclude unnessecary moments/characters/items/etc. The only reason this one is notable is because of how far it went in doing a loose adaption. Well that and the fact that it's SCARY AS HELL but we'll cover that in a minute.

The story is like I said the same, a young boy named Link travels through the land of Hyrule finding pieces of a powerful item called the Triforce of Wisdom in order to defeat Ganon and save Princess Zelda. However there are many additions and changes made to the story.

The most obvious is how it depicts the characters. Zelda is much, much, much more of a badass heroine who not only stopped Ganon from invading when she was just a child but also might've been able to stop him AGAIN had she not fought him in anger! Link on the other hand is much more child like. I mean, he's brave and heroic but it's obvious he's way in over his head here and he also doesn't always know what to do at first. In the beginning he just watches Zelda (seemingly) kicks Ganon's ass for the second time and it's only when she's in help does he try to save her.

Ganon is much more scary looking here than his usual incarnations, he's even more intimidating than his Twilight Princess appearence IMO. Plus, we get hints of the more clever Ganon that comes in later incarnations as he actually plans for Link to enter his lair (named Mount Death instead of Death Mountain) so he'll unintentially give him the Triforce of Wisdom. While you could argue this is the case in the original game itself, there's no real clue that hints it was Ganon's plan all along and it's mostly up for debate unlike in the Manga. Perhaps Nintendo was inspired?

There are also minor characters like Impa and the Hyrule King who besides from the CDI games hasn't been in any Zelda game that are different as well. Impa is more physically different as as she's much younger and taller than the way she was presented in the art from the original game. The Hyrule King is more different character wise in the Manga as he's a complete asshat who doesn't even consider the idea of monsters attacking Hyrule and is also a racist against elves. He's so villainous it wouldn't be surprising if he was one of Ganon's minions in disguise though he most likely isn't.

There are also new character's like Link's grandpa, an old man who doesn't seem to love him or even care for him, another grandfather who was a verteran soldier for the Hyrule Royal Family, and (most importantly) Zelda's parents, her mother who's also named Zelda (that's really her name) and her father named Rune who is an elf. Well ok, I think the mother Zelda is Zelda's real parent but Rune may be just Link's father.

Oh wait! Did I forget to mention that Link and Zelda are siblings?! This actually brings a whole new light to that one line from ALttP you know which one I'm talking about. "Zelda is your...", there's a slight possibility this line could have been a shoutout but that's a fairly big stretch.

Another big change are the monsters and how they look, and let me tell you, THEY ARE SO SCARY THEY'RE NOT BE MESSED WITH! These monsters are just disturbing! It's mostly due to the fact that most of the time the only thing you can see of them are their teeth and they're eyes! The eyes are the most disturbing! I can't really describe why they're scary they just are to me.

The final big change is mostly the tone. Now granted, the original doesn't really have a set tone. The graphics and music are bright and upbet but the story can be either dark or lighthearted. The Manga on the other hand is dark. There are curse words, violent battles, slain bodies, onscreen (or in this case on-panel) deaths, onscreen blood, those freaking monsters, a very nightmare fuelish looking Ganon, eyeballs that get jabbed or fallen out of monster's eye sockets, that creepy creature at the begining of the prolouge, all these things are not only included in the manga but they make what is very much a child like fairy tale and turns it into a very gritty and surprising Manga that is at best a good story to read when there's nothing to do and at worst an unfaithful Manga that doesn't even feel like a Zelda game.

And that's my main problem with this story, it doesn't feel like Zelda, at least not a lot. While I know Mishouzaki was trying to make a story based off of something that didn't have much of it, couldn't he have put in Moblins? Or the actual bosses? Couldnt've he have given a little more comedy relief? Couldnt've he at least toned down the grittyness half of the time I couldn't believe this was Zelda, I mean I'm a fan of a Darker and Edgier Zelda, hell Majora's Mask is one of my favorite Zelda games but this Manga is visually darker and edgier instead of being darker and edgier story wise which what it should be.

However, what it misses in Zeldaness (I just created that word), it more than makes up for in it's style, story, imagery, and characters. While it may not feel like Zelda, The Legend of Zelda Manga by Yuu Mishouzaki has an interesting style, a good story, well written characters, and a dark tone that while unnecessary definitley makes the manga more memorable, well that and the fact that it takes a lot of liberties with the game it's based on.

All in all I give The Legend of Zelda Manga, a 3.5 out of 4. It comes recommended in my book but then again I don't read a whole lot of manga. Plus I only recommend it to the most die hard fans of Zelda that are at best 13 and older.

Feel free to post what you think about the game and if you find anything I said that was inaccurate just PM me and I'l make a correction. Other than that, later I'll talk about other Manga like the one for Majora's Mask and more famously the A Link to the Past comic that ran in Nintendo Power during the 90's.

[Redstar]

I quite like it. While the art style is certainly dated to that of popular '80s/'90s manga, it's still an unusual take on the property. The art direction is superb while the characters feel different enough to make the story hold together outside of the "silent hero" pure archetypes of the games.

