Currently, there are two ways you can get hold of the Zelda Collector's Edition. The first is to buy a new GameCube; it's the current bundled extra. For those of you who already have a GameCube (or can see little reason to buy a secondary digital handbag) you can also register at Nintendo's local Web site, and, provided you buy two games from a rather short list -- Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, Kirby's Air Ride, Pokémon Channel, 1080º Avalanche, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes or Tak & The Power of JuJu -- they'll send you the disc, although they note that stocks are limited. The question remains, though, as to whether it's worth the trouble. The answer is, however, a rather resounding yes.
Nintendo's claim within the game is that with this disc and a GameBoy Player (with suitable GB/GBC/GBA cartridges), you could potentially play every single Zelda title on the Gamecube. That means that they're ignoring the three Philips CDI Zelda games, but that's probably a wise decision. In the 'you'll only watch them once category' on the disc are two short clips, one of which is just an ad for The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker, while the other is a nice little retrospective clip covering all of the Nintendo-produced Zelda games. There's also a 20 minute playable version of The Wind Waker to whet your appetite for that title, although of course you'd have to buy it seperately.
What's interesting about the selection of four full Zelda games is that chronologically they cover such an immense time span. You've got the original NES Legend Of Zelda and the followup Zelda II: Link's Awakening. The action then jumps a console generation to The Legend Of Zelda: The Ocarina Of Time (identical to the version shipped with pre-orders of The Wind Waker last year) and The Legend Of Zelda: Majora's Mask. The omission of the SNES classic The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past is presumably because Nintendo would rather you purchased the GBA remake. It's still a very solid lineup of games that, for the most part, have stood the test of time very well indeed.
The Legend Of Zelda is of course the game that started it all, and while it's graphically amazingly dated, it's still also an awful lot of fun to play, whether you're taking a trip down memory lane or visiting the world of Hyrule for the very first time. We can imagine, however, that somewhere somebody will buy a Gamecube, pop the disc in and select this only to be outraged at the primitive graphics. Trust us, it'll happen somewhere.
The sequel, Link's Awakening, is the weakest part of the package, mostly because Nintendo tried an experimental side-scrolling format for most of the game's action; a kind of Zelda-meets-Mario mix that really doesn't work all that well at all. For what it's worth, Link's Awakening did do a number of interesting things with the NES hardware in terms of visual presentation, but that's about all it has going for it. As you'd expect, presentation of both of the NES titles is spot-on, right down to requiring the use of the select button to move around menus, something that takes a little bit of getting used to, as does the use of an analog stick on a game that originally used digital input. Thankfully, the digital pad is also enabled if you want the pure retro experience.
As mentioned, the version of The Ocarina Of Time that ships in the collection is identical to the version that was a pre-order bonus for the Wind Waker last year; if you've already got it, well, congratulations, you've now got it again. The other N64 title, Majora's Mask, is new to the GameCube platform, and visually it's almost identical to the Ocarina Of Time, although rather like Link's Awakening, it's more of an experimental game. Unlike Link's Awakening, however, it's actually quite a good game, albeit not quite up to the high standard set by The Ocarina Of Time. The one flaw with Majora's Mask can be found in the audio, although to Nintendo's credit, they're wise enough to admit as much in a loading screen that warns of irregularities in the way it's been ported from the N64. Given the relative similarities between the controllers for the N64 and the GameCube, there are fewer controller oddities to overcome with these titles. While some players will get through the NES games in a relatively short period, uncovering everything in the Ocarina and Majora's Mask titles will take you a rather longer period -- there's a reason why many Zelda fans consider the Ocarina Of Time to be Link's finest hour, after all.
The Zelda Collection sits in an unusual place. Were it a full-priced title, we'd be a touch dubious about it, if only because it wouldn't be that hard to hunt down these four titles second-hand on eBay. As a pack-in bonus, it's excellent -- we really can't think of a pack-in game in recent history that has this much pure playability, albeit from games that are now somewhat aged. As a promotional bonus they're worth hunting down if you're already likely to buy two of Nintendo's choice titles, especially if you've never played them or fondly remember a time when you did.
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anonymous
12/06/2007, 08:38 AM
rating
8/10
Great description, however when describing Zelda II: Adventure of Link, it was numerously called Link's Awakening. Link's Awakening was a great handheld game for the Gameboy and was not on the Collector's Edition for the Gamecube.
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sexy_gamer_06
25/08/2006, 02:15 AM
rating
10/10
excellent gaming history!
While i thouroughly enjoyed playing through the games and was provided with excellent gameplay and was in suspense of what would happenn next the graphics let it down slightly but the gameplay makes up for the graphica a hungred times over!
in my opinion this is a must buy title if you own a gamecube! (what elese can yopu get for the GC, lets face it its made for zeld:windwaker or metroid prime or super mario)
Pros: -excellent gameplay
-hours of fun
-see where it all began
-'orcarina of time' is the undisputed best zelda game of all time!
Cons: -graphics are dated
-controller differs from nes or n64 slightly so it can take a bit of getting used to
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04/03/2005, 08:27 PM
great
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