Zelda Outlands Review: A Fan-Created Masterpiece

The NES version of the first Legend of Zelda game is a timeless classic. It has been a favorite of gamers for decades because it has adventure, exploration, puzzles, and action. But what if there was a different way to play the game? What if there was a way to rediscover the magic of the first game, but with new maps, dungeons, item progression, and story? Enter Legend of Zelda: Outlands.

Outlands is a hack of the original Legend of Zelda game made by fans. It adds new content and changes what was already there. It was made by GameMakr24, and you can get a free copy of it online. But we played the game on a NES console with a physical copy.

In terms of story, Outlands takes place after the events of Zelda 2. The Thunderbird has survived Link’s wrath and stolen the Triforce of Courage. It has taken refuge in Ganon’s secret vault in a neighboring land called the Outlands. With the help of Zelda, Link must collect the eight Tetrarch fairies to unlock Ganon’s secret vault and retrieve the Triforce of Courage.

The gameplay is similar to the original Legend of Zelda. I started with a sword, collected rupees, bought items, and defeated enemies. As I collected more items, such as the boomerang, bow and arrow, raft, and ladder, more areas became accessible. The game also had many secrets to discover, adding to the game’s replay value.

One of the best things about Outlands is its progression. While I could quickly get to the first castle and collect the first fairy, I couldn’t get the dungeon item (the ladder) for a long time. As I gained more items, I needed to backtrack to older areas and discover new passages that opened up. This progression was well thought-out and made each item feel more valuable when I finally got it.

The dungeons themselves were also excellent. They were built with progression in mind, but they also had new mechanics. In one castle, for example, I entered a room with orange and blue skulls. If I touched the orange skulls, I couldn’t use my sword and had to find a blue one to use my sword again. This added to the difficulty of the dungeon and made it all the more satisfying when I finally beat it. These new castles were challenging too. I thought a castle was done when I defeated the boss, but I often found another room full of enemies that had to be defeated before I could nab the heart container.

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The game wasn’t unbearably hard, like some other fan-made hacks I’ve played. I could find Zelda in a castle who provided hints on what to do next. This helpful feature kept the game from becoming too frustrating. If the game became too hard, I usually found that an item was missing that was preventing me from moving forward.

In terms of graphics, Outlands looked distinctly like the original Legend of Zelda game because it was a hack of the game. However, the developer added some nice graphic upgrades and increased the color palette to make the dungeons and world map look new and interesting. The sound was basically identical to the original, and the timeless overworld Zelda music was amazing.

The only issue I encountered with the game was that some screens were so packed full of enemies that slowdown became an issue. While this was present in the original game, I felt that it was worse in this version.

Overall, Outlands is a masterfully crafted fan-made hack that recaptures the magic and wonder of the original Legend of Zelda game. The game’s unique progression and challenging, but not unbearable difficulty, made it a fun and engaging experience for me. I highly recommend this game to fans of the original game and give it a rating of 9/10. Outlands is a new classic in the Legend of Zelda universe that every fan should experience.