Video Games: My Nintendo History

After a year long deep dive into the Assassin's Creed video game franchise on the Xbox One console I decided to make a switch to the Switch. This being the most recent Nintendo Console on the market, even though it was released back in 2017. I had been quite familiar with the Nintendo Switch design for some time now, watching my brother Gabriel and nephew Benjamin play on their tablets. However I simply considered the Nintendo franchise to be far too childish for my taste. The past ten years I have hardly played any Nintendo games, and preferred the more adult games offered by the Xbox (or even the Playstation). However I have recently decided to purchase the Switch mostly for one reason; to play Breath of the Wild.

After I finished my year long phase of playing all 20 AC games, I found myself at a fork in my video gaming road. I wanted my next game to have a similar open-world format, where I could truly submerge myself and get lost in the game. This is what I loved most about the AC games, and I knew there were many other games that had similar formats. Some options I considered were Red Dead Redemption, Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, and Shadow of Mordor (all of which I might still play). However there was one in particular that kept coming up in my research as one of the most critically acclaimed open-world video games, and that was The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. 

I first remember watching Gabriel and Andres play the Breath of the Wild back in the summer of 2017 during our vacation at a cabin in Kansas. I was quite impressed with Link's ability to climb and paraglide, but I was hardly much into gaming in those days. It seemed maybe a year later, Benjamin had begun his obsession with the Zelda franchise. Every time we visited him he was either playing one of the older games or Breath of the Wild. For the past few years I bought Benjamin all sorts of Zelda merchandise from games, books, toys, posters, etc. I remember even Philip had partook in the latest Zelda craze of Breath of the Wild and had his own game going aside from Benjamin. 

So although I was several years late to the Zelda BOTW craze I decided it was finally time to experience it myself. This game after all was voted best video game in 2017, and is regarded as one of the greatest video games of all time. However before I could purchase Zelda it meant I would have to also purchase the Nintendo Switch video game console. This was selling for approximately $300 on Amazon which wasn't all that bad, so I decided to make the purchase alongside the games BOTW and Mario Kart. So after a 20 year hiatus, I once again owned a Nintendo console, which is how my gaming all began. In this post I'd like to give homage to my Nintendo history. I will later have a history of my Zelda experience, a full review of Breath of the Wild, and a ranking of my all time favorite games. 

My Nintendo History

I remember many years ago as a kid while living at Park Avenue we were first introduced by video gaming by our neighbor Shane Stefanski. This was probably in the early 1990s when Shane would bring over his NES console and play Mario games in our TV room. We thought it was the coolest thing ever and Shane was the best gamer ever. Eventually we all got into gaming ourselves, and it was the Super Nintendo that properly began my engagement into gaming. In those days it seemed we always had family at our house and had to take turns playing the console. Some of my favorite Super Nintendo games included Super Mario World, Donkey Kong, Super Mario All Stars, NFL Quarterback Club, the Star Wars games, and Mario RPG. ( I was familiar with Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past however never played that game as a kid).

Then in 1996 Nintendo released it's new gaming console, the Nintendo 64, with it's cutting edge 64-bit graphics. In those days Philip and myself had been working Sundays at a newspaper factory, which gave us extra spending money. We decided to save up and split the cost of the Nintendo 64 and bought it the weekend it was released. I remember I was one of the first kids in my classroom to own a Nintendo 64 which felt pretty cool. I would say this was probably the height of my video gaming, and we bought and rented many games in those days. I even had a monthly subscription to the Nintendo Power magazine. Some of my favorite games included Super Mario 64, Mario Kart, Star Fox, GoldenEye, Shadows of the Empire, and especially Zelda: Ocarina of Time. 

I remember aside from it's cutting edge 3d graphics, the concept of 4 multiplayers really got everyone involved. I probably had some of the best quality time ever in those days with my brothers and cousins playing games such as Zelda, GoldenEye, and the many Mario games. However by the late 90s, I naturally began to shift my attention away from video games and more into sports, girls, and a social life. Around this time I was graduating from junior high and beginning high school. Although I continued to game on free time, I had grown more interested in soccer, friends, schoolwork, and impressing girls. 

I remember in the Christmas of 2002 our family got the latest Nintendo console, the GameCube. Although by this point I was not as avid a gamer as I was for the Nintendo 64 years, there were several things I immediately preferred over the 64. The first was the smaller controllers, the 2nd was the change from a cartridge to a game disc, and the third was obviously the better graphics. I think by this point Gabriel and Andres had taken mine and Philip's place as the video gamers in the family. One of the games I most emerged myself into for the GameCube was Bounty Hunter, which focused on my favorite Star Wars character Jango Fett. During my college time I remember especially enjoying Mario Kart Double Dash with my friends (we even had a Facebook Mario Kart club). I also did a full submergence into The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess during a winter break at my parents house in Gabriel's room.

