Zelda: A Link to the Past is better than Ocarina of Time

[dommyuk]

After recently getting ALTTP on the GBA, I played it through to the dungeon with the boss that was covered with eyeballs, and I couldn't get to the boss without losing too many hearts and I just found it too frustrating to continue. OoT was the first Zelda game I played when I first got an N64 which could be why I like it more, but MM is still the best imo.

 

[Librarian Mike]

Ocarina of Time took me about 4 tries to get into, but once I got to the mountain part I was hooked. It's a fun game, but I think it's a little overrated personally. I freakin' love Link to the Past though. I kinda want to play it now.

As for Majora's Mask, I have to say that it works as a good argument against Yahtzee clones who go on about 'Zelda games suck. They're all the same!' My problem with it is that I hate time limits.

 

[blackadvent]

Alright, I've got the popcorn, who else wants some?

 

[TheGreenManalishi]

I concur.

 

[Sir Broccoli]

I dread the Water temple...

Everybody does.

But you're right, ALttP is indeed better than OoT. I've never had a problem with OoT's controls though.

 

[Sewer Rat]

BLASPHEMY! BURN THE HERETIC! *grabs some wood and oil*
Just kidding, your entitled to your own opinion even though I disagree. I enjoyed link to the past but I found OoT better.

 

[Nazulu]

Yeah yeah yeah, theres always someone out there comparing all of them to Ocarina of Time. However, everything you listed there is your opinion and it will never change the fact that Ocarina kicks ass.

 

[Devildoc]

Twilight Princess is better than both of them so why even bother arguing about which one of those two is "second place"

Now mind you all 3 are the top 3 for me, I wasn't as big of a fan of MM due to the fact that I'm really not that keen on time limits. I'm also a sucker for the dual worlds system all 3 of those Zeldas used. LTTP was the innovator of that system. For me it's really hard to choose a "second place" because I really liked both OOT and LTTP, I may favor LTTP though because sometimes I don't really like the automatic jumping in the 3d Zelda's.. you tend to launch yourself when you don't want to.

But as for why TP is my favorite? The dungeons mostly, the dungeons are all really well done, also the overworld is much larger, and has an EPIC main hyrule field theme.. I was never really a fan of OOT's Hyrule Field theme. Going from Wolf Link and Hylian Link on the fly without having to change worlds was nice too, used in solving puzzles and even some boss fights (particularly Ganon.. which again.. epic epic fight, 4 phases and lasts like 30 minutes long and concludes with a Mano a Mano sword fight? Holy crap!) The dual clawshot alone is better than all the tools that the other 2 games have but TP is missing alone, the dual clawshot makes up for no magic meter, and for some of the not as much used tools like the rod and spinner (though the spinner is still cool), the ball and chain is also pretty damn cool... and last but not least, the controls, yes, I'm a sucker for the added Wii controls, aiming projecticles, and using a flick of the wrist to swordfight (not to mention the special sword moves Link learns), and hey they even made fishing fun.

 

[SimplicityComplex]

I liked A link to the past because of its dungeons, which is arguably the soul of any Zelda game.

They were fun, easy, quick and they had a neat little boss at the end, though some of them were just plain stupid. (moth, anyone?)

OOT's by contrast, were hard to navigate, slow paced, and the bosses at the end were... well they were pretty good too I guess.

My list would have to go:

Lttp
TP
WW
MM

 

[DSBach]

This is honestly the first time I've ever heard anyone complain about the controls of OOT. Do you by any chance have crab claws for hands?

OOT will always be my favorite because every time I turn it on I'm flooded by an intense wave of nostalgia... but frankly I've loved every Zelda game I've ever played, ALttP, Link's Awakening and Majora's Mask included.

 

[Devildoc]

This is honestly the first time I've ever heard anyone complain about the controls of OOT. Do you by any chance have crab claws for hands?

OOT will always be my favorite because every time I turn it on I'm flooded by an intense wave of nostalgia... but frankly I've loved every Zelda game I've ever played, ALttP, Link's Awakening and Majora's Mask included.

The controls of OOT are okay.. if you're playing on a Wii classic controller, gamecube controller, or on a PC gamepad on an emulated version. The N64 controller was freaking terrible though.. The 3 wing design was just .. awkward and stupid.

