Why are there barely any good Zelda clones?

Let us know if you find anything. I'm sure I can "locate" these games pretty easily but translated versions would be sweet.
 
[quote name='crystalklear64']the fuck? 10 hours is a long time. if a game can't hook you in 10 hours it doesn't deserve a second chance. this isn't' a jrpg we're talking about its a zelda game.[/QUOTE]

Exactly. 10 hours is a long damn time to slog through something unenjoyable, especially when we all have a pile of other games to give a fair shake to.
 
Beyond Good & Evil felt very Zelda-esque. The first time I played it was when the HD edition came out several months back. Even for being an older game with a bit dated feel I was drawing tons of similarites.

Lots of Twilight Princes & Skyward Sword hate. Sure they're not my favorite Zelda games, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy them.

Also Startropics, but unlike Zelda that game is hard a fuck.
 
[quote name='cochesecochese']I found the first 10-15 hours of Okami to be slow as hell but forced myself through and ended up liking it quite a bit but not loving it. Perhaps I expected too much from Clover after God Hand.
[/QUOTE]


A lot of ambivalence for Okami, I thought that game was pretty much universally loved. I enjoyed it for everything it had in it, especially it's length, which brings us too...

[quote name='KingBroly']...The only "good" Zelda clone I'd say is Okami, but even that has the problem of really overstaying its' welcome by 30 hours. Darksiders...was okay, not great.[/QUOTE]

I disagree after beating the
hydra boss
I thought the game was going to end and was pleasantly surprised / literally shocked to see that they had another full game still left to play, Clover literally packed TWO games in there for the price of one, and is still as damn close to a masterpiece as I've come to seeing as far as 3D adventure (Zelda type) games go....now as far as the best 2D adventure (zelda types go) we look at this...

[quote name='cochesecochese']
fake edit: And after googling for Zelda clones it's funny how many of them rank as my favorite 'B-tier' games. On reflection I will say the closest a competitor has come to scratching the 'Zelda itch' would be enix with Illusion of Gaia and Terranigma. Both are awesome, awesome games in their own right with Terranigma following the formula much more closely.
[/QUOTE]

Quintet (the Japanese Developer) to be more precise (now defunct) but they were the kings of the Adventure genre making games as good as (if not better than Zelda in certain aspects) You could add Soul Blazer as well to the list (but I despise people who call them the Soul Blazer trilogy, which is a stupid fan-made name, as they have nothing in common other than story elements) Terranigma is one of the best adventure games we never got to play in the US.

I wished I had my master list of all Adventure games, but it's been lost in the internets long ago and on a long deleted forum post from long ago.

[quote name='Gameboy415']There were quite a few decent Japan-only Zelda: LTTP clones released on Super Famicom.

Here's a couple I have/have played:[/QUOTE]

Ohhh... thanks for those, I'm ALWAYS on the lookout for more adv. games I've never played.

[quote name='thefinal87']Oh boy loved Brave Fencer Musashi (still own my ps1 hard copy). Samurai Legend (while I own it), not so much.[/QUOTE]

I love BFM, I despise (with bile) SLM, that game is a disgrace to the original, it was nice to see some of the original team back, between the overwrought Nomura designs (which are nothing like the original artwork found in the strategy guide) and its loss of the goofy but great voice acting and heart the last game had in terms of story and fun elements, plus seriously how can you beat Topo's Groove Party...;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0fjduTzDtU
 
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[quote name='uncle5555']A lot of ambivalence for Okami, I thought that game was pretty much universally loved. I enjoyed it for everything it had in it, especially it's length, which brings us too...[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I'm kinda surprised by the ambivalence as well. Next to the two Mario Galaxy games it's probably my favorite game on the Wii.
 
[quote name='Zmonkay']
Almost stopped Skyward Sword, but forced myself to finish it. It saddens me the day I can truthly say I had to force myself to finish a Zelda game, but that game was horrible. Loved the art style, but the world felt empty, linear, and repetitve. There weren't enough areas. There was little to no exploration. The controls were fantastic when they worked, but only responded accurately about 30% of the time.[/QUOTE]

I have to say, if someone were to take an aborted video game and bring it back to life, we'd get Skyward Sword.

Not only did I have to track down that fucking motionplus piece of junk, I have to use it, and it sucks. By the way, how did you get it to work 30% of the time, I'm at about 10% here.

Now time to finish that piece of crap. :(
 
Not a lot of puzzling or sidequesting, but Demon's Crest (SNES) has "heart pieces", items that unlock new locations, secrets (including a secret ending segment), a couple minigames, potion bottles and consumables, as well as Majora's Mask style transformations. It's a sidescroller with a map like Zelda 2.
 
