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"Change isn't always for the best......"

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Tue 04/06/02 at 19:26
Regular
Posts: 787
Just the other day, I actually realised why I don’t like the look of the new Zelda game. I have always disliked it from the first screenshot I ever saw but I never really new why. Now however, I do.

It’s because it just isn’t serious. Ocarina of Time (aka. the best game ever) was very serious. Ganon was extremely menacing in his human form – it was the style of the graphics that allowed this. He just seemed really evil. The new style just wouldn’t give the same effect. Just imagine Ganon from the first game, with the helpless Zelda held above his giant piano thing and Link with the Master Sword in his hand. That was a great scene. Now think of it with the new style of graphics. You’d have an extremely unmenacing green man with ginger hair, who isn’t threatening in the least. “This is the ruler of Hyrule?” you’d say. Then your hero, Link, would enter, all done up to look at least 2 years old. It just wouldn’t work, and this brings me onto the point of this topic. Change…..

So far, Nintendo seem to be ruining the GameCube. Well, perhaps I am being a bit harsh there. Maybe they’re not ruining it, but it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be as good as the N64 was. Why? Because of the decisions that they’re making with their top games.

Take a look at Wave Race: Blue Storm. A great game in every respect, it really does have to be said. But was it as good as its N64 counterpart? In my honest opinion, no it wasn’t. And why? Because they’d changed it so much. They handed over one of their most promising launch titles to people who surely couldn’t do it as well as the Big N themselves. The handling had been completely altered and so had the overall feel, style and look of the game. The controls were made a lot more tricky, and although this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it just made it lose the feel of the original which I loved so dearly. Then there was the style. Wave Race 64 wasn’t so much a tense, action packed racer as a relaxing, peaceful racer. It sounds strange but each summer I would always come back to Wave Race 64 and play at least a few laps on Drake Lake. The great graphics, the relaxing music and the way it would start out foggy and clear up as you completed laps. Oh, and of course, the incredibly cheesy “Maximum Power!”. It’s just not the same in Blue Storm. It’s far too fast paced compared to the original and it’s incredibly tense, especially when you’re playing on expert and you know you need to finish in first. Some may argue this as a good thing but for me, it just didn’t let it live up to the original. It’s still a good game but I was disappointed purely because I didn’t think it was as good as the original. After all, if I buy a sequel to a great game on a next generation console, I would expect it to be superior to the original.

On the other end of the scale, Rogue Leader and Super Smash Bros Melee didn’t disappoint me at all. This is because they didn’t stray too far from the feel of their predecessors. In fact, both of them had hardly changed from the feel of their predecessors at all. The only real difference in Rogue Leader was the speed. Other than that, it felt pretty much identical but with better graphics, different levels and somehow, a greater level of fun.

I suppose you could say that this is bad. Nintendo could be criticised for keeping the same basic game, just improving the graphics and changing the levels. However, since most of Nintendo’s own games on the N64 were so damn good in the first place, I’d be very happy if they just kept the same basic feel but improved upon them (as opposed to starting them all over again). Very few games on my PS2 have given me the same feeling as games on my N64. Because of this, improved N64 games being released on the GameCube would, for me, be far better than most games being released on the PS2.

However, Wave Race isn’t the only culprit. They’ve done pretty much exactly the same thing with 1080º Snowboarding, right down to the title of the game. Personally, I think 1080º on the N64 was as good a snowboarding game as you could get. I honestly don’t think there was much room for improvement. I’d be very happy with the GameCube 1080º game to be pretty much the same, just with improved graphics, different courses and perhaps a few new features. I don’t think the handling or feel of the boarders can get any better, only worse. And what worries me most about this particular game is the name: White Storm. Wave Race was Blue Storm. 1080 is White Storm. This sort of gives the impression that it’s going to turn out similar to Wave Race – the handling is going to be changed. I know (or think I know) that Nintendo have handed the development of it to somebody else, and are not directly making it themselves. This, I don’t like at all. I’ll be extremely disappointed if 1080º turns out like Wave Race. Okay so it will still be good, but it will be a step in the opposite direction (for me at least).

