Developer: Grezzo, Capcom
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Genre: 2D, Action, Adventure, Puzzle
Gameplay Stats: 42 shells, 18/20 hearts, 2 bottles
In 1993 Nintendo finally let another company, Capcom, make their own adventure for Link on the Game boy! I played the re-release on the Game boy Color when I was young and have vague, fond memories of the experience. Now in 2019, Nintendo let ANOTHER company, this time Grezzo, remake the famous game and release it for their modern system, potentially letting another generation of gamers learn about about the Ballad of the Windfish.
Visuals: This is probably the biggest upgrade here. The visuals are an updated, almost clay-looking, version of the chibi aesthetic that was so popular on Game boy. The game looks stunning to be honest. Everything has been recreated and animated in such a way that everything is really cute. Even the enemies are cute! It's actually a really great looking game, I'm surprised they were able to accomplish this on the Nintendo Switch. The only thing I can complain about here is that they put kind of an odd effect on the screen that only keeps things in focus in the middle of the screen. It makes sense for the theme, but I wish they hadn't done it or had made it removable.
Audio: It sounds like they had an orchestra remake all of the music for this game and it's all so beautiful. The sound effects get a little repetitive, but Nintendo never has had any chill with the sound effects. So many grunts in all the Zelda games! The Ballad of the Windfish, possibly the most memorable song in all of Zelda history, has been gloriously remade. I will absolutely listen to this song again and again in the future. It's haunting and beautiful!
Plot: The plot here is pretty interesting actually. It's tough to talk about without going into spoilers, but I think it's safe to say that this is a fairly unique plot. It's nothing groundbreaking, but it's solid and interesting. I found it very thought provoking when I was young and I wouldn't be surprised if it played some role in main stream media. I remember being gripped when I was younger, and I think I might still feel that way if I had been playing it for the first time today.
Gameplay: It's a 2D Zelda game, what do you expect? It's really fun. The game looks like it's built on tiles, but player and enemy movement isn't held to 8 directions like it was in the past. It feels great. This game plays like a lovely mix of new and old in a way that's really satisfying from a nostalgic and modern perspective. One of the additions to the remake was a dungeon mode where you can build and share your own dungeons. You get to mix and match your own pre-made rooms in a layout of your creation. You get to decide on the enemies and bosses in the mix as well as how many treasure chests you're going to include. I didn't find it that compelling, but it's optional. You do get some items from completing several of the included challenges (heart container, bottle) but I didn't finish all of them. I did I think 6/15 of the challenges and I decided to give it up since I wasn't enjoying it very much. Hopefully your mileage varies!
Overall, I really enjoyed this game. It's a lovely mix of new and old made in such a way that it should be enjoyable to old hands and newcomers alike. I didn't particularly enjoy the dungeon creation mechanic, but I like the effort. It's Nintendo testing the waters for a Mario Maker type game for Zelda, and much like Mario Maker, I would enjoy playing others' levels more than making my own. I do hope that Nintendo does release a creator of some kind for Zelda, but in the mean time, I highly recommend that anyone give this a try. [9/10]
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