{"id":517,"date":"2012-01-20T16:10:32","date_gmt":"2012-01-20T16:10:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/?p=517"},"modified":"2012-01-20T16:10:32","modified_gmt":"2012-01-20T16:10:32","slug":"eastmost-penninsula-is-the-secret","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/?p=517","title":{"rendered":"“Eastmost Penninsula is the secret.”"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve had the idea kicking around my brain for a couple days to start making my own Top Five videos.<\/p>\n

I’m not sure what it is, but there’s something oddly satisfying about taking my favourite things, grouping them together and ranking them however I want.\u00a0 Sites like IGN and GameTrailers have their own countdowns, and I’m immediately drawn to them whenever they’re posted.\u00a0 Even if I disagree with the order of some, it’s just one of those things that\u00a0someone is fully entitled to, and you can’t help but be intrigued by this person’s (or website’s) point of view.\u00a0 It might even open my eyes to a whole new game I would have never known about otherwise.<\/p>\n

In thinking about my possible Top Fives lists, the Legend of Zelda<\/em> series pops into my head (along with many other franchises, of course).\u00a0 This isn’t only because I’m currently up to my neck in Skyward Sword <\/em>awesomeness, but because the series has had a way of re-inventing itself every single time there’s a new entry.<\/p>\n

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Someone needs to make this into a full game. Srsly.<\/p><\/div>\n

How the heck\u00a0am I really\u00a0going to\u00a0narrow Zelda<\/em> anything down to 5’s or 10’s??\u00a0 Even when\u00a0taking a broad look at them (like a “Top Five Zelda Games” list would do), there are so many things to take into consideration.<\/p>\n

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Exhibit A – The Top-Down Games<\/strong><\/p>\n

By now, we know that every game in the series has a hook.\u00a0 While the original introduced a new way of playing adventure games (large map with many secrets, unique weapons, dungeons that can be fought in any order, etc.), A Link to the Past<\/em> introduced an alternate dimension for Link to travel to, and opened up a bevy of puzzle possibilities by travelling from the Light World to the Dark World.<\/p>\n

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Everything nice about the Light World wasn't quite so nice in the Dark World.<\/p><\/div>\n

Link’s Awakening <\/em>took\u00a0us far, far away from Hyrule to a place called Koholint Island.\u00a0 Furthermore, Koholint Island wasn’t even a real place, but a figment of Link’s imagination – in the end, his adventure turns out to be a dream.\u00a0 Clich\u00e9, perhaps, but the Game Boy’s limited number of buttons made for a gameplay alteration that once again pushed developers to come up with ingenious puzzles.\u00a0 Why slap a function on\u00a0the A and B buttons\u00a0and call it a day?\u00a0 Why not swap\u00a0items and combine them\u00a0to surpass some kind of obstacle?<\/p>\n

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It wasn't the biggest inventory, but it got the job done.<\/p><\/div>\n

Combine arrows and bombs for exploding arrows?\u00a0 Check.\u00a0 Combine the feather and Pegasus Boots for a running jump over a pit of lava?\u00a0 Check.\u00a0 The sword was always a valuable weapon, but the hookshot could do the trick in a pinch, if it needed to.\u00a0 In fact,\u00a0that\u00a0was sometimes needed.<\/p>\n

Four Swords Adventures <\/em>was actually great because of what it dared not<\/em> to do.\u00a0 Why have a land you can explore freely, when it’s laid out in front of you in a linear fashion?\u00a0 Why have a vast inventory of items, when your Links can pick them up and put them down in favour of others along\u00a0their journey?\u00a0 The puzzles and fun were intact, but the sometimes-too-much-to-handle vastness of Hyrule was gone.\u00a0 I found it to be a refreshing change of pace.<\/p>\n

I haven’t had a chance to play much of the two Game Boy Color entries that link (ha!)\u00a0to each other via password system.\u00a0 Oracle of Ages<\/em> focused on puzzles, while\u00a0Oracle of Seasons<\/em>\u00a0was action-oriented – or perhaps it was the other way around, I’m not sure yet.\u00a0\u00a0I’ve only played through the first half\u00a0or so of\u00a0The Minish Cap<\/em>, but\u00a0I know that there are plenty of fantastic moments – not to mention fantastic throwbacks, as well –\u00a0to be had in all three of those games.<\/p>\n

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Exhibit B – The 3D Adventures<\/strong><\/p>\n

What can I say about Ocarina of Time<\/em> that hasn’t already been beaten to death?\u00a0 Well, from the simplicity\u00a0of the\u00a0Z-targeting system, to\u00a0complex dungeons capped\u00a0by curiously satisfying boss battles (even if you were losing spectacularly, you could still come out on top), it pretty much had everything that other games of the time didn’t have.\u00a0 It was massive, but\u00a0felt small and familiar at the same time, like I’d traveled to all these areas before.<\/p>\n

Though I’ve played through it\u00a0several times,\u00a0it’s gotten a bit stale.\u00a0\u00a0Somehow, I still feel like buying a 3DS for the sole purpose of going through this game one more time.\u00a0 That’s the true power of the\u00a0Ocarina<\/em>, I guess.<\/p>\n

The Wind Waker <\/em>ranks right up there among my favourites, quite possibly because of the simple fact that it looks amazing.\u00a0 I was in shock with everyone else when I saw that first trailer in 2001,\u00a0more than\u00a0ten years ago.\u00a0 Sure, it looked artsy, but could it really develop into a genuine Zelda <\/em>game?<\/p>\n