Zelda (1989, Game & Watch) by Nintendo

Current Any% Leaderboard (speedrun.com)

The games featured in this episode were all Tiger Handheld LCD Games, Game.com games, or R-Zone games.  The Nerd mentions Game & Watch games in this episode.  Read below to see why I chose to do a Game & Watch game instead.

When this game came up in the AVGN Trials, it was originally going to be a Game.com game.  I even bought a console and a bunch of games to do it.  My first console arrived DOA.  So then, I purchased a second one, and it worked!  Well, it functioned… I first attempted to stream gameplay of Resident Evil, but it was too hard to get the lighting right.  I tried everything.  I had a bunch of lights on my webcam, standing awkwardly attempting to play it.  It.. didn’t go well at all.

That’s mostly due to the fact that the Game.com is trash, but the screen is so bad that you couldn’t see anything I was doing.  I soon gave up, and resorted to emulation.  However, I could not find, at the time, a reliable or accurate emulator!  I spent at least a week trying to find a solution.  Finally, I gave up.

I then started looking into the Tiger games themselves, but every SINGLE one of them was a trashy points game.  It would’ve been a throwaway Trial, a freebie, and I felt dirty.  I was frustrated.  I was even looking into modding my game.com to have video out… when someone in my chat mentioned, “You know, the Nerd mentions the Game & Watch games in the episode, why don’t you just do one of those?”

I looked at my mantle, where my Zelda Game & Watch sat proudly (and still does today).  It was perfect!  Except… the screen was just as hard to record as the game.com!  It was possible… the screen was much better than that garbage heap’s, so I could do it… but then I discovered that Zelda Game & Watch is available on the Game & Watch Gallery 4 for Game Boy Advance… but only if you play it for hours to unlock it.

For the next month, in my downtime, I grinded.  Getting all the stars in all the games, just so I could play this title.  I have never prepared so hard for a Trial in my entire journey, just so I could actually START the Trial.  If anyone has any beef with me for playing this game from this episode, they can take an R-Zone console and pound it up their a-

Anyways, this is a hidden gem!  Believe it or not, the Zelda Game & Watch plays a lot like how a Zelda game should, on this platform!  You must travel through 8 labyrinths, defeating Stalfos, Moblins, and Wizzrobes, on the way to a Gleeok at the end of each dungeon.  You pick up potions, maps, and a tomahawk (yep, it’s canon: Link used a hatchet in a Zelda game) to aid your quest to save Princess Zelda.  Once you restore the Triforce, you save her and win!  And then, there’s even a 2nd quest!

This is absolutely excellent for what it is.  Though it’s not easy to play, if you can, I absolutely recommend this game.  It is a sincerely joyful experience!  I would love for this game to be playable again on a modern platform, it’s wonderful!