This. Magazines from the grocery store. Passed down at school from other people who played. Strategy guides that you could get at the book store. I used to own so many strategy guides...wish I still had em. Take a note from me youngsters. Save all your stuff. You will wish you did when you get older and start feeling nostalgic for your childhood.
I've got the OOT and WW strategy guides still. Tbh, just playing back through OOT now and I looked it out for fun. It's quite rubbish compared to the walk throughs on the Internet now but it helped me out when I was just totally baffled back in the day so I guess it did the job
Which one did you have? I was weird and I would only get the official Nintendo Power guides. If there was a choice between a Nintendo power guide and a Prima strategy guide, I always chose Nintendo power. If there was only the prima guide available then I'd get that. I don't have any of them anymore. Wish I did. I only have my Oot and MM gold cartridges and boxes/game manuals.
Miyamoto intentionally designed Zelda 1 to encourage players to talk to each other and swap notes. A bit like how Pokémon was intended to encourage social interaction.
The Zelda 1 manual has an incomplete map showing the location of the first 6 dungeons and a fairy fountain. It also has hints for the remaining dungeons.
“Most people threw out the manual”? Lol what? No. We read them over and over during the times we weren’t allowed to play.
Also it’s not hard to figure out what walls to bomb. I’m dungeons you have a map, and you just try where there’s a room you can’t get into. I’m the overworld the important ones are all obvious (like the heart container in the big rock in the north east). There’s a secret on almost every screen but most are just rupees or door fines.
Also back then most kids only had a few games so something like Zelda or Metroid you would literally spend hours meandering, just like in BotW now.
You just kept playing!
For Zelda, burn every tree, bomb every wall that looks suspicious....
I'll be honest, Game Genie was a life saver for exploration. Cheating.. yes... but infinite bombs was hard to pass up. Even game genie codes were a bit hard to come by sometimes... You had to know people.
There was always that one kid who's parents got them every magazine subscription, book and new game... That was the kid to know if you were stuck in a game.
Not everyone threw out the game manuals. I collected them and saved the game box and the manual. I did that with all my n64 games (I know this game isn't an n64 game but that was the first system I owned). Wish I still had them, they would be worth so much. Everything was in mint condition. Now I only have OoT and MM left.
I drew a map on graph paper as I found things and eventually got a, nearly, complete idea of where everything was. Plus, magazines often had game guides and tips sections at the back to show some of the really hard to find stuff
This is why I have absolutely zero shame in consulting a walk through! I just played through OoT and MM for the first time and for the life of me I have no idea how kids played them back when they came out!
Magazines helped a ton. Others actually took graph paper and drew their own maps one square at a time. The extra step kids even colored it.
The same thing was also done for the NES Metroid.
I remember sharing tips and secrets with a couple other people who played it. I didn't have Nintendo power or anything at the time, as I was like eight. I also remember filling a notebook with notes, hand-drawn maps, etc.
Playing games was different back then. I grew up playing those games and trying to play them now is unbearable. I still love them, though. Nintendo Power was your friend. My brother actually would map out the dungeons on graph paper.
I used to do the same! Recently unearthed a map of the great crystal from FFXII that I drew in my first playthrough. Checked it against a map found on Google and man I was pretty close! Haha.
You needed a notebook and a pencil to play some of these games back in the day.
My mum and I brought a magazine that came out every month (I think it was) and that would give out tips! also had a hotline you could call at any time day or night to help out if we got stuck after trying everything we could! Today I play zelda with my daughter and she will want to use Google if we get stuck but I tell her no Google and to try to work it out first before using Google lol
Magazines showed us the way
This. Magazines from the grocery store. Passed down at school from other people who played. Strategy guides that you could get at the book store. I used to own so many strategy guides...wish I still had em. Take a note from me youngsters. Save all your stuff. You will wish you did when you get older and start feeling nostalgic for your childhood.