Then there’s Lylat Wars. This was one of my favourite games on the N64. The length was perfect. I know many people saw it as far too short but the whole replay value of it depended on the scoring system. 45 minutes is about how long many people will sit down and play the same game and that’s about how long it took to complete it. Half of playing it again was to beat your best score. However, because so many people criticised the length of it, saying it was too short, I fear Namco will make it longer (that is who’s making it right?). I think this will destory the brilliance of the original game as the scoring system will unlikely play such a big role. If they ruin this one I’ll be even more disappointed than 1080. This is one of my most awaited titles on the GC. I’m praying at the moment. To Yevon.

Coming back to Zelda, I can’t help but fear the worst. Ocarina of Time is one of, if not the, best game of all time. I know Ganon isn’t even supposed to be in the new one so at least a childish looking version of him won’t ruin his menacing self from Ocarina of Time, but that’s about the only plus point I can think of. And saying Ganon being absent from the game is a plus shows how concerned I really am. I was highly disappointed with Majoras Mask. Zelda was basically completely absent from it and Ganon didn’t make an appearance at all. What’s happening this time round? Link is saving his sister, Zelda isn’t supposed to be in it again, and Ganon I don’t believe is confirmed either. I just don’t think Zelda games can be the same without Ganon or Zelda. You need Ganon to be there as the bad guy. It just doesn’t seem to work otherwise.

Wave Race has already been flawed in my opinion, whereas Smash Bros and Rogue Leader came off very well because they weren’t altered in any major way. I just need to hope for the best for Lylat Wars, 1080 and F-Zero. I heard a rumour a while back that Perfect Dark Zero was to be third person, and all I can say is I hope that it was just a rumour (pretty sure it was). Zelda is probably the star title of Nintendo for me, and to think that they might ruin it…..well, it’d be a major disappointment to say the very least.

Then there’s Luigi’s Mansion. It was fun, but nothing more. It wasn’t a spectacular launch title for the GC like Mario was for the N64. I don’t think it was enough to make people buy the console, like Mario was. It just didn’t have the same level of freedom as Mario did, and it was pretty short, especially compared to the length of Mario. It appears they’ve gone for a similar approach to Mario Sunshine, with the water backpack. I’m hoping for far more freedom than was available in Luigi’s Mansion, otherwise I fear yet another of Nintendo’s best games will be yet another disappointment. And once again, just like in Zelda, the classic storyline has been changed. No longer does Mario have to save Peach from Bowser, but he has to clear his name by wiping graffiti off walls. I mean, Mario himself has now been lowered to the level of cleaning walls. That’s a tragedy.

Basically what I’m saying is that I hate what Nintendo are doing. Zelda appears to be going down the same road as the extremely disappointing Majora’s Mask. Mario Sunshine appears to be going down the same road of the disappointing Luigi’s Mansion. And 1080 appears to be going down the same road as the slightly disappointing Wave Race: Blue Storm.

This worries me considerably as those games are some of the ones that I am most looking forward to on my Gamecube. Knowing Nintendo, they’ll probably pull it off to amazing effect, but at the moment I really can’t help but worry. At the moment, I’m more looking forward to the GameCube version of Ocarina of Time than the new Zelda game but the way things are going, I wouldn’t be surprised if Nintendo announce that they are “slightly” altering the storyline. Maybe they’ll just replace Ganon with a toilet cleaner, who hasn’t actually kidnapped the princess but has been framed. Maybe they’ll make Link into a 4 year old Ricky Winterborn who has mysteriously got a lot younger. Or perhaps Zelda will be replaced by Link’s long lost Auntie. What is going on!?
Tue 04/06/02 at 19:26
Regular
"Rong Xion Tong"
Posts: 5,237
Just the other day, I actually realised why I don’t like the look of the new Zelda game. I have always disliked it from the first screenshot I ever saw but I never really new why. Now however, I do.

