showing 32 games

namepublisher(developer)year arrow_downwarddescription
Fragments of Power author?Almost a straight-up Zelda game. Complete 9 dungeons to save the girl.
Does contain an optional bonus dungeon. Graphic improvement of course. Game mechanics are updated a bit; you push multiple blocks to solve puzzles for instance. Also, game path is not nearly as open as the original Legend of Zelda (like later Zelda games).
labelimagesubject
The Fallen One author? labelimageminimize
The Legend of Zelda: A Time to Triumph  author? labelimageminimize
The Legend of Zelda: Navi's Quest  author? labelminimizeminimize
The Legend of Zelda: Oni-Link Begins  author? labelimageminimize
Wolfstyle  author? labelminimizeminimize
1st Quest Revamp  author2002Collect useful items guarded by secret puzzles and enemies to gain access to 8 dungeons with more useful items guarded by bosses to gain access to the last dungeon to defeat Ganon and rescue Princess Zelda.

This is a remake of the original Legend of Zelda. The graphic overhaul is immediately apparent but there are a few other subtle changes. Most changes make the game not necessarily easier, just a bit less frustrating. Save or Continue, and Link's hearts remain unchanged or filled to three if they were below that. Boss fireballs not deflectable and Stone Statue fireballs deflectable looked identical in the original, now players can see the difference. Dungeon rooms are rarely so square as they were. Blocks are often replaced by walls where appropriate. And rooms that used to be a pattern of blocks are not a more organically shaped area with various obstacles to maneuver around. The new room shapes and smoothed out terrain means there are less places that look like bombable walls, so bombable walls are easier to find. Most notable it the changes in dungeon layout, where are not so much changing the rooms as it is replacing the room-to-room tunnels with a simple stairway (instant arrival at the other end). New pathways have been added. And dead ends and pointless treks into obscure corners of the dungeons are virtually eliminated by adding something useful or even necessary to them. A good example of this is in the first dungeon. In the original, Link can go left and get a key by defeating enemies. Or, Link can go right and get a key by defeating enemies. Or, both, if the player choses not to or does not knows where bomb to avoid using keys. In this remake, Link can only go left. When enemies are defeated, the staircase must be opened and this leads to the right room where the enemies must be defeated to open the exit back to the entry room. Another trick is make dead-end paths useful by having pots in the rooms. This way, players can now grind for hearts and money on a path that was just a waste of time in the original. Also there's more completely optional secrets to discover. Certain room based puzzles in the dungeons have completely new solutions. Player will find themselves using items in ways they are used in other Zelda games and in unique ways. These are usually easy and nearly intuitive. Along the lines of encountering something new in a room in a dungeon on the way to the boss; using the item collected in the same dungeon in a on the new thing to solve the puzzle. These are not just an added step, these teach the player. These new tricks learned in the dungeon can be used elsewhere to find a whole new set of secrets that have been added to the game. Also, use old tricks in new places to find the some of new secrets. This aptly named 1st quest is but only the 1st, no 2nd quest follows on defeating Ganon (to the best of my knowledge).
labelimagesubject
The Dead Lands  author2003A classic Zelda style quest with more difficulty in most aspects but easier in new ways. 2nd quest enemies are present as early as Level 2. Dungeon entrances are all hidden secrets. After dying, Link starts with full hearts. There are no enemies on the roads between kingdoms or in towns (like Zelda II). Fight the monsters, defeat Ganon, rescue 3 princess.***[sic]After Link saved Hyrule from the evil grasp of Ganon the kingdom of Hyrule prospered as a major center of trade. Three other kingdoms called Tenn, Montar, and Frellan arose around Hyrule, as a result of its expansion. Link put his weapons in the royal armory, because he had no need for them any longer, and the Triforce was placed in the throne room and heavily guarded. Link moved to the kingdom of Tenn and began to raise a family. But one fateful day Link was killed by a group of angry moblins; not even his great skill could save him. For over 10 years Hyrule reigned as the largest kingdom in the world, but the remaining band of Ganon's army sought tirelessly to revive their once great leader. After 11 long years they finally suceeded. Ganon easily retook the Triforce in the absense of Link and brought Hyrule to its knees. 9 years later Ganon grew angry because even though he destroyed Hyrule, the three daughter kingdoms still prospered, so he sought to capture and destroy them as well. He began by kidnapping the princess Julie of Frellan. Then Ganon created strong-holds (in each Ganon put Link's weapons to keep them from any adventurous soul) in each of the kingdoms and sent his armies out to destroy the land. Now it is up to Link's son, also named Link, to gather his father's weapons and destroy Ganon in the Dead Land. labelimagesubject
Geepa's First Quest author2003The usual classic LoZ formula but with updated graphics and game mechanics. Gather 4 shards of the Triforce, defeat Ganon, rescue the damsel. labelimagesubject
Maze  author2003A classic Zelda style game that removes the element of exploration. The Entire game takes place in a single castle connected to just 4 dungeons. A side-effect is seeing many major elements of the game long before Link has the ability to utilize them. labelimagesubject
Ganon's Claim author2005Cerulia is a once peaceful land north of Hyrule. It sits between Nevachrea and Galhaldia, two nations at war, and remains strictly neutral. But, retreating from another defeat, Ganon encamped there and is causing havoc, so Link pursues him. Collect 8 pieces of the Golden Power. Collect items from mini dungeons, dungeons, shops, and hidden corners of Cerulia. Find Ganon, defeat him. Along the way, there are no simple caves, only multi-screen complex mini dungeons. There are actual mini dungeons and regular dungeons. Mini games and if you can find it, a master dome to test the skills of the best players. labelimagesubject
Zelda Classic Armageddon Games2007Remember how hard the original was without maps and guids? The 4th quest (usually launched after the 2nd), is much harder than the 1st and 2nd combined. Then the 3rd quest (usually played last), is even harder. And there's a 5th quest.***An unofficial [i]near[/i] pixel perfect recreation of the original NES classic plus additional quests. Also includes an editor; using the Zelda Classic Engine to make completely new games in the style of the original game, Link to the Past, and Link's Awakening. Engine and game creation tools of the editor are extensive enough to create platformer games and other games that don't resemble any Zelda games at all.

