The Legend of Zelda (video game)
"The Legend of Zelda" is considered a spiritual forerunner of the modern role-playing video game (RPG) genre. Though it is often not considered part of the genre since it lacked key RPG mechanics such as experience points, it had many features in common with RPGs and served as the template for the action role-playing game genre. The game's fantasy setting, musical style and action-adventure gameplay were adopted by many RPGs. Its commercial success helped lay the groundwork for involved, non-linear games in fantasy settings, such as those found in successful RPGs, including "Crystalis", "Soul Blazer", Square's "Seiken Densetsu" series, "Alundra", and "Brave Fencer Musashi". The popularity of the game also spawned several clones trying to emulate the game.
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
On release, "Twilight Princess" was considered to be the greatest "Zelda" game ever made by many critics including writers for "1UP.com", "Computer and Video Games", "Electronic Gaming Monthly", "Game Informer", "GamesRadar", "IGN" and "The Washington Post". "Game Informer" called it "so creative that it rivals the best that Hollywood has to offer". "GamesRadar" praised "Twilight Princess" as "a game that deserves nothing but the absolute highest recommendation". "Cubed3" hailed "Twilight Princess" as "the single greatest videogame experience". "Twilight Princess" graphics were praised for the art style and animation, although the game was designed for the GameCube, which is technically lacking compared to the next generation consoles. Both "IGN" and "GameSpy" pointed out the existence of blurry textures and low-resolution characters. Despite these complaints, "Computer and Video Games" felt the game's atmosphere was superior to that of any previous "Zelda" game, and regarded "Twilight Princess" Hyrule as the best version ever created. "PALGN" praised the game's cinematics, noting that "the cutscenes are the best ever in "Zelda" games". Regarding the Wii version, "GameSpot"s Jeff Gerstmann said the Wii controls felt "tacked-on", although "1UP.com" said the remote-swinging sword attacks were "the most impressive in the entire series". "Gaming Nexus" considered "Twilight Princess" soundtrack to be the best of this generation, though "IGN" criticized its MIDI-formatted songs for lacking "the punch and crispness" of their orchestrated counterparts. "Hyper"s Javier Glickman commended the game for its "very long quests, superb Wii controls and being able to save anytime". However, he criticized it for "no voice acting, no orchestral score and slightly outdated graphics".