I've spent the past three days reliving an important part of my childhood.
I've fought through temples, saved towns, saw an old friend and mentor die, and went on and freed an entire land from an evil king.
For those unaware what I'm getting to, I've gone back and played Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the Nintendo 64 game that was released in 1998 and made me realize my first real hero as a kid was Link, the brave Hyrulian boy tasked with saving all of Hyrule from the evil that was Ganaondorf.
Running through Hyrule field once more; defeating the madness that rested inside Jabu-Jabu, the giant fish in Zora's Domain; and, of course, fishing at the small shop in Lake Hylia, brought back a time in my life when all seemed perfect. I was once again a 10-year-old boy saving he world.
I have even a greater appreciation for Zelda these days. The story line is killer and insanely well written with all sorts of twists and turns. In fact, I consider Shiek turning out to be Zelda bigger than Darth Vader turning out to be Luke's father – it blew my mind as a kid, man.
And not just that, but the game made you think, and challenges and fights just weren't handed over like in so many games today. What I really love – well love/hate – is that when Link dies in a temple, he doesn't respawn back to where he died. Instead, he's sent back to the temple's entrance to find that spot again. It's frustrating as hell at the time, ESPECIALLY if you're close to getting to the boss, but it let's you know that you better do your best not to die.
But I realized something in that three-day period, too. I've done quite a bit of growing up since those days. The difficulty of saving Hyrule when I was younger was so much that, despite my best efforts, I had to rely on a strategy guide to get me through the temples and challenges that Link faced.
Remember, for example, when Link had to meet Saria in the Lost Woods to get the wooden ocarina – and also later to get to the Forest Temple – there was a certain path he had to take or he would get lost and return to the village? Never in my adolescent life could I had figured that out without some form of help. And only recently did I find out that the trick is to walk down the tunnels and see if the tune got louder or vanished – if it got louder, Link was headed in the right direction. But my trusty guide gave me all the help I needed – left, right, left, right, center, left, right. I remember for a solid week I would walk to the bus stop two blocks away rehearsing those directions so I wouldn't forget.
And then, without question the most difficult part of the game, the Water Temple. Even with the strategy guide here I struggled to get through a place that's water levels changed more than Tiger Woods' current golf swing. I must admit, I still struggled through that damned place this most recent time through – although it was mainly because of my dumbassness and overthinking things.
But for the most part, this go-round – some 12 years later – was much easier than the previous two times. I don't know if it's because I've played the game twice before and my brain kept it hidden deep in its hidden depths – highly unlikely – or if in that 12-year timeframe, I've become smarter – also very unlikely.
Yet the bosses seemed easier, and the temples, what would take me two or three days to complete one as a kid, I was racing through two or three in a day. Hell, in the last battle with Ganondorf, where I died countless times as a kid, I defeated him and returned Hyrule to its former glory in less than 20 minutes.
I will now be known as Matt: Zelda's Ultimate Hero.
Now, if I could only find a way to find the Master Sword and drop it back in the Temple of Time so I can return to my 10-year-old self.
[/endnerdalert]
No comments:
Post a Comment