1. Game
The game is an action RPG, in which an evil wizard is trying to
release an evil power that has been imprisoned in a mountain range,
you play as link and your role is to stop the evil power from being
released. The game was made in 1991 and released for the Super
Nintendo, and it has 16 bit graphics. Although an action RPG at the
time, I don’t think it has enough features to be called a RPG in
modern day gaming, more of an adventure game. The game is 2D,
but uses a top down view, so it makes it feel like there is a lot more to
explore, the game also has different levels to the maps by introducing
stairs and ladders, by doing this it makes the 2D game feel bigger
than it actually is and makes you feel like there is a larger world to
explore.. To the left is the title screen of The Legend of Zelda: A Link
To The Past.
How did it feel?
The game was made for the Super Nintendo, because of this and the
limitations at the time it was made the controls and player movement
aren't very smooth, but despite this I still think the game is fun to
play, the more you play the game the easier the controls become to
master.
The combat in the game is very one dimensional, and can get
repetitive after a while, although you can use magic and different
weapons I feel that the combat would get boring when you progress
2. more in the game as all combat styles feel basically the same. This
could be a problem when people play it who are used to modern
games with lots of weapons and combat styles, the game is
supposed to be an action RPG, a modern day equivalent would be
Skyrim in that game you can use bows, swords and shields, two
handed swords and magic this keeps the game feeling new and fresh
because you can change to a new combat style when you get tired of
another, something that you can’t do in this Zelda game.
The game has lots of different area’s at the start of the game you
begin in Link’s house in his bedroom, you can then go outside of his
house and explore the village he lives in, and into different houses in
and around the area to explore your surroundings, apart from the
village there is a castle at the top which has multiple levels, which
need to be explored to find the Princess and progress in the game.
Because the game was made in 16-Bit graphics, the detail in the
game is very limited but I do like the look of the game and think that
the music compliments well with the feel of the levels. Taking into
regard the limitations of the time and 16-Bit graphics I think that the
game is visually well made and would have been at the limit of what
could have been done at the time of release. The screenshot below
is a map of the Zelda game.
3. The Story
The story starts with Link being awoken by a telepathic message
from Princess Zelda, she has been imprisoned in a dungeon below a
castle Link goes to the castle to save the princess, Link meets up
with his uncle who gives him a sword and shield to help him in his
mission of rescuing the princess, he then sets off into the depths of
the castle past the guards to rescue the Princess from the jail.
Once he has saved the Princess they escape to a place called
Sanctuary, in Sanctuary Link meets a man who tells him that
Agahnim, an evil wizard who has usurped the throne, is planning to
break a seal made hundreds of years ago to keep the evil wizard
Ganon locked away, the seal was made by the Seven Sages.
Links mission is to save the decedents of the Seven Sages from the
evil wizard as they are the key to unlocking the seal to the dark world
and unleashing the evil power of Ganon, along his journey he meets
lots of different characters who give him new quests that offer
rewards to aid him in his overall adventure such as new weapons,
abilities and armour. This is a screenshot from the games first scene
4. Identify
I found the music and graphics to be fun and thought they
complimented each other well, after playing the game for just 30
minutes I wanted to play it more; it was entertaining all the way
through the half an hour that I played, and left me wanting to see how
the story progressed and keep trying to get past the different stages
of the level.
The controls weren’t great but I found them to be enough for what the
gameplay mechanics were, the soldiers had a pattern and were easy
to avoid after watching them walk their path once or twice. Although
easy to avoid the combat in the game was at time quite difficult as
you need to move around a lot with just the up, down, left and right
controls instead of the 8 directional movements of modern games.
Evaluate
Overall I’d say the game was fun and entertaining, I enjoyed the story
from what I played and felt that it would get more interesting and
develop well if I carried on playing. Because the game is an RPG it
makes you want to progress further and unlock different rewards
from quests. The story starts off drawing you in by introducing new
characters straight away; this drew me into the story and made me
want to carry on playing.
I think that the average gamer who is used to playing RPGs like
Skyrim and Fallout would find the game boring very quickly, as I said
before the combat is one dimensional and probably wouldn’t appeal
to a wide audience as much as it appeals to gamers who want to play
retro games and find out what they were like at the time.
I enjoyed the simple graphics and music in the game and thought
that they complimented each other well, the graphics weren’t great
but I felt that they were the best that they could be for the time and
the hardware available.
5. This is a photograph of me playing The Legend of Zelda - A Link to
the Past.
Survey Results
I created a survey with questions based on the game, I passed this
around to friends and family of varying ages, game experience and
gender to get the most diverse results possible, below are the results
of the survey.
Age “Do you consider yourself a
gamer?”
Gender
24 No Female
51 No Female
27 Yes Male
15 Yes Male
18 Yes Male
44 No Female
17 Somewhat Male
