Monday 8 January, 2007

After another ~45 minutes of playing Legend of Zelda, I was still having a great time enjoying similarities between the original and the newer Zelda games that I grew up with. Though I didn't flash on it at first, the enemies in the original LoZ have been recycled in later games, and some of the perils and pitfalls (such as falling boulders) are present in this first adventure as well. I think the fact that gameplay elements can be consistently used in a series for over a decade shows that Legend of Zelda is a masterfully crafted game that admirably stands the test of time. I plan to continue playing this game to completion.

There's a lot to be said for long-standing series. Almost all the big successful games these days are part of one. It got me thinking, no one can just up and make a Spore or a Half Life 2 or a Twilight Princess out of the blue. What do you think?

Obviously each Zelda game carries on a certain familiarity, and there is an element of brand recognition. Also, perhaps there is a certain level of balancing and testing the you can avoid with a continuous series.

But, just for fun, think for a moment about some game you'de like to make. Some really awesome game, and think about the gameplay elements and graphics and characters and such. Ok, got your game?

Now, tell me about the game that came out a couple years back on the N64 this is a sequel to. Bear in mind the sort of graphics and control dynamics an N64 can support. What was the earlier game like?

Now, tell me about the old NES game that started it all? What was still there? What carried along all the way through? What showed up later? Did some things dissapear?

It's not meant to be so much a question of how well you know the operating power of older systems, but more a way to reverse-engineer a game dynamic you think is cool. Give it a shot.