We are less than a month away from the much anticipated release of the new Legend of Zelda,
Breath of Wild.
Some of us are counting down the hours by replaying our favorite Zelda installments.
But might I suggest an alternative?
Perhaps it’s time to try a not-Zelda game?
We all know that the Legend of Zelda has been a genre defining series and has inspired countless
imitators over the years – so the real question is which clones are worth your time now?
Luckily for you I’m here to share my top 10 totally not-Zelda Zelda games that you
need to play.
Magic of Scheherazade (NES) – It’s not often that someone recommends Magic of Scheherazade,
likely due to its unpronounceable name and illegible font.
Like Frankenstein’s creature, Scheherazade awkwardly stiches together elements from other
games to create a new life that’s original and misunderstood.
This act of videogame necromancy borrows combat systems from both Dragon Warrior and the Legend
of Zelda, resulting in an action-adventure-RPG that is as monstrously bizarre as it is charming
(thanks largely to developer Culture Brain’s signature art style and goofy humor).
Longtime Zelda fans may also be reminded of the dual-world system present in A Link to
the Past as their time traveling hero explores his surroundings in both the past and deeper
past of ancient Arabia.
Gamers with tight budgets will also be relieved to hear that Scheherazade is one of the cheapest
suggestions on this list, with cart only copies currently fetching about ten bucks.
Alundra (PSX) – Have you ever found yourself playing a really good Zelda game but lamenting
that it just wasn’t doing enough to make you cry?
Well thanks to the sadistic game designers employed at Matrix Software in the mid 90s
you too can bawl your eyes out in both frustration and sadness as you step into the twisted dreams
of Alundra’s truly unfortunate denizens.
Alundra is less about the titular dream-walking protagonist as it is a story about the sad
fate of the villagers he encounters.
Alundra does a fantastic job of making you care about the individual lives of totally
unplayable NPCs and then brutally killing them off as your hero is helpless to intervene.
As if this cruel heartbreak wasn’t stressful enough the game is also ridiculously difficult.
Star Tropics (NES) – Speaking of difficult games, Star Tropics is basically Nintendo
of America’s alternate universe Zelda where Hyrule is now the Pacific Islands, the princess
is Indiana Jones, and master sword is a yo-yo.
Then someone started a nasty rumor that filthy Americans couldn’t handle difficult games
and somewhere in Redmond WA, director Genyo Takeda leaned back in his cushy office chair
and laughed manically.
For the Frog the Bell Tolls (GB) – With its side scrolling platforming dungeons, For
the Frog the Bell Tolls may just be the least Zelda-like entry in this video but fans of
Links Awakening will surely feel the familiar pangs of nostalgic deja-vu as they hop through
this humorous fairy-tale adventure.
For you see Awakening was built on frog’s pre-established engine.
A sort of after-hours project by driven Nintendo developers who initially wanted to capture
the Link to the Past experience in handheld form.
Consequently some of frog’s borrowed assets, such as sound bites, carried over to the final
product.
Given the whimsical tonal changes present in the Zelda games starting with Awakening,
it could even be suggested that For the Frog is the missing Link in the evolution of the
Zelda series.
Or maybe it’s just another solid adventure title worthy of your attention.
Golden Axe Warrior (SMS) – While all the titles in this video owe their heritage to
Nintendo’s iconic heart-gathering-puzzle-solving-sword-slashing-and-chicken-kicking series, Golden Axe Warrior and the original
Legend of Zelda are so alike that Sega’s version must have been a deliberate copy.
But given Nintendo’s ruthless licensing contracts that starved the master system of
crucial third-party-life support, I like to think of Golden Axe Warrior as simply being
Sega’s way of telling Nintendo to smoke their collective dick; as Nintendo legally
strong-armed developers from publishing for other platforms, Sega retaliated by shamelessly
replicating one of their opposition’s most popular titles.
Golden Axe Warrior may be completely unoriginal by design, the good news is that copying an
excellent game usually produces another excellent game.
If only Nintendo had tried that with the Adventure of Link: once again proving that Sega does
what Nintendon’t.