Upon finishing the 2nd quest with 16 hearts, players will begin the '4th' quest (because its easier than the 3rd). To play the 3rd quest after the 2nd, complete it with fewer than 16 hearts. Beat the 3rd quest [b]without dying[/b] to play the 5th quest. Beat the 5th quest with at least 1 death to play the 4th quest.[spoiler=Naming your player certain names will allow starting a quest immediately without having to play through other quests;close passwords]ZELDA=2nd Quest
ALPHA=3rd Quest
GANON=4th Quest
JEAN=5th Quest[/spoiler]
The frequently updated versions often do not get corresponding Linux versions. Quests sometimes do not work correctly unless they are matched with the version they were created for. Generally, only the latest Linux version is available from Armageddon Games and this is located in a hard to find spot on the site (and changes). Despite this, all Quests can be played on Linux once a compatible version of the player is downloaded by whoever may be providing it currently on the internet.
2.10
2.10.2
2.10b784
2.10 lost isle build
2.11
2.11 lost isle build
2.50
labelimagesubject
ORiGiN  author2007An extremely hard extensive three quest graphics and gameplay remake of the original Legend of Zelda. Collect the weapons needed to defeat Ganon three times. Rescue three princess. Extensive puzzle elements and maze like areas with enemies on practically all screens. labelimagesubject
The Legend of Zelda Remix DX  author2008A remake of the very first Zelda game with a more organic design, improved graphics, and new bosses. Collect useful objects, get the Triforce fragments, defeat Ganon. labelimagesubject
The Legend of Zelda: Return of the Hylian  author2008This is such high quality for a fan game, I find it difficult to criticize. But such a great effort earns a comparison to the series its based on. There were a few additions not from the official games that make this fan game a stand out. Such as deflecting fireballs and freezing surface water. I found myself satisfied at completing each challenge and looking forward to the next. There's a surprising amount to do and see for a fan game. Records and speedrun tools provide some replay value. But official Zelda games will last longer. This is worth a few weeks enjoyment.

Graphically, its like A Link to the Past or perhaps Link's Awakening (in color). But, its lacking in the visual diversity of those games and merely manages to top the original Legend of Zelda.

The story sounds fine but the result is Ganon is raised from the dead and all the bosses persist as ghosts. Perhaps if the details were perused in the game though story or gameplay it would be passable or perhaps even good. As the game actually does reveal a small amount of backstory, I'll say its a step up from the original Zelda. But more importantly, the look and feel and quality of some parts of the game had me expecting a presentation at least equitable with LttP. But, its a step down from Link to the Past.

The sound effects are comparable to LttP. In fact they are from it. Music is remixes taken from the official series and Star Ocean. Of course the graphics, sound and music is used without the permission of the original artists nor copyright holders.

