Link eludes capture

One of the reasons why video games entries have been spotty lately is because I was waiting.

Waiting for a good time to test out my video capture set up.

Unfortunately, it looks like there are a few bugs that need working out, particularly my program's telling me that there is no capture device attached in the middle of displaying what's being fed through my capture device. That device by the way is the Diamond VC500. The software I'm running is Ulead VideoStudio 10. And yes, I'm running it all on an old version of Windows (XP).

Another of the reasons for the scarcity of entries about video games is that I was waiting for an opportune time to marathon A Link to the Past, my favourite entry in the Zelda series. Since I don't currently own a 3DS (or a 2DS, for that matter), I can't play A Link Between Worlds just yet and so I figured that its predecessor is the next best thing. That time's not come up, but more important than marathoning it, I want to get through the game without dying a single time.

Unfortunately, all I have with me (aside from an emulated copy, either on the Virtual Console (VC) or through less legitimate means) is the GBA port. Since I've already played through it on the GBA, I figured why not put the old Gamecube Game Boy Player to use and play it on the TV (or computer monitor, as the case may be). The trouble with the game's GBA port, though, is that Nintendo either forgot or neglected to port over Link's grunts from the original game. Instead Link's cries and struggles call up the Nintendo 64 entries in the series thanks to the use of child Link's sound effects.

Not only does this ruin the charm of the original game, but it assumes that this game's Link is the same age as child Link. But what in the game itself even suggests that?

Is it that he's living with his uncle? That he isn't in the middle of military training?

Everyone in Kakariko seems to know Link - unless he's some sort of Dennis the Menace-type character before the game begins, it seems like he'd need to have been active around town before people would be able to know him. To do that, he'd have to be at least a little older than the Link of Ocarina of Time or Majora's Mask. I'd like to peg his age as that of the main character of a fun Zelda-esque Genesis game called Crusader of Centy: 14.

So, why am I playing this version when there's a perfectly good port on the VC? Because controlling it with the Gamecube controller's analog stick almost simulates walking on ice. It's just a little bit too sensitive. Considering I know the game well from playing through it several times, I welcome the extra challenge.

Reasons to prefer a genre

I need to work on my twitch reflexes. And my spatial awareness. These are the things that playing a few missions of Star Fox 64 have shown me.

Much like the SNES original (a game I beat for the first time only a few years ago), I always struggled with Star Fox 64. Yet, I also really love space combat simulation games like it. As a kid I must have clocked in at least a hundred hours on a Terminal Velocity demo, I played Star Wars X-Wing every chance I got, and I loved Descent. Before I discovered the RPG, the space (or even just aerial) combat simulator was, without question my favourite genre. Not that I was ever any good at it. It was just that I, like every young boy, liked blowing up big robotic things that had evil intentions.

I still do, as last night's blast from the past made pretty clear. At the same time, though, space shooters never really struck me as capable of the emotional impact a good RPG can have.

Ultimately, as someone who already loved writing fiction, the RPG's greater potential for more gripping stories than your standard space combat simulator (at least in the 90s) is what lead to my now insatiable drive to try as many RPGs as I can. Plus, working with a series of menus proved easier than movements in a three dimensional plane and holding steady while aiming.

A sword that radiates light without heat

The fight against Molgera in the Wind Temple is incredible. It's a little weird that anything would leave its weak spot so conveniently exposed, but, well, yeah.

In an ideal world the smaller sand worms that it sends out would actually be bits of its tail. They would curl up when hit them and you would need to toss them into Molgera's gaping maw to shorten it and expose the main body's weak point.

Nonetheless, it was an intense battle, even if it came from a designer on the Zelda team simply acting on the thought: "What if we forced players to beat Twinmold from Majora's Mask as regular sized Link?"

Now, all that's left in the game, aside from the final dungeon and the battle with Ganondorf, is to find all the pieces of the Triforce of Courage. The section of the game that's reviled by as many fans as there are people who dismissed The Wind Waker out of hand because of its graphical style. I think it'll be a good excuse to go through some sidequests and to work my way through all of the treasure charts I've collected.

But, this last part of the game won't be as awesome as it could have been. The Master Sword is fully powered up now, and it creates its own light when drawn. It gives off no heat though. Beam-shaped, projectile heat, I mean. Even when Link's at full hearts.

It's disappointing that Link's swings don't shoot sword beams because it makes the final form of the Master Sword less badass, and because Fierce Deity Link could fire off energy waves in Majora's Mask.

The games' relative sizes aside, isn't the Gamecube more powerful than the Nintendo 64? Where are those sword beams at?

Memory and Time on the Great Sea

The penultimate section of The Wind Waker is so freeing.

The overworld can be explored in its entirety. Since you've got nearly every item in the game, most hidden treasures can be found. And, back in town, you have the resources to finish just about every sidequest. As vast as the Great Sea is, and as long as the sailing time between islands can run, the game continues to be fun through this section.

