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The Legend of Zelda: 30th Anniversary (Nintendo, 1986)

bryan.eddy@newretrowave.com — Sat, 27 Feb 2016 23:14:33 +0000

It has been thirty years since the game in the golden cartridge impacted our hobby forever.

It kicked off one of gaming’s legendary franchises, and is still remembered as one of the best titles ever released for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It held adventure, danger, and for the brave, it held triumph. The Legend of Zelda, released on February 21st, 1986, set new standards in quality and embedded itself into pop culture (and our memories) in a way few games could.

Behold.

The game was developed by Nintendo R&D 4, headed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka (both under pseudonyms). This was the same R&D team (for the most part) that had developed Super Mario Brothers. The focus for Legend of Zelda‘s development was to produce a game very much unlike SMB, a game where things did not progress in a straight line… more of an adventure experience. As a matter of fact, the two games were developed (mostly) simultaneously, with the team deciding which concepts were “Zelda ideas” and which were better for Mario. Much of this decision-making and concept-shaping fell to Miyamoto, with Tezuka writing the storyline for the game. Miyamoto has said that the game was inspired by his childhood wanderings in the countryside near Kyoto, and that the game’s titular princess was named after the wife of author F. Scott Fitzgerald.

According to the manual, our story begins when Link stumbles upon a nursemaid named Impa, who is being attacked by monsters. Link drives them off, rescuing the old maid. She tells him of her mistress, Princess Zelda of Hyrule, and how Ganon (sometimes spelled Gannon) has gone to war with Hyrule to gain the Triforce of Wisdom, capturing Zelda in the process. Ganon already has the Triforce of Power, but Zelda managed to scatter the Triforce of Wisdom into 8 pieces and hide it from the monstrous dark lord before he imprisoned her. The princess told Impa to find someone brave enough to reassemble the pieces and use the Wisdom Triforce to defeat Ganon. Needless to say, Impa is pretty convinced she has her man.

Conan the Barbarian he is not, but hey, he’s got a cool hat. That’s a start.

Now, how Link managed to drive off monsters without even a sword is beyond me, since you start the game without it and can’t really do jack shit until you go get it. Thankfully, it’s in the very first cave you see.

Thanks. I might need one of those, you know, for like, everything.

Now it’s time to get to it! But… where do we go? Well, that was supposed to be part of the fun, according to the developers. Legend of Zelda is supposed to be unlike a typical video game of the time; players were encouraged not only to wander, but to communicate with one another when not playing, and share ideas or discoveries. Exploration also lent the game significant play time compared to a platformer, which many players will master and then only sparingly play again. To find the eight parts of the Triforce, you must wander about and find the dungeons they are hidden in. While there is a loose order to this quest, there is nothing stopping the player from making his or her own way and discovering this without being railroaded. Link must not only find the Triforce, but also must uncover certain items in these dungeons and elsewhere. Some of these are merely useful tools (like the boomerang), and some of them are necessary to bypass certain obstacles or discover new places in order to continue progress (such as the flute and the raft). In a way, the game itself is an intricate puzzle… far more intricate than was the norm in 1986.

The overworld. Well, at least, the obvious parts. Don’t be deceived… this is a weird-ass place.

This isn’t to say you’ll miss out on some intense fighting. In fact, Ganon’s amassed an army of horrible monsters to stop you. The list defies full cataloging within the scope of this article, but the foes you’ll face range from skeletons to snakes to armored men to ghosts to teleporting wizards and more. Many times (especially in dungeons) you can kill one monster, meant to be the leader of the mob, and all of them will disappear. Other times, you simply have to slog through everyone. Thankfully, there are two more powerful swords to find, as well as a bow and arrows, a magic wand, and bombs. It is a good general practice to keep your bombs well stocked. They not only come in handy for murder (and are the only way to hurt one of the bosses), but they can also blow holes in certain walls, which will become necessary later in the game. Once you’ve assembled the Triforce, gotten all the upgrades money and sweat can buy, and located Ganon’s well-hidden lair, you must venture into it and slay him. Ganon is no spring bitch. He is strapped and ready to party in the worst way possible.