It’s because it just isn’t serious. Ocarina of Time (aka. the best game ever) was very serious. Ganon was extremely menacing in his human form – it was the style of the graphics that allowed this. He just seemed really evil. The new style just wouldn’t give the same effect. Just imagine Ganon from the first game, with the helpless Zelda held above his giant piano thing and Link with the Master Sword in his hand. That was a great scene. Now think of it with the new style of graphics. You’d have an extremely unmenacing green man with ginger hair, who isn’t threatening in the least. “This is the ruler of Hyrule?” you’d say. Then your hero, Link, would enter, all done up to look at least 2 years old. It just wouldn’t work, and this brings me onto the point of this topic. Change…..

So far, Nintendo seem to be ruining the GameCube. Well, perhaps I am being a bit harsh there. Maybe they’re not ruining it, but it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be as good as the N64 was. Why? Because of the decisions that they’re making with their top games.

Take a look at Wave Race: Blue Storm. A great game in every respect, it really does have to be said. But was it as good as its N64 counterpart? In my honest opinion, no it wasn’t. And why? Because they’d changed it so much. They handed over one of their most promising launch titles to people who surely couldn’t do it as well as the Big N themselves. The handling had been completely altered and so had the overall feel, style and look of the game. The controls were made a lot more tricky, and although this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it just made it lose the feel of the original which I loved so dearly. Then there was the style. Wave Race 64 wasn’t so much a tense, action packed racer as a relaxing, peaceful racer. It sounds strange but each summer I would always come back to Wave Race 64 and play at least a few laps on Drake Lake. The great graphics, the relaxing music and the way it would start out foggy and clear up as you completed laps. Oh, and of course, the incredibly cheesy “Maximum Power!”. It’s just not the same in Blue Storm. It’s far too fast paced compared to the original and it’s incredibly tense, especially when you’re playing on expert and you know you need to finish in first. Some may argue this as a good thing but for me, it just didn’t let it live up to the original. It’s still a good game but I was disappointed purely because I didn’t think it was as good as the original. After all, if I buy a sequel to a great game on a next generation console, I would expect it to be superior to the original.

On the other end of the scale, Rogue Leader and Super Smash Bros Melee didn’t disappoint me at all. This is because they didn’t stray too far from the feel of their predecessors. In fact, both of them had hardly changed from the feel of their predecessors at all. The only real difference in Rogue Leader was the speed. Other than that, it felt pretty much identical but with better graphics, different levels and somehow, a greater level of fun.

I suppose you could say that this is bad. Nintendo could be criticised for keeping the same basic game, just improving the graphics and changing the levels. However, since most of Nintendo’s own games on the N64 were so damn good in the first place, I’d be very happy if they just kept the same basic feel but improved upon them (as opposed to starting them all over again). Very few games on my PS2 have given me the same feeling as games on my N64. Because of this, improved N64 games being released on the GameCube would, for me, be far better than most games being released on the PS2.

However, Wave Race isn’t the only culprit. They’ve done pretty much exactly the same thing with 1080º Snowboarding, right down to the title of the game. Personally, I think 1080º on the N64 was as good a snowboarding game as you could get. I honestly don’t think there was much room for improvement. I’d be very happy with the GameCube 1080º game to be pretty much the same, just with improved graphics, different courses and perhaps a few new features. I don’t think the handling or feel of the boarders can get any better, only worse. And what worries me most about this particular game is the name: White Storm. Wave Race was Blue Storm. 1080 is White Storm. This sort of gives the impression that it’s going to turn out similar to Wave Race – the handling is going to be changed. I know (or think I know) that Nintendo have handed the development of it to somebody else, and are not directly making it themselves. This, I don’t like at all. I’ll be extremely disappointed if 1080º turns out like Wave Race. Okay so it will still be good, but it will be a step in the opposite direction (for me at least).

