Summary
The Legend of Zeldais a fantastic series and one of the most notable gaming franchises in history. Having managed to retain a place atop the mountain of popularity for several decades, this franchise has an impressive way of reinventing itself in a way that few other franchises have managed to replicate.
Despite the incredible and ever-changing nature of theLegend of Zeldafranchise, fans will never forget some of the more bizarre things that have happened to the series over the years. This goes from experimental CD-I games to worlds and mechanics that make very little sense but are memorable in their own way.
Often,Legend of Zeldagames are created as the product of a huge amount of creativity and amazing storytelling. However, once one of these worlds has been created, there is nothing stopping the team, or Nintendo, from creating spin-off games that make use of the world in a slightly bizarre way.
This was the case withLink’s Crossbow Training. Set in the world ofTwilight Princess, this Wii game was a launch title for the Wii Zapper controller, which was supposed to revolutionize shooter games on the console. Light on story, this may be the onlyLegend of Zeldashooting game ever seen, and it remains a bizarre entry as far as the franchise is concerned, though it is one ofthe highest-selling in franchise history.
While it has been hugely successful and has even managed a sequel,Hyrule Warriorsis undoubtedlya bizarre but great spin-offfrom theLegend of Zeldafranchise. Another entry with ulterior motives, this game exists as a crossover with theDynasty Warriorsseries of games. The gameplay is in hack-and-slash format and follows the gameplay from that franchise.
But, while doing that, the actual story and characters are all from theLegend of Zeldafranchise. Following a sorceress called Cia who attempts to take over Hyrule but unwittingly releases Ganondorf, the plot feels like aZeldaone but is set outside the official timeline of the series.
One of the threeLegend of Zeldagames developed for the CD-I system, all of which are generally forgotten about by fans of the series,Zelda’s Adventureis one of the few games in the franchise with a playable version of Princess Zelda available.
Unfortunately, this was paired with difficult controls due to the newness of the CD-I system.Zelda’s Adventurewas the last of the CD-I games, and the gameplay followed the style of the top-downZeldagames as opposed to the side-scrolling ones, which did help. However, by far the most bizarre thing of all was that this game is the only one in franchise history to feature live-action cut-scenes.
In a time when theLegend of Zeldawas starting to become a true phenomenon within the gaming industry, it was fascinating to release aZeldagame without Princess Zelda, or indeed, Hyrule at all. Link awoke on Koholint Island and went on an adventure before finding out thatthe entire thing had been a dream.
This made for a slightly heart-breaking moment as fans realized that the new characters they’d met throughout their adventure weren’t even real in the continuity of the franchise. Additionally, as the first handheldZeldagame, this came with a lot of strange new ideas in play style, making a bizarre but much-beloved entry.
Another of the CD-I games in theLegend of Zeldafranchise, there was a lot that felt truly bizarre aboutFaces of Evil. The first two games made for the system, without any oversight from Nintendo bizarrely, were paired with each other and came with one of the less well-regarded art styles for cut-scenes in the franchise.
Additionally,Faces of Evil, instead of following the style of the most recentZeldagames, used the side-scrolling 2D style of the very firstLegend of Zeldagame. The story involved Link traveling to an island and destroying the faces of evil, a series of mountains and bases where Ganon’s followers were gathering. The weirdest part of this entry by far was the cut-scenes, which were truly different from anything the franchise ever saw outside the CD-I games.
One of the weirdest mainline entries in theLegend of Zeldafranchise,Majora’s Maskmanages to be one of the darkest games in the series despite coming out at a time when adding that sort of dark style to video games hadn’t been popularized yet.
Majora’s Maskfeatured much of the same gameplay asOcarina of Time, but involved Link wearing masks made from dead people, and following a three-day cycle that Link had to repeat over and over, returning to the beginning by playing the Song of Time, so that he has long enough to complete all the dungeons and save the kingdom. Afantastic story and one of the franchise’s best,Majora’s Maskis definitely a weird one.
Looking back now on the way theLegend of Zeldafranchise has constantly reinvented itself despite having so many similar stories, it is fascinating and very strange torevisit the black sheep of the franchise, the original sequel that attempted to move on from Ganondorf as a villain.
The Adventure of Linktook on many aspects of aCastlevaniagame, there was side-scrolling gameplay, strategic combat, proximity continues system, and role-playing elements that have never returned. The primary villain was also Dark Link, which is the only time an evil counterpart has served the role of primary villain.
The last of the three CD-I games that were released under theLegend of Zeldabanner,The Wand of Gamelonwas paired withLink: The Faces of Eviland saw players getting another opportunity to play as Princess Zelda, in another adventure that featured side-scrolling action, and a life system.
Once again featuring some truly bizarre cut-scenes and narrative,The Wand of Gamelonfeatured Zelda going after Ganon and his accomplices after both her father and Link disappeared or were captured trying to fight him. With a bizarre narrative and gameplay that has never been loved among fans of the franchise,The Wand of Gamelonis a truly bizarre moment inZeldahistory, thoughBest Overworld Maps In Zelda Games, Ranked.