My biggest complaint is some seemingly arbitrary game design the requires the player to figure out they must abandon the current primary objective and return to it later. No reasons or clues are given to aid in this realization. The NPC characters don't provide enough help here. This is different from official Zelda games. Also, many essential paths are blocked by multiple layers of tricky secrets, while once again, no clues are provided for solving these puzzles. The player can make their way to the final battle while lacking several required items that must be retrieve from the other side of the game world. There is no indication where to get these items, nor that they are even needed, nor that they even exist. The player simply fails without them, no lesson given. Effectively the difficulty of the game is increased by these flaws. The player in these cases ends up fighting the game design rather that evil characters, their minions, their traps, or their fortresses.

Not much freely explorable area is provided compared to most official games in the series. RotH has about the same player freedom as Adventure of Link. Of course the RoTH world is much smaller than AoL. Acquiring object provides ways to explore new areas. But with so little area, everything seems densely packed. With a new skill/object, one can suddenly find 4 heart pieces within 20 seconds. A lot of gain from getting a new object is simply a different way to move through the same areas, this time moving through more nooks and crannies to find extras,

The controls are bad. There is no gamepad or mouse control options. Its keyboard only and not configurable. Talk, lift, continue dialog, and attack are all separate keys. There are 3 map/status screens each with there own key.

LoZ has better objective progression. RotH objective progression is worse than any of the official games.

AI is a matter of the enemies simply move toward Link in a straight line. Dumb. I wish there was a rating worse than bad. There's some variation in the bosses but most of them do the same straight-line charge. This is really the game's weakest point.

Saving can be done virtually anytime. Completing a primary objective offers a save also. It takes between 15 and 30 minutes at a non-speedrun pace to complete a primary objective.

This doesn't feel like a Zelda game. Like the original LOZ, Link doesn't recoil when striking enemies. Since recoil happens in all subsequent official games, I expected it here. Pixel perfect terrain from LttP had me expecting I could interact with it the same way. But it functions much more simply, and objects react in different ways. I would rate this game better were it a stand-alone original rather than a 'Zelda game'. But as a self proclaimed sequel of of the third game in the series, it fails short of a good game.

UPDATE: On viewing the source code, it seems [i]a few[/i] the needed clues do exist. But triggering these clues is not intuitive and essential clues are still absent.

As this is an open source game. I would hope someone would take on the following features:
Varied enemy behavior/AI. So different enemies, especially bosses, don't feel like continually fighting the same enemy in different numbers and with different hit-points.
Control improvement and Gamepad support. The control design is clearly has more to do with the author's design choice rather than a lack of skill. But it is just no good. There's just too many buttons for every action. A 'Zelda' game needs contextual controls for actions. It is acceptable to associate actions to using items only if buttons are general use/assignable as they are in LA & TP. But note that these still use contextual actions.
Just a little more guidance for essential gameplay. There needs to be environmental or NPC hints when a player needs to stop mid-dungeon, or whatever tasks they are in the middle of because they were told to do it or given the means too with no further instruction. Use dumb-luck/trial-and-error gameplay for side-quests and extras, not the main quest.***At the end of Link to the Past, Link's wish (whatever it was) united the Light World and Dark World (formally the Golden Land) into one and resurrected the 7 ancient sages. Other side effects unfortunately also occurred. Mainly, Gannon and his minions were brought back to life. Gannon not only wants 'his' triforce back,he also desires revenge.

