Saturday, January 25, 2014

The defeat of Ganon, the return of Ganon

This entry is unprecedented, but why not make an exception for an exceptional game?

After yesterday's A Link to the Past session, and the entry that followed, I picked the game up again. Little did I know that the final three dungeons and the game's boss would tumble just so quickly.

The Ice Palace, Turtle Rock, and Ganon's Tower, each took about thirty minutes to finish. Prep for the final fight added about the same, since I wandered about a bit and made sure to get the game's best sword along with the necessary silver arrows. The final fight with Ganon (both of them) took about three minutes a piece. And in the end - not a single death.

"Wait, wait, wait - both fights with Ganon?" (You maybe ask.)

For the first time, I was knocked off of the platform on which you fight Ganon. At first I figured - ah, well, that's just a few hearts gone and I'll be right back in the King of Evil's face. But no. I actually fell to a lower area of the Pyramid in the middle of the Dark World. There wasn't anything special there, a psychic block whence Sahasrahla tells you you need silver arrows, but that's it. Yet, this new part of the game got me thinking.

So I wondered. I beat the snot out of Ganon. Then I tested my hypothesis. After beating Ganon I dove into the pyramid's depths.

"There's no way that the game will forget I beat Ganon because of this," I thought.

"You defeated the game's final boss?" the game asked as I jumped through the pyramid's roof once more. "That doesn't sound quite right."

And so I had to beat Ganon for the second time.

It's a small tick in the game's programming, but a curious one. There's no switch or variable or subroutine that tells the game you beat Ganon after you beat Ganon. The King of Evil is revived when the hero falls.

Although I'm entirely reading this into it, such a fantastic game in such a grand series could not have a better end-game exploit.

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