Daily Debate: When Do You Pass The Controller for Help?

Posted on December 21 2021 by Andrew Millard

Back when the only way you could watch other people play video games was to be on the couch with them, my friend convinced me to dust off my SNES. That was crazy talk. Retro gaming wasn’t really a thing yet. You didn’t go backwards! I’d packed it up in favor of my family’s new N64 two years earlier. It was Mario Kart 64 and Turok all day! But he knew a dirty little secret of mine: I’d never finished A Link to The Past.

But my pal was insistent. It’s probably the first time someone convinced me that an old thing can be better than a new thing. Anyway, I’d given up on A Link to The Past after failing to understand how the Dark World worked. He won me over, though, and I plugged the SNES back in. A Link to The Past hit different at 17. It’s now an all-timer for me. But what remained the same was its challenge. Moldorm, of all crazy things, repeatedly ate my lunch. I simply could not figure him out. That’s right; I was stuck earlier in the game than I had been last time I gave up. Luckily, my buddy was right there to pass the controller to. I watched in awe and gratitude as he embarrassed that worm for even existing.

These days, it’s easy to forget that one-player games can be a communal experience. Stuck? Sick of dying? Need some Cheetos? Pass the controller.

What about you? Are there parts of Zelda games you’ve gotten by with a little help from your friends? Reminisce in the comments below!