[quote name='Whambamm']Since no one has mentioned it yet, I'd just like to mention Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy. I haven't played it in years, but I remember it being a pretty fun Zelda-esque games.[/QUOTE]

[quote name='Zmonkay']Oh hell yeah! Can't believe I forgot about this game. Could be nostalgia talking, but it was a fantastic, truly underrated gem.[/QUOTE]

I loved that game so much. I need to give it another playthrough. I still wish they'd make a sequel because that cliffhanger ending sucked. Tremendous game, though.
 
Yeah I'm sorta surprised at all the hate, personally I've loved every game besides Majora's Mask, with TP being my favorite. I'm about halfway through skyward sword and really enjoying it. I haven't had any issues with the motion controls aside from it being a little hard to stab forward. I think the main reason is that Nintendo usually spends a huge amount of time developing their core titles. Nothing comes out yearly, nothing follows a trend, and a lot of companies just won't do that.
 
Zelda games cost ALOT of money to make, there's a lot of time that goes into polishing them that other games of a similar vein don't/wouldn't get which makes it harder to make a clone IMO.
 
I also think alot of the reason we don't "clones" is they're not as easy to do, stylistically, as shooters/open world GTA style games. In those games, you know you want guns, or cars, or whatnot, and they are set in the real world (or close enough). They can be easily modeled after the real world equivalents. Zelda wouldn't work in a "real world" setting. You therefore need more imaginitive art direction/design. You need to design an entire world from scratch. In this era where shooters/open world games are not only "easier" to make but also sell more, it's got to be difficult for designers to even pitch such an idea to their bosses.
 
[quote name='Gameboy415']There were quite a few decent Japan-only Zelda: LTTP clones released on Super Famicom.

Seiken Densetsu 3 (AKA: Secret of Mana 2)
250px-Seiken_Densetsu_3_Front_Cover.jpg

-Japan-only follow-up to the excellent Secret of Mana. Just like Secret of Mana, it has game-play and dungeon exploration a bit like Zelda: LTTP.
[/QUOTE]

There's a pretty good translation of SD3 "out there" for use with unmentionables. I played it -- it's okay but would have been more impressive in its day. It's too bad it wasn't released stateside in 1995/1996, I would have eaten it up. I have a soft spot for SoM (to the extent that I favor it slightly over CT).

If you have the means and haven't played SD3, play it. And if you haven't played SoM/SD2, FFS already, play it ASAP. Whether they're true Zelda clones isn't relevant -- they're really, really good JRPGs with real-time battles, so the pacing is much quicker. Good tunes, too.
 
[quote name='Zmonkay']I also think alot of the reason we don't "clones" is they're not as easy to do, stylistically, as shooters/open world GTA style games. In those games, you know you want guns, or cars, or whatnot, and they are set in the real world (or close enough). They can be easily modeled after the real world equivalents. Zelda wouldn't work in a "real world" setting. You therefore need more imaginitive art direction/design. You need to design an entire world from scratch. In this era where shooters/open world games are not only "easier" to make but also sell more, it's got to be difficult for designers to even pitch such an idea to their bosses.[/QUOTE]

I'd be happy with SNES graphics - there are a lot of fan made Zelda games (it is hard to find good ones though) but they usually only run on a computer. If someone compiled these quests for playing ... um, in other formats... so they were portable, I'd be thrilled.
 
Terranignma is a fantastic action RPG very similar to Zelda. We never got a release in the states but it did come out in Europe so an English version is out there.

terranigma4.jpg
 
Man, all this talk of Terranigma is really making want to track it down. I've been jonesing for some classic 2D gameplay as it is, so that might fit the bill (or I'll replay Seiken Densetsu 3 for like the 5th time :D )
 
yeah, I'm going to have to check it out.

I also played the beginning of Parallel Worlds which is an old hack of LttP and while it is seriously cool that someone would take the time to make something like that the execution wasn't so great. It is WAY too hard and more frustrating than fun. If it wasn't for save states the game would be unplayable.
 
There's also the Zelda BS games (Broadcast Satellite). They're not long and it's pretty much a rehash of LTTP, reusing the same map and dungeons.

[quote name='Zmonkay']Man, all this talk of Terranigma is really making want to track it down. I've been jonesing for some classic 2D gameplay as it is, so that might fit the bill (or I'll replay Seiken Densetsu 3 for like the 5th time :D )[/QUOTE]

It's a fantastic game. It gets a huge recomendation from me.
 
[quote name='ID2006']Not a lot of puzzling or sidequesting, but Demon's Crest (SNES) has "heart pieces", items that unlock new locations, secrets (including a secret ending segment), a couple minigames, potion bottles and consumables, as well as Majora's Mask style transformations. It's a sidescroller with a map like Zelda 2.[/QUOTE]

I love it, own it, and still have my complete copy literally sitting a few feet behind me.

