Number One!

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Released in 1998 for the Nintendo 64, re-released for Wii’s Virtual Console in 2007.

Come on, as if you didn’t see this coming.

It’s a no-brainer. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is regarded by most gamers to be one of, if not, the best games ever created. The Legend of Zelda series is one of Nintendo’s oldest, beloved by the company itself and a huge amount of gamers the world over. The original (titled The Legend of Zelda) was released in 1986 for the Nintendo Entertainment System, or NES for short, and is still considered a pivotal point in gaming for its inclusion of an in-built save system – before this people were required to remember or write down passwords if they were to continue from a particular point. Over time the games were developed for other Nintendo platforms and the scale of the adventures continue to grow.

The premise is usually the same for each home-console release of the Zelda games – Ganon seeks to obtain the power of the Triforce, the balance of all life and law throughout Hyrule. The (unsuspecting) hero Link somehow becomes tasked with the fate of protecting the world from Ganon’s rule by acquiring some sort of aid from the title character, Princess Zelda. Along the way Link discovers new perils, weapons and cultures. It’s a formula that’s present in all major releases of the game, which is both good and bad; good in the sense that it doesn’t risk doing something radically different, and bad in the sense that it doesn’t risk doing something radically different. Most Zelda fans (myself included) are happy with the way the games are, but it is understandable how some people would want some changes – and that’s what the handheld versions have done. The DS iterations of the series are sequels to the controversial Wind Waker title released for GameCube in 2003. The formula remains relatively the same - Link attains new weapons, must find/help Zelda, culminates in bad dude confrontation, however they take place outside of the world of Hyrule (above it to be exact, since the once prosperous civilisation is been underwater for hundreds of years) and the art style features a more cartoonish look.

One of the most important moments in gaming; Link embraces destiny.

However, back on topic, OoT was the first Zelda game developed in a fully realised 3D world and the scope of it, since it was an N64 game, was massive – if you stood in the middle of Hyrule Field and saw something far into the background, you could go there. The game was also the first to feature an automatic jump mechanic – one that was quite unconventional at the time but again is not unusual today. A particularly “memorable” (for the lack of a better word) inclusion was the character Navi, Link’s fairy. Within the universe of this particular game the children of Kokiri Forest were considered to be grown-up only when they obtained the company of a fairy. I mention this because apart from being a character in the game Navi was a sort of hint system – if you were lost you would press C-Up and receive a hint for what currently needs to be done. Though, Navi also proved to be an annoyance for a lot of people spawning various internet memes for its frequent exclamations of “Hey! Listen!”. One of the most notable and appraised features of the game however is the inclusion of a musical instrument; the titular Ocarina of Time. With this players were able to learn and memorise certain button combinations to perform a tune that would alter the gameplay or the environment in some fashion. Another highly revered feature was the ability to time travel between the present and the future. Completing certain quests or objectives in Link’s childhood affected the outcome of some situations or passages in his adulthood. In fact the final dungeon, The Spirit Temple, could only be completed once certain objectives were met between both timelines.

 
First confrontation with Ganon.

Ocarina of Time was the very first Zelda game I had ever laid eyes on upon its release in late ‘98 when one of my uncles bought it. I watched him play the entire game from after the first dungeon, The Great Deku Tree, over a period of perhaps six months – we got stuck in the Water Temple like a lot of people and took a two month break before figuring it out and working towards the finish again. It wasn’t until I finally owned the game in the following year that I realised how much more the game had to offer – the game has many secrets and collectibles it’s almost frustrating, though finally attaining them is greatly rewarding. It was also the first game that made me feel like a hero – the absence of a voice for Link allows for you to imagine your own instead (this is true for every Zelda game; the only vocal sounds Link makes are grunts and screams during action). It was also the biggest game I’d seen at the time; as mentioned before about seeing places in the distance, when you see Death Mountain in the distance then realise you have to eventually scale it and enter it makes you feel apart of something grand. The discoveries of other cultures such as the Gorons, Zoras and Gerudo make you feel like it’s a living world with each culture being so unique yet practical to the game. Also the unique effects of most songs learned for the ocarina are easy to take for granted, such as the ability to quicken time from night to day, summon the rain, call your horse and more.

I could go on and on about what else makes this game great, but I’m sure you’ve already heard other people rave on about its brilliance. And if you haven’t played it yet then get to it!

Number Three!

Conker’s Bad Fur Day
Released for Nintendo 64 in 2001, re-released for Xbox in 2005

“Laughing all the way to the bank!”

Anyone who knows me knows that I have a pretty sick and twisted sense of humour. Some of that due to watching South Park since the age of 9, and some of that is thanks to this fine game by Rare. The game was originally called Twelve Tales: Conker 64 and was set to be aimed for children considering the Red Squirrel had already starred in Diddy Kong Racing for the N64 and Conker’s Pocket Tales for the Game Boy Colour. After its announcement and gameplay footage was released at E3 1998, Rare was stigmatised by fans as being another kid-friendly developer. Soon after this Rare scrapped the entire game and took their character into the complete opposite direction – instead of being geared towards young’uns it was now aimed at the mature audience. And by “mature”, I mean “immature”.

Conker begins his journey after a hard night of heavy drinking with some buddies who are off to fight in a war the following day. Hungover and completely lost Conker tries to make his way home, however it’s not as simple as it seems. He must venture passed irate Scottish dung-beetles, a giant pile of singing poo, savage cavemen, vampire bats, the Evil Panther King, an army of evil Tediz and Death himself, just to name a few things. What makes this game more appealing however is its mostly crude sense of humour – within the first couple of minutes of the introduction Conker drunkenly stumbles out of The Cock and Plucker pub only to end up vomiting all over a Lizard Monk reading a scriptured tablet. I knew after that moment that I was going to enjoy this game.

