Zelda: A Link to the Past

[chuckro]

After reading a Let’s Play of the impressively cruel romhack Zelda: Parallel Worlds, I was inspired to replay A Link to the Past. Which effectively turned into a speedrun, because ALTTP was the second SNES game I ever got, so I still remember where everything is hidden and what the best order to do the dungeons is (14236578); and my reflexes for the game are all still intact (I used two bottle faeries, no potions, and never died, which I think is a personal best).

Though, in a case of “you can always learn new tricks”, someone on the LP forum had mentioned using the hammer to break the Helmasaur King’s mask. Which makes a ton of sense given that you find the hammer in that dungeon and can use it to kill the smaller helmasaurs. The thing is, there’s an alternate method of beating him that involves using bombs, and apparently I’d figured that one first, because I always used it. Seriously, I must have played this game through a dozen times!

I decided to play my original cart (because hey, why not?) using the Retro Duo. I’m not sure if it’s the cable, the splitter, or the Retro Duo’s emulation of SNES games, but the sound isn’t quite correct. The balance on the Dark World overworld music is off, and various sound effects (sword slashes, bomb blasts, and most annoyingly, the “knocking against the wall” tinking sound) sometimes don’t play at all. I probably didn’t notice this earlier because I’ve been playing mostly fan-translated emulator games, rather than my original carts. I should probably pay attention going forward—I’ve been meaning to replay Wanderers from Ys, for one—and see if there are similar problems.

Parallel Worlds definitely qualifies as a game I’m not going to play, incidentally. It’s basically a bunch of Zelda masters deciding that there needs to be an insanely-hard version of ALTTP, where the little tricks that are cute bonuses in the original are absolutely necessary. There’s an entire dungeon dedicated to using bombs to blast yourself across gaps. You spend the first dungeon without a sword or shield, which means you also can’t save the game until you complete it. As noted above, after many years and many play-throughs, I’m pretty good at ALTTP, but I still really don’t see why that would be fun.

20 years since release, still an excellent game, and still an arguable candidate for best game in the Zelda series.

Comments

[feiran.livejournal.com]

My favorite game OF ALL TIME FOREVER. Unless they make something even better, but I'm doubtful. My favorite sound is wao-ao-ao-ao Link falling into pots -- which they updated in the DS version to the more recent aaaaaaah. I seethed all the way through. :P

I haven't heard of Parallel Worlds. It's an emulation thing...? Perhaps I could snag from you at some point?

[chuckro.livejournal.com]

Parallel Worlds is an emulation thing. I can snag you a copy, but I really don't think you want it. I can hunt around--I had meant to look for playable ALTTP romhacks at some point, and I can pass on good ones.

If you want to see what Parallel Worls is like, there are Let's Plays of it here (http://lparchive.org/Legend-of-Zelda-Parallel-Worlds/) and here. (http://www.gamespite.net/talkingtime/showthread.php?t=10978)

Funny thing...

[darkphoenixff4]

Funny thing about the Helmasaur King... not only did I find the bomb trick first, I seriously though that was the only way to damage his mask, and I hadn't figured out at that time that you could expand your inventory at the Pond of Happiness. So yes, my first run through the Palace of Darkness involved trying, and failing, to blow off the Helmasaur King's mask with 8 bombs, and restarting every time I ran out (because I assumed that if you ran out of bombs, you just had to die). My original final play score was 254, and 150 of those were in the Palace of Darkness alone.

Re: Funny thing...

[chuckro]

...wow.