This game rules. (I played the HD fan remastered version.)

The cutscenes are so ridiculous and fun, every time I ran into a new character I couldn't wait to see what stupid shit they would say. I loved exploring each new area, and the soundtrack has the best crunchy 90's feel to it. The combat leaves much to be desired, most bosses are taken out in like, a single hit with a specific item haha. But honestly I don't care about that, the experience is goofy enough to make up for the gameplay shortcomings. Just play it, you won't regret the 3 hours spent.

Consistently similar, yet ever so slightly different across the board when compared to Faces of Evil. It's definitely the game that feels as if it had a bit more time to be developed for one, lacking the blatant reuse that Faces of Evil demonstrated towards the end, as well as having a throughline that feels a bit more complete and interesting to be led through. The world as a whole feels far more interconnected in this game in particular, with far more instances of moving back and forth between locations while the NPCs unlock things for you, rather than awkwardly disappearing upon interaction. I love the way that the focus in general is more placed in its puzzle solving and exploration rather than the heavier focus on combat in Faces of Evil as well, with the first half of the game throwing so many different objectives you need to keep track of before slowly unravelling them to you, which consequently made each individual puzzle more difficult and interesting to figure out due to how many different possibilities the utility of each item could potentially have. It does have all the same drawbacks and points of intrigue as Faces of Evil, but this just feels a bit more tightly wound and appealing to my own sensibilities, so it has the slight edge for me and results in another breezy time that I could maybe even see myself returning to again to check out its hard mode.

Once again, not nearly as bad as I feel people say it is. I already got the gist of things out of the way when I reviewed its sister game, so I'll spare repeating myself here too much.

The core gameplay and structure is predictably the same as Faces of Evil, with the same controls and mostly the same items, all the control quirks are still present, yadda yadda. This game is a bit more streamlined, as I was able to do most of what the game wanted me to do without needing to really consult a guide whereas with faces evil I was nose deep in that gamefaqs page. The levels themselves are also a bit less solid this time around, with a lot of spots where using a rope to progress is unavoidable. There's also a bit more money grinding in this game, as the levels are designed in a way that requires using ruby-consuming items a lot to make it through. There's no snowball/fireball shenanigans this time around though! Instead theres a flute and a loaf of bread that I never had to use once in my entire run, so that's something.

I think both this game and faces of evil have their share of upsides and downsides from one another to the point where I'd say they are about equal in quality. I'm not really sure why they felt the need to split the game into two sister releases, but they sure did. Maybe they were going to have some sort of cross-compatibility between the two or something during development, idk. Someone has probably done the research to find the answer to that question. Regardless, I didn't find either of these titles to be a really bad time. Definitely rough around some edges, sure, but nowhere near "worst games of all time" level. Not even "worst zelda games" to me either, I'd gladly play more of this over something like the oracle games or phantom hourglass any day. Maybe these "bad games" are pretty cool after all.

This game is like a spiritual successor to Zelda 2 but they forgot to remove the shit game design.

Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon is the infamous Zelda game from the infamous CD-I console, the gameplay follows the 2D side-scrolling format of Zelda 2 while separating each area with a map instead of a full "open world" like in Zelda 2.
This game overall wouldn't be that bad if the level design and controls weren't so poorly made, the controls are stiff and slow and each stage will fuck you up with its confusing layout and enemy placement. The only redeeming elements about this game would be its Zelda-like structure with a basic but effective fetch quest to get new items or upgrades and the art style.
The art style is a personal preference, some people may hate how grotesque it looks but I personally love this cartoonish look and charming little cutscenes, it really makes each character rememberable even though they only appear once each, and the soundtrack is just fine, nothing special but nothing bad either.

I wouldn't recommend the game at all but you can play it for the kek, nobody will stop you.

I played the remastered version by Dopply, which has better controls and an HD touch-up.

In Wand of Gamelon you play as Zelda, which is a really nice change of pace for the Zelda series. While she plays exactly the same as Link in Faces of Evil, I liked the thought of Zelda going on her own adventure.

This game was less grindy and less frustrating than FOE. No more grinding endlessly for snowballs or fireballs, and the enemy spawn was more fair, and not everything came at you all at once. Rupees were abundant in this one too and easier to get, especially in the main town where they're needed the most.

That being said, I think the overall level design in this could be better. In FOE, I kinda knew where to go and what NPCs needed items and never needed a guide. In this game, I needed a guide at many points as the game does not make it clear on exactly where you needed to go.

The level design and environments are as good as you expect. It's just as bad-looking as you think. It's hard to see what ground you can actually stand on.

The cutscenes are... well, we've all seen the memes. But I think knowing the memes behind the game and now seeing the context to them to what's happening in the story make for a better experience haha. The ending is the best part cause it literally makes no sense.

Overall, I enjoyed playing this game more than FOE cause it was a less frustrating experience.

For being the first part of the notoriously infamous trilogy of Zelda games made for the Phillips CDI, you could imagine the surprise I had when I found out that, for all its faults, Link: The Faces of Evil wasn’t all that bad. Yes, it still has MANY issues, even ones that go beyond the hilariously god-awful cutscenes, but not only were many of these issues fixed in the fan-made remaster of the game, but it still managed to be short and entertaining enough to where I ended up not completely hating the experience as a whole. In fact… I may even go as far to say that I actually liked the game a little. Yeah, I ain’t afraid to admit it. But anyways, that was only just the first Nintendo game to show up on the CDI, and in terms of this installment, this could only be seen as one half of a true package, for on the very same day that game was released, we would get another Zelda game right alongside it, and it would be known as Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon.