Conker was set to be a radically different game.

There still isn’t anything quite like this game out there, except of course for the Xbox remake. Apart from the hilarious antics and storyline, the game also played and performed incredibly well. Since the game was developed very late in the 64’s lifetime, Rare managed to utlilise the complete power of Nintendo’s third-generation home console. Due the beautifully rendered graphics of the time, the game did however suffer a few hiccups in terms of framerate. As for sound, the game is still renowned as a technical achievement having fully-voiced dialogue on such a constrained medium. Also, the soundtrack is fantastic and catchy.

Last up is the multiplayer. CBFD features some more humourous concepts in terms of multiplayer scenarios. For example the mode Beach has the Frenchies (refugees) trying to penetrate the boarders of a country without getting killed by Tediz (boarder patrol), and the mode Raptor features cavemen trying to steal raptor eggs for breakfast whereas the velociraptors are trying to catch the cavemen to feed to their babies.

Conker’s Bad Fur Day was Rare’s second-to-last Nintendo game, next to Starfox Adventures for the GameCube. Despite being released late into the 64’s lifespan and having taken a complete U-turn during development, Conker has amassed a large cult following across the world for its technical achievements, crude humour and memorable story. I’m excited to place it as my third favourite game of all time.

Number Four!

Donkey Kong
Released in 1994 for Game Boy

“Help! Help!”

Everyone knows that Mario’s arch nemesis is Bowser, King of the Koopas. However a lot of people fail to realise that Mario and Donkey Kong aren’t quite the best of buds either. Mario’s (at the time called Jump Man) very first appearance was in the original 1981 Donkey Kong arcade game, where the titular character kidnaps the Italian plumber’s then-love interest Pauline – not Peach or Daisy. The arcade version only had four levels; Girders, Conveyor Belts, Elevators and Rivets. Jump Man had to overcome various obstacles such as rolling barrels, balls of flame and platform gaps to reach Donkey Kong at the top of the stage, who would then grab the damsel in distress and run off to the next area.

In 1994 the arcade classic was re-imagined for the Game Boy and featured a mind-blowing ninety-seven extra stages spread across nine worlds. The original four stages were featured at the beginning of the game, however instead of Mario and Pauline falling into each other’s embrace after DK’s downfall at the end of the fourth stage, the ape awakes to make off with Pauline yet again. The game soon evolves from simple running and jumping to platform puzzles. To progress through the stages Mario must find the key and bring it back to the correct door Donkey Kong passed through to proceed. The catch however, is that after a short time the key is left idle after pick up, it returns to its resting place.

The adventure starts out easy, but soon toughens up.

Of course, there’s also the boss fights. Every fourth stage is a boss battle in which the player must best vigorous traps and platforming techniques to reach the damsel in distress. However at the end of every world is a major confrontation with DK, in which the player must dodge barrels thrown by the ape and hurl them back three times to win.

I remember spending a solid three or four months playing pretty much only this game when I was in first-grade. It then took me a good four years (of in-frequent play) to finish it, which was such a huge achievement to me since it was the first Game Boy game to have completed. I still return to it every couple of years and beat it within a week just to keep my skills sharp because this game features some of the most challenging and satisfying level design I’ve seen in a side-scroller. Also, the music is incredibly catchy.

This game has gone on to spawn the popular Mario vs Donkey Kong on GBA and Mario vs Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis for DS titles. I hope that someday Nintendo will release a handheld version of the Virtual Console for DSi Ware and add this to the catalogue.

Number Five!

Alex Kidd In Miracle World
Released in 1986 for the Sega Master System, re-released for Wii’s Virtual Console in 2008

 
Simple yet challenging. As were most platform games of the 80s and 90s.

The first game in this feature is none other than Sega’s answer to Super Mario, Alex Kidd in Miracle World. Incidentally this great little piece of history was also the first game I had ever played, back in 1991 on my little Sega Master System II. It took me seventeen years to finish this game, and even then it required the use of an emulator and save states, but every time I play this game I feel three years old again. As mentioned earlier, Miracle World was only one of Sega’s attempts at competing against the immense popularity of the Super Mario franchise during the Nintendo vs Sega days of old. Alex Kidd went on to inspire various sequels throughout the Master System’s lifetime and eventually onto the Sega MegaDrive/Genesis.

Those freakin’ dragons used to scare the hell out of me.

Though the levels were never particularly long, they became increasingly challenging. Add to this the lack of a save system – which was the norm for platformers up until perhaps the mid-90s – and you have yourself a means to play games with immense precision. See before save systems were incorporated to games gamers had to play using this thing called “skills”. Mind you, it took me a few years to finally develop these as I could never seem to pass the third or fourth level. And even then when it came to the rock-paper-scissors (or “janken” in Japanese) boss battles I would usually have to get one of my uncles or parents to figure it out for me since it was way above my comprehension.

Despite this though, I always loved returning to Miracle World knowing full-well I will eventually get a game over and start again. Either the level design was immensely compelling and the art made the game look great, or I was just a weird kid who lived a life of repetition. Hmm.

In all seriousness though, Alex Kidd in Miracle World is a fantastic little platform game and is highly regarded as one of the best titles for the system. The graphics were great, the gameplay was simple yet challenging, and the sound/music is memorable. Fun fact: For Aussies who watch Hey Hey! It’s Saturday! on Channel 9, the “fail sound” from their celebrity trivia/game segments is the death chime from this game.