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The first part of my new challenge was already completed a few days before I started to think about actually completing them all. The closest thing to the original Zelda I ever played was the Zelda Classic “remake” on the PC. It was basically a Legend of Zelda engine that allowed for custom quests and the original quest was one of them. I never finished it, though, since I was a bit younger back then and had very short attention span. I eventually wandered off the play various mini quests, including one involving the Neverending Story.

The Legend of Zelda Title Screen

This is where you hear the legendary music for the very first time.

A few weeks ago, I decided to download Nestopia and play through the game from start to finish. It started out badly. It’s been ages since I played any old school game of this type, so my reflexes were extremely rusty. For the life of me, I could not progress past the first few screens. I wandered around, killed enemies, died, wandered some more, killed some more, died some more and eventually, I managed to gather enough rupies to buy myself a new shield as well as the magic candle. The shield allowed me to survive for longer so, once I gathered some bombs, I managed to find my first heart upgrade.

With all of this, I felt confident enough for my first dungeon. Ages ago, I played Link’s Awakening on the original Game Boy and I remembered that this is how the game progresses. Well, playing Phantom Hourglass a while back also hinted at that, so it’s not like I was a complete newbie. The problem was, I couldn’t find the first dungeon no matter how hard I looked. I found the second one, I even managed to get to one of the later ones, but the first one was impossible for me to find.

This brings me to my first beef with the game. It needed a map, badly. Not for the secrets, not for the locations, just so I could know where the hell I am and where I’ve been before. Sure, there technically is a map in the game, but it’s completely useless. Lucky for me, I managed to find a spoiler-free overworld map, thanks to Tartarus of RPG Classics. With this, finding all the dungeons was a breeze.

Legend of Zelda - It's Dangerous To Go Alone

This line has been quoted, used and abused countless times.

I fought through dungeon after dungeon, making sure to explore the overworld after each new item and managed to clear most of them with relative ease. At a couple of points, I started finding the dungeons a bit to difficult, but after getting the Blue Ring from the obvious secret shop next under one of those several statues, I managed to get past those to. After all of that, I have to say one thing – I hate the knight enemies. I hate them with a passion. The mages in the final dungeons were difficult and annoying, but never as annoying as the knights.

Anyway, after getting a whole bunch of items and a whole bunch of hearts, I entered the final dungeon and boy was it difficult. I played through it for hours, constantly dying, but also constantly managing to get a step further than before. Once I got the red ring, things became a bit easier, but it was never a breeze. Eventually, though, I found Ganon and, since he was invisible, eventually figured out where to attack in order to damage him. I couldn’t kill him, though. I had no idea how. However, since I’m quite familiar with the various tropes you can find in entertainment, I figured I have to do something special one he changes colour. Thanks to one of the old men in the dungeon, I managed to kill him with the silver arrow, and that was it.

Legend of Zelda - Victory Screen

The ending is anticlymactic, really.

Except it wasn’t! Apparently, there’s a second quest. I’m not going through that one. From what I can tell, the differences between the quests are only in item and enemy placement, so I really see no point. I got through the story and I experienced the game fully as far as I’m concerned. I think A Link to the Past will be next.

Legend of Zelda – Final Impressions

So what are my impressions? All in all, they’re pretty positive. The Legend of Zelda definitely deserves to be called a classic. It innovated back then and it still innovates today. Sure, some of the archaic design methods pull it down a bit these days, but I still find it an above average game with fun and compelling gameplay. The music and sound is signature to the series, while the retro dialogue lines and story give it a nostalgic charm. I feel most gamers, young and old, should at least experience a Zelda game, and there’s no reason for this one not to be that game.

The first part of my Legend of Zelda challenge is complete.

On a side note, playing through this game made me truly realize how much of an inspiration it is for Binding of Isaac. It’s not just the room layout and the camera perspective. The enemies, the bosses, even the items of the Legend of Zelda are a huge inspiration to the Binding and its expansion. This makes me like both games even more.

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I love the Zelda series of games. I find them imaginative and interesting, the overarching story complex and the gameplay fun. The thing is, I only ever played a few of them, and finished an even smaller number.

