Hyrule:The Land of
Zelda brings you the latest screenshots and info from Zelda Gaiden.You
can also download the video by Clicking HERE.
Why Gaiden is different than Ocarina of Time? Let's find out...
New
Legends in a Strange Land Await Link.
Mere months after returning peace
to the land of Hyrule, Link once again embarks on adventure
One day, deep in the forest, Link encounters a Skull Kid wearing
an unusual mask. The Skull Kid has rustled Link's beloved Epona
and escaped through a mystical doorway to a twisted dimension.
When Link pursued the horse-napper through the doorway, he encountered
a strange, yet oddly familiar world. Despite the appearance of
some familiar faces, one thing was clearly different about this
place: a gigantic moon loomed in the sky that appeared to be
inexorably falling down onto the world. The inhabitants of the
world were filled with dread, and lamented that their world would
end in a few short days.
"Locate the Skull Kid who hides his face with a strange
mask, you may find a clue to saving this place." So said
one of the world's mysterious inhabitants, and thus gave young
Link an impetus for adventure.
This strange parallel world that Link must explore is similar
to, and yet completely different from the world of Hyrule he
explored in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It is full
of new adventures and encounters, and features appearances in
different settings by many of Links favorite characters from
the Ocarina of Time. This strange and wonderful world invites
you!
Time Ticks Away on the Enormous Clock Tower
Little time remains before the end of the world as Link knows
it. An enormous clock tower ominously counts down. Can Link save
this world in the limited time that remains? Unlike previous
Zelda games where Link was free to explore at his leisure, in
Zelda Gaiden, the clock is ticking down to the world's ultimate
destruction.
The Mysterious Powers of the Masks Transform Link
In the world of Zelda Gaiden, the masks are more than just symbols.
In fact, Link can even transform himself into a Goron, a Zora
and even a Deku Scrub by wearing different masks!
After transformation, Link will have unique abilities. It will
be necessary for him to take advantage of those abilities in
order to make his way through this adventure.
New, powerful enemies and even more exciting 3-D Action Battles
await Link!
Compilation
of info related to Zelda Gaiden taken from several Nintendo sites:
From IGN64.COM, written
by Peer Schnider:
Only a few months after Link returned from his time travel escapades
as laid forth in Ocarina of Time, the Hylian youngster
in Kokiri clothing already stumbles into an all-new adventure...
The Legend of Zelda:
The Continuing Saga
Prologue
One day, deep in the
forest, Link encountered a stranger wearing a mysterious mask.
Without as much as an explanation, the unusual fellow stole the
pony young Link was riding his beloved Epona and
escaped through a doorway into a warped dimension. Link of course
quickly followed and soon found himself trapped in a strange,
yet oddly familiar world full of familiar faces. But while the
landscape may have looked familiar, one thing was clearly different:
In the sky above loomed a gigantic moon, slowly falling down
onto this world...
"In a few more
days, this world will end." So spoke those living there.
Even as they waited, time passed mercilessly. "If you can
find the masked one, you may find a clue to saving this realm."
And so Link embarks
on a new adventure to halt the setting of the moon on this strange
world and to find his way back to his own land.
The Legend Continues
Zelda: Gaiden is the direct follow-up to Ocarina of Time. Even
though the story does not really continue the events that happened
in the first N64 Zelda, the two games are inevitably intertwined
as Link gets stuck in a sort of parallel world to Hyrule. As
he makes his way through the strange wonderland he accidentally
tumbled into, Link comes face to face with many familiar faces,
including Malon, a dark version of Navi, Ingo, and of course
Zelda. However, things just don't seem right as Link quickly
finds out when he puts on a mask for the first time since he
entered the mirror world...
Masks
Whereas gameplay progression in Ocarina of Time was largely driven
by items and weapons, Gaiden takes a slightly different route.
Instead of providing Link with power glove upgrades for heavy
lifting or a blue tunic for underwater breathing, Link now wears
masks that not only give him special powers, but also turn him
into the corresponding creatures. The 50% complete Gaiden demo
at Spaceworld featured three different masks for players to try
out. Note that the mask item screen actually had a whopping 20
different slots presumably for other masks.
Goron Mask: After a humorous (and somewhat
frightening) transformation scene, Link turns into one of the
rock-eating creatures from Ocarina of Time. The only thing that
reminds the player that the creature on screen is still Link
is his trademark green hood. As soon as he turns into a Goron,
Link gains new powers that allow him to access new areas and
overcome certain obstacles. For example, it is sometimes necessary
for Link to turn into a Goron in order to move a heavy stone
block out of the way. But Goron's have yet another "gift"
namely, the ability to roll themselves into a ball and
traverse the land at high speeds. In the Spaceworld demo, players
were able to experience this Goron special move during a lightning
fast race against other Gorons that reminded us a lot of the
Tatooine scenes from Episode I Racer.
Deku Scrub Mask: Link has the chance to turn himself
into what's perhaps the most annoying creature from Ocarina of
Time. Just like the Deku guys from the predecessor, Link can
now hop through the dungeons and shoot seeds out his snout to
defend himself. But that's not all. Not only can the Deku walk
on water, they can also grab a hold of certain flowers and use
them to glide through the air, enabling Link to reach high up
areas that he previously couldn't get to (not even with the help
of a chicken).
