The Legend of Zelda Collector's Edition

"Collector's Edition, eh? Must have some good games in it."

The first Legend of Zelda to ever come out was named just that. Legend of Zelda. It came out in 1987 on the NES. It was one of the first console games that allowed you to save your game progress. It was an instant success and the developers decided to make another one. The Adventure of Link came out in the year 1988 again on the NES. It was a great game. During 1998, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time came out on the Nintendo 64. This was the game that most people consider was the one to revolutionize the series, as it included many new gameplay mechanics. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask came out in the year 2000 on the Nintendo 64. It was a game where you had 72 hours to save Termina, otherwise the moon would crash and destroy Clock Town. All 4 of these games were great fun, but now, it's hard to find these games in much places. So game publishers decided to create a new disc, that held each of these 4 games into 1 game. They included this free with purchase of their latest system, the Nintendo Game Cube.

So with that said, you'll probably be thinking, "Four games? Yeah right, they'll probably just be cheap demos of the whole version" and/or, "Four games, eh? Please, they must be real mediocre and unworthy of the GameCube system. I would finally like to clear that up for all of you. N-O spells NO. First, they're all complete, full games of their previous system installments. None of them are modified in any way that'll renovate the series into another world. So you can guarantee that you'll have 70-100 hours of Zelda gaming time if you've never experienced the four games Nintendo has to offer. And while they may be missing one of the best ones according to old gamers, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, the collection is enough to satisfy nearly all of any gamer's needs.

Let's start the breakdown, shall we? Beginning at the game that started it all, The Legend of Zelda, we find ourselves in Hyrule saving the world from the Evil King, Ganon/dorf. While playing this game, I noticed no difference in the conversion from the NES to the GameCube. The game's simply amazing and the series wouldn't be the same without it. All of that catchy music that first started the huge collection, I couldn't help but play through the whole game in one sitting and even moving onto the second quest! That's right, The Legend of Zelda has two quests, the second one obtainable by either A) finishing the first quest or B) entering your character name as ZELDA. Strange, but true. This gives the game a whole lot of replay value that no other game can create. The true epic feeling of the first game of a wonderful series gives me sensation to know that Link has come a long way. And for that reason, you must buy this game to truly experience what I mean. And this must be the first game you play out of the four just so you can see how Link changes over time.

Coming to our second Zelda game titled: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. This one is one of the least frequently played, because, I admit, it isn't very easy to get into the gameplay and fun. I had trouble with that for a little bit until I was used to the game and its innovations. First of all, let's talk about the story. Zelda has fallen into an eternal sleep, so Link must gather pieces to awaken Zelda. The biggest change from the original Zelda is the magic power enhancement. This adds a whole new twist to the game, whos graphics also exceed that of Zelda. However, similar to the original Zelda, the game was two-dimensional (don't call me a nerd, because I use the correct grammatical term!), but was solid enough so that you can still interpret the graphic's meanings. Zelda II is a nice game that builds the Zelda series further and bonds together with The Legend of Zelda for a terrific two-some. But this is just the beginning...

Ahh, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is here! One note, there were a couple Zelda games before this one, so don't be surprised by HUGE dramatical changes! Ocarina of Time was originally rooted in the Nintendo 64 system, but now it's back for more sword-slashing pleasure! The story remains true to the series, Link must team up with Zelda (don't know if that's the correct way to put it) to defeat Ganondorf and Ganon. While at the start, you may not think there'll be any dramatic changes to the game *coughsecondsentencecough* but indeed there are! The first one of them is the graphics. Yes, Link is finally three-dimensional! (As is all the other characters) This, along with lots of control changes, marks a whole new beginning to the Legend of Zelda series. This game has it all, from the scary suspense of an upcoming boss to the relaxing music from a certain ranch where you can ride horses. There is also lots of replay value, for those of you who need MORE and MORE Zelda. Overall, this game truly adds twists and turns to the Legend of Zelda series and you have to play this game to call yourself a true Zelda fan.

It's all down to our last game, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. This is one decent game that is argubly the sequel to Ocarina of Time. It's also fun and challenging! Most all of the controls for Majora's Mask are the same as Ocarina of Time, so don't forget those Ocarina mad skills! This game holds a time limit of 3 days (not in real time) to complete the whole game. You can revert back to the beginning at any time you want though, but you may lose some valuable items. Unfortunately, the time limit is what ticks people off, because they see the time limit as a force to finish the game quickly and not be able to explore various side quests and replay things. This is not at all true, the time goes very slow, and you can slow it down even more! Problem is, new-comers won't realize that and as a result, lose the opportunity to experience a truly fantastic game that leaves other games in the dust. You won't regret playing this game over and over and over again. And an added bonus...MAD MASK SKILLS!!!

Scores:

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Gameplay-
(LoZ-10/10, AoL-10/10, OoT-10/10, MM-10/10
Average-10/10
Final-10/10
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Story-
(LoZ-6/10, AoL-7/10, OoT-10/10, MM-9/10)
Average-8/10
Final-8.5/10
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Graphics-
(LoZ-3/10, AoL-4/10, OoT-8/10, MM-9/10)
Average-6/10
Final-7.5/10
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Music
(LoZ-8/10, AoL-6/10, OoT-10/10, MM-10/10)
Average-8.5/10
Final-10/10
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Sound-
(LoZ-5/10, AoL-8/10, OoT-10/10, MM-10/10)
Average-8.25/10
Final-8/10
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Replayability-
(LoZ-10/10, AoL-6/10, OoT-8/10, MM-9/10)
Average-8.25/10
Final-8.25/10
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The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition is a great place for any typical gamer to start in the Zelda series. Since there are four games, one demo, and two movies, along with a paragraph of description for every game, you'll easily jump into the action and be left dazzled at the magnificence of Link, Zelda and Ganondorf. So pick up this game, whether you're an old-timer or a new-comer, because Link has a vast world to explore, and you can't miss it!

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 05/27/05