Story and gameplay start right where LttP left off.
labelimagesubject
Rise of Ganon  author2009Hyrule has always been at peace, until the evil wizard Ganon took over and tried to claim the Triforce for
himself. Luckily, the Hero of Time, as well as his descendants, were able to foil his plans, and after many
generations, Ganon was finally gone for good, and every trace of him was gone....or so everyone thought.
Many hundreds of years of later, Hyrule was at peace, and a trustworthy soldier of Ganon's army, Synrilla,
sought to revive his master by taking the blood of both the bearers of the Triforces, and sprinkling it on the ashes of Ganon, to revive him. Zelda was one of the
keys that kept Ganon sealed away for many generations. So, Synrilla sought the blood of the bearer of the Triforce
of Wisdom that Zelda had held on to, but luckily, Zelda was able to scatter 7 out of 8 pieces of the Triforce
of Courage she and her ancestors held onto for generations, waiting for the new Hero to reclaim it, a key that Synrilla mislooked, only to still bear the Triforce of Wisdom on her hand.
After Synrilla held Zelda captured, Zelda knew exactly what to do...call on the descendant of the Hero that vanquished Ganon long ago, and reclaim the pieces
of the Triforce of Courage, and stop Synrilla from invading Hyrule and plunging it into darkness. Link, a resident of Taitl Village, was called by Zelda had everything
explained to him. Will he be able to gather the Triforces of Courage and save Zelda from Synrilla, or be slained by Synrilla to be an offering for the revival of Ganon?
A quest that takes a high risk, the fate of Hyrule in his hands, begins!!!!***The author insists that this quest can not be completed without using version 2.10 of ZC (2.50 indeed runs RoG with game stopping quirks). However, the Linux build of this version is not readily available through official channels. But, the [url=http://www.sephiroth.ws/ZC/Lost-Isle-Build.tar.gz]custom Linux build of ZC[/url] used for [url=http://www.purezc.com/index.php?page=quests&id=204]Lost Isle[/url] is a 2.10 variant suitable for completing Rise of Ganon.
labelimagesubject
End of Time  author2010The author insists that this quest can not be completed without using version 2.10 of ZC. However, the Linux build of this version is not readily available through official channels. But, the custom Linux build of ZC used for Lost Isle is a 2.10 variant suitable for completing End of Time DX.***For hundreds of years peace has dominated in the land of Hyrule.
But recently, activity has been stirring in parts of the land.
Parts of the Underworld began to rupture into Hyrule, causing lava
flows and deformations. Evil monsters also, were sighted throughout
the land. Once again, Link decided to set out and destry the Evil.
labelimagesubject
Souls of Wisdom author2011A [b][i]massive[/i][/b] remake of the original Legend of Zelda with many more enemies, more in depth story, more items, more people, more things to do, more dungeons, more lands, and much, much more. To give you an idea of how much bigger, to get to where the starting screen was in the original, you must navigate from link's island home through an area the size of the original after visiting a dungeon. The story places this game (being the same as the original LoZ) after all the others except Adventure of Link (AoL being a direct sequel). All the previous games (excluding TP & SS, which were released after WoS) are referenced in this remake. labelimagesubject
Trine 2 Frozenbyte2011 labelminimizeminimize
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light  Square Enix2012 labelminimizeminimize
Tales of a Princess author2012In a forgotten corner of Hyrule a once thriving trade center runs rampant with monsters. The people live in poverty and fear, huddle in caves and dungeons. An no one's stepping up to do anything about it. Wherever evil rises Hyrule, a hero named Link always appears to defeat it. But this time... nope, no Link. "That's odd," thought Princess Zelda (the current one). "If there aren't any Links coming to save my people then It is certainly my duty do so." And with that, she's on her quest to save these people of Hyrule.

A typical Zelda 1 style action-adventure with the usual weapons and items. Make your way across Hyrule finding useful items and weapons to clear 9 dungeons. Everything will seem vaguely familiar yet it is all different. And, there's a lot more enemies and types of enemies per screen. And it's all basically more difficult.
labelimagesubject
Block Smasher author2013Something of a breakout-like made with ZQuest. Nothing like a Zelda game. Steer left and right while moving at a constant speed up or down. Bounce off indestructible bricks or bricks not matching the current color of your ball. Destroy bricks for score. Destroy bricks matching your color by bouncing off of them. Pass through and destroy broken bricks matching your color. Hit star bricks to change your color. Avoid deadly bricks. Avoid changing color and hitting bricks in a sequence that prevents the level from being finished. Clear each level of all destructible bricks in the allotted time. Do it faster for higher score. Lives are unlimited but deaths are recorded. Try to die less.

Really just a simple little puzzle-lite breakout-like .

Includes 80 levels and comes with tile sets, scripts, and everything you need to modify it in ZQuest (to make you own levels). Warning, it supports your poor design choices.
labelimagesubject
Randomizer Modern author2013If you liked all four quests of Zelda Classic, but wish it were harder and had more quests, and want the experience of playing it again without knowing where to find anything, then Randomizer Modern is your game.***Similar to the original Legend of Zelda except there are many more items from later games of the series (hammer, bombchu, boss room keys, etc) and the locations of items and dungeons from 5? quests are arranged randomly with each playthough. Additionally, enemy sets can vary each time they are generated for a room or screen. Even details of the overworld can vary in appearance. There are also harder enemies around. labelimagesubject
Cloudberry Kingdom Pwnee Studios2014[media=youtube]zofPDATdR7M[/media] labelminimizeminimize
SDLPoP  author2014The ubiquitous original Prince of Persia ported to SDL and modern systems with . This port is modable (total conversions). It also has the option of individually turning on or off, any feature, quirk, or bug that ever existed for any port of the game. Time limit can be set and optionally count cut-scene/music time. Adds force-feedback, haptic feedback. Sensible features like guards break your fall if you land on them, slamming into a wall will shake nearby loose tiles (so you don't have to step on them or jump up into them) and Iaido strikes (draw and strike in a single stroke). Finally, there are built-in cheats. You can, for example, play with more time, less time, or infinite time.

