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Zelda Games on the Philips CD-i

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21–30 of 54 posts

Re: Zelda Games on the Philips CD-i

#22
Not all of the Nintendo titles were bad though: I loved Hotel Mario.

It also had cringeworthy cut-scenes though :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxKCqxAWXmo

edit (unrelated): Steel Machine was a decent shooter. I recently found some background info about the game and how it was like to develop for the CD-i at the time.

http://www.cdinteractive.co.uk/forums/cdinteractive/viewtopi...

Re: Zelda Games on the Philips CD-i

#23
post #15

Years and years ago (~2006-2007), after one of my many Wikipedia rabbit-hole nights, I stumbled upon the CD-i, and consequently the Zelda CD-i games. I immediately had to find an emulator, and play Faces of Evil, and I couldn't stop laughing once cut-scenes started playing. I took my video camera, pointed it at my monitor (my computer was too slow for desktop capture), and sent the video to my friends, and it became…

You don't even need a romhack for Link to the Past now, it's available on the SNES virtual console for Switch. It's free aside from the cost of the Switch.

I think I didn't explain myself very well, so I apologize; I meant that if you've already exhausted one of the mainline Zelda games (which you probably have if you're looking at the Zelda CD-i games), then I would recommend one of the many many many fan romhacks out there that add new levels and characters. Emulating a CD-i is kind of a pain in the ass...installing romhack patches is too, but at least if you choose one of the more popular romhacks you'll at least get something decent.

Re: Zelda Games on the Philips CD-i

#24
I'm surprised that Nintendo has not yet re-released The Legend of Zelda (Zelda 1 from 1986) with updated graphics. It seems as if all the re-releases for the various platforms including Nintendo Switch are just emulators for the NES version.

Re: Zelda Games on the Philips CD-i

#25

While these games have become infamous for the hilariously bad animation quality, the studio that did them continued to do work for the videogame industry. They were contracted out to do the animation for the ill-fated Warcraft Adventures game by Blizzard: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warcraft_Adventures:_Lord_of_t... Though the game was never released, someone leaked a copy years later, and playthroughs were subseq…

Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans is around to be found still, pretty cool

Re: Zelda Games on the Philips CD-i

#26
post #24

I'm surprised that Nintendo has not yet re-released The Legend of Zelda (Zelda 1 from 1986) with updated graphics. It seems as if all the re-releases for the various platforms including Nintendo Switch are just emulators for the NES version.

If the Link’s Awakening remake does well, I could see it happening

Re: Zelda Games on the Philips CD-i

#27
post #15

Years and years ago (~2006-2007), after one of my many Wikipedia rabbit-hole nights, I stumbled upon the CD-i, and consequently the Zelda CD-i games. I immediately had to find an emulator, and play Faces of Evil, and I couldn't stop laughing once cut-scenes started playing. I took my video camera, pointed it at my monitor (my computer was too slow for desktop capture), and sent the video to my friends, and it became…

You don't even need a romhack for Link to the Past now, it's available on the SNES virtual console for Switch. It's free aside from the cost of the Switch.

A romhack typically implies an edit of the original. The original is just called a 'rom', while a 'romhack' might include a different map, story, mechanics, etc.

The link to the past randomizer is a fairly notable romhack for link to the past that randomizes the locations of all items in the game. Another mashes up Super Metroid and Link to the Past, causing certain doors to travel between the games, collecting items in one that are accessible in the other. (E.g. you might find the bow and arrow in Norfair, or the Varia Suit in a dungeon.)

Re: Zelda Games on the Philips CD-i

#28
Slightly OT. Whilst the CD-i was a poor seller and far from the best gaming console of its generation it had the best digital video playback of any platform on the market thanks to its excellent MPEG-1 decoding add-on.

PCs did have MPEG accelerator cards available but these were niche and expensive. The Philips CD-i offered this for less and in a convenient VCR type form factor - pitching itself as a premium Video-CD player with gaming thrown in.

This was important at the time since full motion video games like The 7th Guest and Rebel Assault were very popular. Some of these titles debuted on the CD-i and indeed offered the best experience there, better than even the PC by quite some margin.

I remember my jaw dropping when I played The 7th Guest on my friend's Philips CD-i. It was smooth as silk vs the jerky PC version.

Other titles like Space Ace and of course Burn Cycle were also incredibly impressive. Basically any game with heavy video elements played to the strengths of the CD-i in a pretty big way.

As gaming graphics started to improve FMV games became less popular and with DVD on the horizon the CD-i came to a dead end.

Re: Zelda Games on the Philips CD-i

#29
post #15

Years and years ago (~2006-2007), after one of my many Wikipedia rabbit-hole nights, I stumbled upon the CD-i, and consequently the Zelda CD-i games. I immediately had to find an emulator, and play Faces of Evil, and I couldn't stop laughing once cut-scenes started playing. I took my video camera, pointed it at my monitor (my computer was too slow for desktop capture), and sent the video to my friends, and it became…

You don't even need a romhack for Link to the Past now, it's available on the SNES virtual console for Switch. It's free aside from the cost of the Switch.

My favorite romhack is https://alttpr.com/en (A Link to the Past Randomizer). It basically takes your rom and swaps the location of all items in chests, pendants / crystals, and can even swap enemies, keys in dungeons (for cross dungeon shenanigans) and entrances.

So I much prefer the romhack to the original now, given my familiarity. Now if only I could play it on the switch...

Edit: a recent playthrough had me without the bow for much of the game. A different one had me start without my sword and I got through a dungeon before finding it. Fun times.

Re: Zelda Games on the Philips CD-i

#30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't even need a romhack for Link to the Past now, it's available on the SNES virtual console for Switch. It's free aside from the cost of the Switch.

My favorite romhack is https://alttpr.com/en (A Link to the Past Randomizer). It basically takes your rom and swaps the location of all items in chests, pendants / crystals, and can even swap enemies, keys in dungeons (for cross dungeon shenanigans) and entrances. So I much prefer the romhack to the original now, given my familiarity. Now if only I could play it on the switch... Edit: a recent playthrough had me with…

I'm partial to Parallel Worlds myself; so much of it is new, that it just feels like a brand new Zelda game, not just a modification.
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