Then there’s Lylat Wars. This was one of my favourite games on the N64. The length was perfect. I know many people saw it as far too short but the whole replay value of it depended on the scoring system. 45 minutes is about how long many people will sit down and play the same game and that’s about how long it took to complete it. Half of playing it again was to beat your best score. However, because so many people criticised the length of it, saying it was too short, I fear Namco will make it longer (that is who’s making it right?). I think this will destory the brilliance of the original game as the scoring system will unlikely play such a big role. If they ruin this one I’ll be even more disappointed than 1080. This is one of my most awaited titles on the GC. I’m praying at the moment. To Yevon.

Coming back to Zelda, I can’t help but fear the worst. Ocarina of Time is one of, if not the, best game of all time. I know Ganon isn’t even supposed to be in the new one so at least a childish looking version of him won’t ruin his menacing self from Ocarina of Time, but that’s about the only plus point I can think of. And saying Ganon being absent from the game is a plus shows how concerned I really am. I was highly disappointed with Majoras Mask. Zelda was basically completely absent from it and Ganon didn’t make an appearance at all. What’s happening this time round? Link is saving his sister, Zelda isn’t supposed to be in it again, and Ganon I don’t believe is confirmed either. I just don’t think Zelda games can be the same without Ganon or Zelda. You need Ganon to be there as the bad guy. It just doesn’t seem to work otherwise.

Wave Race has already been flawed in my opinion, whereas Smash Bros and Rogue Leader came off very well because they weren’t altered in any major way. I just need to hope for the best for Lylat Wars, 1080 and F-Zero. I heard a rumour a while back that Perfect Dark Zero was to be third person, and all I can say is I hope that it was just a rumour (pretty sure it was). Zelda is probably the star title of Nintendo for me, and to think that they might ruin it…..well, it’d be a major disappointment to say the very least.

Then there’s Luigi’s Mansion. It was fun, but nothing more. It wasn’t a spectacular launch title for the GC like Mario was for the N64. I don’t think it was enough to make people buy the console, like Mario was. It just didn’t have the same level of freedom as Mario did, and it was pretty short, especially compared to the length of Mario. It appears they’ve gone for a similar approach to Mario Sunshine, with the water backpack. I’m hoping for far more freedom than was available in Luigi’s Mansion, otherwise I fear yet another of Nintendo’s best games will be yet another disappointment. And once again, just like in Zelda, the classic storyline has been changed. No longer does Mario have to save Peach from Bowser, but he has to clear his name by wiping graffiti off walls. I mean, Mario himself has now been lowered to the level of cleaning walls. That’s a tragedy.

Basically what I’m saying is that I hate what Nintendo are doing. Zelda appears to be going down the same road as the extremely disappointing Majora’s Mask. Mario Sunshine appears to be going down the same road of the disappointing Luigi’s Mansion. And 1080 appears to be going down the same road as the slightly disappointing Wave Race: Blue Storm.

This worries me considerably as those games are some of the ones that I am most looking forward to on my Gamecube. Knowing Nintendo, they’ll probably pull it off to amazing effect, but at the moment I really can’t help but worry. At the moment, I’m more looking forward to the GameCube version of Ocarina of Time than the new Zelda game but the way things are going, I wouldn’t be surprised if Nintendo announce that they are “slightly” altering the storyline. Maybe they’ll just replace Ganon with a toilet cleaner, who hasn’t actually kidnapped the princess but has been framed. Maybe they’ll make Link into a 4 year old Ricky Winterborn who has mysteriously got a lot younger. Or perhaps Zelda will be replaced by Link’s long lost Auntie. What is going on!?
Tue 04/06/02 at 19:43
Regular
Posts: 9,848
I suppose how you adapt to change is how well you know a game.

The changes in Smash Brothers Melee are miniscule, although they were enough to completely throw all my skills based on 2 years of the previous Smash Brothers.

Still, after a few hours of dis-orientation, I've managed to start adapting to the new "feel/speed/physics/play" of the game.
I'm not sure how long it took others to get the hang of it.

As for Zelda, no need to worry about it not being serious.

Cartoons don't have to be soft and playful.

