From out of Old Fields Comes New Corn

So tonight I played more of Link's Awakening. Along with getting on with the game, I actually had the first few of no doubt many incongruent experiences tonight. Let me explain.

Because this was one of the first Zelda games that I ever played, it felt absolutely massive to me when I first picked it up around 13 years ago. The map was expansive, the dungeons were all so harrowingly long that it felt like hours were spent in each one. At least - so I remember it.

But the shocking reality is, just like the original Zelda on the NES, th dungeons are just a series of rooms connected together in various ways - being limited to 2 dimensions also means that things are fairly straightforward and there haven't really been many puzzles just yet. Of course, I've only been in two dungeons so far, so I still have quite a ways to go.

The other big surprise was Goponga Swamp. I remember this swamp being massive - but it's just four in-game screens big. That's it. And there's a chest in there, too, that you need to have the chain chomp to get, but still. Just four squares? My memories of Goponga Swamp must've crossed over with those of Misery Mire from A Link to the Past and the Southern Swamp from Majora's Mask - because it feels rightfully tiny.

What's strange as I think about this, though, is that Minish Cap's map is very similar in its scale to that of Link's Awakening. Perhaps the greatest difference is just that Minish Cap had scrolling screens as well as the sliding ones. Perhaps, with good reason, the fact that Link's Awakening has only screens that slide as you walk through from one to the next, it feels like more ground is being covered and therefore, it feels bigger.

Anyway, I had my second death in tonight's session as well. At the hands of the Moldorm - yeah, the boss of the first dungeon. It's kind of embarassing in that sense, but that guy just shows no mercy and comes barelling into you as soon as you start the stage. The sidescrolling bits of this first dungeon were a welcome sight though. But, their Mario theme (pirhana plants, goombas (that, by the way, always seem to give you a heart if you jump on them)) really makes me wonder about Koholint Island - the game's ending notwithstanding. I mean, where would Link have encountered goombas before?

Two things though, that modern Zelda games should bring back are the doors that you just need to step into to move between rooms and something like the Roc's feather. I know that Minish Cap had the Roc's Cape, and [] has [], but I'm talking the 3-D console Zeldas. If you could actually jump in those it would make sword fighting so much cooler.

Plus, if there were doors that you had to get Link perfectly in position to slip through that would add a potentially interesting challenge. It wouldn't need to involve motion control, either, certain button presses when wearing a certain accessory or something could make Link strike a pose - kind of like Crono and the gang in that mini game at the Millennia Fair in Chrono Trigger.

Also, even though it's better adapted to the 2-D adventures, enemies that literally mirror your moves might be an interesting one-off reference in a 3-D Zelda. Or going down stairs and wildly changing the gameplay mechanics.

I know that a first person Zelda has been toyed with now and again (Ocarina of Time was originally going to be in the first person), so maybe that could be the perspective when you enter certain stretches of corridor. If it's narrow enough you switch viewpoints to make it more of a sword-fighting-intensive gameplay mode.