Test of Nintendo's Game & Watch "Zelda"
My take on Nintendo's newly released Game & Watch with 3 Zelda games.
Big Kid
Preamble
But "Why buying such a thing?" you may ask?
It's true that videogames nowadays are a lot more realistic and immersive,
but I don't play that much (the game consoles we have at home are mainly for the
kids, even though I regularly enjoy playing Mario Kart with them!).
If you read my blog, you've probably noticed I regularly write on
Retrogaming, so this console was clearly of interest for
me.
Also, I like the form factor of this console, and I'd like to be able to finish
Zelda, as I didn't have a chance to do it, yet :)
I didn't own such a device when I was young - I remember playing Donkey Kong on a friend's Game & Watch, and liked it a lot.
So when I saw Nintendo was releasing it, I asked for it as a Christmas gift.
Look & Feel
It looks really nice, with its green and gold colors, reminding me of the first Zeld cardbrige on the Nintendo NES.
Size-wide, it's also great: very easy to use/manipulate both by kids and adults.
Also, the back of the console has the Zelda logo lit when the console is switched on, which is super nice :)
User Experience
I didn't need to read the user guide to get started, as the console has very few buttons:
- 4 direction/cross button on the left,
- 3 buttons (Game/Time/Pause) on the top right,
- Select / Start on the bottom right,
- A and B buttons on the bottom right.
So if you ever played on a Nintendo console, you won't be lost - but if you never did, catching up won't be hard:
- Switching between games is done with the "Game" button,
- Switching to the Time screen with the "Time" button,
- Pausing a game is done with the "Pause" button.
Speaking of games, there are 3 games to choose from:
- The Legend of Zelda: first episode
- Zelda II: the adventure ok Link
- The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
Note that each game is available both in English, or in Japanese.
Time
The "Time/Clock" screen is very well done:
I am not using this feature that much, as I have plenty of other ways to know what time it is (e.g. my watch, my phone, ...) but that's still neat.
Test
Those 3 games have been extensively tested elsewhere, so I'm not gonna review them in details, but rather highlight interesting things.
The Legend of Zelda
Probably one of the very first games I played when I was a kid, and wow this still gets me goosebumps!
It's super easy to start playing, no need to read a 100 pages user guide or fiddle with 10 different buttons - just move around and use your sword, and you're good to go!
The difficulty level is "medium +", i.e. you won't die easily (at least not in the first screens), but if you want to progress, this becomes a bit harder.
Speaking of longevity, a very nice thing is that there's a "save / continue"
option, meaning you won't have to start from scratch every time you die, which
is really cool.
If I'm not mistaken, I think The Legend of Zelda was the first cartdridge to
include a battery, allowing you to save your progress.
In terms of gameplay, using this Game&Watch console is really comparable to using the original NES gamepad - i.e. I played a few hours straight without any issue.
Zelda II
I played Zelda II (The Adventure of Link) a lot less than The Legend of Zelda.
I still remember playing it because of its vertical scrolling (rather than the
flip-screen overhead perspective from Zelda I).
The Legend of Zelda - Link's Awakening
I must confess that I never played this Zelda before, so it was new to me.
The view is comparable to The Legend of Zelda, i.e. flip-screen overhead
perspective, but the game is in monochrome - it's actually not bad, since the
graphics are a lot more detailed than the ones from the original Legend of
Zelda.
Comparing with the emulated version on Wii U
I almost forgot that at some point, I bought The Legend of Zelda on my Wii U, as part of the Nintendo Store.
As you can see below, apart from the size of the screen, both look identical (which kinda makes sense, since they both emulate the same game).
The main difference is the portability and usability:
- The Wii U pad is a lot heavier, so playing for a long time maybe a bit tiring,
- and it requires you to play close to the Wii U (you can't have the Wii U in one room, and play in a different room).
Wrap Up
For ~45€, I think this console is worth it, provided you are a bit nostalgic and
want to play Zelda on-the-go.
Of course you can buy those games on a Nintendo Switch as well, but the form
factor is not as easy to carry as the Game&Watch console.
Tags: Retrogaming, Geek