Jesus, good luck following in the footsteps of Helgeson's recent blog. Seriously? As of this writing, 15,000+ hits and counting?! I honestly didn't even think there were that many Sonic fans left in the entire world let alone that scour GI's blog section. I can only wonder what would have happened had he put, say, Super Mario 3's cover as the image for that particular blog. The earth would have devoured itself by now. Seriously, think about it.
Anyways, I'm getting way off base and I've just started writing. Mondays suck. Oh well, on to more mindless rambling...
Ah yes, my Nintendo DS. My Zelda-themed Nintedo DS Lite to be exact. What about it? Well, I love it. You see, I received it as a birthday gift back in mid-December and have been enchanted with it ever since. There's a number of reasons for this, some of which are interesting and some of which are not. But what really matters is that it has - for the time being, anyway - left my PS3 and Wii longing for some attention. Something which they won't be getting anytime soon, I'm afraid. All of this from a system that's been out for six years. And yet I just discovered its allure a mere two months ago. Better late then never, eh?
Mind you, there's a big, and I mean big, reason why I've become so drawn to the DS. And it has to do with this guy right here:
Bam!
Ha ha! Did you think I'd be able to go more than two blogs without any type of Zelda reference at all? For shame. You should know better than that.
You see, the main reason I wanted a DS in the first place was when I first laid my eyes on the Zelda-themed DS Lite that came packed with The Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass...back in 2009. What? That's two years after the game and, more importantly, the DS pack itself was released. And I call myself a true Zelda fanboy. Pathetic. But whatever, that's besides the point. The point is, I figured this cute little Zelda DS would go well with my newly acquired Link F4F statue seeing how it's a little tough (and a little expensive) to come by these days. And in the process, I could finally experience some of those Zelda handheld games people have talked so much about. Killing two birds with one stone. But I never really imagined it would serve more than an occasional distraction in my life. Hmm...
Guess what I did this past weekend while my wife was out of town? Played the fricken DS. That's it. THE ENTIRE WEEKEND. I ventured out of the house once – to get groceries, otherwise I would have starved and eating the DS wasn't an option. I also took a nap. Which was the result of staying up until 2am playing, you guess it, the fricken DS! What happened here? Am I eight years old? It's like its 1989 and I just got a Game Boy for Xmas. The miracle of video games, right in the palm of your hands! Heck, my bro wanted to hang out Friday night and I ditched him because I found "dual screens" to be far more captivating. Sorry little brother, but it's true.
And here I sit at work. Writing a blog about my admittedly pathetic weekend. Offering up praises for a little handheld system that, by and large, should be collecting dust in light off all the great games I have waiting for me on my PS3 and Wii (Assassin's Creed II, The Orange Box, Oblivion, Super Mario Galaxy, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Punch-Out!!, Killzone 2, Okami....none of which have I played. Yeah, it's bad). So what's going on here? Let me try to explain and save what little dignity I might have left in the process.
Yum
First and foremost, this little DS is, in case you hadn't noticed by now, Zelda-themed! So right off the bat I love it. But a cool looking DS alone does not a fun time make. Well, what happens when you throw in four - count 'em, four - Zelda games? Good times. Yep, right after I received the DS I immediately began scouring the interwebs for Zelda adventures I had yet to experience. When the dust settled, I had acquired three new Zelda titles (in addition to The Phantom Hourglass that came with the DS) to add to my collection: A Link to the Past, The Minish Cap, and Spirit Tracks. Just like that, four "new" Zelda games were awaiting my precious time and questionable gaming expertise. I normally have to wait anywhere from two to four years (starting with Ocarina of Time) for a new Zelda title on any particular Nintendo console. And yet here I now sit with four titles I've never played. Good times indeed!
But that's not the only aspect of the DS that I've found so rewarding. You see, I actually do have other interests in life and one of those happens to be sports. The problem is, when you want to watch a sporting event on TV, your gaming time via traditional home consoles suffers. I can't even tell you how many times I had to cut short my time in Rapture or the Capital Wasteland because my Golden Gophers were about to drop the puck. Or the Vikings were about to kick off. Or Gopher basketball was about to start. And yeah, I could DVR these games and watch them at a later time, but the point is, I still have to take the time to actually watch the game.
