I don’t know how this doesn’t have more views and likes, this is a great video. I’m also quite partial to your assessment of Link’s Awakening, the original is my favorite handheld game and one of my first games ever. I played it at release! Haha. I was so stoked when the remake came out and was over the moon with the quality of it. I completely agree with all you said about it.
Adventure of Link goes from a cozy stroll to bone breaking the hard in the span of two dungeons LOL and then the last stretch of the game is so unforgiving I don't blame anyone for cheating. I didn't but I will if I ever decide to poison my NES with it again
The trading sequence in Link's Awakening wasn't that bad, considering you needed to do it to access the second dungeon, and it also logically takes you where you need to go next a majority of the time
Love this thanks!! Been playing a lot of the 2d Zeldas. I don't know much about epilepsy but wondering if it's worth putting a flash warning before the part in minish cap section where it speeds though the miniatures collection. Anyway, well done
Oh I was about to grab my pick fork but I think you make a good point on link to the past. I played it at release as I am that old. I replayed it recently and while I still enjoyed it, I do have to agree, other games have improved on things. I think it still holds up, but without the nostalgia glasses I probably wouldn't like it as much.
I can't imagine playing A Link to the Past at a time when no Zelda game after has yet occurred and the previous entry was Zelda 2. That honestly must've been mind blowing at the time. It's not A Link to the Past's fault that future Zelda games did the formula better, the very formula it created. Be weary of those screaming it's "overrated", because that's a testament to its defenders, not the game itself, which is fantastic regardless.
Zelda 2 is the best of the three. It needs a sequal. Like a mixture of overhead dungeons and side scroll dungeons in one game would be so fun. Like overhead map above ground palaces in overhead view, and caverns caves and undergroud dungeons in side scroll. Final boss could have stages in the fight that goes back and forth between views.
I would've made a 9 hour compilation video of all of them, but my early videos suck so I stuck with the 2D games. Perhaps one day this untapped market will be realized
It's fair to evaluate the game according to how it has aged and how it presents itself today; but it's also a different 'kind' of criticism than criticising the game in its original context.
I don't think I can fairly judge it according to its original release since I wasn't alive then, and it's hard for me to view them within that context. Good point though
The silver arrows in Zelda is more a decision for lore / myth narrative than a game design decision. The zelda formula can favor more gimmick items or things that can exploit the fantasy and narrative feel. For example, Castlevania thinks its too much to get a mirror to defeat medusa because that will jank the gameplay and formula, thats too risky just to honor the narrative (that's more suitable for the animated serie maybe, which works well to expand the lore and play with the narrative) but Castlevania follow some myths to get a richer narrative, even if it make sense or not. Its a balance between creating a mythical story and a game
You have to think about the time the first 3 titles came out. They were revolutionary for the time. A link to the past only had 48 megabits to work with. Even less for the other two. I can see how today they could seem not as great. You also need to remember these came out on 8 and 16 bit systems. Which is probably 100 times less than today. During the time they came out they were exceptionally fun and challenging because there was no Internet to know where to go. You had to grind it all out or maybe get help from a friend or magazine
Outside of some bad progression issues (getting to Kakariko on the Dark World for the first time, book and flute hints), and some bad dungeon room designs, ALTTP is a perfect game. Not only for its time but as the blueprint to every Zelda game after it and for defining what is a Zelda game. Not to mention that the art style is unique and was never improved. An 2D HD style Zelda would be so much better than the 3Dish stuff they are doing now (2024).
A Link to the Past is easily the most overrated game in the Zelda franchise. It's not bad, but there's not a single element of the game that hasn't been done better in some of the later games (both 2D and 3D) or even the original for that matter. A Link Between Worlds literally does everything better than it, OG Zelda, Majora, BotW & TotK all have better designed overworlds, Zelda 2 and literally every major title since Link's Awakening has better combat, Every 3D Zelda (except BotW & TotK) plus ALBW has better dungeons, most later games have better boss fights and literally every Zelda game since Link's Awakening has a better story and cast of characters. But what really annoys me about it is its fanboys. They are by far the biggest gatekeepers and haters of other Zelda games (especially Ocarina & BotW) in the fandom, often using hypocritical and outright terrible arguments for why their game is the best while belittling the rest of the series. You never see fanboys of Ocarina nor even BotW/TotK act this way in comparison.
@@TheRealNintendoKid OOT is objectively better than most of rest of the franchise (only Majora, BotW and ALBW are better overall), the entire industry still follows it's design philosophy when it comes single player 3D gaming and it's aged better than most games that came after it. People who try to take down the game are typically contrarians with bad taste (like the folks at Game Grumps or numerous gaming UA-camrs).
