Zelda CE Impressions from IGN

[Warlock]

http://cube.ign.com/articles/440/440850p1.html

Why do I get the feeling Fran (same guy who wrote the terrible Mario Kart: DD review) wrote this? Here's what I mean:

About the two NES games:

That said, if you remember these games looking gorgeous, as we thought we did, then like us you're in for a surprise because they're not.

Gee, thanks. They are $@%$!@% 15 years old (or more).. give them a break!


Sadly, Nintendo has done little more than emulate these games on GameCube. Both run at below 30 frames per second despite the fact that, with a little extra time and effort they could have been made to run at a solid 60 frames on this far-more-powerful console.

Did you really need to bitch about that? Yes, sure, it would have been nice, but take this for what it is. A BONUS disk. Not a game. Nintendo can't wave a finger and *poof* make the games run at 60 fps. For something that is free, having some gratitude they run at a decent 30 fps at all.


The control layouts for all of the games are laid out on-screen before each one loads, which makes them in turn easy to learn. But there are some odd function choices. For instance, in some menus you cannot scroll through items by pressing up or down on the analog stick or D-Pad; instead, you use the Y button for this task. We understand the reasoning for it -- the old games used a single button for the process -- but it feels odd and unintuitive all of the same.

What the heck is he talking about here? I cannot find a Zelda game from the disk that used the Y (Select) button to scroll through items unless it's something w/ the OoT/MM menus.. I dunno..

But anyways, yeah.. I think it's the same guy. Talking mainly about the faults and bitching about really unimportant things. I'll have to see if I can find out who wrote it.

Otherwise tho, there are some nice screens there.

[MottZilla]

IGN sucks, don't you know that by now?

[Warlock]

Originally posted by Mottzilla
IGN sucks, don't you know that by now?

Haha, I know.. I have since given up believing their reviews (except maybe IGN Pocket, that site still seems to be ok). Here's what TSA said:
http://boards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=48446973&replies=1

heh.. Also to support my claim that Fran wrote the article:
http://media.cube.ign.com/media/608/608263/img_1878415.html

Well it's not proof, but it's evidence. That with the writing style certainly suggests it. I honestly think the guy is on an anti-Nintendo kick. I believe he was working over at IGN Xbox for awhile even, I'm not sure. Supposively he manages the Insider site I guess. I seriously think they should just leave him out of any GameCube related stuff from now on, as he seems to have formed an anti-Nintendo opinion before even playing the games.

[AlexMax]

That was just retarded...

And what did any of IGN's staff have to say about it? Just that "You're just mad because we gave Double Dash a 7.2".

At least they're not giving stupid grades to Xbox games...at least not yet.

[Warlock]

Originally posted by AlexMax
That was just retarded...

And what did any of IGN's staff have to say about it? Just that "You're just mad because we gave Double Dash a 7.2".

At least they're not giving stupid grades to Xbox games...at least not yet.

Haha, really.. one thing I hate about those boards is it's so damn hard to tell who is an IGN editor.. they don't have any sort of special graphics or text or titles or anything.. I didn't even notice that guy was one until you mentioned it and I looked at his sig.

[vegeta1215]

I don't get why they complain about the framerate in Zelda and Zelda II. The slowdown you get from having lots of sprites on the screen was there when we played the games on the NES. I think emulating that slowdown makes it feel even more like the original! (just like with the NES Metroid included with Metroid Prime)

[Mak-X]

Originally posted by vegeta1215
I don't get why they complain about the framerate in Zelda and Zelda II. The slowdown you get from having lots of sprites on the screen was there when we played the games on the NES.

They were talking about the N64 Zelda's ;)

Ocarina of Time on GC seemed fine to me because of the resolution of 640x480, and since it was running on the GC, the frame rate was actually better, noticeably in the Dodongo Dungeon in the central hub area, and overall the whole game. Another example is when you stun Ganondorf with Light arrows. My routine is to then run over and jump off the ledge, and do a jump slash while Link is in the air. In the N64 version there was slowdown from the effects of the light arrow, while on the GC there wasn't any slowdown, so I had to be quicker to pull off my routine. I don't think they need to run at 60 fps though. About 30fps should be consistant enough for N64 games.