I've always enjoyed these early adaptations of the storyless game properties. The early Saturday Supercade cartoons Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong, Jr. especially.

[1upmushroom]

I wouldn't call the manga an unusual take but I'd definitley call it a creative and/or loose adaption of the franchise.

While some of the dialogue could've been written better IMO and like I said, the manga just doesn't feel like Zelda that much, this Manga is otherwise a pretty good read and is worth a good look.

The real sad part is that we'll never get an official english release of this one partly because of it's outdated art design and pretty loose connection to the games, but mostly because of the fact it's too dark and scary for younger kids, the most likely demographic to buy it if it ever came out.

However, at least we can read it right? Thank god for fan subs!

[Redstar]

Looks like they're going to be releasing the Zelda encylopedia I mentioned before in English, which you can pre-order on Amazon for a discount!

[ultimateemail5000]

Looks like they're going to be releasing the Zelda encylopedia I mentioned before in English, which you can pre-order on Amazon for a discount!

I read about this the other day and will be getting myself one. I'm always interested in concet art. I wish theyd make one for Mario games. All we got was a somewhat decent book.

[1upmushroom]

http://www.terriblefate.com/

If you want a truly EPIC remix of the Majora's Mask Soundtrack, look no further. While granted, only a few tracks are listed so far, trust me when I say, they're worth a listening.

[Redstar]

What does everyone think about the upcoming Wind Waker HD remake?

[Phlibbit]

It's pretty much a "shut up and take my money" vote from me. I love Wind Waker. I've probably mentioned this elsewhere, but I imported the original GCN Wind Waker from Japan months before the US release and played through the whole game in Japanese.

It seems like quite a lot of people are taking a positive stance on this news, which is frankly quite surprising to me.

Having said that, Nintendo is going to have to put some extra effort into making this look and play better than Wind Waker via the Dolphin emulator. IMO, there's a fine line with Wind Waker's style in that if you make it too detailed or stylized, it'll lose some of the charm of the original. For instance, compare Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie to BK: Nuts & Bolts.

[ultimateemail5000]

I have been really excited about this news, this is the one we haven't played and I really want to jump in at it. Definetly buying a Wii U in August, and hopefully they slash the price at that time so I can get the 32 gig system for 300 instead of 350.

[Redstar]

I know that Windwaker had several uncompleted dungeons and other quests, so this remake will definitely be an instant buy for me if they approach it as they did the Ocarina of Time remake for the 3DS.

[ultimateemail5000]

Hopefully I can get the money to get a Wii U when we go back to Ohio. I'd really like to have that game and the new Mario and Yoshi as well.

[Metroidan]

Wind Waker was the first Zelda game I actually enjoyed playing. I ended up selling it once I beat it, but soon came to regret that decision. It was so good that I decided to re-buy it, which only goes to show that I'd be willing to get this HD remake as well. I just hope the experience is improved enough to merit that sort of investment.

[Phlibbit]

I have a similar story--I imported Wind Waker because it came out in Japan early, and beat the whole thing. I eventually sold my modded Gamecube and that copy of Wind Waker. I've regretted that ever since, although I did get the US version and beat that as well.

[Redstar]

Our first look of the remake in action!

[ultimateemail5000]

My WiiU is ready for this game....and the thousands of other Nintendo games.

[Redstar]

According to current information, there will not be any new dungeons as the incomplete areas of the game were utilized in later Zelda titles. The only improvements over the original are a new sail and a streamlined Triforce quest.

That really disappoints me. I hope that they're just holding information back and there are indeed new quests or areas to explore. It would be a shame not to do as much with this game as we can.

[Phlibbit]

I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't a whole lot of new things to do. They are doing things like overhauling the Tingle Tuner, etc.

The streamlined Triforce quest is interesting...it was apparently MUCH harder in the Japanese version and they made it easier for the US release...I wonder what they'll do to water it down even more (pun intended).

As I'm sure I've mentioned before, I imported the Japanese Wind Waker and played through the whole thing before it came out in the US. And yeah, that Triforce part was really difficult, especially in a different language. But honestly that made it really fun and challenging. I really WAS out in the open ocean without a clue as to what to do.

[ultimateemail5000]

I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't a whole lot of new things to do. They are doing things like overhauling the Tingle Tuner, etc.

The streamlined Triforce quest is interesting...it was apparently MUCH harder in the Japanese version and they made it easier for the US release...I wonder what they'll do to water it down even more (pun intended).

As I'm sure I've mentioned before, I imported the Japanese Wind Waker and played through the whole thing before it came out in the US. And yeah, that Triforce part was really difficult, especially in a different language. But honestly that made it really fun and challenging. I really WAS out in the open ocean without a clue as to what to do.

Sir that is insane you beat a Zelda game in a language you dont understand. Kudos on that.

I really don't care if they don't add new dungeons though. This will be my first time playing the game so everything will be brand new.

[ultimateemail5000]

Everyone can stop searching high and low, and paying ridiculous high prices, the 1992 Nintendo Power comic A Link to the Past is being re-released this year! I also find it funny that I read this yesterday, a few hours after I downloaded it and transferred it on my Kindle.