BS Zelda Review
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Next Article Article List Got any comments? You can tell me by using... The form Message Board The opinions on this page are those of the Mariner. Do not use any of this unless you get permission from him. Remember, you can write your own editorials on pretty much anything video game related. Just write to me 11 - 06 - 00  |
For those of you who don't know, BS Zelda can be summed up as a version of
the original Zelda on the SNES with SNES graphics. This game existed only in
Japan and was part of their satellite add on to the Super Nintendo. See, they
would download a small portion of the game each week and play it on this nifty
system. Unfortunately, this idea was not popular enough to warrant bringing it
to the US or elsewhere, or even popular enough to finish the game. Yet
somewhere, somehow, there are ROMs of this floating around on the internet. I
finally managed to track one down (I'm not going to tell you where, basically
because I forgot already) and played it. Here are my thoughts. It all started out with the title screen. It was the same as the original, which surprised me, for I had seen screenshots of the title screen with updated graphics. The game started with another disappointment. I recieved the sword from the cave, but I had to wait for the guy to stop speaking. There was the typical garbled beeps that indicated he was speaking, but no words appeared. I suppose that makes sense, seeing as the game was never translated. However, that meant that I could not listen to anybody. The graphics, too, let me down some. Link's face looked horrible, although the rest of him was fine. And the Triforce symbol seemed to be too elongated. And the overworld was half as small as the original, which upset me for a little while. By now you must be thinking it's horrible, for I have nothing but complaints. But you should realize that all of these complaints are about minor things. The overall impression was a good one. It felt like a third quest, one even more bizarre yet simpler than the second. It was, to steal a line so commonly used for Majora's Mask, a different adventure in a familiar setting. The levels were all different. Like the second quest, they were shaped like letters, but I did not notice what, if anything, they spelled out (in the second quest, the first 5 labyrinths spell out Zelda). Unfortunately, this ROM did not include the power bracelet, so I could not get to level 7. The labyrinths were somewhat difficult but still beatable. They reminded me more of LttP or OoT dungeons than LoZ. By this I mean that there was one clear path to take, whereas in the original you could wander around in the dungeons. The bosses were rather simple, but I was impressed by the graphics. Especially Patra, who should have been a boss but never was. And the fact that the overworld was similar to LoZ did not detract from the game. I took a wrong turn getting to level 1, and this is coming from the person who could map out the entire overworld from memory (well, sort of). Many of the items and heart containers were in different places. I was surprised when I found the White Sword, for I was looking for something entirely different. Truly, an impressive game. Perhaps the most interesting part of the game is the random aid. At various parts of the game, the game will freeze and go black. Sometimes, the enemies will be killed or frozen, sometimes a fairy will appear, and sometimes something better occurs for a limited time. I recieved the red candle once, infinite bombs, and all heart containers. These would go away eventually, but were fun to use. It's amazing what one can do with infinite bombs. Yet the most interesting item I recieved, and the thing I like best about this game, is what I shall call the super boomerang. It was a whitish color yet sparkled. It also went faster than the magical boomerang (I think, it was hard to tell). But the thing that made it so impressive was that it had the attacking power of the white sword. Imagine the strength of this thing. It could hit anybody, and still pick up stuff. One could hit someone, have it go through them, and thn hit them again on its way back. I don't think I took out my sword the entire time I had that thing. Wow is all I can say. It rivals the hookshot and Master Sword in coolness. Wow. Another aspect that I liked was the night. After you beat level 5, it becomes dark. All octoroks become darknuts, making the game much harder. That was a neat aspect that should have neen evoked elsewhere. All in all, this game was great. It was much like playing the original again for the first time. The updated graphics, although impressive, was not what made the game for me (although seeing the Triforce pieces spinning and sparkling brought a certain amount of delight from me). It was the new levels, the new secrets, the new tricks. And, of course, the super boomerang. It saddened me that the game was never completed. In fact, on my ROM, it was impossible to get past level 6. But still, let me give you some statistics. It takes me an hour and a half to beat the original game, first quest. It took me about four hours to get past level 6. And you're telling me it's just the original game repeated? No, it's a new world, similar to the last, but new nonetheless. It is necessary to explore areas one would tend to ignore in the original game. It brought joy to me. What more do you want? If you find this ROM, play it. It is good. |
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