I never would have survived the 16 bit era

[Teggy]

Between the Atari 2600 and the PSX I didn't own any consoles.  So there are a ton of classics out there that I have never played, and now, with re-releases I can pick them up.  One such example is Zelda: A Link To The Past, which I picked up for my DS.

Maybe I'm just a really bad gamer, but this game is hard. Simply walking from one are to the next is like running the gauntlet - knights charge and shoot arrows at you, things pop out of the ground, birds swoop through the air.  I'm lucky to reach a dungeon, much less get inside and kill the boss. I have died countless times already and I have only gotten to the second boss (the caterpillar guys, which I have to figure out how to take out).

I don't know how you guys did it.  No tutorial, no gamefaqs (I at least have not had to resort to that yet), just you and an instructional manual (and 95 cents a minute for the hint line, I guess).

16 bit era gamers, I salute you!

On a side note, I am really impressed on the links between the Zelda games.  I have only played Wind Waker, and it was pretty cool to see that they use the same exact pieces of music or audio (in lo-fi versions) when you meet fairies, or uncover a secret, or when Link swings his sword.

[kronovan]

Not to worry Teggy; LOZ: LttP is one of the hardest Zelda games ever released. I picked this up for my son a few years back and had to help him a number of times before he beat it. If you get too frustrated pick-up the Minish Cap which is another excellent Zelda game that was released for the GBA. Minish Cap is much easier than LttP.

[ATB]

Back in the day the help line had game counselors and it was a free 800 number.  Man, those days were sweet.

[semiconscious]

Between the Atari 2600 and the PSX I didn't own any consoles.  So there are a ton of classics out there that I have never played, and now, with re-releases I can pick them up.  One such example is Zelda: A Link To The Past, which I picked up for my DS.

Maybe I'm just a really bad gamer, but this game is hard. Simply walking from one are to the next is like running the gauntlet - knights charge and shoot arrows at you, things pop out of the ground, birds swoop through the air.  I'm lucky to reach a dungeon, much less get inside and kill the boss. I have died countless times already and I have only gotten to the second boss (the caterpillar guys, which I have to figure out how to take out).

I don't know how you guys did it.  No tutorial, no gamefaqs (I at least have not had to resort to that yet), just you and an instructional manual (and 95 cents a minute for the hint line, I guess).

16 bit era gamers, I salute you!

On a side note, I am really impressed on the links between the Zelda games.  I have only played Wind Waker, and it was pretty cool to see that they use the same exact pieces of music or audio (in lo-fi versions) when you meet fairies, or uncover a secret, or when Link swings his sword.

i come from basically the same video-gaming background as you (i was playing computer games), & just finished lttp last year for the first time. yeah, i found it to be a pretty nasty game, too, & am pretty sure i wouldn't've had the wherewithall back then to've seen it through. why that changed i'm not sure - maybe playing the more recent entries in the series re-engineered my skills? it still took quite a bit of on-again/off-again playing for me to get through it (but it was very, very worth it)...

[whiteboyskim]

See, I would disagree with calling "LttP" extremely tough. Was it difficult? Sure thing as it required you to think about how to approach certain puzzles and without GameFAQs as a go-to if you're stuck then it became that much tougher "back in the day." Frankly, I love the game top to bottom and would still play it had I a DS (which I'm almost ready to pick up funds-wise).

[The Grue]

The best example I can give people who didn't game back before things like Gamefaqs is Infocom games.  Infocom games were text-based adventure games on the computer.  You would type things like "go west" to move west.  I loved Infocom games from Zork to Infidel to Wishbringer.  When I would play them, I would get stuck, though.  And sometimes I would be stuck for a month.  I would try all kinds of things to advance in the game and eventually would give up for a while.  Then, maybe a month later, I would think about it again and finally come up with what I had to do to get past that spot.  Imagine being stuck in a game for a month.

[deadzone]

I used to invest a lot of time into games because they were so hard back then I guess.  I never really considered it from that standpoint I suppose.    Now I find I have a very short attention span when it comes to gaming, so I tend to try and find stuff that's not very hard but fun. 

If I could ever land a damn Wii I would more than likely be in Gaming Nirvana!    Just the included Sports title looks like enough to keep me and the wifey busy for a while. 

[Ralph-Wiggum]

You want hard? Try Contra. I played that game a year or so ago for the first time since the 8-bit Nintendo era. Good lord. How the hell did I ever manage to get past the 2nd level? 

Wait, I know - up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, b, a, start. That's how I did it.

[unbreakable]

I've loved all the Zelda games I played, but the SNES and hand-held versions hold a special place in my heart.  They are true gaming goodness.

[semiconscious]

The best example I can give people who didn't game back before things like Gamefaqs is Infocom games.  Infocom games were text-based adventure games on the computer.  You would type things like "go west" to move west.  I loved Infocom games from Zork to Infidel to Wishbringer.  When I would play them, I would get stuck, though.  And sometimes I would be stuck for a month.  I would try all kinds of things to advance in the game and eventually would give up for a while.  Then, maybe a month later, I would think about it again and finally come up with what I had to do to get past that spot.  Imagine being stuck in a game for a month.

i just want everyone here o know that i, suck as i might at other games, i did indeed figure out how to get the babel fish in hhgttg completely & totally on my own...

infocom uber alles - great, great memories (floyd!). being stuck in a game for a month has never been more fun...

[Teggy]

The best example I can give people who didn't game back before things like Gamefaqs is Infocom games.  Infocom games were text-based adventure games on the computer.  You would type things like "go west" to move west.  I loved Infocom games from Zork to Infidel to Wishbringer.  When I would play them, I would get stuck, though.  And sometimes I would be stuck for a month.  I would try all kinds of things to advance in the game and eventually would give up for a while.  Then, maybe a month later, I would think about it again and finally come up with what I had to do to get past that spot.  Imagine being stuck in a game for a month.

i just want everyone here o know that i, suck as i might at other games, i did indeed figure out how to get the babel fish in hhgttg completely & totally on my own...

infocom uber alles - great, great memories (floyd!). being stuck in a game for a month has never been more fun...

I used to draw out maps for Infocom games, with one box for each room or area you went into and lines representing the paths out E,W, etc.  I can't remember which game, but one of them had a maze in it.  A maze in text - talk about frustration.

[semiconscious]

I used to draw out maps for Infocom games, with one box for each room or area you went into and lines representing the paths out E,W, etc.  I can't remember which game, but one of them had a maze in it.  A maze in text - talk about frustration.

infocom was likely as good a friend as the graph paper industry's ever had ...

[The Grue]

I used to draw out maps for Infocom games, with one box for each room or area you went into and lines representing the paths out E,W, etc.  I can't remember which game, but one of them had a maze in it.  A maze in text - talk about frustration.

infocom was likely as good a friend as the graph paper industry's ever had ...

Yep, I used to draw out maps on graph paper as well.  I almost wish I had kept them to just look back on them fondly.

[JLu]

I LOVED  those infocom games -- inparticular the 3 Zorks, Witness, Deadline, Hitchhikers Guide...  I believe I finished ZorkI, II and Witness on my own.  Deadline and Zork III i bought one of those books with the invisible ink,and marker which you ran over it to only open up the clues that you actually wanted.  I have no idea how many hours I played those games...

[unbreakable]

I may still have some of my old graph paper maps around, especially for Bards Tale and Pool of Radiance.