SF: (13) The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past v (8) Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow

[Lee]

Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow is originally seeded at 8. It has defeated Theme Park, FFXII, Sonc CD, Shadow of the Collosus and GTA San Andreas.

Fun fact: The American staff in charge of localizing the games tried to change the Pokémon designs, however, Tsunekaz Ishihara refused the proposal.

Originally seeded at unlucky 13 ALTTP has defeated Mortal Kombat, Paper Mario: TYD, Street Fighter II, Ocarina of Time, Super Mario galaxy.

Fun Fact: This is the first Zelda game where you actually see a member of Link's family

Pokemon RBY hasn't faced more than one game of the same franchise and it can be argued that neither has ALTTP.

 

[Lee]

I want to be the very best, like no one ever was. To catch them is my real test, to train them is my cause. I will travel across the land searching far and wide. Each Pokémon to understand the power that's inside!

Ah yes what a great theme tune, it bring back so many memories of my childhood, of Saturday mornings watching SM:TV live WIIIIIIIIIICKED. Oh wait, this is me voting about the game not the series. Ignore that then.

Though I did collect the cards, I had a ton of them and all my friends had some and we'd battle for hours. Oh they had the cards because they watched the TV show, not because of the Game. That much is sure.

Now you're going to tell me of the hours you spent training up your team of six, of how you wanted to be the best. How you'd wake up and play and would play before you went to sleep. You'll tell me how many batteries you went through before...blah blah blah. Just be honest with us here, half of your 40 hour game play was surfing up and down the right side of Cinibar Island. That's hardly a good game is it? People forget just how frustrating some of the game is and without the likes of Nintendo Power giving you a location poster you'd be screwed finishing your PokéDex.

What about the comment I've made in another round that really Pokémon Red and Blue brings nothing new to the table? Take the level design of the towns. Look at Mother (the first in the Earthbound series) the town designs are pretty much the same. Look at the PokéCentre and compare that to the hospital there (at the hospital you pay, PokéCentre's free but it's still the same). Look at the battles, they're the same. Heck you even collect badges (franklin badge!).

Even the HMs are taken from ALTTP:

Strength = The Power Glove
Flash = The Lantern
Surf = The Zora flippers
Cut = Sword
Fly = The Duck

I don't need to add how great A Link to the past is but read this post I made last round:

Galaxy may be my second favourite game of all time, but The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past is my favourite.

A Link to the Past took the few good points of Zelda 2, mixed it with the overworld map of Zelda and gave us some great things. Making their first appearance there's the famous Kakariko Village, there's cuccoos, the hookshot, the triforce became a physical manifestation, a flute which looks like an Ocarina (Links awakening was the first with an Ocarina and the whistle was used in Zelda I and II), the great fairy giving us magic boosts, the piece of heart system. Should I carry on?

I don't need to mention that twenty years after its release the visuals are not dated. What about the side quest elements that has since become a stable part of the Zelda universe? What about the music? From the theme of the lost woods to the dark world overworld to the main Zelda theme. This was when Zelda really became about the music and the perfect mix of visuals to bring a truly emotional experience.

I love this game and everything about it, from when you leave your house and it's raining to the final moments when you hold the Triforce proudly above your head. The emotional trial you take across worlds. It's often said about certain games of the 16, 32 and 64 bit era “for its time it was great” very few transcend 'for its time' and remain as relevant today as it was on the day of release.

I dare anyone who says Video games is not an art form to play through this game. When you hit Lost woods in that cloudy mist mixed with that wonderful music to finally find the master sword. To then experience the disappointment that this is not the real Master Sword, this only added to the overall elation when you pull the sword out of the Pedestal of time. The fog clears. The main Zelda theme kicks in. You are a hero.

Don't let your Pokémon nostalgia get in the way of voting the better game here. Vote for A Link to the Past.

 

[Smooth Sexual Chocolate]

Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow is far more than just nostalgia, the game still has massive replay value to this very day and is still one of the only ways you're going to be able to acquire that precious Mew to complete your pokedex. Making the game a must own, even for the new generation of Pokemon fans.

Lee points out some similarities between the two games, what those similarities show me is that Pokemon was able to make the rpg genre more accessible to the common gamer. Let face it, Zelda isn't for everyone, I personally find it slow paced and boring, but that's just my opinion, though it seems to be a common opinion amongst the common video game folk, as it's a tough game to get into if you don't have the time to give it your full attention.

Pokemon R/B/Y on the other hand, took the simple, fun elements from the RPG genre and made it accessible and fun for everyone to play. I'm someone who can't stand the RPG genre, I loathe the FF series, and just can't get into Zelda; but Pokemon changed all of that for me, it was accessible, it's fun, and more than anything else it one of if not the most addicting games of all time.