For whatever reason, the last two dungeons strike my memory as being pretty short. Maybe it's a result of them being co-op experiences with AI controlled characters. Or perhaps it's just another example of how fun, vividly designed dungeons just appear to be shorter. This is the one Zelda game, where none of the dungeons really drag on and on.

But memory is a funny thing, especially when it comes to Zelda games. Recall is strangely important for them, though they don't usually have you matching things from memory or even memorizing the songs that were characteristic of the Nintendo 64 and Gamecube era games in the series.

Recall in Zelda games is important for the sake of exploration. It's about remembering the places that you could previously get to, but where you couldn't do anything. Or remembering exactly where an NPC was so that you could bring back whatever wild item they had requested. Ultimately, this is one reason to play such games with as few lengthy (week-long, month-long) breaks as possible.

Though playing with such breaks does bring an element of reality to the experience. It often takes a couple of in-game days to sail from island to island. Translated to real time, that means that some errands could well take weeks or even months to complete. This is a common aspect of many games, though.

Still, wouldn't that be a wild Nintendo peripheral - something that makes in-game time feel, for all intents and purposes, like real time?

"The Gods," Spiritual, and Actual Successors

Did I miss something?

Aren't the deities of Hyrule God*esses*?

Then why is everything in The Wind Waker "of the gods"?

Maybe it's just staying true to the original Japanese. I'm not sure when in the life of the Legend of Zelda story and world the goddesses Din, Nayru, and Farore were invented (maybe the Hyrule Historia can tell me), but it must've been after A Link to the Past, since that game's Japanese title literally translates as "The Power of the Gods." Could the use of "gods" in The Wind Waker just be another nod to the SNES classic?

Even when I first played The Wind Waker its structure reminded me greatly of A Link to the Past. You've got a mysterious wizard rounding up young maidens, three things to collect before you make a world changing discovery (and get the Master Sword), then you go through further dungeons, gather a great power, and finally face off against a version of Ganon. Shy of being the sequel to A Link to the Past, The Wind Waker is definitely its spiritual successor.

This fact makes me wonder all the more about how Eiji Aonuma and the Zelda team are going to make a direct successor to A Link to the Past. My suggestion: Bring back the magic bar and all the magic that was taken out of A Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time due to the SNES' and Nintendo 64's limitations. And, to those worried about spells like Ether or Bombos being over powered game-breakers, Link to the Past 2's use of depth could really even things out.

Opening a whole new set of Chronicles

After finally getting all the necessary parts, I've got the Wii rigged up to an old tube TV I've had since my undergrad days. Needless to say, the picture quality is a little rough on the newest and sharpest of games, but they're still entirely playable. Strangely enough, adjusting the screen option on the Wii system menu to wide screen gives the most readable text - definitely of great importance for a game like Xenoblade Chronicles.

When I first started this title months ago, I felt overwhelmed. The world is huge, the exploration seems unlimited (letting players jump adds to this appearance), and the reign on the player seems incredibly free. For the most part, this freedom comes from the game's third person perspective, something I've never seen in an RPG before, having my roots in SNES era (J-)RPGs and their modern equivalents. Though, come to think of it, Quest 64 had a similar perspective.

Anyway, because there's so little railroading (no guards at gates, or companions calling you back from invisible bounds) it's a bit difficult to figure out what to do next. However, just as with the ability to save anywhere solves the issue of never having a save point when you need one, the game's got the problem of direction figured out. At the top of the screen (clearly visible even with my rig) is an arrow and a counter. The arrow points the way, and the counter shows how many steps are between you and your destination.

So, though the visual going may be rough at times, I'll never get lost in this game. This bonus should make the game's tens of hours fly by, however periodically I pop this one in.

A Brief Soiree

Well, I played a Mario Party game for the first time recently.

It definitely had the same feel as a Smash Brothers game in that anything could happen. DK was the PC character in a 3/1 game, and he definitely seemed to be cheating in some way or other.

Anyway, though there were moments as madcap as any round of Smash Brothers (among them DK, already way ahead in coin count, getting another coin for placing fourth in a minigame where before that honour had been mine as the true third placer), it was a much more organized mini game experience.

Also, finally having played one of the many Mario Party games, I can see why the franchise has been successful throughout all of its iterations. The game has all of the strange humourousness of a modern Mario title, combined with a set of easy to learn, difficult to master mini games.

Plus framing the game experience with a bunch of game boards lends itself well to propagating sequels, as more and more boards can be introduced. I haven't kept up with the franchise, but it would not surprise me if Mario Party 9 has some sort of character customization/levelling system in place, maybe to help shake things up in the minigames requiring movement, or in dice rolls or some other lately added aspect of the games.

All in all, it's pretty ingenious, and makes for a grandly fun multiplayer experience. But, I don't think it'd be that great as a single-player endeavour, something that I don't expect myself to get into any time soon.