A young foreign prince is in love with the Princess. This is a threat to Grand Visir Jaffar who illegally controls the throne in the Sultan's absence and intends to legitimize his rule through marriage. Jaffar kidnaps the foreign prince and locks him in the dungeon. In 1 hour, the Princess must marry the Jaffar or be killed. Play as the foreign prince. Solve puzzles, find items, find a sword, fight guards, escape and save the Princess.
labelimagesubject
Super Win The Game Minor Key Games;IndieBox (Minor Key Games)2014Zelda II, Metroid, and Super Mario without swords or any weapons, epic music, extra lives, boss battles, life meter, destroyable enemies, cutting edge 8-bit graphics, or magic. What does it add for the things it lacks?

Optionally, it can be experienced in CRT mode. CRT mode is everything bad about playing on old style TVs. Fuzzy moire hexagonal screen pixels, color bleeding, curved screen distortion, invisible overscan and rounded off image corners, motion blur/phosphor burn, reflections on the CRT frame. Even rolling screen, RF interference, and static make an appearance. But it's nostalgic... I think this might well be the only Linux game that has "action safe" and "title safe" design (google it). CRT mode is also tunable to better match the old TV players used when they had no other choice. Personally, I found CRT mode to be worth 15 seconds of enjoyment, then I switched it off. But, that's just my personal preference. Turning off CRT mode does not result in 'modern' graphics. Without the CRT mode, this game is about gameplay only.

It also ads some sort of quasi-bonus, playable dream segments. Same gameplay but confusing transdimensional level design and dialog I cannot make any sense of. The author admits that the dream segments are about something deeply personal. With that, I expect few would understand. This is OK, the dream segments don't require the player do do anything except progress through them and the author hasn't decided to leave the gaming industry or threaten to (like some others have after their deeply personal game designing when uninterpreted).

All sorts of game mechanics make up the game. Double-jumping, wall clinging, wall jumping, invisible structures, switch-on platforms, etc... Each one needs to be earned. Each new ability opens more areas to explore and more places to discover when revisiting. And to make 100% completion, full expert use of each mechanic will be required.

There are no map spoilers. The in-game mapping falls somewhere between Metroid and Super Metroid. There is no in-game map item to reveal areas you've missed. Get out your oldskol grid paper and start making checklists if you want to do a 100% completion of the game. Once again, this seems a deliberate feature to invoke nostalgia.

Speedruns are also added to the mix. Complete with online leader boards.

Finally, death is instant, likley frequet, but not costly. Everything kills the player without HP, shield, or mercy. The player cannot eliminate enemies at all, only earn better methods to avoid them. In contrast, pretty much every door is a retry point.

In short, I you like(d) NES games, SWTG is for you. If you've never played NES games and are curious, SWTG is for you.
labelminimizeminimize
BS Zelda author2015A faithful recreation of BS Zelda. It's classic Zelda in four segments with time limits. In each segment, the player is given a goal to collect the items shown in the second subscreen. When the time is up, the checklist is compared to see how well the player did. Game is saved, then ends. Through the magic of remakes, and Zelda Classic, the player can then restart the game in the next segment. Two dungeons and triforces per segment. 8 levels only to defeat Ganon. Choose from 1 or 4 characters to play as.

This game strays far for technical feats within the Zelda Classic framework. First, it's a recreation of a Super Nintendo game. The time lime, saves between segments (automatically, there's no option to save when you want), re-purposing of maps.
labelimagesubject
Commander Cool 2 Orlyapps2015 labelminimizeminimize
Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power Frozenbyte2015 labelminimizeminimize
The Legend of Zelda: Return of the Hylian Solarus Edition  Solarus Team2015 labelimageminimize
The Legend Of Zelda: Mercuris’ Chest  authorTBA labelminimizeminimize
The Legend of Zelda: Oni-Link Begins SE  authorTBA labelminimizeminimize
permalink