This is why I decided to try and finish all the main games in the series, in order of release. I won’t be doing this as fast as possible, or anything of the sort, but I do intend to eventually go through all of them, other than Zelda 2, since I really can’t consider that a proper Zelda game. Don’t get me wrong, it looks decent enough, and it’s definitely considered part of the story, but the gameplay is just too different. Plus, from what I hear about the difficulty, I’ll probably rage hard if I try to complete that, so it isn’t worth it at this point. I might decide to do a tool assisted walkthrough at least once, though. Of course, the various spin-offs on other consoles won’t be included, since most of them are complete crap and have nothing to do with the series.

Legend of Zelda - Triforce Emblem

Time to start the challenge!

So, the first thing to do is to make a list of all the Legend of Zelda games in chronological order. I will turn each list item into a link eventually, no pun intended. If there’s a remake for any of the games, I’ll state that on the list, once I get through that game. For now, the games are listed in chronological order of first release.

The Legend of Zelda Series

  • The Legend of Zelda (1986)
  • Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (1987)
  • The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1991)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (1993)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (2000)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (2001)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (2001)
  • The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2002)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (2004)
  • The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
  • The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
  • The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
  • The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
  • The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

As you can see, there’s plenty for me to play. This will in no way be a quick challenge and I will probably go through it for years, but it will be on the challenge list from the start. Good luck to me!

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I must admit, I was getting a bit tired of playing the same old Pokemon games. Yes, they are fun, but it’s always the exact same thing. Are you a boy or a girl? Boy? Great, here is your monster, now go defeat 8 gym masters, beat a Team Rocket Clone on the way and become a Pokemon master. This is why I decided to try this challenge. As far as I understand it, the challenge was thought of by Ruby, the owner of the Nuzlocke Comics blog. He decided to play Pokemon Ruby with this set of rules and drew a comic while doing it. The name Nuzlocke came from a character in the comic (heavy Lost references). Anyways, his, and the other challenge comics he collects are really fun to read, so I heavily recommend those.

There are many variations to the rules of the Nuzlocke Challenge, some easier and some harder. Being new to this, I decided to try one of the easier set of rules:

  • Can only catch one Pokemon per route
  • All floors of the same cave count as one area
  • If a wild Pokemon faints before I catch him, I forfeited that area
  • After I get the first Pokeball, I have to catch the first Pokemon I encounter on every route. No rerolls.
  • Once a Pokemon dies, I need to either release him or put him in one of the PC Boxes, never to be used again.
  • Pokemon from trades or acquired by methods other than catching in the wilderness are not allowed

The game that I decided to try this set of rules on is Pokemon Fire Red. I prefer the first set of Pokemon and the graphics in this remake are a major improvement from the original. Also, since I am playing this on an emulator, I plan to use the fastf orward feature heavily to save time on loading and battle scenes. The rewind feature is, of course, disabled. After saying all this, I think it’s time to start the game.

Pokemon Fire Red Cover

Let’s get it on!

Session Start 15.6.2010, 00:15

I named my trainer Red in the style of the original comic, and my rival Dick for the fun of it. As my starter, I chose Charmander and nicknamed it Libby. Following the regular story, I went to the next town to get a parcel for professor Oak and got it back to him. He gave me the Poxedex. I got 5 Pokeballs and caught Rattata on Route 1. I named it Kate.

I decided to train both Kate and Libby to level 8 before continuing. This included lots of trips to the Pokemon Center, but thanks to this, Kate learned Quick Attack which will be really useful. I proceeded to route 2 and, what a surprise, I caught another Rattata. This was another female, so I named it Clare. I trained her to level 8 as well.

Next, I proceeded to Viridian forest where I caught a Kakuna, which I named Rousso. All that Rousse knew was Harden, so there was really no point training it for now. In the forest, I raised Kate and Clare to level 10 and Libby to level 14. Arriving to Pewter City, Rousso was level 6.
Pewter City is the location of the first, Rock type gym. I foolishly decided to just go for it and lost Libby and Rousso. They will both be mourned deeply (well, more Libby than Rousso). May they rest in peac

It was time to move on to the next town. I proceded through Route 3 and Mount Moon, catching a Pidgey called Missy and a Zubat called Sally on the way, respectively. As you can see, it was here that I quit with the Lost naming scheme because I was getting an unusual amount of females. I wish it was the same in real life. Being quite late in the night, or early in the morning, depending on how you look at it, I decided to end my session here.

