Legends
| Developer: Krisalis | Graphics: |
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| Publisher: Guildhall Leisure | Sound: |
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| Year: 1996 | Difficulty: |
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| Genre: Action-adventure | Lastability: |
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| Number of players: 1 | Rating: |
6/10 | |
I’ve got a confession to make. Humanity was created by little green men living on the moon. It started as a basic science experiment, but as they observed us, they found us entertaining. We became the stars of a hit reality show on their planet, though some critics thought it was too tame. The local leaders started wondering if they should pull the plug (a storyline borrowed in the first episode of South Park’s seventh season, for those keeping track).
To save their favourite show from cancellation, two moon scientists came up with a brilliant idea: they transported modern weapons into Earth’s past. This sparked global chaos, plunged the planet into total war, and skyrocketed the ratings to historic highs. The scheme might have gone unnoticed if not for the timely return of Professor Whatshisname from some time-travel mission. Seeing the mess, he sent his assistant Billy to investigate on-site (in the past), equipped with a shape-shifting ray of his own invention…
Did I just devote half a page describing the story?
If I were feeling snarky, I’d say this zany plot is a thin disguise for a Zelda knockoff…
Well, this zany plot is a thin disguise for a Zelda knockoff!
More precisely, a knockoff of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Super Nintendo, 1992). Legends borrows its concept, style, environments, the same type of puzzles where you trade items between villages, its mini-games, its sugary-sweet dialogue … essentially every ingredient, meticulously copied, but four years late. This genre was shamefully neglected on the Amiga…
Unfortunately, while Legends might smell like Zelda, it doesn’t taste like Zelda. What’s missing? Monster design and combat energy. In Zelda, even the smallest quests felt epic. Here, you’ll spend five minutes flailing arrows at a hyperactive bee, and if you manage to kill it by accident, it’ll respawn instantly. You’ll soon tire of fighting monsters and end up sprinting in a straight line, shouting “Leave me alone!”
Yet somehow, after a few minutes, it grows on you. It’s not great, but it’s worth the price. The worlds are vast and varied, the dialogue is chuckle-worthy, the music is upbeat; you’ll have fun hunting for items, defeating colourful bosses, and, in the end, you might walk away with a better impression than you started with.
Back in the day, the lack of a save system must have been maddening. On an emulator, though, it’s no longer an issue. Take advantage of that. And hey, a mediocre game that keeps me up for two nights straight? That’s pretty rare…
Note that the CD32 version doesn’t seem to work well on emulators.
Still hungry? Try this: Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion (2021).
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