On a perched bedside table, in the middle of comics hastily stacked at bedtime, battered children’s magazines, loose sheets covered with scribbles, all dominated by a Marsupilami with false airs of King Kong (or Diddy Kong, by the way), were scattered about Game & Watch. Small islands of electronics in a house with a single television, three television channels and a TO7… to code in logoscript. The future was for later, but blisters on the finger from dint of playing, no.
It’s all that, spread and a little more, that Nintendo brought back to life last year with the launch of its Game & Watch Super Mario Bros. As a shrewd friend, Big N does it again almost a year to the day later. And who other than Link and Zelda to take over from Mario and emerge from the past, facing the wind, as true heroes of all time?
Three masterpieces in a pocket square
This year again, the Japanese giant is not laughing at us. The case, of excellent quality, mixes a solid plastic, which turns green due to the license to be honored, and a light metal for the front face. Everything exudes quality, and looks like it must outlive your pants pockets, backpacks, clumsy children’s hands, your coffee table nook, or your fingers and hands that have grown a bit bigger since your first one. part of Zelda.
Nintendo uses the recipe for its first new generation Game & Watch. Same case size, same screen size. The luminous panel allows you to play outside in full sun – but this is not an obligation given the weather – displays bright colors, nicely contrasted, which pay a nice tribute to the first Zelda.
First, with an S, because Nintendo slipped three Legend of zelda in this tiny box. The very first, The Legend of Zelda, which the most experienced among us may have walked in 1987 – and of course its famous formula: “It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this. “(” It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this “), which will refer you to the poetry notebooks, or draft notebooks, the one with the multiplication tables in the back.
Comes next Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, released a year later, and finally Breath of the Wild 2… No, not at all, it was to see if you followed. The third thief is The Legend of Zelda Link’s Awakening, brilliant title which made the glory of the Game Boy and the fortune of the merchants of batteries. It is playable in English, Japanese, German, and… French. It is obviously the one with which we have the easiest to reconnect, it is also the most modern. Imagine, it is very recent, it only dates from 1993.
Modernized nostalgia
We will let everyone go back to their memories or discover these three games. They travel with pleasure, flashes of old reflexes, or the harsh need to learn or relearn the patterns different enemies, and memorize levels that are often very similar, especially on the very first episode.
The sounds, even more than the graphics, are rich and are adorned with an impressive force of evocation. It’s amazing what a simple sound of a sword can conjure up memories. By the way, let’s applaud Nintendo, which manages to ensure crisp and powerful sound in such a compact body.
Having these three titles juxtaposed is as much like a small dose of nostalgia as it is a history lesson. We see the license progress by leaps and bounds: the gameplay is enriched, the environments are embellished, diversified, the foundations are thus being built almost before our eyes, and it is in itself as exciting as playing.
Especially since, as with all these nostalgic consoles, whether it is the NES Mini Classic, the Super Nintendo Mini, or the Game & Watch of last year, Nintendo avoids us the pangs of the too definitive deaths. or worse, the need to start all over again when you have to leave a game a bit quickly. Note, however, that we are not entitled to the “rewind” function, which is integrated in versions of NES games on Switch Online, and allows you to resume a few seconds before death or a missed jump.
However, you can go from one game to another, find your progress gently, smoothly. All with a fluidity that must be greeted. Compactness does not mean here that the experience will suffer from lags or hiccups.
Compared to Game & Watch Mario, Nintendo added two buttons to facilitate interactions. We thus find the classic buttons: Game, Time, Pause / Set, without forgetting of course, the A and B buttons and the directional cross, to which are now added the Select and Start buttons.
The On / Off button is always on the right edge, just above the USB-C port, which allows you to easily charge the device. We just regret that there is no ruler to lower the sound more easily. However, you just have to use the Pause / Set button to access the volume or light settings.
“Is there a little more, can I give it to you anyway?” “
But that’s not all. Nintendo slipped a “real game” Game & Watch in addition to these three historic titles. We thus find a Vermin revisited, with Link in the role of the mole tapper. Like last year, the LCD rendering is good, arguably a little too well defined and contrasting, but no one here is going to complain. It is amusing anyway to note how this minimalist game will appeal to both those who played it at the time and new players, fed on 3D games in Full HD or 4K.
Finally, Nintendo is introducing a Timer mode. What is it used for ? It displays a big countdown timer – which you can set for anywhere from one to ten minutes – showing how long you have to kill as many enemies as possible. Not necessarily the mode we thought we would spend a lot of time on, but since Game & Watch The Legend of Zelda is a candy that we share, we quickly try to try to beat the records of other players.
And since we are talking about timer, we dream of an alarm clock function, like in the good old days. Alas, a thousand times alas, you will not have the pleasure of being woken up from sleep by the strident ringing of an electronic beeper of yesteryear. Nintendo has ignored this function. On the other hand, the Game & Watch can quite act as a small clock. The time is displayed while a small Link advances through closed levels, a sort of mini-arena. And if you want to take control, you can at any time. You then control Link and slay anything that comes within range of his sword.
Like last year, we will play a little spoiler, regretting that Nintendo has not planned to use a small metal crutch as on some original models. This would allow it to be placed, tilted, on a desk corner or… a bedside table.
Aware of this lack, Big N tried a little trickery. Part of the original packaging, in black lacquered cardboard, can be used as a tilting display. Apart from not being predicted to have an enormous ability to defy time, it is a bit petty, to put it mildly. cheap. Of course, Nintendo Labo has proven that we can make pretty things out of cardboard, but there is a time for tinkering and a time to take care of a product that oscillates between a collector’s item and a child’s memory.
Especially since Big N proves that he has an eye for detail. Indeed, when you play in the dark, your friends or family will be able to see the Triforce symbol shining on the back of the small case. No magic: it is the backlighting of the panel that allows this little fantasy. One detail, we grant you, but which makes you smile. Maybe smile with the look of a little wonder of the kid we were then, and that’s no small thing.
Green, at the foot of the tree
Ultimately, at around 50 euros the intelligent concentrate of nostalgia, we do not find much to complain about. Truly. Is this the best format to play or experience these classic Zeldas? No, although there is, in this magic of absolute portability, a little something extremely successful.
Of course, the Switch offers more comfort, but it suffices to see a young gamer grab the Game & Watch at any time, even in the subway, to realize that the best ergonomic solution is not the best. access anytime, anywhere. Of course, it will not replace an OLED Switch (by the way, 4K, is it for when?) At the foot of the tree, but Nintendo has succeeded in a nice exercise: to register the new generations of players in its history, and to do it. return the old ones.
Halfway between the collector’s item and the electronic toy, therefore, the Game & Watch is a good gift to offer or to be offered. A bit of clever nostalgia launched between two ages. A relay, a tiny flaming sword stamped with the seal of the great history of video games, that we can entrust to the young players who follow us, by telling them: “It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this. “