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The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition

Merry Christmas! Did you get coal? Or did Santa leave you a brand new GameCube?! Maybe you got Nintendo's gift of FREE Zelda, a collection of the NES and N64 Zeldas. So is this disc worth the asking price? And why is that guy in tights in the commercial?

For some reason, this not so 'rare' disc is going for $40 or more on ebay. Why? I have no clue since from now through January '04, you can get The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition FREE in one of three ways: 1) Buy a new specially marked GameCube. 2) Subscribe to Nintendo Power ($20/year) via a special offer at www.nintendo.com. 3) Sign-up on nintendo.com so you can register the serial number of your GC and 2 of the following games: Mario Party 5, Mario Kart: Double Dash, 1080 Avalanche, Mario & Luigi. (There is a PIN number on the back of a pamphlet in their box.)

As with past freebies, The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition comes in a nice case, complete with a full-color instruction booklet that has 2-6 pages on the control schemes of each game. Though since right when you start a game it shows you the controls, as usual, the manual is useless. The main menu is straight forward, and if you hit Z it will tell you the short history of that game. I could do without the Navi sound effects though.

The main selling point of the "Collector's Edition" are of course the classic Zelda games. Note that none of these games have been remade, or even ported to the GC (well, they did add copyright "2003" on each game's title screen). They are all just being 'emulated', similar to what you can do on your PC. However, since this is GameCube, the N64 Zelda's play at a higher resolution than the original. It's nice playing these classics in a 'cleaner', 'crisper' looking environment, but don't expect any drastic difference (even the framerate mimics the original). Also note that each game creates a separate save file (not compatible with the OOT/MQ disc save, duh).

So what's all on the disc?

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Demo (GC): I think it's clear the goal of this disc: get people to buy TWW! (Which every GC owner should have anyways.) After some old Zelda nostalgia, you can play a whole hour of TWW! There are 3 areas you can play, and the game let's you play a full 20 minutes in each. The faster you move, the more you can see at: Dungeon - Explore the first real temple at Dragon Roost. Stealth - Sneaking about the Forsaken Fortress hiding in barrels. Island - Wander Windfall Island, the main town, or sail off and check out Dragon Roost's inhabitants.

TWW Special Movie: If that demo wasn't enough to convince you, here is a short movie with even more gameplay to watch.

A Retrospective: Don't get too excited. This is just a short movie showing game footage from each of the Zelda's. Besides the games on this disc, it also shows: A Link to the Past, Link's Awakening DX, Four Swords, and the two Oracles.

Legend of Zelda (NES): The one that started it all back in 1987. Faithfully emulated here in case you can't play it on your PC, or the one hidden in Animal Crossing. (3 blocks to save)

A true masterpiece that has stood the test of time. One thing you will notice though is the utter lack of hints, or when there are some, how cryptic they are. You will have to bomb every rock, burn every tree, destroy every monster, ect. in order to find everything. It's a matter of patience, and luck. The game is best described as a giant maze, rather than a series of puzzles. Which was a change of pace back then, as it still is today.

Protip: Don't forget you can enter your name as 'ZELDA' to play the second quest!

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (NES): Again, a faithful emulation of this 1988 Zelda. Often considered the 'black sheep', it stands out like SMB2 does in the Mario series. One complaint though about this version. As we all know the GC controller's d-pad isn't all that good, and forget about using the stick. Often when you try to duck and attack, you will find yourself facing the wrong way. Oh well. (3 blocks)

The side-scrolling action is something very different, but also pretty cool. Zelda II is definitely the hardest Zelda by far, which is why some enjoy it the most. Never has a Darknut been so hard! Personally I like this game, but there are a few things that keep it from being among the best. 1) This is the closest a Zelda, normally an adventure game, comes to being a RPG. By which I mean you have to gain experience points and level-up. Which I can't stand. 2) Item usage is almost non-existent. Instead you rely more on spells, but even those arn't used much (except a few). There arn't even any bombs! 3) While there are a few doozies, overall there are very few hidden surprises or puzzles. Yet through all this, it's still a heck of a game.

Protip: You can save the NES games at anytime by entering a special menu (the 'Start then X' menu, not the 'Z' one). But be warned! Once you enter this menu, you can't go back! It's either save, or 'continue' from start.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64): The 1998 classic is already available for the GC on TWW pre-order disc. But for those that don't have that, or haven't played this game period yet, do it now! 'Nuff said. (9 blocks)

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64): This game is often overlooked, maybe because it came out the same day as the PS2 back in October of 2000. Some hated it for its unusual time scheme (and similarity to OOT), others saw it for what it was: another great Zelda game. Please note, the emulation of MM isn't perfect. As the game loads, it tells you that there are 'slight sound irregularities'. There are also reports of the game freezing up. So be careful! I guess that's what you get for free. (takes up 21 whole blocks!)

People seem more confused than anything when they first play MM so they quickly give up. Just remember, to save your game play the Song of Time and return to Day 1 (if you don't have the Ocarina yet, you better get it!). You can also save your exact point at any Owl statue. I think people worry too much about the time, it's never an issue (if it is for you, talk to a scarecrow). The time element just adds another dimension to the gameplay. Think "Groundhog Day". The way it all comes together is so well done. There are some very tricky parts, but many of these can be skipped since a good portion of this game are optional side-quests. But I bet you do them all anyways. I really like this game, only it's similarity to OOT (in graphics, characters, puzzles) hurt it.

So is The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition worth it? For free? Why not. Since many already have OOT on GC, and the NES Zelda's on their PC, the real treat is Majora's Mask. But if you've already played MM (which by now you should have!), I wouldn't go out of my way for this collection since there is nothing new (the OOT disc at least had the unreleased Master Quest). Maybe if it was the 'Complete Collection' (like if it had A Link to the Past, and maybe even some of the Game Boy Zelda's), then it would of been more interesting. But since you can buy those games for your GBA, they left them out. If you've never played MM, or can still get this disc free, go for it. Otherwise, don't give in to those outrageous prices on ebay.

I really hope Nintendo continues to put out these fun freebies though. I want to try the CD-i Zelda, The Wand of Gamelon! Or imagine GoldenEye or Perfect Dark in a higher resolution...

The Top 8 Zelda Games

8) Oracle of Ages/Seasons
7) The Adventure of Link
6) Link's Awakening
5) Majora's Mask
4) The Wind Waker
3) Legend of Zelda
2) Ocarina of Time
1) A Link to the Past