Zora Mask: By turning into a Zora, Link
gains access to what we think is the coolest power yet: Underwater
flight. To call the Zoras' way of getting through the water "swimming"
just doesn't do it justice. As soon as you hit the A button,
Zora-Link cuts through the water like an eel, twirling and spinning
through the underwater landscapes at Dolphin speed. Ecco, eat
your heart out. At Spaceworld, the Zora power was demonstrated
during an interesting race of sorts where Link tries to keep
up with two beavers and help them gather drift wood for their
dam.
As if these special powers
weren't enough, each one of Link's forms is also able to whip
out musical instruments and play magical tunes similar
to the use of the Ocarina of Time in the last adventure. The
Deku Scrub guy plays horns, the Goron produces a sizable set
of bongo drums and Zora-Link pulls out a guitar made from fish
bones.
As far as weapons go, we
weren't able to spot anything new but then again, the game's
only about half done.
A Graphical Upgrade
Zelda: Gaiden requires the 4MB Expansion to run and it
really shows. There are far more trees out in the fields and
some of the rooms we entered during Spaceworld's "Dungeon
Tour" featured as many as six Stalfos skeletons at the same
time. Speaking of which, there are plenty of new and old creatures
in Gaiden. Ocarina of Time players will recognize the frost statues
from the ice caves and the bouncing Tektites, but Link also faces
mean-eating swamp plants, slime blobs and the slug-like shadow
creatures from A Link to the Past that Link can only see
when he is facing them.
The environments are even
more varied than in Ocarina of Time. In addition to dark dungeons
and ancient temples, Link finds himself in a smelly swamp, a
snowy village in the mountains, an enchanted forest and an amazing
looking town with a giant clock tower, complete with rotating
gears that slowly count down towards the impending catastrophe.
To sum it all up: From
what I have played of Gaiden so far, the game is definitely set
to give N64 owners exactly what they've been asking for the moment
they finished Ocarina of Time. Since the controls and battle
system are virtually identical, playing Gaiden is like returning
to a world that you just left a few hours ago. It speaks for
Gaiden's designers that despite the similarities, the game manages
to surprise even Zelda veterans with interesting new twists and
gameplay elements. Hopefully, the quest is just as long and involving
as Ocarina of Time's just with less "hey!" from
Navi and a slightly higher challenge level.
(...)
Written by Peer Schneider
(ign64.com)
From NINTENDO.COM, written by Dan Owsen:
In the absence
of any announcements about Dolphin, Zelda Gaiden is probably
the game that is going to make the gaming mags who always pooh-pooh
Pokemon most excited about Space World. As someone who has played
all the Zelda games a lot, and seen them develop from the early
stages into polished masterpieces, I can say that Zelda Gaiden
did not disappoint. Although obviously still a little rough around
the edges, the makings of a great new adventure are here.
The first thing
I noticed about the game was its speed. There are several racing
sequences that move along at a fair clip, but the best thing
was the number of enemies that Link could battle without a hint
of slow-down. At one point it looked like there were a half-dozen
skeletal creatures jumping around and climbing in the branches
of trees, smoothly and realistically (well, as realistically
as a skeletal creature can appear!). Gigantic bosses and impressive
cinema scenes with great explosive effects that would tax the
system in most games are rendered with nary a drop in framerate.
There's no real secret behind all this though - the game will
require the N64 Expansion Pak.
You know Mr.
Miyamoto and his designers wouldn't be satisfied making a sequel
that just contained new graphics. Although Zelda Gaiden essentially
uses the same game play mechanics as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina
of Time, there are many new things to experience and explore
in the legend's next chapter. Perhaps the key new element of
game play will be Link's ability to actually transform into a
new character by wearing the different masks. By wearing the
masks, Link can assume the form of a Goron, a Zora or even a
Deku Scrub.
Each of these
fantastic forms has its own abilities, as you would expect. The
Goron form, for example, can roll up into a ball for some wild
Goron rolling. When it comes times to make music (again a key
part of the game), the Goron Link whips out a set of bongos that
would make your average heavy-metal drummer green with envy.
As a Zora, Link gains fantastic swimming abilities, and in the
musical department, he can play a mean guitar. Although you might
think becoming a Deku Scrub is kind of weak, in this form Link
can hover like a helicopter and play an orchestra's worth of
horns.
In these forms,
Link will explore all-new worlds full of danger and wonder, making
new friends and battling new enemies. In addition to the groups
of skeletal creatures, new boss characters will appear, including
a tall, skinny dude named Odolf who wields a blade that makes
the Biggoron Sword look like a pen knife. In addition to strange
allies, Link will have his usual collection of items to help
him along. Although the new item screen looks like it has space
for fewer items, and most of the ones in the show version were
familiar, you can bet that new surprises will be added to the
game as it progresses.
According to
the Space World Official Guide Book, the show version of Zelda
Gaiden is only 50 percent complete, but with a scheduled release
date in Japan of March 2000, it's on the development fast track.
We'll have more on this title as soon as it becomes available.
Mere months after returning peace
to the land of Hyrule, Link once again embarks on adventure