Marseygen is around for good now

I finished Tears of the Kingdom today and I figured I should share my thoughts.

The Legend of Zelda series is my favorite video game series of all time. I've played most of the games (there are like 7) in the series multiple times and have replayed some of them a few times. Today I will offer my thoughts on all of them including spin-offs and remakes.

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*Note: Spoilers ahead! Click away now if you have not yet played these games.*

Also just so we're clear I'm going to be discussing the games on their own merits rather than as part of a "series." Because, you know, it's a *legend* - a body of stories that gets passed down by word of mouth across the years. It's not all about building up to some ultimate conclusion.

#### 1) The Legend of Zelda (NES)

This is the game that started it all. It's really just one big maze that you go through until you hit a dead end and then you go back and take a different path. I guess technically there are three different paths you can take but they're really just different ways of getting to the same place. Also you can't save your game so you pretty much have to beat the whole thing in one sitting. I know that doesn't sound like a lot of fun but it is a special kind of nightmare I really enjoy.

This game was released in what I like to call the "old days" of video games, when everything took place in 2D on a flat, fixed plane. It is completely unfair to hold this game up to modern standards, but I think it holds up well even by the standards of its own time. I think the most notable thing about this game was how it tried to break from the mold of platformers (which were the big thing in the mid 80s) by offering a world that you could explore on your own terms rather than being forced to go through a linearly designed set of levels on a fixed pathway from beginning to end. For the most part this worked well. I didn't feel like I was missing out on much by going in a different order than what was intended. 

This is also the game that gave us the original story: Ganon, an evil demon, is unleashed by some dude and it's up to the hero, Link, to seal him back up in the dungeon where he came from.

I have played every Zelda game. Yes, even the spinoff series. The most recent one is Zelda II on the Gameboy Advance. I will now review each game, in chronological order, starting with the worst:

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Legend of Zelda (NES)

First entry in the series. You need to collect 8 dungeon crystals (or is it 8 + the master sword?) And find the Triforce, and save Zelda. Dungeons are very short, easy, and repetitive. The bosses are also easy. The worst part of this game is the control scheme. It is very hard to get used to, and the controls are very stiff and imprecise.

Rating: 3/10
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A Link to the Past (SNES)

Oh boy. I sure do love this game. It introduced lateral movement, 3D elements for puzzles, an upgrade system, and was graphically much more advanced than the original game. It is also the reason I don't like the "child" version of Link that they use up until Twilight Princess.

I love everything about this game. The side-scrolling levels felt a bit stiff at times but that is nitpicking.

The Dark World is an interesting concept, but they should have used it again in a future game. The Dark World in this game can be completed in any order that you want, it is just a collection of difficult side-scrolling levels. It also has the best dungeon in the game, which has some of the most memorable music from the series.

Rating: 10/10
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Link's Awakening (Gameboy Color)

I would like to start off by saying that this is my favorite 2D Zelda game. The graphics are pretty good for the system, and the color palette is amazing. It features a large open-world for the time, lots of secrets and things to collect. The dungeons are really good, lots of variety, and not too hard.

I really like the idea of having these "dream" dungeons, it is a clever way to not have the standard 8+1 and still have the dungeon gimmick. Some of them can be a bit on the long side, though. The final one, the color dungeon, is just one really big room though and that's disappointing I guess. 

Rating: 8/10

(WARNING: this post is too long)

### Games

#### ***Legend of Zelda*** (NES, 1986)

This is the one where you're a dude running around a 2D overhead map, and every so often you meet a guy and get sent to a whole new part of the map that's an adventure dungeon. If this wasn't the first 3D game on the NES it would be completely unremarkable. Play it today and you'll do one playthrough like "oh yeah I see where a lot of other games get this from" and then you'll never think about it again because there's nothing else really to do.

The dungeons are okay. A lot of them have clever ways to get past the boss monster (though in a couple cases you're basically just led there by the hand) and the first one is a huge labyrinth that's entirely optional.

This game is all about the novelty of being 3D. The NES had a lot of games that were actually good, and this had none of the other qualities needed to be good (story, characters, etc) so it's remembered as a novelty.

#### ***Four Swords*** (Game Boy Advance, 2002)

This one is a shitty multiplayer version of A Link to the Past. Avoid.

#### ***Link's Awakening*** (Game Boy, 1993)

This is the one where you're on an island. You get the best sword really early on and then it's a bunch of fetch quests in a 3D world. It doesn't hold up at all, but still more fun than almost all other Zeldas. If you haven't played this it's completely worth your time. If you have played it, you can probably just remember all the parts of it and it would be a waste of time to play again.

##### ***Link's Awakening (2019)***

This is a remake/reimagining of the 1993 original for the Nintendo Switch. It's not worth playing instead of the original.

#### ***A Link to the Past*** (SNES, 1991)

This is the one where there are actually three separate quests to finish, instead of just "beat 20 dungeons, then get all the shit from the other side of the world." It's the most fleshed out of the earlier games and actually holds together pretty well as one continuous