Zelda!

[lazarus]

My daughter got a Nintendo Gamecube for Clausmas.

Just for fun, I got her a subscription to Nintendo Power magazine, for one very good reason.

It came with a promotional disc that contains:

Legend of Zelda (original NES game)
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (SNES game)
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64 game)
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64 game)

I've only ever played the original Nintendo Zelda game, way back in high school, 20+ years ago. So I popped it in the Gamecube yesterday to give it a spin.

Amazingly, I actually remember some of it. And, of course, I stayed up all night playing it. I'm about to head into the last dungeon on the first quest.

Man, this is a fun nostalgia trip.

[Cat Atomic]

1. I LOVED the Ocarina of Time.

It's a lot of fun- you'll like it.

The most recent Zelda game for the Game Cube is also supposed to be alot of fun.

[mourningdove92]

2. I loved the original Zelda game.

Ocarina of Time and Majora's mask were ok, but the original was best. Are you saying you were playing the original on Gamecube? That would be awesome. I have not yet seriously considered getting a gamecube, still playing PS2. I might have to rethink. Is it a good system?

[lazarus]

7. Yup

Playing the original, with the old school graphics and everything.

I'm not much of a console gamer, to be honest. I'm much more into PC games (my favourites are things like Total Annihilation, Command and Conquer, Civ II, Deus Ex, stuff that's hard to play well on a console. I really think it's nearly impossible to play a FPS well without the mouse/keyboard combo). We got the Gamecube because my daughter already has the Gameboy (so she's into that style of gaming); the GC is more into "party games", i.e. stuff like MarioKart and Super Monkey Ball where you have multiple people playing at once. It's more a family system.

The price on the GC is down to 99 bucks stripped, and you can get packages for good prices, some with the Zelda disc included.

Once neat thing they have is called the Gameboy Player. It's a 50 dollar add-on that enables you to play any Gameboy Advance cartridges on the Gamecube. Since virtually all the old SuperMario Bros. games are out for the Gameboy Advance now, I'm seriously thinking about upgrading. That's the console gaming I loved. This new 3D stuff doesn't do much for me, to be honest. I prefer the old 2D sidescrollers.

Other than that, I'd say just check out the games that are available and see if it's worth the investment. From what I can tell, most games are available across platforms, with a small amount being unique to each one. The biggest thing Gamecube is lacking so far, from what I've heard, is a serious online presence; not sure that's a major issue, though, since, despite the advertising, only 5% of XBox purchasers are actually continuous subscribers to XBox Live.

Oh, and word just came out that the next Nintendo platform (scheduled for late 2005, possibly) will be backwards compatible with the discs for the Gamecube, which is pretty cool.

To sum up, I think the Gamecube is going to be worth it just for the Zelda/SuperMario Bros availability. I've missed my Mario fix. But everyone has their own gaming focus. I'd take a wide survey, and not listen to just me. :D

[Kamika]

11. Gamecube is THE family console

If I were a mom and all that stuff I'd definetly get the gamecube, it has tons of "nice" games and like 4(?) control ports?

It has several "only for GC" games but most are family stuff like mario and zelda. And also alot of cool games like gta doesn't get released because they're too violent

[Mercurius]

3. When I saw the name Zelda

I thought of Zelda Fitgerald. I'm wayyyy too behind the times for my age.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. And especially with the exclamation point

I thought of Dobie Gillis.

There was a recurring shtick on that show in which Zelda Gilroy (played by an actress who grew up to be California legislator Sheila James Kuehl) would wrinkle her nose at Dobie (the plot was that she had a crush on him but he didn't like her) and he would involuntarily return the gesture, which she took as a sign that he really liked her.

Whereupon he would yell, "Zelda! Now cut that out!"

[kskiska]

6. I did, too.

I know a lot about Zelda Fitzgerald, but nothing about the game.

[Bill McBlueState]

4. Zelda II

What do you all think of Zelda II? It was out for the NES in 1987. I hated it at the time, because the gameplay was so weird, but I like it now. (I also got the Gamecube promotional disk.)

It's pretty hard -- you die when you fall into pits, which is unique to Zelda games, and you only get three lives. Kinda like the old Mario Bros. games in some ways.

Seems like these old games are the only ones I can handle anymore. Too many buttons these days!

[lazarus]

9. Just tried it last night

To be honest, I got so sick of the music on Zelda 1 I had to take a break, so I tried out Z2 for a sec, and it's weird. Very hard. But I like side scrollers.

It kind of reminds me of early Final Fantasy games, to be honest.

And you're not kidding about the buttons. Have you tried that Wind Waker demo? I keep thinking kids these days must have extra fingers or something.

Then I remember the time a couple of years ago I found an old Star Wars video game in an arcade. Remember that one?

I put up about 30 million on one quarter. Had a fair crowd of kids around in awe. These young punks only know how to do fight games in the arcades anymore. :evilgrin: The old man still has it.

Now if I could just find a Gauntlet....

[Hawkeye-X]

8. Got zelda promo disc too

haven't given it a whirl. I plan to print out walkthroughs for it, just for the hell of it.

Hawkeye-X

[JVS]

10. Original Zelda might be the best nintendo game ever.

It was one of the first nintendo games I got and one of the last I played. I play it occasionally on an emulator now

[CanuckAmok]

12. Oh, man, how much of my life was spent on Zelda 1?

That takes me back. Even my mom got hooked on that one!

But I hear wht you're saying about the music. I remember playing it exclusively with the sound turned down after the first couple of days...

[Bill McBlueState]

14. music

I like the Zelda I music, but they needed more tunes. Maybe something different when you're in the mountains, or by the sea, or whatever. But the limited music available had a much more majestic tone to it than other games at the time. Made you feel like you were doing something important with all of those wasted hours. ;-)

[JVS]

15. I didn't say anything about the music.

I play the video game on my laptop using a nintendo emulator

[FDRrocks]

13. Get the Wind Waker...

It's amazineg. The newer Mario game is a it hard, might be too much for a younger gamer

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

16. So is she home now?

[lazarus]

19. Sunday

I'll give you a holler tomorrow, we'll hook up for breakfast or lunch or brunch.

[populistmom]

17. F. Scott!

Since I'm not into video games, I just had to shout the first thing that popped into my head regardless! :crazy:

[patdem]

18. Thought you were talking about Fitzgerald's wife...what a tragic life she

had...I hope the game Zelda fares better!!! :bounce:

[Sticky]

20. We got a gamecube too and I already have an addict here!

Tonight when I put my 5 year old to bed he claimed he had a sore hand. Upon inspection I noted a blister on his thumb ... I laughed out loud .... then applied a bandage. :)