Hyrule is a pretty brutal place… but Link is one tough little dude.

Oh, you say you’ve done all that? You’ve beaten the game? Well, turns out you can play it over again, with everything shuffled around and much more challenging. Good luck! You can also do this by naming your character “ZELDA” in the creation screen. This “2nd quest” is worth boasting about if you’ve conquered it. It was also novel for its time, or at least wasn’t a common feature in home video gaming. More replay value? You betcha. Hell, it pretty much comes with its own sequel this way!

The logo for the Japanese Famicom version.

Speaking of sequels… Legend of Zelda spawned one of Nintendo’s best known and most successful franchises to date, the first sequel being the mostly side-scrolling Zelda II: Adventures of Link. Since then, pretty much every Nintendo console or platform has received at least one installment in the series. The SNES’s Link to the Past is a notable entry in the saga, and later systems saw more Zelda goodness in the form of games like Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, and Majora’s Mask. Each new game added new depth to gameplay, while preserving the original idea of an adventure game that encourages real exploration.

Legend of Zelda sold over 6.5 million copies, making it one of the best selling console games of all time. Any retro gamer can remember their first adventure in Hyrule… the glory, the danger, and the triumph. How it felt to be a hero. Thirty years later, that glory has not gone stale. It still glitters as golden as the cartridge we all slipped into our NES only to hear the theme that still gives me chills:

Happy 30th birthday, Link. I guess you really have come of age.

But not our story, dear readers. Stay tuned next month for more!

A Space Love Adventure – Synth Punk EP

bryan.eddy@newretrowave.com — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 19:11:21 +0000

A Space Love Adventure has released an EP, and it’s everything his fans and supporters have been waiting for. Since 2011, ASLA has been producing synthwave music and honing his skills. You may have heard him on the Outrun Europa comp, as well as a few other places, but ASLA has finally given us his first full EP, a true-to-form set of tracks that is very 80’s, very cool, and very easy to enjoy.

Synth Punk EP by A Space Love Adventure

It’s only four tracks, but all of them will kick you straight in the ass and make you ready to rumble. “Red Blaze” is the opening anthem, and it’s an excellent way to start things off. A driving mid-tempo thump races alongside chord hits, guitar wails, and celestial high-end. The breaks and change ups are timed fluidly, and the track flows very well. “Avalanche 29” definitely has more of a darker sci-fi feel to it, with a similar tempo to the previous track but a more wandering, brooding feel. It is strong and intense. Once again, high and low blend beautifully, and the ever-present guitar continues to sing. Its keening solos are very realistic. ASLA (Alessandro) told me himself: “I normally like to use a real guitar, but for the Synth Punk EP, since I have no guitar with me, I used Garageband’s electric guitar VST, which I think is dope.” I’m inclined to agree with him!

We go even grimmer with “Reign of the Outlaws,” a slower track that nonetheless matches the others in raw intensity. Its arpeggio bass line, dreamy high notes and vast back-end invoke images of a post-apocalyptic sunset… gloomy, yet oddly hopeful. “Thunderchrome” wins me over as my favorite track on the EP; I love nothing more than to hear an artist wrap up a record with a track that has balls of steel. True to its brothers on the album, it has a driving tempo to it, and that old-boombox fade in effect is always a cool way to drop us into the action. In some superficial ways, it is similar to the first track, but definitely has its own character.

Alessandro posted this EP on social media with the disclaimer that it was “100% DIY” and said “don’t listen if you’re looking for polished sounds.” He was trying to be modest, which I appreciate, but let me clear things up: This is pretty damn polished for a DIY synthwave album. It’s very clear that a lot of effort and passion went into creating the music, and it’s obvious that ASLA will only continue to climb in altitude from here. I give Synth Punk EP an enthusiastic eight out of ten. Sunlover’s asking €3 for it, but it’s worth much more. I’d suggest you grab it!

