These
reviews are my own personal reviews of each Zelda game. I am reviewing
each as if it were the year of release, so I won't fault older games for
poor graphics or hardware limitations of the time. In other words, I'm
trying to not commit the sin of presentism. Also, I'm only considering
the actual game, gameplay, puzzles, and other things like graphics and
sound while leaving out the story. The review of the storylines will be a
separate post. And please understand that my purpose isn't to criticize
the games to tear them down, but to improve them. Most of them I would
give a 9.5/10, and in my view, the changes I would suggest would make
them 9.9/10 or better.
Title: The Legend
of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
Release Date: 14
May 2001
System: Game Boy
Color
Game Format: 2D Top-down
perspective, gated, linearNew innovations: Seed Bag, Magic Ring system, Password continuation system.
How it compares to past Zelda games: Extremely similar to Link's Awakening DX. It uses the same engine, music, and graphics (with newer additions).
What I liked: The
game was modeled after Link’s Awakening, so I liked the graphics/music. But I
thought the seasons affecting terrain was very cool (no pun intended). Subrosia
added more area to the map, and there was a lot of nostalgia in regards to the placement of the first dungeon and the dungeon bosses. The ring and password
system really made the game fun, and it felt like Link really was continuing
the quest and able to bring along past upgrades, which is really cool.
What I didn’t like:
The Maku tree got a little annoying. Also, like Link’s Awakening, the names of
the 8 MacGuffins Link is after are easily forgettable. After finding out that this originally was going to be a LoZ remake, I was disappointed at how similar the games ended up being in some aspects - instead of a nice tribute it comes across as lazy development.
Where it fits in the
timeline: Second game in the “Fallen Hero” branch of the timeline. Preceded
by ALttP, followed by OoA.
What I would have
changed: Change the Master Sword to some other name, like the Great Sword
or something. Mixed up a few of the dungeon bosses so they didn't turn out to be in the same order as LoZ.
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Title: The Legend
of Zelda: Oracle of Ages
Release Date: 14
May 2001
System: Game Boy
Color
Game Format: 2D Top-down
perspective, gated, linearNew innovations: Seed Bag, Magnetic glove, Magic Ring system, Password continuation system.
How it compares to past Zelda games: Extremely similar to Link's Awakening DX. It uses the same engine, music, and graphics (with newer additions).
What I liked: Pretty
much the same things as Oracle of Seasons. The game is the only one where time
travel is treated like regular time travel, and forced the player to think 4th dimensionally. I also liked how some items in OoS got a level 2 upgrade (like
the feather to the cape) while other items got an upgrade in this game. There
were some really great puzzles in this one. 
What I didn’t like: Labrynna
seemed to have a lot of open, unused/unoccupied land, like the fairy forest or
all the water that needed crossing to get from place to place. The Goron dancing seemed considerably harder
than the Subrosian dancing and felt unnecessarily strict.
Where it fits in the
timeline: Third game in the “Fallen Hero” branch of the timeline. Preceded
by OoS, followed by LA.
What I would have
changed: Change the Master Sword to some other name, like the Great Sword
or something. And depending on if this game is played first or second, there is
the possibility of having an unexplored square on the map – that needs fixing. And filled in the "empty" sections of the map with more interesting enemies and landscaping.
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Title: The Legend
of Zelda: Four Swords
Release Date: 2
Dec 2002 (Original), 28 Sept 2011 (Anniversary Edition)
System: Game Boy
Advance (Original), DSi/3DS (Anniversary Edition)
Game Format: Top-down,
multiplayer, stage-based
New innovations: Multiplayer,
Minish Cap (Gnat hat), Hurricane Spin.
How it compares to past Zelda games: It feels sorta similar to ALttP, but with brighter, more "cartoony" graphics and animation.
How it compares to past Zelda games: It feels sorta similar to ALttP, but with brighter, more "cartoony" graphics and animation.
What I liked: Finally
getting to play Zelda multiplayer. Cutting the game up into stages made it
easy to turn off and take a break. A new villain. The way the levels were always changing and
adapting depending on the number of players and such. The connectivity between ALttP and FS made playing both games more interesting.
What I didn’t like:
The setup is really expensive, given that you need 2 GBAs and 2 copies
of the
game and a link cable to just play 2 player. It was really hard to find friends
to play with, meaning it was nearly impossible to play FS or finish the new changes
to ALttP. It doesn’t really give you a hint that there are 3 epochs, so the
first time I played the game through once and called it good.
Where it fits in the
timeline: Third game in the unified (i.e., pre-split) timeline. Preceded by
MC, followed by OoT.
What I would have
changed: Only the changes they already made for the Anniversary Edition,
and to make it buyable anytime, and tweak the map to fit in better with others.
Thoughts on the Anniversary
version: An improvement as far as usability goes, since it requires less
equipment and more people have a 3DS these days. But the main improvement is that it's playable in single-player, which was not possible in the original. I also like that they added
levels to replace the ALttP crossover functionality which makes the game a bit longer,
and makes it a little more “complete” as a stand-alone game that doesn’t rely on ALttP as much. The Anniversary Edition is the definitive version of this game.
