Tag: innovation

The dungeons of a Zelda game– the series of challenges set out for Link in either a linear or non-linear fashion– are really what makes the game. Whether it’s collecting fused shadows, medallions, or spiritual stones, there is always some objective and motivation for Link to trudge through these labyrinths and a lot of things come into account when creating the ideal dungeon. There’s the music to set the atmosphere, the theme, the enemies, the puzzles, and the difficulty (which…

One of the problems with popular video game franchises lately has been the tendency to repeat old successes without taking any risks. Major franchises have churned out a similar product year after year, without any major advances to the form. Has Zelda fallen into the same trap? Hit the jump to hear more!

With A Link Between Worlds releasing less than two weeks from now, anticipation for the first original Zelda game for the 3DS couldn’t be higher. Until the glorious day of its release, however, fans hankering for further details will soon have a torrent of media opinions to sift through online. While we’ve all been squirming in our pants waiting for a chance to play A Link Between Worlds, gaming commentators, like Siliconera writer Robert Ward, have been hard at work scrutinizing…

One thing I think Nintendo has always done well with its franchises is being able to innovate while keeping the games faithful to their respective series. Take Mario, for instance. Nintendo’s first foray into the world of 3D gaming with the N64 was bold and risky, especially when its launch title was a game in a series which had already firmly established itself as a premier 2D, side-scrolling platformer. What fans didn’t anticipate however, was that not only was Super…

When you ask fans what their favorite Zelda game is, or even what the most influential title was, you’ll probably get a lot of “Ocarina of Time”, “The Wind Waker”, or “Twilight Princess”, but rarely will you hear about Zelda’s black sheep: Zelda II. Why is this? The difficulty? The huge differences with the rest of the titles? I’m not entirely sure, but a Joystiq article seeks to talk about some of the things The Adventure of Link did well, and why it ranks number…

The Wind Waker has never been at the top of my bias list, and it always seems to come up on the short end when fans examine it in contrast to the other 3D console Zelda titles. After all, it’s difficult for The Wind Waker to stand out when it sits alongside some of gaming’s ground-breaking behemoths: Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword. However, I strongly believe that Zelda’s GameCube debut is not only an innovator,…