A Video Game Odyssey

In this very special episode of A Video Game Odyssey I take a long look at the history of the Legend of Zelda series, ranking my personal favourite games.

Get in touch via Twitter, YouTube or SoundCloud to let me know what your favourite Zelda game(s) is/are, what your favourite Zelda moment is and what you think would be the best Zelda game to recommend a Zelda newcomer.

Music was sourced by:

"Perspective" and 'Odyssey" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) 

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Music from several Legend of Zelda games were used throughout this episode.

They are: “Clock Town - Day 2” and “Astral Observatory” from Majora’s Mask; “Forest” from A Link to the Past”; “Sheik’s Theme” from Ocarina of Time”; “Ocean” and “Title Theme” from Wind Waker; “Maiamia Cave” from A Link Between Worlds”; “Din’s Dance” from Oracle of Season; “The Tokays Island Home” from Oracle of Ages; “Elzo Appears” from Minish Cap; “Song of Awakening” from Link’s Awakening; and “Midna’s Desperation.”

I do not own the rights to any of this music.

If you are or know the copyright owner please do contact me via Twitter, SoundCloud or YouTube.

Developer: Namco // Publisher: Namco/SCEE // Status: Cult // Genre: 2.5D Platformer // Players: 1 // Difficulty: Below Average // Length: 5 - 7 hours.

Klonoa: Door to Phantomile is a side-scrolling platformer developed by Namco in 1997 for the Playstation. The game’s difficulty cap is kept fairly low and the game can be played through in around 5 hours. The game uses a 2.5D aesthetic, whereby protagonist Klonoa can move left or right across a 3D rendered stage, interacting with elements in the foreground and background.

Music was sourced by:

"Blip Stream", “Wish Background", “Dreamy Flashback", "Mellowtron" and 'Odyssey" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) 

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Developer/Publisher: Nintendo // Status: Very Well-Known // Genre: Third-Person Action Adventure // Players: 1 // Difficulty: Average // Length: 35 - 45 hours.

Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is an adventure game available on the Wii. The game takes around 40 hours to complete and has a moderate fixed difficulty level based on testing a player’s combat skills, puzzle solving ability, logic and manipulation of elaborate 3D environments.

The game shares themes, lore, mechanics and iconography with other games in the series, though the narrative remains self-contained and welcoming to newcomers. This game is noted for it’s heavy emphasis on Wii Motion Plus.

Music was sourced by:

"Blip Stream", “Moonlight Hall", "Reformat", “Enchanted Valley”, “The Snow Queen” and 'Odyssey" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) 

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Developer: Treasure // Publisher: SEGA // Status: Cult // Genre: Side-Scrolling Run and Gun // Players: 1 // Difficulty: Advanced // Length: 2 - 8 hours

Alien Soldier is a side-scrolling platformer-cum-shoot-'em-up released on the Mega Drive/Genesis and developed by Treasure. Treasure are the same company behind similar hidden gems such as Gunstar Heroes, Ikaruga and Radiant Silvergun.

Depending on skill level, the game can take anywhere between half an hour to upwards of ten hours to complete. Regardless of which of the game's two difficulty modes are chosen, the challenge level in Alien Soldier is always set very high and so those wanting a less demanding gaming experience should look elsewhere.

Music was sourced by:

"Blip Stream", "Rhinoceros", "Reformat", "Blipotron" and 'Odyssey" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) 

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Developer: Kojima Productions // Publisher: Konami // Status: Very Well-Known // Genre: 3rd-Person Stealth // Players: 1 // Difficulty: Average (adjustable) // Length: 15 - 18 hours.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is a single-player, stealth-based, narrative-driven action game that takes around 15 hours to complete and can be played on various difficulty settings. In the game the player controls Solid Snake, a rapidly ageing spy mercenary living in a not-so-distant future. Similar to previous games in the series, Snake is coerced out of retirement once more to fight a group of science fiction terrorists led by his twin brother.

The Metal Gear Solid series is known for it's ambitious plot and lore that is told through long, fully voiced cut scenes, and MGS4 is no different, housing 8 hours of non-playable cut scenes. The Metal Gear saga is also noted having all it's main entries be directories by the same man: Hideo Kojima. Due to the fact that MGS4 was created as a final instalment in a long running story, this game may not be suited for non-series fans.

Music was sourced by:

"Blip Stream", “The Escalation", “Volatile Reaction", "Hitman" and 'Odyssey" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) 

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The video game industry, as a burgeoning artistic and technologically pioneering medium, has modelled itself closely on cinema. Despite being an active, interactive medium that sees the audience have their own agency, many of the highest grossing video games have pursed what journalists like to call "cinematic storytelling". Wherein acting, lighting, scenery, framing, dialogue and action lend themselves a level of immersion and realism seen in mainstream narrative cinema.

With it's desire to be adopted into popular culture and compared to cinema, a common question has naturally occurred, asking what is the video game answer to Citizen Kane. Well, before we delve into such a matter we must first ask what importance does Citizen Kane hold for cinema. How and why did Citizen Kane get put on a pedestal? And, most importantly, does the video game industry even need it's own Citizen Kane?

Maybe we, as video game users, should not be asking where our Citizen Kane is, but instead feel proud that we are a part of a diverging, multifaceted medium that could never birth a Citizen Kane. We are moving and expanding at such an unprecedented rate that no one game could ever attempt to typify what makes our medium so special. We have our answers to Orson Welles and we have the community cinephiles and film academics were striving for in the 50s and 60s. We have legitimised our medium ourselves without the need for a Citizen Kane. Maybe, then, it is about time we stopped comparing video games to cinema and, instead, time we started embracing what makes video games special.

Music was sourced by:

"Blip Stream" and 'Odyssey" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) 

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/