 

[Lukeje]

Link's Awakening is still the best

I'd have to agree with this. Link's Awakening was one of the first games that I remember playing, and it's still one of my favourites. ALTtP just seemed to have a very schizophrenic difficulty curve that prevented me enjoying it, and playing OoT after playing TP is a bad idea. TP improved on OoT in nearly every way.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

I enjoy both on an equal level, because I got into zelda with the option of both 2D and CG. I have always kept both styles of games separate; mainly because the mechanics of a 2D top down scroller are going to vary immensely from a CG game where the world you character interacts with exists on the X, Y, and Z planes.

To compare the two together is like comparing a cat to a dog, sure both are house pets but one shits in a litter box. OOT was great for its era, but when you put it up against the type of games we have today its going to seem pretty shitty. I've never really agreed with people who've played OOT for the first time in the current period of gaming because I feel their perspective and expectations for the game are tainted from what it would have been in its respective heyday.

Sure you can go into playing it with the mind set of when the game was made and what kinds of technology and experience they had to work with when they made it, but you're still going to look at some stuff and be like "This looks like shit" I'm not calling your opinion of the game moot or wrong because of your lateness in playing it; I'm just saying that it is somewhat tainted by what the game industry has to offer us today.

But my point was that I was comparing to another game from an era even before it, the 16 bit era.

The year it came out has nothing to do with my opinion of it as I've been gaming for 19 years and have a pretty good knowledge of thier history and development.

 

[Trace2010]

The Medallion animations in Link to the Past (as primitive as it was) FTW.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

This is honestly the first time I've ever heard anyone complain about the controls of OOT. Do you by any chance have crab claws for hands?

.

My 'crab claws' beat ALTTP when I was a kid and recently beat Gears 1 and 2 on insane(solo) and I still find OOT to have an awkward control scheme that throws me off. It's the way the camera never points in the direction you want it to during combat, maybe I'm too used to controlling it with the right stick.

 

[Fanboy]

Personal Preference. No game is really better than the other in the series, only better suited to your tastes.

Except for the CD-I collection. Those were truly, truly, truly terrible.

 

[Haro]

Part of what might make all this make more sense if we actually say what we mean by which is the better zelda game.

I still go for ocarina of time, though just about any zelda game is better than most of the trash out there. Ocarina of time had graphics and changed a lot of things about gameplay, and you can't deny how it changed the zelda series and modern gaming significantly. in terms of impact, I don't think there are many games out there that can match Ocarina of Time, let alone zelda games.

I also really enjoyed the story of OoT, and considering it had about a quarter of the dialog that a lot of modern games have in the same scale, I think it still trumps almost every other story out there.

I thought the controls were fine, I always really enjoyed the z-targeting system, always made me feel in control and it paced the game out better by focusing you on a single target at a time.

Ocarina of time was a defining game of its generation, which had the first forays in true 3D. I'm not as familiar with ALTTP as OoT, i played that a while ago and i just finished OoT again about a week ago, but regardless of personal opinion I think everyone should give OoT the credit its due as a great game, perhaps one of the best.

 

[EscapeGoat_v1legacy]

None of the games mentioned here are Link's Awakening, which is the best LoZ game by miles.

Exactly. One day people will realise this.

So, to compare the almost best Zelda games Ocarina and ALTTP:

I think, really, I prefer neither. This is partly due to the fact that Link's Awakening was awesome, but also because I found both games fun, challenging and interesting. Granted, one's smoother than the other, but ALTTP is in 2D and made at the pinnacle of 2D graphics of the time, so of course it'd look smoother than a game made at the start of the polygon era.

As for gameplay, I had no problem with either game. Yes, Ocarina's Lock-On was fiddly, but it never got to the point where I was at all bothered.

Oh, and I preferred Ocarina's storyline. Just felt more epic.

So, to summarise, go play Link's Awakening. A mon avis, it's the best LoZ game.

 

[ThrobbingEgo]

Link's Awakening is the best Zelda game of all time.

Edit: Wow, not only was I seriously ninja'd, you people are serious. Go Gameboy color!