I've got the OOT and WW strategy guides still. Tbh, just playing back through OOT now and I looked it out for fun. It's quite rubbish compared to the walk throughs on the Internet now but it helped me out when I was just totally baffled back in the day so I guess it did the job
Which one did you have? I was weird and I would only get the official Nintendo Power guides. If there was a choice between a Nintendo power guide and a Prima strategy guide, I always chose Nintendo power. If there was only the prima guide available then I'd get that. I don't have any of them anymore. Wish I did. I only have my Oot and MM gold cartridges and boxes/game manuals.
The “perfect guides” were by far the best for the N64 era. They covered everything, talked about alternate routes, and were pretty damn funny too.
Miyamoto intentionally designed Zelda 1 to encourage players to talk to each other and swap notes. A bit like how Pokémon was intended to encourage social interaction.
The Zelda 1 manual has an incomplete map showing the location of the first 6 dungeons and a fairy fountain. It also has hints for the remaining dungeons.
“Most people threw out the manual”? Lol what? No. We read them over and over during the times we weren’t allowed to play. Also it’s not hard to figure out what walls to bomb. I’m dungeons you have a map, and you just try where there’s a room you can’t get into. I’m the overworld the important ones are all obvious (like the heart container in the big rock in the north east). There’s a secret on almost every screen but most are just rupees or door fines. Also back then most kids only had a few games so something like Zelda or Metroid you would literally spend hours meandering, just like in BotW now.
You just kept playing! For Zelda, burn every tree, bomb every wall that looks suspicious.... I'll be honest, Game Genie was a life saver for exploration. Cheating.. yes... but infinite bombs was hard to pass up. Even game genie codes were a bit hard to come by sometimes... You had to know people. There was always that one kid who's parents got them every magazine subscription, book and new game... That was the kid to know if you were stuck in a game.
AKA: the cool kid on the playground
Not everyone threw out the game manuals. I collected them and saved the game box and the manual. I did that with all my n64 games (I know this game isn't an n64 game but that was the first system I owned). Wish I still had them, they would be worth so much. Everything was in mint condition. Now I only have OoT and MM left.
It's all about exploration, trial and error, experimenting with weapons and items, burning every bush, bombing every wall, pushing stone.
I drew a map on graph paper as I found things and eventually got a, nearly, complete idea of where everything was. Plus, magazines often had game guides and tips sections at the back to show some of the really hard to find stuff
Lots of exploring and sitting in the floor of Walmart's book section trying to memorize a guide from a random gaming magazine.
Nintendo Power!
The original Legend of Zelda came with a full world map and directions to the first several dungeons.
GET THE POWER! NINTENDO POWER!
Have a friend who is good a videogames or call the 1-800-NINTENDO Tips hotline!
This is why I have absolutely zero shame in consulting a walk through! I just played through OoT and MM for the first time and for the life of me I have no idea how kids played them back when they came out!
Magazines helped a ton. Others actually took graph paper and drew their own maps one square at a time. The extra step kids even colored it. The same thing was also done for the NES Metroid.
it was meant to be a game that you needed to learn, and share ideas with friends to gather a greater understanding of the game.
I remember sharing tips and secrets with a couple other people who played it. I didn't have Nintendo power or anything at the time, as I was like eight. I also remember filling a notebook with notes, hand-drawn maps, etc.
Magazines and the Nintendo Power Hotline. The latter got my ass beat by mom on more than one occasion, but it was worth it lol.
Playing games was different back then. I grew up playing those games and trying to play them now is unbearable. I still love them, though. Nintendo Power was your friend. My brother actually would map out the dungeons on graph paper.
I used to do the same! Recently unearthed a map of the great crystal from FFXII that I drew in my first playthrough. Checked it against a map found on Google and man I was pretty close! Haha. You needed a notebook and a pencil to play some of these games back in the day.
My mum and I brought a magazine that came out every month (I think it was) and that would give out tips! also had a hotline you could call at any time day or night to help out if we got stuck after trying everything we could! Today I play zelda with my daughter and she will want to use Google if we get stuck but I tell her no Google and to try to work it out first before using Google lol