 

[Wade's Public Transit Bomb]

Even the HMs are taken from ALTTP:

Strength = The Power Glove
Flash = The Lantern
Surf = The Zora flippers
Cut = Sword
Fly = The Duck

Now you are just reaching.


I don't think Red, Blue and Yellow are the best Pokemon games. Silver (and Gold I guess) amplified the core of the game into one hell of a game. Plus, it got lucky in its seeding.

When you look at the games each has beaten, you have to give it up to Link to the Past. Fuck, anyone one of those games could have a case made as to why it is the greatest game ever. It would be a shame to go down to Red, Blue and Yellow.


FUCK I PRESS THE DOWN BUTTON BEFORE I PRESSED ENTER.

MOD NOTE: As is clear by this post Eboney's vote will not class as Pokemon RBY but for ALTTP due to clicking the wrong button. So whatever the poll says +1 for LTTP and -1 for Pokemon

 

[Fizzy]

Here I am, sitting here exhausted at 1:30 in the morning fully knowing I have to wake up at eight because we're going to the beach, and I decide to make a post instead of getting some much needed sleep. Oh well, here it goes. What can I say about these two games? Both series' are among the most popular and well known video game series' of all time. Both games are phenomenal and both really kick started their respective game series. In my opinion, they're equal in every way so i'll have to go and vote out of sheer bias. I love ALTTP so much, and it started a series that gave us two games that are considered among the best games of all time in OOT and Majora's Mask as well as one of my absolute favorite games in Wind Waker. That said though, I can't vote against Pokemon in this. As a grown man, I can honestly say I love Pokemon and everything about it, and I have to vote for it here.

 

[Derf]

I've never played A Link to the Past.


Ok, obviously that's not the case. I've played it, as well as PKMN: 1st Gen as a child. I tried to get into LTTP, and I just couldn't. I tried to get into PKMN, and I couldn't get into that either. I just stuck with Diddy Kong Racing for a while.

Eventually, a few friends started playing Pokemon, so I tried it again, and I got into it. Really into it. Obsessed with it. I can name the origional 151 pokemon off the top of my head, in order.


During this time frame, my sister gave my family her SNES. With it came LTTP. I was a few years older during the PKMN craze, so I gave LTTP a try again. I remember just barely getting through the castle, something about clouds or something... that's it. I'm sure it's a great game, I'm sure it paved the way for several games to come (including OoT, my fave game ever)

At the beggining of the Tourny, I said I wouldn't vote against a game I havn't played. But this is the final 4, and I can admit that LTTP is an amazing game. But it doesn't hold a candle to Pokemon Red and Blue, two games that together created one of the greatest video game franchises of all time.

 

[Loveless]

Pokemon is good for a handheld game and nothing more. You know why it's never transferred over sucessfully to consoles? It's because it's not good enough. People get caught up in it and make allowances for it due to the fact it's a handheld game and if this was a handheld only tournament then it'd probably deserve to be here, but it isn't, it doesn't and judged on equal merit it shouldn't have gotten past half the games it's beaten.
ALTTP was an important gaming step in terms of story, design and moving towards a more complex and intelligent way of creating games. That's more than enough for me to vote it over Monster Top Trumps, which changed absolutely nothing and influenced nothing outside of itself.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

WOW! We have two great gaming dynasties and possibly the most important game of either franchise going up against one another. We do have quite a semifinal on our hands.

My love for Pokemon wants me to vote for it but at the same time, logic dictates that I vote for Zelda. ALTTP not only included the elements that would make the Zelda franchise as popular as it has become but it also made it so after a monstrosity of epic proportions known as The Adventure of The Link. The series could have easily gone underground at that point but ALTTP not only prevented that but also made Zelda one of the best gaming franchises of all time. Without ALTTP there would have been no OOT, Majora's Mask, Windwaker or Twilight Princess.

Now let us come to Pokemon. One of the reasons why I feel that Pokemon games are so popular is because of the anime series that is very easily in contention for the best Anime of all time. It was released after Pokemon Red and Blue were released but the later games in the Pokemon franchise certainly did benefit from that. Even Pokemon Yellow which was a game based off the anime and was a part of the first generation benefitted from that. Now the first generation did spurn off the anime in the first place but it was the anime that took the series to greater heights. If I were to make a co-relation to the Zelda franchise, Pokemon first gen is like The Legend of Zelda(NES) to the franchise while it's anime series is like the ALTTP of its series.

I believe that the first generation of the game has had a lesser impact on the series than ALTTP has had on the Zelda series. Most people associate Pokemon with the anime rather than with the game. Zelda has become a gaming franchise that is almost equal in popularity to the Pokemon franchise without having the benefit of anything half as popular as the Pokemon anime. And ALTTP has played probably the most important part in that.

