Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda

 

Let’s start with a disclaimer: I own Link’s Awakening DX, and I have no interest in playing the Nes Zelda entries. So why did I purchase that Game & Watch, you may ask? First, I owned a couple of G&W as a kid, and I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to get my paws on such a nostalgic item. Secondly, and most importantly, I never quite liked LADX, and always considered the original to be the superior version. As far as I’m concerned, not only does colour bring nothing at all to the game, but it actually detracts from its charm and magic. I find the pure, clear, kinda liquid monochromatic graphics of the original ten times more evocative and attractive than the garishly recoloured graphics of the remake. Back when I purchased my GBA, I tried to secure the original for a decent price and failed, and made do with DX; but deep in my heart, I always regretted not possessing the version I grew up with. I now have it secured on its own nostalgia-inducing dedicated handheld, and I couldn’t be happier. 

 

 

I was genuinely surprised by how tiny that piece of kit turned out to be; obviously, it was bigger in my childhood memories — and hands. But it wasn’t long before I completely forgot that detail and lost myself in the game, playing with abandon and polishing no less than three back-to-back runs. I had nearly forgotten how much I love that game, and how good it feels to be able to dive straight into gameplay and get a lot done in a short time. LA’s gameplay feels tight and compact, and displays some density and purposefulness I was missing without realizing it. 

 

 

I was tempted to chalk this up to the gameplay style of the 90’s, before I remembered that games of that era were choke-full with fake longevity and that I spent a considerable amount of time being utterly stranded during my first run of LA (I was so stuck and desperate at some point that I tried hitting all the walls with my sword in the hope of discovering a hidden room with something that could help me progress — heck, I even tried to get rid of the beach monkey in the hope of triggering a miracle, to no avail obviously.) Instead, these pleasant qualities of the gameplay come from the fact that I know the game like the back of my hand after playing it a million times. This bodes very well for the future of my gaming career: once I’m done finding my Cult Classics, I can replay them again and again and get that same feeling of sharp, condensed, razor-like mastery. 

 

 

I don’t have much to add about LA, since I already wrote about it here and there; but since I was at it, I gave the original NES Zelda a try. And, well… Maybe I’m missing something here, but I totally failed to see the appeal. I crossed many monster-infested screens, trying to find a dungeon; but the only thing I found were three shops I couldn’t do business with, wobbly hitboxes by the truckload, and a general feeling of wasting my time. It didn’t help that this opening entry stands beyond my own Retro Tolerance Horizon (a concept I’ll expand on later): to put it simply, it’s too barren, too graphically primitive, too ‘where-do-I-go-next’ and generally too ancient to appeal to me. That doesn’t matter, though. Loving the original Zelda would have been the icing on the cake; but the cake was always LA, and it remains utterly delicious — and I don’t fancy icing that much anyway. I’ll see you soon with more gaming goodness, dear fellow gamers; until then, take care and keep gaming!