A Very Special Episode

 

The best part about playing through each of these Zelda games is the opportunity to be completely surprised.  That could be finding out a game is better than you remember, or in the next case, having no idea what you were about to discover.  

BS The Legend of Zelda: Ancient Stone Tablets was released for the Super Famicom add-on the Satellaview in 1997.  I talked much more about the Satellaview it in this post.  The game is a sequel to the Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.  6 years after that game, you play as a child sucked into Hyrule.  A new dark force is present but Link is off in another area.  You must work with Zelda and Agihna, Sahasrahla’s brother to find and decode 8 stone tablets.  

 

Zelda spends the final week working with you.

The game plays out over four one hour episodes.  You had to tune in on a specific night back in 1997 to play them.  You got one shot each week and your progress carries over.  The map is almost identical to Link to the Past and gradually reveals itself each week. 

 

Barely made it in week 3.

Because of the time limit, the game is always frenzied.  You need to beat two dungeons and collect heart pieces each week  If you are on target, you can have time at the end for some optional activities, including finding a mole to reveal hundreds of rupees or playing some optional mini-games.  None of these reveal until 45 minutes past the hour.  However, if you fall behind, like I did in week 3, the game is a stressful, mad dash.  I got the 6th tablet with less than two minutes to spare.  The final week, you can even fail the game if you don't beat the last boss (guess who) in time.

If I had played this game when I started the quest in 2015, it would not have been nearly as cool of an experience.  While the game was initially taking place live, there was an audio drama in the background.   You hear Zelda and Agihna mixed with other characters working to solve the mystery of the tablets.  At times, they consult a fortune teller who summons power ups for you (these can be anything from unlimited bombs to all of a sudden having 20 full health containers).  Once a week someone also comes on begging for you to help rescue them from something.  There was exclusive Zelda music that played during the hour too.  Amazingly, someone recovered VHS recordings of the initial broadcast.  In the past few years, a dedicated team of translators was able to use those to translate and record the audio play and put it back together with the game.  Through an emulator, you can try it yourself.  The process is a bit complicated but worth it.  You can find instructions here.

 

Playing the game as it was originally intended is an experience unlike any other I've had gaming.  I wish Nintendo would find a way to bring this back or do something similar through the Nintendo Switch Online service.  The thought of big, event gaming across the world would be so fun. 

My final score.

The game also gives you a score at the end of each week based on damage received and rupees collected.  By the end of the game I had nearly 10,000!  In the end, the game blew me away as a complete experience.  While parts feel like a re-tread of Link to the Past, the live elements made it so much more.  I played one hour a day and found myself anxiously awaiting the next episode.  I highly recommend you find a way to play this and try it for yourself. 

 Here's my updated list: 

1. The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past
2. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
3. BS Legend of Zelda: Ancient Stone Tablets
4. The Legend of Zelda
5. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
6. Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon
7. BS Legend of Zelda
8. Link: The Faces of Evil
9. Zelda (Game & Watch)
10. Zelda's Adventure

The Other One

Link: The Faces of Evil is similar to its counterpart, Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon, in many ways.  They share some of the same enemy assets, the art style is similar and there are some shared power-ups.  But where the Zelda game is focused a bit more on puzzle solving, Link's game is much more focused on combat.  The problem is the combat is not these games' strongest point.

 

This pig balloon man is supposed to be the "Face of Evil"

This is pitched more as a "dark" Legend of Zelda game.  Some strange guy on a flying carpet spouts some nonsense and takes Link to Koridai to fight the faces of evil.  The map suggests these bosses will be menacing, but that's not the case.  They are laughably stupid.  There's a strange clown-pig that deflates like a balloon.  There's also an old man inside a suit of armor.  The only creepy one is Glutko, a monster that is eating people alive.  I think there would be a place for a creepy Legend of Zleda game, but this misses the mark.

 

Okay, this guy is actually disturbing

The combat in this game is incredibly cheap.  You can shoot a beam out of your sword as long as you have full health.  That's great because the enemy and Link hit boxes are way too big.  Unfortunately, it seems like most levels start with something programmed to hit you in the first second and negate that beam.  Like the other game, this one starts difficult and gets progressively easier.  

Like Wand of Gamelon, the soundtrack is great. There's one part where this game is better: Link doesn't have to do nearly as much jumping.

 

The game literally ends with a close up of Link saying, "I won!"

In the end, this game is slightly worse than Wand of Gamelon, with much more obnoxious bosses and characters and a bit less of the charm from the Zelda game.  It was still fun at times and not nearly as bad as it's reputation. If you had to play one, I'd choose the Zelda game.

 Here's my updated list: 

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. Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon
6. BS Legend of Zelda
7. Link: The Faces of Evil
8. Zelda (Game & Watch)