I've yet to play OOT. I'm gonna play it soon, I'm getting bored of TOTK and BOTW lol. I'm old enough that i played LOZ when it was new in 1987, and the open world adventure blew my little child mind, even tho i had nothing to compare it to. Anyway, i stopped playing video games around the time the N64 came out, and just got back into them again a few months ago, playing the latest two zelda games. Thought it's time to go back and give OOT a run through, looking forward to it! That being said, don't you think it's a little presumptuous to claim a game is objectively the best? Like at a certain point it's just about preference. Like i prefer the Beatles to the Stones, and i think they are better, but if someone sees it the other way around I'm not gonna tell them they're objectively wrong. Just curious how you see it@@lukejones7164
@@SuperCameraGuBrothers LOL After listening to your video some more, you actually don't have such horrible takes for the most part. You made me realize some things about Link to the Past that nostalgia was clouding. But I gotta say, I still love these old games for what they were at the time when they came out because I was there, and I played them then. And I honestly hated when Zelda went 3D. It never really felt like Zelda anymore. Link to the Past gave us the formula, but I felt like it still had more in the way of free exploration, even if the story definitely nudged you to certain places in a certain order. Ocarina's world was so small, the tech wasn't really there to give us an expansive world. Windwaker had a nice big world, but it suffered from actually being pretty empty and having everything look the damn same cuz it's all ocean. Twilight Princess did too, but it compartmentalized its world with the stupid twilight dark world knockoff crap and its furry link stuff... And then I don't really remember there being much to find in it anyway. Then Skyward sword just didn't even give you an overworld at all. And the handholding and annoying companion that treated you like an idiot were dialed up to 11 in that game. The last two games were great. In a lot of ways to me they feel like they tried really hard to go back to their roots before the previous 3D games, and I think they did a good job in a lot of ways, but at the same time, they screwed up in a lot of other ways too. Most of my complaints aren't any different than anyone else's, so I'm not gonna list them all out. I just wanna say I didn't hate the dungeons in either game, but both didn't have enough, they weren't long enough, they didn't have enough enemies, they didn't have unique enemies(not necessarily to each dungeon, just unique to dungeons at all), and the enemies they did have weren't difficult to deal with. My one unique(I think it is, I don't see many people saying it) opinion, is that they should honestly take more inspiration from the first Zelda and the way you weren't really told where anything was, your job was to just explore and find out for yourself. The problem is every hidden thing is almost always another shrine now, and you're given map markers and guided right to the dungeons from the map markers and the quests to be found there. There's still too much handholding. All the stuff you can find seems kinda trivial, because it is, because it's all the same. It's fun in the moment, like you said, but if you try to look at the games as whole things, they're "wide as an ocean, but shallow as a puddle." I don't want a literal 1 to 1 remake of the first game. They got the exploration stuff down, they just gotta work on discovery/rewards by giving us more meaningful things to find that aren't just another damn shrine. And I actually don't hate the shrines, I just hate that they're so short and there are so many of them(and they kinda exist in their own pocket dimension or somewhere deep underground, they don't feel like a part of the rest of the world) because that kinda stuff: the caves, the koroks, and the shrines, it all makes the game feel very repetitive. I don't hate any of those ideas, but let's have some other more unique ways to provide similar rewards and experiences.
I don't really see how me being born in 2004 has anything to do with what games I enjoy. I adore several games that predate my birth, such as Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, Super Metroid, Donkey Kong Country 2, Oracle of Ages, Oracle of Seasons, Sonic The Hedgehog 2, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Kirby's Adventure, Kirby Super Star, the first three Wario Land games, Luigi's Mansion, Super Mario 64, Yoshi's Island, Yoshi's Story, and the list goes on. Point is, I have a perspective of quality that isn't rooted in when I was born. Sorry that I enjoy games in a way that seasoned gamers like you don't. (all of this was said with tears in my eyes, because other people's opinions greatly distresses me. Also, sorry for the excessive snark)
This vid is amazing. I already loved the botw retrospective and this is just as good!
Shigeru Miyamoto once humble bragged that Zelda 2 was the closest thing to a bad game that he's ever made, which I thought was hilarious.
Miyamoto-san has clearly never played Super Mario Sunshine😂😂😂
I don’t know how this doesn’t have more views and likes, this is a great video. I’m also quite partial to your assessment of Link’s Awakening, the original is my favorite handheld game and one of my first games ever. I played it at release! Haha. I was so stoked when the remake came out and was over the moon with the quality of it. I completely agree with all you said about it.
Seriously great content!
