I'd like to respond to the article written on Thanksgiving by Mr. McGrath. He claimed that Zelda 64 is probably one of the worst RPGs of all time because it has little to no storyline. Well, I couldn't disagree with his assumptions more.

First of all, Zelda is not an RPG. Zelda is an action adventure in a medieval environment. It's about as much of an RPG as Super Metroid. Toss in Brave Fence Musashiden, Alundra, and Legend of Oasis in that pot. They simply are not RPGs. They are very good games that appeal to many RPG players, but that doesn't make them RPGs. If Zelda was an RPG, we sure would have had a lot easier time getting some RPGs over here in the past years, because Zelda is simply the most popular game Nintendo makes. Sales for Zelda go through the roof, and in the end, what makes the decisions on what's released here and what isn't, is sales. So maybe Zelda is the worst RPG of all time. But that would also make it the worst sports, fighting, puzzle, and shooter of all time. But it will always be one of the best games of all time.

So why do RPGers make such a big deal about Zelda? Well, it's quite easy. Anyone who hasn't been in a coma for the past 15 years (damn I feel old) has seen or played Zelda to some extent. For many of us "Old School" RPGers, the original Legend of Zelda was what got the ball rolling for us. From Zelda we went to Dragon Warrior, and from Dragon Warrior to Final Fantasy..the list just keeps going. However, no matter what, if you look at an RPGers favorite games of all time, more times than not you'll see the name "Zelda" at the beginning.

So am I saying Zelda 64 is the greatest game ever made? No. I think that is a waste of a statement. Asking someone to name the greatest game of all time is like asking them name their favorite breath of air. However, there are 3 things you don't do. You don't tug on Superman's Cape. You don't spit in the wind. And you certainly never bet against a Zelda game. Sure, the storyline is pretty much the same as the Zelda and Zelda: A Link to the Past, but Capcom's Breath of Fire series does pretty much the same thing, and look at the reviews it's gotten. Not only here on LunarNet, but also from other webpages and such.

For every rule, there is an exception. We were all taught that back in our elementary school English classes, were we not? Well, while our minds tell us that storylines and character development are the most important things, we still play and love Zelda games. How many of us, just for kicks, plugged in Zelda 1 for the NES ans played it all the way through in a few hours? I'm guilty of that. I just did it a few weeks ago, in fact. Not because of it's "killer storyline." Not because of it's "awesome characters." But because it is a very very very *very* good game. So for that rule we have about storylines and characters, Zelda is an exception to it. Always has, probably always will be.

So, Mr. McGrath, you go back and keep playing Beyond the Beyond all you wish. The rest of the world will be having the time of their lives playing Zelda 64, and enjoying the hell out of it. You make a lot of references to reading about it, and looking at reviews, but have you actually played the game? Perhaps while we're spouting out rules, we should think of another at a time like this, "Don't knock it until you've tried it."

Written by Enygma