I was actually somewhat excited to go into this game, because since I did end up enjoying my time with The Faces of Evil, I figured I would have just as good of a time with this installment as well. Hell, even if I didn’t end up liking this game as much, I would at least have the glory of the terrible cutscenes to entertain me at least, so I was looking forward to that as well. With that in mind, you could imagine my absolute disappointment that I felt when I went into The Wand of Gamelon, and I ended up thinking it was… not as enjoyable as the one that came before it. To be fair, it doesn’t do anything that much better or worse than the previous game, and if I played this before The Faces of Evil, I would probably like it a little more, but as it stands, I would consider this to be the worst out of the two games, and not really that enjoyable bad at all. Just sorta… whatever.

The story is one that is a bit of a role-reversal for the series, where King Harkinian plans to help repel Ganon from taking over Gamelon, but he ends up getting captured, so when Link fails to save him from his fate, it is up to Zelda, accompanied by her caretaker, Impa, to defeat Ganon, and save Link and the King, which is about as good of a plot that you can ask for with this game. The graphics are pretty much the exact same as The Faces of Evil, so nothing to comment on there, with the cutscenes looking just as hideous and hilarious as ever, the music is… alright, with there being several memorable tracks to listen to throughout, but not as much as I would be hoping for, and the control and gameplay is pretty much the exact same as well, which can tell you everything you need to know about this game.

The game is an action-adventure game, where you take control of Zelda, go through the many different locales in the land of Gamelon, defeat many different enemies found within the land using either your sword or whatever additional items that you could use to help out, gather plenty of Rupies (no, I refuse to call them rubies), treasures, and additional items that you can use to help you out on your journey to reach your ultimate goal, interact with plenty of different, colorful characters that will either help you out on your journey, or waste your time with whatever nightmare-fueled-nonsense they have to show you, and take on plenty of fearsome creatures that range from being somewhat frustrating to pathetically easy. It is mostly what you have come to expect, especially if you had played The Faces of Evil before this, which could be a good thing depending on who you ask, but for me, it ended up being one of the biggest factors into me not enjoying this title as much.

In many ways, this game is essentially an exact copy of The Faces of Evil, with it having the same mechanics, the same means of progression, the same graphical style for both the main game and the cutscenes, as well as the same enemies, treasures, and bosses that you can find throughout the land. The only real differences between this game and the previous one is that you play as Zelda, and you have a new world to explore full of new characters, which really doesn’t mean anything at the end of the day. To be fair, since this was released right alongside The Faces of Evil, it makes sense as to why this game is pretty much the exact same as it, but at the same time, there could’ve been a little more done to make this stand out from that other title, but that is not the case. It provides all the same positives that I had to mention with the previous game, with no additional layers to it whatsoever, while also keeping all the same issues that that game had as well.

However, I will say, despite my disappointment with this game, I will say that, in terms of quality, the game is pretty much on the same level as The Faces of Evil. It is still a hilariously awful time, especially with the cutscenes and the people you can find throughout the game (even though there are less meme-worthy moments in this game), and in terms of the remaster, it takes care of all of the same issues that plagued the original release, making it much better as a result. At the end of the day, I think your enjoyment of these titles, as well as which one you prefer over the other, will all come down to the content at hand. What set of characters did you like more, what challenges did you like facing more, and of course, what meme-worthy material was the best at being so hilariously god-awful. That is, if you are playing the remasters, because if you are playing the original releases, then you can just throw both of them right into the trash.

Overall, despite a lack of major differences between this and the Faces of Evil, while still carrying all of the same problems as before, The Wand of Gamelon is about on the same level of quality as The Faces of Evil, and even though I consider it to be a disappointment, it will still manage to provide an awful, yet enjoyable experience throughout its short length, and even if you don’t wanna play it again after one sitting, you still have all the wonderfully terrible cutscenes to watch and remember afterwards. I would recommend it for those who both loved and hated The Faces of Evil, as well as those who are a fan of Nintendo’s CDI games in general, because this should provide both all of the hilarity and the awfulness that you would expect from these types of games at the end of the day. And hey, even if I wasn’t as enthralled by this title as the last one, we at least have one more title to go for Zelda on this system. The only downside though is that… this last one is supposedly worse then these………. far worse…….

Game #491

more inviting and less aggressive then faces of evil, which can feel slightly less satisfying to overcome, but i enjoy the world even more. theres a lush and natural quality to gamelon that nicely contrasts the harsh cliffs and towers of korodi. some rly rly choice color palates here, any stage that involves purple is a big favorite. the three main consumable items get a lot more use then faces of evil, which makes me wonder if this game got more time to cook and develop its mechanics compared to its sister. even zelda is a more immediately likable protagonist on the whole! i dont think its hugely better then faces of evil, but the slight differences are generally more to my tastes. cant imagine i wont have a great time with arzette, which im now locked into day one for!

(PC REMASTER REVIEW)

Maybe it's because I've seen 15 years of youtube poops, but with the full context of not canon, terrible animation, terrible voice acting, terrible aesthetics overall, have it removed from the terrible Philips system, and have seen people ripping it apart since youtube's inception, but this wasn't that bad.

The game handholds you to a ludicrous degree, you're given the sword beam very early on, not to mention the game is an hour and a half long. So it's not even asking for a lot of your time.

Although trust me, I get why Nintendo would be horrified seeing this as Philips' version of Zelda, because there's no way you'd ever want this to be the direction your greatest series goes to. It's a cute aside.

(Zelda CD-i Remastered Review)

It's truly remarkable just how much you can improve an infamously-shitty game by giving it much-needed quality of life design improvements and overcoming the lousy CD-i hardware to fix the controls, collision detection, visuals, and performance to make for a game that's uh... still bad, but definitely playable and you can even appreciate some of the better parts of it like the music and the hand-drawn backgrounds, as well as the hilariously-dumb animated cutscenes.