Session End 15.6.2010. 00:59

Session Start 15.6.2010. 10:55

Starting this session, I have cleared Mount Moon completely and got the Dome fossil. Proceeding on Route 4, I caught another Rattata, this time a male and named it Charley. I was finally in Cerulean city. This is where I unexpectedly stumbled into Dick and was forced to battle him. Sadly, I lost Clare in the battle.

Pokemon - Rattata

I was sure to get this one.

Being shaken up by this, I decided to do some training. I trained Missy and Sally to 22. Sally evolved to a Golbat. This being Fire Red, for now this was the final stage of her evolution. Bolstered by training I went on to defeat the second gym leader, Misty, a water trainer. I suffered no losses and earned my second badge.

I proceeded to Route 24 where I caught a Catterpie. I forgot to name it, but it doesn’t really matter because, even though I evolved it to a Beautifly lightning fast, I also lost it lightning fast in a regular trainer battle due to a critical hit. At the end of Route 24 I’ve found Bills house, the creator of the PC system. After helping him with a teleportation issue, he gave me his ticket for a boat. I proceeded to Route 5, where I caught a level 15 Pidgey named Rodger (yes, typo, I know). I decided to put Charley in the Day-Care center because I’m getting swamped with Rattatas. I caught another Pidgey on Route 6. This one was level 16 and I decided to name him Mark.

I arrived to Vermilion City, where I boarded the S.S.Anne. I fought a bunch of trainers on the ship, including Dick again and I helped the ship Captain, who then gave me HM01 Cut in return. I left the ship early, not knowing it would leave, so I missed a few trainer battles. Cut was taught to Kate, so now I could enter Gym 3. This one was an Electric type and was won with no casualties.

I proceeded to Route 9 where I accidentally killed a level 9 Rattata with a critical Quick Attack. As far as I care, good riddance. I just hope I won’t lack any Pokemon later. Later on Route 10, I caught an Ekans and called him Paul. Next was Rock Tunnel where I caught a Geodude and called it Anna.

Session End 15.6.2010. 11:44

Session Start 15.6.2010. 15:45

I switched Rodger out for Anna, thinking a rock type would be way more useful. I arrived at Lavender town where I bought a bunch of Great Balls and restocked on other consumables. Lavender town is the location of the Pokemon Tower, which is a Pokemon graveyard. I encountered Dick again, but managed to defeat him with no casualties. After exploring most of the Pokemon tower, I encountered a ghost who wouldn’t let me proceed. I guess I need an item to clear this area.

It was time to leave Lavender Town for now. On my way through routes 8 and 7, I caught a Pidgey named Adolf and a Meowth named Mietzi. I arrived at Celadon City. While exploring it, I managed to get a Coin Case and acquire an Evee. Since I can’t use Pokemon not caught in battle, I stored it in the PC.

The Gym 4, a Grass type gym was located in Celadon City. I defeated the leader, Erika easily thanks to Missy. After this I proceeded to Route 16 where I managed to kill a Doduo with Quick Attack again. Also, Missy evolved. Somewhere along the way, I managed to get HM02 Fly and taught it to Mark. I’ve also found the secret hideout of Team Rocket where I fought and defeated Giovanni and got the Sylph Scope.

With the Scope, I went back to the Pokemon Tower and managed to catch a level 16 Ghastly who I named Casper. I calmed the Ghost at the top and it turned out it was a Marowak. Team Rocket was holding Mr. Fuji on the top so he gave me the Pokemon Flute for saving him. An old lady in Celadon City gave me some tea, which I then handed to one of the guard blocking the road to Safron city. He said he would share it with the other four guards so now all the routes are open.

Pokemon

Gotta catch ’em all, right?

The Safron City gym was blocked by Team Rocket, but there was a fighting dojo next to it, which I also managed to clear and got a Hitmonlee in the process. Of course, I had to send it to the PC. After all this, I went to Sylph Co. which was also being controlled by Team Rocket. I fought them for a while, but I decided it was still too dangerous for me, so I got out. I used the Flute to awaken a Snorlax, which opened another route for me. On Route 18, I lost another Doduo to Quick Attack.