Have you seen Dragon Ball Z.
It's not ALL dark and seriousness but you see enough to know that cartoons can be serious when they want to be...

It'll have just as much tension and atmosphere as the previous Zelda games.

If not, it won't be down to cartoony graphics atleast...
Tue 04/06/02 at 20:34
Regular
"+34 Intellect"
Posts: 21,334
After seeing Gannondorfs eyes after completing SSBM with him, he just oozes evil, he really is evil! I like it.
Tue 04/06/02 at 21:16
Regular
Posts: 11,875
Have yu seen the shots of Zelda where he's in some dark dungeon surrounded by monsters? It still looks menacing and spooky. Besides, who isn't scared of clowns!
Tue 04/06/02 at 21:37
Posts: 0
Its good to have nice grafix in a game but it aint no good without the gameplay Shadow Of the beast springs to mind on that.
Tue 04/06/02 at 23:48
Regular
"keep your receipt"
Posts: 990
Lylat Wars Adventures is being made by Rare, so I wouldn't worry too much. It started out as Dinasour Planet on the N64, a game that seemed very dark and foreboding. Hopefully this feature will be retained in the GameCube version. The gameplay looks very similar to Zelda too, so for your serious ACtion RPG fix I would go there.
Wed 05/06/02 at 00:11
Regular
Posts: 15,579
Just a quick point about the new 1080 game.

It was originally going to be made be Left Field but is now in development by Nintendo internally.

Miyamoto said himself that the game will be similar in style to the N64 version, and it is likely that Nintendo didn't agree with Left Field's more arcade-like take on the genre, possibly because of the abundance of extreme snowboarding titles like SSX Tricky and Dark Summit.

Sure, on the whole, a few things have changed but I feel GameCube will offer sooooo much more than the N64...
Wed 05/06/02 at 12:45
Regular
"You! Obey the fist!"
Posts: 468
Strafex wrote:
> I suppose how you adapt to change is how well you know a game.
>
> The changes in Smash Brothers Melee are miniscule, although they were
> enough to completely throw all my skills based on 2 years of the
> previous Smash Brothers.
>
> Have you seen Dragon Ball Z.
> It's not ALL dark and seriousness but you see enough to know that
> cartoons can be serious when they want to be...

the same happened to me with ssbm, its basically the same game, but the little differences almost made me have to start off from scratch, even though I, like you strafex, have had the original for about 2 years.

finally, sum 1 else who likes dbz! but u r right, a cartoon can be serious when it wants to, what about when vegeta sacrificed himself, that was bloody serious.(oh, i'd better shut up now, i'm kinda deviating from nintendo stuff aren't I!)
Wed 05/06/02 at 18:52
Regular
"Rong Xion Tong"
Posts: 5,237
0-MessiaH-0 wrote:
> Lylat Wars Adventures is being made by Rare, so I wouldn't worry too
> much. It started out as Dinasour Planet on the N64, a game that
> seemed very dark and foreboding. Hopefully this feature will be
> retained in the GameCube version. The gameplay looks very similar to
> Zelda too, so for your serious ACtion RPG fix I would go there.




I'n looking forward to Lylat Wars Adventures but that's not the one I was talking about in my original post. I was referring to the actual Lylat Wars game.

Oh and Ortega, that's good news. If that Left Field company had ruined 1080 and then released it, I would have personally made it my mission in life to hunt them down and kill them. Either that or I'd just hate them forever and never EVER speak to them (again).
Wed 05/06/02 at 18:58
Regular
"Rong Xion Tong"
Posts: 5,237
Whitestripes wrote:
Besides, who isn't scared of clowns!



I sense a hint of sarcasm but I'd just like to say that I am actually scared of clowns. It's those clown doll things you get. The ones with fabric bodies but wooden heads, all decorated with paint and stuff. They are damn scary. I would NEVER have one of those in my room. I'd wake up in the night and have a damn heart attack. People who buy those for their kids should be jailed for life! No kid should ever have to go through that!

Oh and Dooz, please tell everyone here how much of an idiot Votta is.

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