My First Review: Zelda Rip Off, Or Zelda Win?

Review by swallowthesun on Friday, July 15th 2011

Hello. Today I will be reviewing The Legend of Ganandorf by Lumberjay.

Opening

"Embrace the True Legend. Ganondorf is one of the most iconic villains in video games. He is portrayed as an evil man with no back story. In this game, I show the story of a quest he embarked on before turning evil. He must collect the Gems of Truth to save the King from a cult bent on summoning a dark evil upon the land. In time, he will discover his true destiny..."

Before even began, my expectations were very high. It was featured from EGD, and I could tell from the creative title that this was going to be based around The Legend of Zelda, which is one of my all time favorite game series. I'm sure you can agree that it was worth giving it a shot! I really hoped it would be as enthralling as I expected it to be.. but did it meet my super high expectations? Well, I had to play the game and see...

Beginning thoughts

As I began the game, the first message that I saw said Hyrule Castle North. I was very pleased. The beginning itself I can honestly say was interesting. The main enemies placed were different style ninjas, but something about the beginning was amazing. It was probably the feeling I used to get from playing Zelda when I was younger, yes, that's it. It was exactly like that feeling, and the face that Lumberjay was able to capture the feelings from that game is incredible! I enjoyed wondering around the castle like a madman trying to figure out what to do while avoiding enemies, just like I would in an official game by Nintendo. The first level alone made me love the game.

Playing further

As I played further into the game, I was happy to see that lumberjay kept true to the games and made different temples to collect the crystals from. I was a little disappointed at the length of the first temple (wave temple), and I thought it was a little too easy, but then again, it WAS the first temple. I liked how the game didn't repeat itself, and every level (I was able to get to anyway) was unique and had a different length, experience, and difficulty... It was sure to keep anybody from getting too comfortable in the same environment! Another thing that really made me enjoy this game was how the levels had mini bosses, and bosses. An example of this would be the Wave Temple's Tidal Trio, and then the demon of the seas.

But that wasn't all this game had in store. Each level was like a maze, and filled with grizzly traps, and grueling puzzles. There was no such thing as a straight path, or an empty room. There was non-stop action, puzzles, traps, and fantasy adventure! I (sigh) wasn't able to complete the game, but it was extremely addictive. I'll probably play it again after I get done with this review as a matter of fact, as I hope you will play.

Storyline

The storyline for the game was really not there for me, but then again, I may not have gotten far enough into it to tell. This game is a fantasy/adventure/action, so a storyline isn't necessarily needed, but it's always good to have one. I guess in this particuler game, the description says it all. You play as a character named Ganandorf, and you are trying to save Hyrule from the spreading darkness, that you will later ensue. In this aspect, he did a so-so job on it, but it was still decent Compared to other games on Sploder.

Visual Appeal?

Yes, very appealing scenery. It was interesting to look at! I really liked how he kept true to each level's theme by not putting out of place objects, and making a good scenery. Every good featured game at least has to have this. I really liked this aspect of it as well. Each level was unique, and had a different set of scenery, and styles. The game was actually pretty beautiful for a platformer. These little things every here and there, like a skull, or a colored window really made a big difference! It was exciting to see what would be next in the following level! In this area of the game, he did a superb job!

Game play

I covered a little bit of this in the above topics, but I will delve a little deeper into it. The game play itself was pretty decent, but could have slightly been better. Most of the time, you were just walking or trying to figure out a puzzle. I mean that was fun and all, but maybe some enemies spread out more, or something would have been nice. It was still exceptional in my oppinion, but to each his own, right?

Placement

Everything was placed very well for whatever purpose that object would serve in the game. If it was an enemy, they would be placed just right to inflict maximum damage. If it was a trap, it would be placed inconspicously (maybe too much so). Yes, again, the game was visually appealing, and mentally appealing.

Cons?

Yes, there were some cons to this game. No matter how magnificantly I make the game appear above, it definitley had some down sides to it. Occasional lag was one of them. Another was level design. For example, the first two levels were too short, and the enemies were too difficult to defeat sometimes, so I found myself having to run away instead of fighting like I normally would.

Now time for the ratings...

Well, it was hard for me to decide on the categories because it is based of a pre existing game, but I thing I made a good choice...

Creativity: 4/5

Originality: 3.5/5

Puzzles/Traps: 4/5

Scenery: 4.5/5

Lag: 3/5

Storyline: 3/5

Mean(average): 3.5/5

Yes, it could have been better, but it also could have been worse. It was a marvelous game, but could have used some touch ups....

Room to improve?

There always is. In this case, I would recommend fixing some of the glitches I experienced, one was being trapped in a block in the wave temple by the trident trio. Another took place while I was on the second level trying to get into the temple where I kept getting stuck. There were also moments when I had to run from enemies because there were either too many of them, or they were just too difficult to defeat. The storyline was good, but maybe could have been tweaked a little bit. Other than that, and the occasional lag, I really didn't have any problems with the game at all. It was fun, creative, exciting, visually appealing, and a great game.

Good job Lumberjay!

Conclusion

I loved the game. It was definitley worthy of the feature. What more can I say? I would recommend this game anyday. If you want to know more about it.. Play it yourself!