Edit: turns out these are all bootleg and I’m a moron. Only two Zelda games were officially released for GBA.
Just kicked off a return.
MM is hard to top; it’s peak early LoZ (in an old man’s opinion). It took a familiar engine, added two new major mechanics, and told the first really dark story.
Awakening is the one to play first, it’ll set you up for later games nicely, and it was originally a Gameboy (not GBC game). It took the Zelda formula from the earlier NES iterations, and made a content-rich world.
I’d say save ages and seasons for last (when you get your carts!). They’re amazing games that really show how far the GBC could be pushed, and are very much taking the awakening engine and doing wonderful things. The fact there is linked content between the two means you should also keep a pen and paper handy!
keep a pen and paper handy!
Nah, just snap a pick with your phone.
I only ask this question because I can see that you’re a franchise veteran and my entry into the franchise was very different. I’ve heard that most old school zelda players really dislike botw and I don’t understand why since the two switch titles are among my favorites of all time and I’ve played a decent amount of games. Is that the case with you as well?
No, I really enjoyed BotW for the same reason I enjoyed OoT! Both innovated and both were very different games exploring different concepts. BotW will forever be my go-to for “open world done right”, and OoT set up a solid action game with strong puzzle elements; that said, fuck the water temple.
Games that break genuinely new ground are rare, in the case of both the old and new Zelda’s there are good and bad (the nds era was a bit of a stagnation), the really groundbreaking titles push the hardware through skilled coding and amazing game loop design.
Also, no spoilers for tears please, it’s on my list once I get a few weeks vacation!
I’ve been playing the Zelda series since the original NES game in the 80s. BOTW and TOTK are some of my favorites.
I’ve played almost every Zelda except 1+2 (I swear I’ll get to it…someday) and the CD-i ones. BotW + TotK was some of my favourite times with the franchise, it really took me back to experiencing the OoT + MM duology.
I think a lot of the “People hate BotW/TotK/x Zelda” is partially an online circlejerk, tbh. No matter what the vocal Zelda fans may tout as “popular” opinion, there’s actually a lot of variance in and outside of the Zelda community. I remember when Wind Waker and Twilight Princess were touted as the black sheep of the franchise, and look at them now.
(Except Wand of Gamalon. That might be the one universally hated Zelda game in my experience, lol.)
The only Zeldas I haven’t played to completion are Zelda 1, 2, Minish Cap, and Phantom Hourglass, and Link Between Worlds. My favorites are Majora’s Mask, Breath of the Wild, and Twilight Princess.
People that disliked the Switch titles prefer the intricate puzzle-based dungeons and a tighter story. In previous titles, the whole game is a linear puzzlebox. It really looks like the series is turning away from this, with even Echoes of Wisdom showcasing a sandbox approach.
Personally, having played SO many Zelda titles that rigidly adhered to this, it’s good they’re mixing it up. There was a lot of ideas they had rehashed. And the indie space has rushed to fill the void, so Zelda enjoyers of all kinds are eating good.
Oh man, highly recommend Link Between Worlds with a 3DS if you can get your hands on one! I know many people thought it was gimmicky, but it genuinely blew my mind how good the game looked in 3D. Probably tied with Samus Returns and RE:Revelations for some of my best gaming experiences on the 3DS.
Man, I actually skipped it and Samus Returns, but I do have a 2DS. I can still buy those by putting money on my account through my Switch, right?
The DS shop closed in March 2023, so unless you already bought those titles, you won’t be able download them. I would look into homebrewing your 2DS, it’s not that complex and the step by step instructions are very thorough.
I mean you could also try to find 2nd hand sellers, but the prices of DS games have jumped a LOT in the past few years.
Peak any LoZ to be honest.
That’s a little more controversial, but towards my taste yes. Majora’s mask is one of those games you could never make today because it combined a children’s franchise with cosmic horror and themes of grief.
It took common ideas like npc routines, day/night, and a solid action core. With this it wove in puzzles that were not just about what you did, but when. This was groundbreaking in its scope and scale, and then they added in the soundtrack… Ye gods that soundtrack…
I could go on for pages but, quite simply, it was a work of genius.