But I've always thought of it more as Mega Man X game with demons. But it does have exploration aspects too. (similar to MMX again)

[quote name='dothog']There's a pretty good translation of SD3 "out there" for use with unmentionables. I played it -- it's okay but would have been more impressive in its day. It's too bad it wasn't released stateside in 1995/1996, I would have eaten it up. I have a soft spot for SoM (to the extent that I favor it slightly over CT).

If you have the means and haven't played SD3, play it. And if you haven't played SoM/SD2, FFS already, play it ASAP. Whether they're true Zelda clones isn't relevant -- they're really, really good JRPGs with real-time battles, so the pacing is much quicker. Good tunes, too.[/QUOTE]

Since you brought it up....and I know some people hate the game, I'll have to mention Secret of Evermore. I love that game, and how can you go wrong with Bazookas and a game about a boy and his dog.


[quote name='Rodimus']Terranignma is a fantastic action RPG very similar to Zelda. We never got a release in the states but it did come out in Europe so an English version is out there.

terranigma4.jpg
[/QUOTE]

Where is that picture from the top left from in the game, I've played through it 3 times and I don't remember seeing that before...(could also be that I don't use magic much in the game when I play either...which is why I didn't see that)

[quote name='Zmonkay']Man, all this talk of Terranigma is really making want to track it down. I've been jonesing for some classic 2D gameplay as it is, so that might fit the bill (or I'll replay Seiken Densetsu 3 for like the 5th time :D )[/QUOTE]

Seriously you and Javery have to play it, the game is Quintet's masterpiece, awesome story, (with a great plot twist), impeccable music (not a bad one in the bunch), combat and control are there and plenty of secret areas to find (especially one nice easter egg from the developers themselves) that aren't too easy to find, but nice winks to those who take the time to find them.

I like Illusion of Gaia, but love Terranigma. I was originally slated to write the HG101 article on Quintet, but due to various reasons it never came to be, and it mostly is due to my love of their games and Terranigma being the best.
 
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No one mentioned Spiritual Warfare? Aside from the... very loose Bible connections and the awful password "save" system, this game is the most pure Zelda clone ever. It's actually pretty fun. :D
 
[quote name='UncleBob']No one mentioned Spiritual Warfare? Aside from the... very loose Bible connections and the awful password "save" system, this game is the most pure Zelda clone ever. It's actually pretty fun. :D[/QUOTE]

No one knows what the hell you're talking about. I never heard of some goddamn spiritual warfare game.
 
[quote name='UncleBob']Well, it's not my fault no one knows their NES History.:D[/QUOTE]

Halleluya. Preach. It's a bible game. I'll watch it on youtube.
 
[quote name='uncle5555']Where is that picture from the top left from in the game, I've played through it 3 times and I don't remember seeing that before...(could also be that I don't use magic much in the game when I play either...which is why I didn't see that)[/QUOTE]

I'm almost positive it's the magic spell from "Water Pin 2". Bringing it up from the menu and switching out pins was kind of a chore. I forgot magic was even in the game till near the end. I went through all the spells just to check em out, beside that I barely touched them.
 
[quote name='UncleBob']No one mentioned Spiritual Warfare? Aside from the... very loose Bible connections and the awful password "save" system, this game is the most pure Zelda clone ever. It's actually pretty fun. :D[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I played it and couldn't get very far into it, since the level design is seriously lacking, don't think I ever bothered to finish it off though.

[quote name='Rodimus']I'm almost positive it's the magic spell from "Water Pin 2". Bringing it up from the menu and switching out pins was kind of a chore. I forgot magic was even in the game till near the end. I went through all the spells just to check em out, beside that I barely touched them.[/QUOTE]

Yeah there was usually no reason to use spells in the game, (as I mentioned) so that's probably why I don't recognize it. I should do a quick play through of the game just to see those again. Been quite a many years since I played it last.
 
Soulblazer for the SNES is a good choice along with Secret of Mana.

Okami sucks but has good graphics. It is similar to new-school Zelda games that focus on puzzles and gimmicks.

There's nothing like replaying the original 3 Zelda games.
 
[quote name='willardhaven']Soulblazer for the SNES is a good choice along with Secret of Mana.

Okami sucks but has good graphics. It is similar to new-school Zelda games that focus on puzzles and gimmicks.

There's nothing like replaying the original 3 Zelda games.[/QUOTE]

I'd take any new Zelda game over Zelda 2.
 
[quote name='JasonTerminator']I'd take any new Zelda game over Zelda 2.[/QUOTE]

As a kid I thought the game was incredible. As I got older I started to think it sucked... after playing through so many terrible Zelda games I am finally starting to understand what I had known as a child.

Really what it boils down to when you debate new and classic Zelda "genres" is whether you like clever action and exploration or linear puzzle solving with some light action.
 