By the end of my college years, I remember Nintendo released it's latest console, the Wii. Aside from it's very modern sleek look, this was probably my least favorite of the consoles. I remember it introduced the new virtual "Wiimote" which required a receiver bar, alongside the console itself. I often found setting this up to be an extra hassle and the controller was not always the most accurate. I think the only games I really got into for the Wii was Mario Kart and Mario Strikers mostly at family events. I never owned a Wii, and did not play much video games during my post college days in Indianapolis. I think it was in 2011 that I officially became an owner of an Xbox, thus ending my sole allegiance to Nintendo. 

My Zelda History

I could probably write several posts about video game franchises that I have emerged myself into. This would range from FIFA, Mario, Assassin's Creed, Star Wars, and so forth. I later intend to have a proper ranking of my all time favorite video games. But for now I want to focus on my past experience with Zelda games. Prior to playing Breath of the Wild, there are only two Zelda games that I have fully emerged myself into; Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess. However both games were incredible experiences, and made me a huge fan of the series. These past experiences were part of the reason I decided to return to the Nintendo console and emerge myself into Breath of the Wild.

Ocarina of Time

To this day I always claim that The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is the greatest video game ever made. The game is my undisputed number 1 on par with The Beatles or the movie Gladiator. This is of course my personal opinion and I confess not to be the most versed video-gamer, however I believe the game is still considered among many critics to be there at the top. The game was actually released in 1998, two years after the Nintendo 64 had already been available. I'm not sure what made us buy the game, since we were far more into the Mario and Star Wars games at the time, however it must have been highly recommended.

I remember from the on start I was so engaged by the fantasy setting pertaining to the young knight, Link, needing to save the princess Zelda from the evil Ganon. I was quickly encapsulated by the open world of Hyrule and the freedom to go wherever I wanted. Everything about the game was so groundbreaking, but what mostly did it for me was the incredible story. The young Link has to fast forward time in order to face Ganon. He journey's through the game with his consultant fairy named Navi, his loyal stead Epona, and many other companions. He eventually gets a magical ocarina which helps him transport throughout the vast map of Hyrule. What I especially enjoyed about the hero Link was his humble persona where he said little and let his actions speak for themselves.

Aside from the great story and unique non-linear gameplay it was also a great gaming experience with my brothers. It was a game we all worked on together as team. There were so many puzzles and tactics required in the game it really did take a support team to get thru it. I remember Philip and I did most the playing while Gabriel was our onscreen viewer, and Andres was our "Save-a-maroo" reminder. Each person played a vital role and we also got a guidebook to unlock all the secrets in the game. It was by far the most engaging video game I had ever played, where I was truly encapsulated by the story, the setting, and the challenge. 

Twilight Princess

I remember after Ocarina of Time, there were other Zelda games released that I did not partake in. Majora's Mask seemed like a spin-off from Ocarina, and the others I found to be far too childish (especially The Wind Waker). Also by this point I had somewhat lost interest in videogaming. However I do remember Andres really began his Zelda obsession around this time, and I would often watch him play the new games. It was during the Christmas break in 2006 when I became very interested in the latest Zelda release of Twilight Princess for the GameCube. This was because the game actually had good graphics compared to all the other Zelda games released after Ocarina. 

After hearing Gabriel's great reviews, I decided to dive deep into the game during my winter break at my parent's house. I remember setting up shop in Gabriel's room and spending most of my 3 week break from classes playing Twilight Princess. The game had the similar open-world/non-linear format that Ocarina and I was quickly fully engaged. With some help and tips from Gabriel, I was able to beat the game before I returned back to Bloomington. Some of the highlights I remember were Link's new consultant Midna, and his ability to transform into a wolf.  Ultimately I would say the story was not as good as Ocarina, however the graphics and gameplay were very enjoyable. 

Both of these games were full submersion for me and among my all time favorite gaming experiences. I honestly preferred the Zelda franchise over the other major NES games such as Mario, Donkey Kong, and Metroid because it was more medieval and fantasy like. I enjoyed the whole premise of the sword wielding warrior fighting monsters, talking to townspeople, traveling to far-off lands, and saving the princess in the castle. It was because of these two games, that I recalled my appreciation of the Zelda series, and decided to return to Nintendo to take on Breath of the Wild. I'm still quite a novice in the Zelda world (having only played 3 games in the series) yet still would say it's among my favorite video game series.