#A link between worlds zelda age skin#
#A link between worlds zelda age full#

I didn’t have entry to the hollowed walls, nor was I strong enough to pull the encrusted sword from its slab. I wasn’t prepared for my brother to leave home for culinary school a few years later, but it seemed to happen as fast as the screen turning white for that moment before Link was all grown up, Master Sword in hand, hightailing it out of the Temple of Time.

I was interested in playing games and sports, hanging out with friends and just being a kid. I would like to say that I related Link’s miraculous transition from childhood to adulthood to real life, but I was too young, I didn’t quite understand what it meant to grow up. Seventeen years later and I still recall the look on his face when he caught a sixteen pound fish, when he first held the Goron sword (and broke it just minutes later), when he first entered the Temple of Time and instantly became an adult. Despite not playing through the dungeons myself, finding the hidden treasures or eventually saving Princess Zelda from Ganondorf, I knew that I would remember those watchful, wide-awake nights for the rest of my life. At seven, I was overjoyed just to be spending time with my cool older brother. The other thing I remember? The times when I wanted to play so badly that Matt would plug in our second controller, a green to his gray, and I pretended to control Link’s companion, Navi. In the pursuit of perfection, spending hours searching for the brawniest fish was worth the sidetrack. A record setting nab upgraded the silver scale to gold, and that allowed Link to dive under water for longer periods of time. The strategy guide maintained that a sizable catch was necessary to secure all of the game’s heart pieces. The shop owner awarded our hero a fair amount of rupees for a loach, a fifty rupee award, prompting a look at the strategy guide for further insight. After dozens of attempts, his technique improved. Of course, Matt’s first few catches were merely a few pounds, and it took numerous trips outside the shop to find more rupees before making any real progress. I think my anticipation built from the challenge of catching a 10 pounder for a heart piece or the seemingly impossible 15 pound catch for the prestigious Golden Scale. I was fascinated by the peaceful diversion. The shadow of tiny fish lingered about the bait, and he occasional swiveled the bob by pressing B to lure them in. Instead of slashing Link’s sword or outstretching his shield for cover from Hyrule’s nighttime foes, the casual reel of the line swung over child Link’s shoulder, proceeding to bob slightly below the surface. I remember the tranquil music and the ambiance of the enclosed area. Luckily, he had just acquired a significant sum of rupees and could afford the 20 rupee admission to rent a fishing rod from the shop owner. I distinctly remember one night when Matt swam across Lake Hylia, amidst the howling that signaled darkness, to the wooden door leading to the fishing pond. Perhaps more unusual is that my earliest memories with the game franchise that shaped my young videogame life revolved around some of the lesser moments within the seminal title. The old wooden box television in my parents’ basement served as a stand of its own and despite a couch less than ten feet from its screen next to the unfinished stairs, we always sat on the floor, propped on pillows to avoid the cement floor, leaning into the pixelated screen, mesmerized in its glow.

#A link between worlds zelda age skin#

His ruddy skin tone makes it seem as if he just returned from a relaxing beach vacation - year ’round. I am somewhat pale, easily burned, never tanned.

My older brother Matt played while I sat next to him in pajamas and watched.

Oddly enough with that distinction, those late nights weren’t because I was personally exploring Hyrule. I was seven when what’s arguably the greatest game of all time graced the Nintendo 64. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time caused me to stay up well past my bedtime.

#A link between worlds zelda age full#

Here’s the author’s take on a full lifetime with the long-running Nintendo series.