Marvelous (SNES) – The Legend of Zelda’s origin story is well known among Nintendo
fans.
Wanting to recapture the sense of awe and adventure of his childhood memories, Shigeru
Miyamoto based the land of Hyrule on the fields, forests, and caves he explored in his youth.
How fitting then that Eiji Aonuma, who has been deeply involved with the design of the
Zelda series since Ocarina of time, have directed his first game around the romanticized misadventures
of childhood.
Marvelous: Another Treasure Island tells the tale of three boys and their search for the
long-lost pirates’ treasure “Marvelous”.
Marvelous, is aptly named; it is unique among action-adventure games for downplaying the
emphasis on combat and doubling-down on a more complex puzzle system.
It’s not exactly a point-and-click although at times it implements a similar approach
– the game still includes plenty of “action” it’s just in the form of more traditional
“boy-like” activities such as fishing, throwing baseballs, jumping, and tug-of-war.
Yes.
Marvelous is an amazing experience, but it was due to its creative take on the genre
that Aonuma secured his position on the Zelda series development team.
Crusader of Centy (GEN) – Back in the day Super Nintendo Gamers had A Link to the Past
– a title many now champion as the Greatest Game Ever coded.
Meanwhile Sega kiddies may have owned Crusader of Centy.
But chances are they didn’t because it’s stupid rare.
Still visually you can see where I’m attempting to draw a parallel.
The game just screams knockoff – even when it’s really quite different.
Crusader of Centy is the story of a little boy who loses the ability to communicate with
people and instead finds himself conversing with animals- loyal companions who join his
adventure and lend the boy their unique puzzle-solving talents.
Toss in some time traveling and heady morality lessons and you’ve got the recipe for a
pretty amazing game.
Sylvan Tale (GG) – I might not like it, but Sega thoroughly lost the great handheld
war of the early 90s.
Sega was armed to the teeth with full color graphics and backlighting but Nintendo was
fighting a cold war supported by the soviet power of Tetris.
They say history is written by the victors and Game Gear is all but a dirty word amongst
vintage collectors today.
But perhaps we’d be singing a different tune if something like Sylvan Tale had been
released in the US; perhaps all the Game Gear needed was a killer app to win back the market.
What would have made a more alluring system seller than a solid Zelda clone?
But sadly Sylvan Tale wouldn’t be released in Japan until 1995 – too late to turn the
tides of war.
Beyond Oasis (GEN) – Beyond Oasis is the breathtaking cross between a Zelda clone and
a beat-em-up.
While the game is primarily about exploration and puzzle solving, developer Ancient’s
Streets of Rage 2 roots lend a robust combo system to the fights not typically found in
other action-adventures (a genre that leans heavily towards the “mash a to succeed”
philosophy of combat).
Much like Crusader of Centy, Beyond Oasis ditches equipment in favor of specialized
familiars.
In keeping with its romantic Persian theme the hero Ali can summon genie-like spirits
from enchanted artifacts to assist him with puzzles and combat.
Based on gameplay alone Oasis is already a great Zelda competitor, but the game itself
feels like an interactive cartoon – the extra polish on top of a solid mechanical
foundation makes Beyond Oasis one of the best games on the Sega Genesis (much less this
video).
3D Dot Game Heroes (PS3) – 3D Dot Game Heroes is a shameless love letter addressed to the
original Zelda.
The entire world approximates an 8bit adventure as fully rendered in three dimensional voxels.
Exploring pop-up Hyrule is a novel experience on its own but Heroes is also really really
silly.
The two big features that set it apart from – everything else is the player’s ability
to draw their own sprites and the totally ridiculous sword upgrade system that incrementally
increases the length and girth of the hero’s weapon until it eventually fills the screen
and annihilates everything in its path.
At best this is a recipe for silliness, and at worst you end up with… well… naked
hero guy wielding his massive schlong with lethal force.
And there you have it.
Ten excellent Zelda inspired adventures just dying to be experienced with a bonus helping
of game history.
This has been DariaPlaysRPGs – and I don’t know where I’m going with this.
The video’s over now.
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