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Title: The Legend
of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Release Date: 24 Mar 2003 (Original), 20 Sept 2013 (HD version)
System: GameCube
(Original), Wii U (HD version)
Game Format: 3D, gated, linear
New innovations:
Boots as regular item, spoils, temporarily playing as someone else, figurine collection, sailing, Beedle, parachute-type item (Korok Leaf), stamina meter (when swimming), camera control.
How it compares to past Zelda games: Similar in 3D format to Ocarina of Time, but with some improvements and a newer, brighter cel-shaded graphical style.
How it compares to past Zelda games: Similar in 3D format to Ocarina of Time, but with some improvements and a newer, brighter cel-shaded graphical style.
What I liked: I
wasn’t thrilled about the cel-shaded graphics from the trailer, but I really
loved them once I started playing. They let Link be so much more expressive than ever before. The ocean was quite open, but there were
multiple things to make it interesting (barrels, seahats, etc.). The humdrum of the ocean was more or
less corrected in the HD version with the swift sail. Having Tingle require so
much money was a nice rupee sink. Playing with the Tingle Tuner was sorta fun
for a bit, but mostly only useful for the gold statues and cheesing one particular mini-game. It has the right amount of
nostalgia and new material while keeping it fresh.
What I didn’t like: Mainly
the tediousness of the figurine quest, but that was mostly corrected in the HD
version. I didn’t like how they messed with the Triforce shard quest in the HD
version, though. And also how they co-opted the symbols from Oracle of Ages tunes to represent the three pieces of the Triforce (though that's now become a Zelda staple).
Where it fits in the
timeline: First game in the “Adult” branch of the timeline. Preceded by
OoT, followed by PH.
What I would have
changed: I would make it so that players can choose which of the changes
to the HD version they could implement. The only change to the game itself I
would make is to add one more dungeon somewhere, and make Hyrule (under the
water) a little more explorable, even if there aren’t any real places of
interest.
Thoughts on the HD
version: As stated above, I wish there was a list of changes that we could
customize. I felt like the only real changes that needed to be made were the
addition of Hero Mode, the Swift Sail, the 12-exposure Pictobox, and the
ability to drop off multiple photos at once to the figure maker. Moving around
the Triforce charts and requiring Tingle to decipher fewer maps just
reemphasized the rupee economy problem in most Zeldas. I would have also added the ability to connect a 3DS (wirelessly) to the Wii U to emulate the GBA functions from the original game.
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Title: The Legend
of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
Release Date: 7
June 2004
System: GameCube
(single player) or GameCube/GBA (multiplayer)
Game Format: Top-down/side-scrolling,
multiplayer, stage-based
New innovations:
Formations, Force Gems.
How it compares to past Zelda games: Extremely similar to Four Swords, but with graphics and music based on ALttP, and featuring many more levels.
What I liked: Because
it borrowed heavily from ALttP, the graphics and music seemed familiar (but see
next comment). The inclusion of a 1-player mode is the thing that was sorely
missing from the first Four Swords game, and a welcome addition.
What I didn’t like: Because
it borrowed heavily from ALttP, the graphics were below what I was expecting
from the GameCube. Like FS, getting the multiplayer going was expensive in that
each player needed a cord and a GBA. Ganon seems forced into this game as a twist at the end of the game.
Where it fits in the
timeline: Last in the “Child” timeline. Preceded by TP.
What I would have
changed: I would have arranged the overworld map to fit in line with ALttP
better, but keep the stages the same. I also would have kept Vaati as the only main villian, and left Ganon out of it. The only other thing is to port it to the
3DS/Wii U or the Switch 2's GameCube NSO app.
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Title: The Legend
of Zelda: The Minish Cap
Release Date: 10
Jan 2005
System: Game Boy
Advance
Game Format: 2D Top-down, Linear, gated
New innovations: Mole
Mitts, Kinstones, Gust Jar.
How it compares to past Zelda games: Graphically it looks similar to Four Swords, and musically sounds like ALttP.
What I liked: It
has the origin of Vaati and Link's hat. It has 2 "gimmicks" - shrinking down small, and cloning Link. The origin and forging of the Four Sword. The overworld music theme was basically the same as ALttP. It had plenty of nostalgic references musically, and was the only game to reuse music from Zelda 2 (until ALBW used the Palace theme for the Shadow Link battles).
What I didn’t like: There wasn't a whole lot to dislike but the game didn't take a whole lot of chances either. It also continued the trend of always having a previous hero. In other words, we'll never get to the "first" game ever because Link is always being a continuation of some past hero.
Where it fits in the
timeline: Second in the unified (i.e., pre-split) timeline. Preceded by SS,
followed by FS.
What I would have
changed: I would tweak the story slightly to fit in better with FS and FSA,
like having the extra Links be different colors. And maybe a way to keep track of Kinstone fusions.
