Game & Watch

Zelda Game & Watch

 

Next up, we're jumping back to 1989 and Zelda Game & Watch.  The original Game & Watch systems were some of the earliest handhelds; using LCD technology to play simple games.  Eventually, they got more complicated.  The Zelda system uses two screens (the idea was later reused for the Nintendo DS).  Unfortunately, these systems have become collectors items and prohibitively expensive for what they are (we're talking hundreds of dollars for the Zelda one).  But, I recently learned the Zelda game is also included on the Game Boy Advance cart Game & Watch Gallery 4, which is cheap online and also on the WiiU Virtual Console.

About $250 cheaper than the original.

Getting to the game isn't easy.  Game & Watch Gallery 4 requires unlocking stars as currency.  Getting them requires insane scores on difficult, cheap and tedious games.  It's one of the most brutal unlocks I can think of in a Nintendo game.  Of course, Zelda is the final game unlocked.  Thankfully, I was able to download a full save online after frustratingly trying to unlock games and realizing I would never have enough for Zelda.

The Zelda playfied.  The dimensions are changed a bit for the GBA.

The actual Zelda Game & Watch game is surprisingly deep and complex for an LCD game.  On the bottom screen, you have to defeat an enemy on the right hand side.  There are other enemies trying to stab you from below and one shooting projectiles from behind that you are required to block (this guy felt cheap at times).  You then have to work your way through the dungeon.  Along the way you can unlock a map, water of life (will refill your health once in the dungeon) and a tomahawk.  The tomahawk allows you to do triple damage on the boss.  You probably won't beat the boss without the tomahawk and therein lies the biggest problem with this game.  There are branching paths in the dungeons and you can't backtrack if you miss something.  This means you need luck or multiple playthroughs to make sure you don't miss the tomahawk and make the boss supremely difficult.

Fighting the boss

The boss fights are cool.  Each one is against a dragon.  It takes place on the upper screen so you have a completely different playfield for the fight.  As long as you have the tomahawk, they aren't too bad.  When you finish, you get a piece of the triforce.  Collect all 8, and you move to another screen in the upper left where you rescue Zelda.

Grabbing a triforce piece

The GBA is able to mostly reproduce the experience, from what I've learned researching the game.  For an LCD game, it's pretty amazing and gives you an experience that feels a bit like Zelda II.  I'd put it at the top of a list of LCD games, but it doesn't quite stack up to the rest of the Zelda experiences so far.  I'd love if we got a re-release of this LCD for Zelda's 35th anniversary year so more people could experience it.

My list now stands as:

1. The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past
2. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
3. The Legend of Zelda
4. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
5. BS Legend of Zelda
6. Zelda (Game & Watch)