The Legend of Zelda, Parallel Worlds

[SilverClawShift]

Now I'm not sure if this violates any rules, but I didn't see anything specific that I was violating, so if this ISN'T allowed, please don't take it as an intentional slight.

There's a full rom hack of Legend of Zelda, Link to the Past for SNES. It's called Parallel Worlds, and it is absolute gravy. The game has most of the same sprites, the same look and feel, and the same playstyle (with the exception that your magic bar slowly recharges and is there from the start).
It's also a notch more difficult than the original game. Partially because most of us could beat the SNES zelda game blindfolded, so having everything rearranged is like being in a dream (come true). But partially because the game was just really arranged a little more aggressively.

Nevertheless, I'm only a bit of the way into it, and I'm awed at how fun it is. Strongly recomend it to ANYONE, especially if you're a zelda fan.

Setup is a little complicated.

First you need an emulator and the zelda game image (rom). I can't help you there, I'm pretty sure that's over the line of acceptability.

Second you need the game patch that turns your rom into this new game. Found here:
http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/197/

Third you need a program to apply the patch to the game image. Just do a google search for Lunar IPS.

Patch, Play, And Enjoy.

If it's deemed acceptable, I'll help people with a little more detail to get things working :smallconfused:

[Merlin the Tuna]

And in counterpoint, I feel compelled to strongly recommend against playing Parallel Worlds.

This isn't a shot from the hip; I made it through about two-thirds of the game before abandoning it. For a project so complete, it's often awe-inspiring how stunningly bad it is. One would think that at some point, thoughts would cross the creator's mind that went something like "Hrm, maybe 470 flying-tile rooms is enough." Or perhaps "No, this room doesn't need any more spikes or shooters." And yet, apparently no such events occurred.

The overworld design is extremely well done. Euclid (or was it Seph? I forget, it's been a while) did a great job with the outdoor sequences; they're pretty, they flow nicely, there's nice diversity, and it comes wrapped up with a great sense of discovery as you make your way around the map.

The dungeon design, on the other hand, ranks among the most horrendous I have ever witnessed, and serves as a good example of why playing video games well does not automatically translate into making video games well. It's perhaps a textbook example of the ridiculous reasoning that fun = challenge and challenge = tedium.

Dungeons are sprawling and repetitive, and often resort to a find-the-needle-in-the-haystack design mentality not unlike some point-and-click adventure games from way back when. Perhaps it's just me, but exploring an area and being forced to hurl every pot and slash every wall to see if something is hiding underneath or behind is not an inherently enjoyable activity. Doing it surrounded by spikes does not make it more pleasurable, nor does the presence of 12 shooters. One should not attempt to do with Zelda that which is better suited to Ikaruga.

On the note of repetition, it's not even just a feeling of repetition that the game brings by pitting you against the same scenarios over and over again -- you literally have to traverse some of the crapfests more than once. Getting stuck in the guardhouse is extremely common (and particularly annoying because you don't get a sword very quickly and most enemies are faster than you). Parallel Tower requires at least 2-3 lengthy trips. And how many dungeons involve disorientation and teleportation? Impa's Ways is big on it, Nabooru's Hole is more or less the same thing with a different set of doorways... was Sheik's Hideout, too? I think so. Darunia's Cavern didn't involve teleportation, but it was still entirely focused on aimlessly rambling around through rooms that look nigh-identical. Whoopee. These would have been manageable -- not fun, mind you, but at least less bad -- had maps been available, but... there aren't any.

The difficulty of the mod is ramped up largely arbitrarily. Bosses aren't really tougher, they just have more health. So they're about as easy to beat, but it takes twice as much time. Except for the situations where you don't have the weapons you basically need to get past. You can (and likely will) enter battle with Kholdstare before getting the Fire Rod, meaning you absolutely cannot hurt him. You'll run into the Armos (at least the first time) without a bow, which makes for an absolutely thrilling 25 minute battle involving enemies with a 25 second pattern. And then you'll fight them a second time. And a third. And a fourth. There's a tremendous amount of boss and mid-boss recycling, sometimes without even the courtesy of a palette swap. Oh, and mid-bosses often respawn, which is lovely considering the amount of backtracking that needs to be done.

DO NOT WANT.

[SilverClawShift]

It really gets that bad? I just got out of the first dungeon...

I was impressed so far :-\

[Merlin the Tuna]

Hey, I mean, by all means give it a run, form your own opinion, 'n' all that.
but the moment you begin to think "Well, this is getting dull, but maybe it'll get better," rest assured that it won't and that it's time to put the game down. There are likely to be plenty of people that disagree with me, and maybe you're one of them. (By the same token, I started playing just as the game was released, and was hardly the only dissenting opinion.)

[EvilElitest]

Can somebody explain this a bit more to me please

Also, is this game legal?
from,
EE

[SilverClawShift]

Also, is this game legal?

By the Books? probably not in any way shape or form. Someone took the game image to the Legend of Zelda, Link to the Past (nintendos intellectual property) and changed it all around to make a new game, and a new experience, with the same stuff originally found in the game.

But. The game is literally over a decade and a half old in an industry where things are considered obsolete in 3 years. The odds of Nintendo bringing the hammer down on this are slim to none. It's dust, it's ancient, it's old news baby.
It's also better, from a publicity standpoint, to leave it alone simply because it shows good will towards Nintendo. It doesn't cost them anything, and is made by nintendo fanatics.

That all said? Yeah, legally this is about in the same vein as taking an MP3 and remixing it into a techno song. It's probably not covered.

[Yuki Akuma]

By the Books? probably not in any way shape or form. Someone took the game image to the Legend of Zelda, Link to the Past (nintendos intellectual property) and changed it all around to make a new game, and a new experience, with the same stuff originally found in the game.

But. The game is literally over a decade and a half old in an industry where things are considered obsolete in 3 years. The odds of Nintendo bringing the hammer down on this are slim to none. It's dust, it's ancient, it's old news baby.
It's also better, from a publicity standpoint, to leave it alone simply because it shows good will towards Nintendo. It doesn't cost them anything, and is made by nintendo fanatics.

That all said? Yeah, legally this is about in the same vein as taking an MP3 and remixing it into a techno song. It's probably not covered.

The game has also just be rereleased on the Wii Virtual Console. As in, within the past six months.

Funny thing about copyright: it takes ages to run out. It's about a hundred years, by my reckoning. The artwork is copyrighted; so is the game engine. Just because it's a remix doesn't stop it from being intellectual property theft.

Not making money from it doesn't help, either; it'll get you a lesser punishment, maybe, but that's really it.

And if they've actually used the name "The Legend of Zelda"... that's a trademark. You have to inforce your own trademarks, or you lose the trademark.

[Nerd-o-rama]

On the plus side, you won't get dragged to jail for playing it unless Nintendo decides to prosecute you; same with the people who designed it. That's the fun thing about copyright law: it's enforced civilly in America, not criminally.

Of course, if you get a Cease & Desist letter from Nintendo, for god's sake, cease & desist.

It's also possible this topic will be locked for discussing illegal activity, but we'll see.


As for the game itself, I might like to try it, but if that long rant about tedious and repetitive dungeons is even half right, it's not my cup of tea. I enjoy Zelda for the clever puzzles and sense of exploration, not the actual crawling of the dungeons or fighting.