Comments on: The Anatomy of Zelda II – IV. Swamped http://www.anatomyofgames.com/2013/03/12/the-anatomy-of-zelda-ii-iv-swamped/ Defunct, amateurish, game design analysis by Jeremy Parish Wed, 25 Nov 2015 23:31:21 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.5.7 By: Mudron http://www.anatomyofgames.com/2013/03/12/the-anatomy-of-zelda-ii-iv-swamped/#comment-1360 Wed, 13 Mar 2013 08:39:21 +0000 http://telebunny.net/toastyblog/?p=6933#comment-1360 I’m pretty much agreeing with what Nate said – by the time I got my hands on a NES console and a copy of The Legend of Zelda, most of of the stuff needed to navigate LoZ critical path had already been documented in Nintendo Power, whereas Zelda II was probably the first arcane NES game I had access to where I was stuck figuring out the game’s mysteries before most of them were unraveled by Nintendo Power (or the kids at school had even more free time to wander Hyrule than I did).

That’s not to excuse Zelda II’s often-questionable quest design, but it’s funny how it being the first sprawling NES game I had to figure out largely on my own has colored my memories about the game, so much so that it remains a sentimental favorite even if it’s the most unloved game in the series for most anyone with half a brain (or the luck to’ve grown up with of Zelda II’s more refined progeny).

]]> By: Nate http://www.anatomyofgames.com/2013/03/12/the-anatomy-of-zelda-ii-iv-swamped/#comment-1359 Wed, 13 Mar 2013 04:03:45 +0000 http://telebunny.net/toastyblog/?p=6933#comment-1359 I for one always felt that the obliqueness of these early NES games added such a rich real life dimension to my gaming experience that I have a tough time separating them from the nostalgia of youth. Unlike other games like Mega Man where I simply associate playing the game and hearing the music with a simpler time, games like Zelda II were played; secrets cracked; items discovered; enemy weaknesses laid bare through my social interactions as a youth. Part of any adventure involves uncovering the covered. As a kid, a sizeable portion of my time was spent in meetings with fellow adventurers on the playground. We would compare stories, notes and even sometimes maps. This collective journey, in my mind, WAS gaming, it WAS Zelda. I can’t dissociate the two. This, I suppose judging from earlier comments, is what Miyamoto intended. That lived experience was my guide- and now, years later, the very idea of playing through Zelda or Zelda II without such aids is unfathomable and a little melancholic.

]]> By: LBD "Nytetrayn" http://www.anatomyofgames.com/2013/03/12/the-anatomy-of-zelda-ii-iv-swamped/#comment-1358 Tue, 12 Mar 2013 21:43:16 +0000 http://telebunny.net/toastyblog/?p=6933#comment-1358 …which is also a daunting task.

]]>