That is the reason why I am voting for ALTTP.

 

[Davi323]

I throw my vote towards Link to the Past. There were two games that stayed in the family SNES more than any others...Street Fighter II and Link to the Past. Even know, as a 36 year old, I have Link to the Past on my PC through an SNES emulator, and I still play it. (note: I still own the cartridge, so it's legal, I am NOT discussing any form of pirated software)

The fact that I still play a game that came out when I was a kid still in 2011 is a very rare thing. I can count those games on one hand. Tetris, Tecmo Super Bowl (NES version), SNK Baseball All-Stars and A Link to the Past.

 

[Uncle Phatso]

It's just a matter of personal prefrence of games for me. I love ALL, pokemon games. At one point and time in my life I had every pokemon game excluding pinball and games like it. Fuck even the trading card game was fun for me. If this had been the Zelda game that I enjoyed most as a kid, Links awakening I would have had a harder time voting on it.

Lets get this straight, pokemon was one of my first memorys I can remember from school. Not even just the trading card game, the game. My first game in the series was blue. My friends had either red or blue, and it was fun setting and trading with friends. I can't even remember how long it took us to figure out how to set up the trade booth with our cable back then.

But pokemon has a replay value that in my mind can't be beat. You can choose the first three pokemon, but after that it's your choice what you want to train. If you don't want to train your squirtle you don't have to. You could build a small team going from pallet town to Viridian forest that would take you rather far. Catch a pidgey and train that up, then you could get a Rattata just about anyware. Run to the side of Viridian and catch a Mankey and Nidoran. In The forest you could train and evolve a Weedle or Caterpie . But the one thing I enjoyed looking for the most was the rare pikachu in the forest.

You can have a team that includes, Fighting, Normal, Flying, Bug, and Electric. All within the first two hours or so. That was great, and that's actually a pretty good starter team.

Based on a few things, Including Replay value and not total linear play. I believe Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow to be the better game. You have a great small storylines in the game backing up the main goal of Beating the E4 and catching them all. Such as beating team rocket, finding the 3 Legendary birds, The burnt out mansion tells the story of Mew and Mew two. It just has small things along the way that keep you going. It's not allways just beat trainer, train more, repeat. You have fishing, training, A casino, swimming, some cave puzzles, the list goes on.

 

[Fizzy]

Pokemon is good for a handheld game and nothing more. You know why it's never transferred over sucessfully to consoles? It's because it's not good enough.

What is this pure bullshit you're spouting there, Loveless? Pokemon was never brought to console because it wasn't good enough? How fucking high were you when you posted that? I guess all handheld games no matter how great and revolutionary they were should be disqualified because they weren't on a console. You know, why even consider a handheld a gaming system? It's just for games that aren't good enough to be on a real console anyway. By that logic that would mean any game on consoles would be better than Pokemon. You know, let's disregard the benefits of a Pokemon game on handheld like battles with your friends, or trading your Pokemon with their Pokemon. Seriously, this may take the cake as worst post of the entire tournament and that's saying a lot with what Dagger has posted.

People get caught up in it and make allowances for it due to the fact it's a handheld game and if this was a handheld only tournament then it'd probably deserve to be here, but it isn't, it doesn't and judged on equal merit it shouldn't have gotten past half the games it's beaten.

Again, let's just disregard handheld systems because they aren't consoles. That means they aren't real systems right? This is a video game tournament, and goddamn handheld video games don't deserve to make it anywhere in a video game tournament.

 

[Smooth Sexual Chocolate]

Pokemon is good for a handheld game and nothing more. You know why it's never transferred over sucessfully to consoles? It's because it's not good enough.

This is the only point I feel the need to address at the moment.

So let me get this straight, because Pokemon R/B/Y is on a handheld platform it isn't worthy of being in a real video game tournament.

You know why it never transferred well over to consoles, because if it ain't broke, you don't fix it; and if you consider Pokemon stadium, or Pokemon snap as crossover attempts, well, your simply kidding yourself. Pokemon stadium was nothing more than a vessel so you could play Pokemon on the N64. Pokemon R/B/Y was so successful on the GB that they created a game that had no purpose other than being able to battle your Pokemon in a 3D environment. As far as I know, there's never even been an attempt to bring the full scale Pokemon game over to any system. It's never transferred successfully because it's never had to, it's the most successful handheld franchise off all time; but it's not worthy because you don't consider handhelds to be real video games.

You couldn't be further from the truth, Pokemon "Not Good Enough" for a successful crossover. If anything it too successful, like I said, if it's not broken, there's no need to fix it.

 

[Lee]

A Link To The Past wins.