Adventure of Link goes from a cozy stroll to bone breaking the hard in the span of two dungeons LOL and then the last stretch of the game is so unforgiving I don't blame anyone for cheating. I didn't but I will if I ever decide to poison my NES with it again
The trading sequence in Link's Awakening wasn't that bad, considering you needed to do it to access the second dungeon, and it also logically takes you where you need to go next a majority of the time
Love this thanks!! Been playing a lot of the 2d Zeldas. I don't know much about epilepsy but wondering if it's worth putting a flash warning before the part in minish cap section where it speeds though the miniatures collection. Anyway, well done
Oh I was about to grab my pick fork but I think you make a good point on link to the past. I played it at release as I am that old. I replayed it recently and while I still enjoyed it, I do have to agree, other games have improved on things. I think it still holds up, but without the nostalgia glasses I probably wouldn't like it as much.
Very well made video!
I can't imagine playing A Link to the Past at a time when no Zelda game after has yet occurred and the previous entry was Zelda 2. That honestly must've been mind blowing at the time. It's not A Link to the Past's fault that future Zelda games did the formula better, the very formula it created. Be weary of those screaming it's "overrated", because that's a testament to its defenders, not the game itself, which is fantastic regardless.
More 3 hour videos.
I'll see what I can do
We yearn for them once more
The next major video will have 18 games covered in-depth, but the yearning will have to continue just a little while longer I'm sorry
Gotta say I disagree with almost everything you said here but I’m still subbing cuz I was entertained
On every game, or a few specific ones?
Zelda 2 is the best of the three. It needs a sequal. Like a mixture of overhead dungeons and side scroll dungeons in one game would be so fun. Like overhead map above ground palaces in overhead view, and caverns caves and undergroud dungeons in side scroll. Final boss could have stages in the fight that goes back and forth between views.
10/10 channel , 9/10 video (cuz i love a link to the past 🥸) and overall very great analysis
I don't like how youtubers never talk about zelda series as whole. It's always either 3d exclusively or 2d exclusively.
I would've made a 9 hour compilation video of all of them, but my early videos suck so I stuck with the 2D games. Perhaps one day this untapped market will be realized
@SuperCameraGuBrothers will ≈day long videos on a single topic is trending recently
It's fair to evaluate the game according to how it has aged and how it presents itself today; but it's also a different 'kind' of criticism than criticising the game in its original context.
I don't think I can fairly judge it according to its original release since I wasn't alive then, and it's hard for me to view them within that context. Good point though
The silver arrows in Zelda is more a decision for lore / myth narrative than a game design decision. The zelda formula can favor more gimmick items or things that can exploit the fantasy and narrative feel. For example, Castlevania thinks its too much to get a mirror to defeat medusa because that will jank the gameplay and formula, thats too risky just to honor the narrative (that's more suitable for the animated serie maybe, which works well to expand the lore and play with the narrative) but Castlevania follow some myths to get a richer narrative, even if it make sense or not. Its a balance between creating a mythical story and a game
You have to think about the time the first 3 titles came out. They were revolutionary for the time. A link to the past only had 48 megabits to work with. Even less for the other two. I can see how today they could seem not as great. You also need to remember these came out on 8 and 16 bit systems. Which is probably 100 times less than today. During the time they came out they were exceptionally fun and challenging because there was no Internet to know where to go. You had to grind it all out or maybe get help from a friend or magazine
The kinstone system is fun and I will die on that hill
Glad you're able to enjoy it
Outside of some bad progression issues (getting to Kakariko on the Dark World for the first time, book and flute hints), and some bad dungeon room designs, ALTTP is a perfect game. Not only for its time but as the blueprint to every Zelda game after it and for defining what is a Zelda game.
Not to mention that the art style is unique and was never improved. An 2D HD style Zelda would be so much better than the 3Dish stuff they are doing now (2024).
❤
Noiceee
A Link to the Past is easily the most overrated game in the Zelda franchise. It's not bad, but there's not a single element of the game that hasn't been done better in some of the later games (both 2D and 3D) or even the original for that matter.
A Link Between Worlds literally does everything better than it, OG Zelda, Majora, BotW & TotK all have better designed overworlds, Zelda 2 and literally every major title since Link's Awakening has better combat, Every 3D Zelda (except BotW & TotK) plus ALBW has better dungeons, most later games have better boss fights and literally every Zelda game since Link's Awakening has a better story and cast of characters.
But what really annoys me about it is its fanboys. They are by far the biggest gatekeepers and haters of other Zelda games (especially Ocarina & BotW) in the fandom, often using hypocritical and outright terrible arguments for why their game is the best while belittling the rest of the series. You never see fanboys of Ocarina nor even BotW/TotK act this way in comparison.
I think you mean Ocarina of Time is the most overrated, and its fanboys are absolutely insufferable.
