The nunchuck was sublime (when it worked), but the ergonomics of the wiimote were ridiculous. Pointing at the screen required an unnatural wrist angle that wasn’t sustainable for long gaming sessions, and trying to turn it horizontal to use as a standard controller was simply ass.
I lived through it, and even as kids we all agreed the N64 controller was weird and illogical. But we got used to it and it was not a hurdle or a detriment to the console. You could tell if people had played before if they held the center grip or the left grip.
“It’s been brought to my attention that many people were not mollified by my previous apology, so let’s do it again. I’m sorry you people are too stupid and selfish to understand our first apology, and we want you to know that we will continue to make promises we can’t keep, we will continue to put shareholders above customers, and we will continue to justify our shitty behavior with bullshit semantics because we have learned nothing from this experience. Sincerely, Fuck You.”
My first was the OG Legend of Zelda on the NES, and it will always occupy a special place in my heart. I hated The Adventure ot Link because it was so different from the first one, and because I could never get past the first dark cave. I spent hours scouring the towns for a candle, and it never occurred to me that I could just go through it in the dark.
OOT was amazing getting to ride Epona and move around in 3 dimensions. The puzzles, the stories, the polygons, I think that was my favorite Zelda experience overall.
Twilight Princess was fun, and I loved Skyward Sword more than most people seemed to. To me, the Wii mechanics and the flying were worth the frustrations. But I understand why it was divisive.
Breath of the Wild had that OOT feeling of discovery to it. It was fun to play, and novel enough to keep me exploring. I haven’t played Tears of the Kingdom yet, but my son loves it so I’m looking forward to it.
I regret that I never played A Link to the Past, Majora’s Mask, Wind Waker, or any of the handheld games.
People did have issues paying for it all together, back when they were called “expansion packs.”
I don’t mind paying for more of the game. I do mind paying for fixes to a broken game. I don’t mind optional cosmetic upgrades, but I don’t like pay-to-win, even in single player (looking at you, Nintendo amiibos).
But regardless, people are going to complain, and many of their complaints will be valid.
Kung Fu on NES, the magician. The arcade version was normal sized and you just had to kick his ass. The NES edition he was tiny, and you could only hurt him with a crouch and punch. When you have to take turns with your brother, and it takes several tries to make it that far, it seemed like the greatest victory to finally figure it out.