I managed to get to Fuchsia city, which was the home of the Safari Zone. I decided catching Safari Pokemon was against the rules, since it doesn’t include a real battle. Fuchsia City was also the home of another Gym, this time a Poison type. It was a really tough battle, which forced me to use most of my potions, but in the end, I managed to win it with no casualties.

Session End 15.6.2010. 17:34

Session Start 15.6.2010. 20:07

Since I got my fifth badge, I decided I was brave enough to tackle the Sylph Co. building. This is a huge building with, I think, 12 floors weirdly connected with various teleporters and stairs. In the end, I managed to do it, defeated Giovanni again and also got the Master Ball.

Next I got to Gym 6 and defeated the psychic, Sabrina, also with no losses. Wing attack is an awesome attack! Since I had to learn Surf to proceed, I had to go to Safari Zone to get it. I did catch a few Pokemon just for my Poxedex, but they all instantly went to the PC. Since none of my Pokemon can learn surf, I have to catch one on a water route I haven’t been to yet.

Session End 15.6.2010. 22:37

Session Start 16.6.2010. 12:45

The water route in question was Route 19 and I caught an awesome Pokemon, Krabby, which I then named Rick. I’m not sure where exactly I managed to get the Good Rod to catch it, but I was probably a fisherman in some random house, like all other Pokemon games. I trained him to 28 and he evolved to a Kingler.

Next I went to the Seafoam Islands cave, where I caught a Psyduck named Erica. I explored the cave for a bit, but I think I need the Strength HM to continue so I got out. On Route 21 I killed a Tangela with curse. I Tried 3 Ultra Balls, but I didn’t manage to catch it before it died. Eventually I arrived at Cinabar Island.

There was a laboratory on the island so I left my Dome Fossil there to get resurrected. Next up was Pokemon Mansion, which was a tough area. I caught a Growlithe in there and named it Jessica. After the mansion, it was time to go to Gym 7, where I defeated a fire leader. I must say, Rick was an awesome asset here.

Pokemon - Kingler

Krabby/Kingler is kind off an underdog of the anime.

Outside the gym, Bill was waiting to take me to One island. For now I could visit the One, Two and Three islands. I managed to help some people there, but I also failed to catch any Pokemon, killing them by accident instead. Since all of this was for nothing, I decided to go back to Veridian city to tackle the final Gym.

This was a ground type gym so Rick was very awesome again. I won with absolutely no difficulties. This means I have 8 badges now, so it’s time to go to the Pokemon League. First stop – Victory Road.

Off course, before all that, I had to fight stupid Dick again. I beat him with no casualties, but his Blastoise was pretty tough. After solving lots of puzzles, I finally managed to get out of Victory Road and got to the League area. Since I can now fly from here and back, I decided I have to train my Pokemon before I tackle the elite four. First I tried grinding at Victory Road, but that got boring really fast. Then I decided to use the VS Seeker to do repeat battles with trainers I’ve fought before, but I couldn’t find any that were high enough level. Still, I explored a bunch of routes and areas I haven’t visited before, and caught a few nice Pokemon. Still, none of them were good enough to replace anyone from my main team. Among other things, I got a bunch of levels and evolved Casper. Also, Rick learned his Crabhammer attack.

Session End 15.6.2010. 17:13

Session Start 17.6.2010. 13:31

At this point, I was really short on time because exams were closing in so I decided to just go for the Elite Four. As it turns out it wasn’t that hard. I had a bunch of Potions, Ethers and status restoring items, so, with Rick being level 75, I managed to go through all four with no major issues. I was so happy about this I forgot that I also need to kick Dick’s ass for the last time. He wasn’t that hard either, at least for the first 5 of his Pokemon. Blastoise, though, was a bitch. I managed to lose two of my team members before Rick finally managed to finish him with the last of his strength. I entered my team into the Hall of Fame and Professor Oak managed to give a major scolding to Dick for, well, being a dick. I waited through the credits so I can save my game, but the emulator crashed at that point, I guess I won’t be playing the after game.

Session End 15.6.2010. 13:58

Final Words

Well, as you can see, I managed to complete my first Nuzlocke Challenge, and it wasn’t hard at all. I guess I will have to try some tougher rules next time, but for now, I can add this one to my completed list. I must say, playing the game this way was really fun. If you want to spice up your Pokemon sessions, I really recommend you to try this. Also, I promise to keep a more detailed log of my journey on my next attempt at a challenge like this.