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Ninja Gaiden (Tecmo, 1988)

bryan.eddy@newretrowave.com — Thu, 14 May 2015 15:33:37 +0000

Ninjas were a staple of pop culture in the 80s and 90s. They were everywhere. Movies, TV, cereal boxes… and especially video games. Though history depicts them as silent, efficient killers, they underwent a gradual transformation into heroes of a sort once Western media got a hold of them. Modern Japan, all too happy to go along, took ample opportunity to churn out ninja-themed titles during the video game boom of the aforementioned two decades.

Ninja Gaiden was one such game, and in fact stands out among the sub-genre as one of the most playable and memorable to have been developed and released for the NES. Called Ninja Ryukenden in Japan and released as Shadow Warriors in Europe, Ninja Gaiden kicked off what was to become a small franchise, which was eventually rebooted for more recent consoles in the past few years. The original broke ground in terms of gameplay, story depth, and overall quality. To clarify: This article discusses the first entry into the series of NES games, not the arcade beat-em-up, which (while identical in title and developed by the exact same company, and even released the very same year) is a completely different game with a different plot and play style.

Ninja Gaiden’s protagonist, Ryu Hayabusa, begins his quest with a simple goal: to find out who (presumably) slew his father in a ninja duel. As the plot progresses between game stages, the story develops and broadens into something far greater: a mission to stop plans that could ruin the world. This story telling is accomplished by use of some very sharp cut scenes, which feature impressive art, parallaxing, and surprisingly well written dialogue. Character development and a supporting cast are even present, a level of detail that is now taken for granted in modern gaming. I’m not suggesting that it’s novel-quality writing, but it is steps above the standard clumsily-translated stories so often encountered in NES games. I admit that I am a gamer who often skips cut scenes when possible, but I found myself actually looking forward to the storyline’s progression as I played. Ninja Gaiden’s soundtrack is appropriately thematic, with moody music during cut scenes and high-energy rhythms during actual gameplay. I especially like these two themes, but the entire soundtrack is excellent.

The game’s play style is mostly standard side-scroller material, but things have been added that really enhance the theme and add a sense of challenge. When Ryu jumps against a vertical surface, he can cling to it, and hop off when he wishes. If two parallel vertical surfaces are near enough to each other, this can be used in series to “climb” upward and downward. This trick is crucial to bypassing obstacles and reaching the end of certain levels, and really provides a solid ninja element. So do the powerups Ryu can pick up; fueled by “spiritual strength,” they allow him to throw shuriken (ninja stars), hurl wheels of fire, perform spinning slashes as he jumps, and more. Powerups and “spiritual strength” are gained in a fashion reminiscent of Castlevania: each level has torches or some other recurring fixtures that you must chop down with your sword, picking up what falls out.

The difficulty curve in Ninja Gaiden is respectable, but not daunting. Novices will struggle a bit with the boss fights, but once you get the hang of how to fight like a ninja, progress becomes easier to make. One notable feature of the levels is that if an enemy’s spawning point goes off-screen (as in, you walk far enough away from it), the enemy will be back when you return. In fact, some mobile enemies spawn continuously from that point if you remain still. There are, of course, tricks and glitches; it bears mentioning that the spinning slash powerup, if saved up for later use, can obliterate certain end-stage bosses in short order. Otherwise, Ninja Gaiden is an exercise in patience, timing, and seizing the moment – all appropriate skills for a practitioner of ninjitsu.

Two sequels were released for the NES in 1990 and 91, both of which ramped up the gameplay complexity but also expanded Ryu’s ninja-style mobility. The franchise was also revived in the early 21st Century, starting with a 2004 Xbox action-adventure title. Most recently, a multi-platform title, Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z, was released in 2014. It would seem our fascination with ninjas is far from over… and I’m glad for it. Ninjas are awesome.

And as you’ll see later this month, RetroFans, I’m not done talking about ninjas just yet. I’m going to talk about a game featuring everyone’s favorite ninjas…