I say play Awakening first.
Ok so the Analogue comes in 2 days. Dusted off my DSLite to get started on Awakening and saves don’t persist after I remove the cart. Cart battery reads 3.3V. Any ideas?
Super high battery internal resistance? Haven’t tried to replace it yet.
There’s a proper way using a soldering iron, and a hacky way using tape. YouTube has tons of tutorials.
Unhelpful idea: practice as-is until you’re good enough to beat it in one sitting
lol. Analogue also supports like 128 save states per cart, so it’lol be moot in two days
Play order for portable Zeldas: Link’s Awakening (DX is the same game with an additional dungeon), then both Oracles games (Seasons and Ages, there’s content you can only see if you play both), then Minish Cap, then Four Swords.
A link to the past (four swords is multiplayer, not sure how that would work), link’s awakening, oracle of ages/seasons (they are connected, either order works), minish cap.
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Just throwing these links in here: https://everdrive.me/cartridges/everdrive-gba-mini.html
Yeah. Analogue has a “hack” that lets you play ROMs off SD.
Just thought I’d try to do it “legit.”
Y
Hold up. What are the oracle GBA editions? are they actually enhanced?
Nah. They’re bootleg apparently. Returning them.
The only one I tried was AwakeningDX. It plays with a thick border, and saves don’t persist when you remove the cart. So sending the lot back.
The Oracle games had GBA releases? Wow, that’s news to me.
They don’t. These are reproduction cartridges and not official. Apparently these are using emulators.
So admittedly I bought all of these off eBay having done zero research. They’re all bootleg? If so, the physical quality is very good, but it could explain why Link’s Awakening won’t keep a save.
Yes they all look bootleg to me. If you compare the sticker online you will most like find subtle differences. You can also open the case and look at the board which will tell you for sure if they are real or not.
Also Links Awaking and both Oracle games never released on GBA they are all GB/GBC games.
Links Awaking had two releases. The original Links Awaking is a GB game for the original Gameboy and Links Awaking DX is a game for the GBC with extra features and colour support. Links Awaking DX came in a black cartridge instead of a silver one.
Whelp kicked off an eBay return. Thanks all for the advice. $60 for 5 original games was definitely too good to be true.
They might be tricking the GBA into thinking it’s a GB cartridge (it has a built-in GBC “emulator”). I found different ways this could work online: perhaps by adding extra plastic to actuate a switch (that switches between 5 V (GBC) and 3.3 V (GBA) power to the cartridge); alternatively, the ROM chip is made to withstand both voltages and the system selection is done by a 0 in the top bit of the cartridge’s “B” register.
Indeed that could be the case but they are definitely not official cartridges.
Heh feeling a bit silly for hitting the gas on a GBA Zelda lot on eBay when the Analogue can play GBC games natively. Did zero research.
The experience is arguably worse since there’s a fixed border around the GBC while Analogue can play GBC natively. Oh well.
Swap the positions of Minish Cap and Link to the Past, then play them from the bottom up.
I’m not sure if that’s the actual release order, but it feels like the right “progression” to me.
I’d say play them in release order. I hope you didn’t pay much for that set…
Order? Order real GBC cartridges.
maybe if real cartridges weren’t $20-80 each
not sure i get why? they’ve already got these carts, and presumably have a gba to play them with. it’s not like nintendo gets a cut either way, since you’re only gonna find used copies.
I wrote this after they made the decision, as an “order” joke. Personally, I wouldn’t mind playing pirated copies from an SD multicart or a PC emulator but there are people who care about that.
Links awakening is great. Past that some other GB titles:
Super Mario 2: 6 Golden Coins is incredible.
Tetris is great but I prefer the Rosy Retrospection hack. Maybe wait and see if Modretro releases the officially licensed Chromatic Tetris down the road. Chromatic Tetris is already being used in competitions and it looks incredible.
Dr. Mario