I'd think Majora's Mask would be more consistant than OoT since it already had a better framerate than Ocarina because of the extra 4MB of RAM.

[vegeta1215]

Originally posted by Mak-X
They were talking about the N64 Zelda's ;)


Yeah, my mistake. I read a different review where they complained about the slow down on the NES ones.


Another example is when you stun Ganondorf with Light arrows. My routine is to then run over and jump off the ledge, and do a jump slash while Link is in the air. In the N64 version there was slowdown from the effects of the light arrow, while on the GC there wasn't any slowdown, so I had to be quicker to pull off my routine.

I played my N64 OoT one weekend when I went home and I noticed that too. The slowdown is really bad in the N64 one. The GCN one is flawless. As I've said, I can't wait for Majora's Mask :D

UPDATE: I just played OoT on the GCN last night, and the slowdown is significantly lessened during the final battle and the escape sequence. But, the frame rate issue is very evident during the credits with all the camera pans - they're very jittery. That's the only part in the game I really noticed the frame rate thing though.

[Mak-X]

www.1up.com has their review up

http://www.1up.com/article2/0,4364,1388816,00.asp

[MottZilla]

And the framerate being smoother is an example of inaccurate emulation. ;) Ofcourse, it's actually something you'd want as an option, esspecially for a game like say, GoldenEye, which framerate blows.

[Melonhead]

I would be so pissed off if they had enhanced the games!
If I want to buy a "collectors edition," it sure as hell had better be as close to the original as possible. Besides, do they really need to review this? It's not really a "game" as a bonus disc.

[TheGeepster]

Some graphical enhancements are not necessarily bad, but too much enhancing can spoil the purpose of the classic being released again.

Consider the Final Fantasy antohologies. Most of those have minor changes to them, but the game is still generally the same as the original (plus perhaps a few bonus features such as the omake and artwork you can unlock as you play).

But as long as the games play like they originally did, then I'll be happy.

[Melonhead]

Lol, TSA's completely Gannon-banned the dude that writes the guides over at IGN. Still, I give IGN credit for taking so much abuse withing their forums without banning people and deleting threads. Or maybe their just lazy and don't read the posts...

[Kirby of Doom]

I wouldn't mind something like Zelda 1 or LTTP in 3d type of overhead graphics. Actually, an actual 3d LttP N64/GCN would be interesting. But, I agree since this is the Collectors Pak they're probably going for nostalgia.

[Melonhead]

I've often imagined how LTTP would turn out if remade today, with the graphics used in that one tech demo for e3 a few years ago. Oh yeah, that would kick so much ass!

[Kirby of Doom]

Or cell shading. :p

[vegeta1215]

Originally posted by Melonhead
Lol, TSA's completely Gannon-banned the dude that writes the guides over at IGN. Still, I give IGN credit for taking so much abuse withing their forums without banning people and deleting threads. Or maybe their just lazy and don't read the posts...

Wonder if TSA will continue to Gannon-ban people since Nintendo fixed the spelling error and the poor translation of the story for The Legend of Zelda? http://www.gamespot.com/gamecube/action/zeldacollectors/screens.html?page=29

[Gerudo]

i would really laughed so hard if they woulda changed the classic look into something that we already use, like the BS, Pure, OoS/OoA or ALTTP tilesets... :laughing:

anyways, i should look into getting this, although i already have the OoT disc...

but hey, id rather get it for free (along with MKDD) than have to pay 35 bucks like they are charging for the OoT disc now... (at EBGames, anways)...

[Kirby of Doom]

In a way 30, 40, or even 50 dollars is not bad since if you had actually bought the games when they came out you would have paid all together will over $100. But actually I've seen OOT and MM being sold online each less than $10. But I'd definitely pay $30 or $40 since I don't have my N64 here on campus (it's only part mine).