With the DS, I don't have to make such a decision at all. Case in point: I was able to, as I've stated before, play my DS the majority of the weekend while simultaneously taking in the Wild vs. Sharks, Gophers vs. Buckeyes (barf), Penguins vs. Red Wings, Fighting Sioux vs. Pioneers, Mavericks vs. Fighting Irish, and Celtics vs. Lakers on TV. This is more sports than I'd normally watch during any given weekend. So in reality, playing the DS actually prompts me to watch more sports than I normally would. Why play the DS in complete silence when you can have a sporting event on in the background? Exactly. The only problem with this method is that my attention isn't completely focused on said sporting events 100% of the time (for big plays/games it is, just for the record!), but how often can you successfully combine two loves of your life and get away with it? Almost never! And don't give me that peanut butter and jelly in the same jar crap. That stuff is awful.
With a plethora of sporting events to keep me dually entertained and my machismo heightened, I successfully finished off A Link to the Past. I thoroughly enjoyed it and can definitely see why so many people still clamor for this 16-bit adventure – Reiner included. But in all honesty, I still prefer Ocarina of Time even though I now realize just how much it borrowed from ALttP. Regardless, ALttP was a great game and the one remaining Zelda classic I had yet to play. I'll always wonder, however, if I had played ALttP prior to OoT, would I hold it in such high esteem? The thought intrigues me.
I wish I had a gun right about now...so I could kill myself
(On a side note: One thing that didn't intrigue me and actually prompted a brief flirtation with the ever-deadly gamer rage was that stupid boss Moldorm you encounter in the Tower of Hera. Could there be a more annoying boss in all of Zelda lore? That stupid fat*** worm kept knocking me off the edge. It's like battling a bumper car. That wouldn't be so bad if you didn't have to then start all over again trying to stab his stupid little pinwheel tail. Those stupid, cockamamie eyes of his. Oh, you don't like getting knocked off the edge as Moldora spazzes out all over the place? Too bad. This worm has no distinguishable pattern to try and base an attack around. He/it just flails around like an idiot. And as if falling off the edge and having to start over wasn't bad enough [and it is!], after about the fifth strike to his pathetic tail he goes into Mach 10 speed mode. Great. Have fun trying to dodge this bat out of he**. Obviously I was able to eventually take Moldorm down, but not before almost losing my mind. The third boss in the game. really?!!)
So with A Link to the Past in my rearview, I decided to go in a more aquatic direction via The Phantom Hourglass. I figured it was about time to see what this DS could really do and put her through her paces. That, and also I'm a big fan of Wind Waker so it only made sense to return to the water covered world of Hyrule I loved exploring so much.
After about a half hour with the game the hook was set. I had only planned on playing for an hour or so seeing how I had just finished up ALttP. Yet four hours later I was still going strong. And no, I wasn't battling another incarnation of Moldorm. Simply put, I'm smitten with The Phantom Hourglass. Everything from the graphics to the setting to the unique control scheme – it all came together exquisitely. Controlling Link via the stylus is a breath of fresh air and while not all gestures work as they should (getting Link to do his roll is maddeningly frustrating), I've found the overall experience to be highly enjoyable. There's just something so gratifying about tapping or swiping the stylus across an enemy and watching Link vanquish the foe in one fell swoop. It's so effortless yet feels more interactive then simply pressing a button. I also like the way you can make notes on any of your maps to help you more easily circumvent puzzles. No more little pads of paper littered throughout the house. And how about tossing that boomerang around? Never has something that so defies logic been so much fun.
Linebeck = Michael Jackson?
I'm about eight hours in and I can definitely say I'm really digging the game. Minor gripes aside, it's a fantastic Zelda title and has really shown me the unique abilities of the DS - although I can safely say that The Ocean King Temple will become the bane of my existence. I love solving the same puzzle over and over and over again. I do, really.
And that's how my weekend was spent. Slaying Ganon and sailing the seas of Hyrule all via the little marvel that is my DS. My PS3 and Wii are a little jealous but that's OK. I'll get back to them at some point. The DS is giving me a reason to play games I otherwise never would have in ways I've never experienced before. And the portability of it all is just icing on the cake. Who doesn't like playing video games AND watching TV at the same time? I mean, really!
Yeah, I might be a little (or very much) late to the party, but at least I arrived. Better late then never I say.