[quote name='willardhaven']As a kid I thought the game was incredible. As I got older I started to think it sucked... after playing through so many terrible Zelda games I am finally starting to understand what I had known as a child.

Really what it boils down to when you debate new and classic Zelda "genres" is whether you like clever action and exploration or linear puzzle solving with some light action.[/QUOTE]

Thing is though, they added "real" RPG elements into it and magic and then decided no we don't want to go that way, and went back to "classic" zelda for LttP (if you can call it classic with just two games under their belts) both drastically different.

I'd be curious to know how well Zelda 2 sold and why the massive reversal of play style from 1>2, then back to 3(16-bit version of 1). Then we've never seen anything like it since.

Funny thing is I didn't hear much griping about Zelda 2 back in the day from friends who played it. I always thought it was pretty well regarded, the only complaining I've heard is from people who obviously weren't old enough to play it through the first time (if I was 12 in '89, most of them were a lot younger or not even born then) so its been a case of playing OoT then playing the "retro" Zelda's and thinking 2 sticks out like a red-headed stepchild because it's "different".

I think it gets a lot more grief than it deserves, plus I think it's cool you can fake a new game plus by exploiting the exp glitch in the game, that alone makes it pretty fun to play on return visits. I've also noticed a trend of a lot of people who used to slag it, changing their mind and seeing it for what it is (a fun unique entry in the Zelda series) instead of as they say "the bastard child" of the series, which I don't agree with. =/
 
There are a lot of excellent games out there similar to Zelda in a few ways. If you're looking for a 'Zelda clone,' you're going to have a harder time finding games trying to replicate every aspect of the Zelda experience.

Part of the reason for that is Zelda games clone themselves pretty often. They've been using the N64 formula for Zelda successfully for a long time now with very few changes.

If you want something with a few similarities, I'd suggest looking at turn-based JRPGs. The battle systems will be different, but there are often many similar themes in exploration and story.

If you prefer the action side of things, then the Ys series has a retro feel and is probably the closest you would get to a modern old-style action RPG (the series has been going since the 80s, but they're still making them).
 
[quote name='uncle5555']Thing is though, they added "real" RPG elements into it and magic and then decided no we don't want to go that way, and went back to "classic" zelda for LttP (if you can call it classic with just two games under their belts) both drastically different.

I'd be curious to know how well Zelda 2 sold and why the massive reversal of play style from 1>2, then back to 3(16-bit version of 1). Then we've never seen anything like it since.

Funny thing is I didn't hear much griping about Zelda 2 back in the day from friends who played it. I always thought it was pretty well regarded, the only complaining I've heard is from people who obviously weren't old enough to play it through the first time (if I was 12 in '89, most of them were a lot younger or not even born then) so its been a case of playing OoT then playing the "retro" Zelda's and thinking 2 sticks out like a red-headed stepchild because it's "different".

I think it gets a lot more grief than it deserves, plus I think it's cool you can fake a new game plus by exploiting the exp glitch in the game, that alone makes it pretty fun to play on return visits. I've also noticed a trend of a lot of people who used to slag it, changing their mind and seeing it for what it is (a fun unique entry in the Zelda series) instead of as they say "the bastard child" of the series, which I don't agree with. =/[/QUOTE]

Adventure of Link is a great game, I don't know why I disliked it for so many years. Majora's Mask on the other hand... there's no saving that one.
 
[quote name='willardhaven']Majora's Mask is a great game, I don't know why I disliked it for so many years. Adventure of Link on the other hand... there's no saving that one.[/QUOTE]

Fixed that for you.
 
I would've enjoyed MM if it wasn't for the annoying time system.I understand what they were going for,but it was just really annoying having to replay parts over and over again.If you didn't learn the song that slowed time down,then you would be repeating parts even more.
 
[quote name='themaster20000']I would've enjoyed MM if it wasn't for the annoying time system.I understand what they were going for,but it was just really annoying having to replay parts over and over again.If you didn't learn the song that slowed time down,then you would be repeating parts even more.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, I felt the same way about the Temple of the Ocean King in Phantom Hourglass. I hope Nintendo doesn't repeat the mistakes from those games again.
 
[quote name='themaster20000']I would've enjoyed MM if it wasn't for the annoying time system.I understand what they were going for,but it was just really annoying having to replay parts over and over again.If you didn't learn the song that slowed time down,then you would be repeating parts even more.[/QUOTE]
I bought it on the wii and after time expired on the very first mission I never went back. =[
 
[quote name='willardhaven']Adventure of Link is a great game, I don't know why I disliked it for so many years. Majora's Mask on the other hand... there's no saving that one.[/QUOTE]

The only defense I have for that one is I like the music that plays when the moon is going to fall on the end of the 3rd day. Otherwise no comment, I played it, beat it, and not in a rush for a replay. ;)
 
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