@@TheRealNintendoKid OOT is objectively better than most of rest of the franchise (only Majora, BotW and ALBW are better overall), the entire industry still follows it's design philosophy when it comes single player 3D gaming and it's aged better than most games that came after it.
People who try to take down the game are typically contrarians with bad taste (like the folks at Game Grumps or numerous gaming UA-camrs).
I've yet to play OOT. I'm gonna play it soon, I'm getting bored of TOTK and BOTW lol. I'm old enough that i played LOZ when it was new in 1987, and the open world adventure blew my little child mind, even tho i had nothing to compare it to. Anyway, i stopped playing video games around the time the N64 came out, and just got back into them again a few months ago, playing the latest two zelda games. Thought it's time to go back and give OOT a run through, looking forward to it!
That being said, don't you think it's a little presumptuous to claim a game is objectively the best? Like at a certain point it's just about preference. Like i prefer the Beatles to the Stones, and i think they are better, but if someone sees it the other way around I'm not gonna tell them they're objectively wrong. Just curious how you see it@@lukejones7164
It's so easy to tell someone's age by how much they like or dislike the old zelda games lol
In my defense, Super Mario Bros. 3 is one of my favorite platformers ever made
Bro, if you're gonna just shit all over the series' origin, why should anyone listen to the rest of what you say ?
Because I am a sensitive soul and you're making me cry
@@SuperCameraGuBrothers LOL
After listening to your video some more, you actually don't have such horrible takes for the most part. You made me realize some things about Link to the Past that nostalgia was clouding. But I gotta say, I still love these old games for what they were at the time when they came out because I was there, and I played them then. And I honestly hated when Zelda went 3D. It never really felt like Zelda anymore.
Link to the Past gave us the formula, but I felt like it still had more in the way of free exploration, even if the story definitely nudged you to certain places in a certain order. Ocarina's world was so small, the tech wasn't really there to give us an expansive world. Windwaker had a nice big world, but it suffered from actually being pretty empty and having everything look the damn same cuz it's all ocean. Twilight Princess did too, but it compartmentalized its world with the stupid twilight dark world knockoff crap and its furry link stuff... And then I don't really remember there being much to find in it anyway. Then Skyward sword just didn't even give you an overworld at all. And the handholding and annoying companion that treated you like an idiot were dialed up to 11 in that game.
The last two games were great. In a lot of ways to me they feel like they tried really hard to go back to their roots before the previous 3D games, and I think they did a good job in a lot of ways, but at the same time, they screwed up in a lot of other ways too. Most of my complaints aren't any different than anyone else's, so I'm not gonna list them all out. I just wanna say I didn't hate the dungeons in either game, but both didn't have enough, they weren't long enough, they didn't have enough enemies, they didn't have unique enemies(not necessarily to each dungeon, just unique to dungeons at all), and the enemies they did have weren't difficult to deal with.
My one unique(I think it is, I don't see many people saying it) opinion, is that they should honestly take more inspiration from the first Zelda and the way you weren't really told where anything was, your job was to just explore and find out for yourself. The problem is every hidden thing is almost always another shrine now, and you're given map markers and guided right to the dungeons from the map markers and the quests to be found there. There's still too much handholding. All the stuff you can find seems kinda trivial, because it is, because it's all the same. It's fun in the moment, like you said, but if you try to look at the games as whole things, they're "wide as an ocean, but shallow as a puddle." I don't want a literal 1 to 1 remake of the first game. They got the exploration stuff down, they just gotta work on discovery/rewards by giving us more meaningful things to find that aren't just another damn shrine. And I actually don't hate the shrines, I just hate that they're so short and there are so many of them(and they kinda exist in their own pocket dimension or somewhere deep underground, they don't feel like a part of the rest of the world) because that kinda stuff: the caves, the koroks, and the shrines, it all makes the game feel very repetitive. I don't hate any of those ideas, but let's have some other more unique ways to provide similar rewards and experiences.
You were probably born in the 2000s. Probably why the second worst game in the main series is your favorite 🤦♂️
I don't really see how me being born in 2004 has anything to do with what games I enjoy. I adore several games that predate my birth, such as Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, Super Metroid, Donkey Kong Country 2, Oracle of Ages, Oracle of Seasons, Sonic The Hedgehog 2, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Kirby's Adventure, Kirby Super Star, the first three Wario Land games, Luigi's Mansion, Super Mario 64, Yoshi's Island, Yoshi's Story, and the list goes on. Point is, I have a perspective of quality that isn't rooted in when I was born. Sorry that I enjoy games in a way that seasoned gamers like you don't. (all of this was said with tears in my eyes, because other people's opinions greatly distresses me. Also, sorry for the excessive snark)
Based Gen Z bro. Amazing video, looking forward to more!
t. millennial
More 3 hour videos.