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Which game is more difficult: "The Legend of Zelda" or "Metroid"?
But I don't mean the difficulty of the opponents and of the action at all. (I play it on an emulator, so difficult enemies should be no problem because of the save function.) I'm referring to the logic/thinking part. Both games consist of a complex world where you can't simply go straight to the end. You have to explore the world and solve secrets etc.
So, what do you think: If the action part itself is not taken into consideration, which game is more difficult? (If you haven't played them yet, of course.)

i would think Zelda, its usually pretty hard to find the heart containers, and hidden walls to blow up, and in Metroid it is hard to find your way through everything, but i would say Zelda.

I'd have to say Metroid is the more difficult of the two in those regards. In respects to the logic/thinking on Zelda, you pretty much only have those four walls to worry about in dungeons. As long as you can keep collecting bombs, you know where you can bomb to find things. That makes it easier to think about where you're going/what you need to do to find things. In Metroid, it seems like you have to end up bombing in several different spots (bottom of walls, top of walls, ceilings, floors) just to find different items and new areas to beef your character up. Mind you, there's no map on Metroid so it's VERY easy to get lost if you haven't played it in awhile. Hell, I get lost if I HAVE played it recently if that gives you any idea of the complexity in level design.

I like both of these games, but when it comes to the thinking aspect Metroid keeps me on my toes. Zelda I just pretty much go and don't worry about it because it's not as expansive of a game... easier to find my way through it. Last time I played Zelda I went through the entire thing without dying since I don't have a live-battery in my cart. Good topic!

well how do you know where to bomb in Zelda? i can see your point in Metroid, it is VERY easy to get lost. so i think you may be right that Metroid may be more difficult in that sense. occasionally in a Zelda game it gets to be a little confusing though.

I'm not saying exact locations... like you can see them or anything. But when you play, you do know that there are only the four walls to bomb in each room, and that's only if there isn't a door on those walls. It really narrows it down when you only have a selected number of walls to test per room, and it's always in the center of each wall that you need to test.

what about if it is not in a dungeon though?

Well, there are hints and clues you can get from various people throughout the game... you don't get that luxury in Metroid. Maybe you find Zelda more tough in terms of thinking, that's fine... no need to get questionable when someone finds Metroid more difficult

Yeah the dungeons in Zelda are pretty easy to find your way around. But it's finding the dungeons in the fast place which is the problem like andrewg said. Some of the later dungeons are only found by bombing a random wall or burning a random bush. It's not like any clues are given to the location either. When I played the second quest I struggled to find any dungeons after the forth. It was a case of bombing everything. A real pain when you can only carry something like 8 bombs at a time.

In regards to the original question, I haven't finished Metroid so can't really give a fair comparison, but I know it's also very easy to get stuck in that game too.



I suppose if you can figure out what that crazy old man is saying there are some clues, but he might as well have been talking in jibberish for all I could understand.

Guess what. I have never played the first Zelda.

wow thats weird, you should, great game. to find 2 heart containers you must burn random bushes. the clues dont really tell you much. "look behind the waterfall" or something like that. true that Metroid gives you no clues, so now i am undecided which is harder. now i am trying to think back to the first time i beat both of them.

I'd say that waterfall one is one of the more useful clues. It's when he says stuff like "East most pennisula is the secret" or "10th enemy has the bomb" that I start to think he has maybe spent too much time in his cave.

Don't worry Andrew, I'm kinda back-and-forth on it now myself. For one thing, which has already been mentioned is that not all clues are helpful, and some are not even present in the Zelda game. For example, the bush that goes to dungeon 8 I think it was... or 7... regardless, it's a bush that blocks a path. I don't think there are any clues that lead to that, it's just experimental I believe. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Also, some of the clues are tough to decipher. There's the one that says go Up, Up, Up, Up, blah blah blah... I remember it took me a long time to figure out how to get to that dungeon when I originally played it, because I didn't know where the clue pertained to.

Ha! It's funny when you think about it. Both of these games make you think in different ways I suppose. I think Zelda has the more "brain teasing" quality too it, and Metroid is more of "you'll find you're way eventually." I think the most thought that you have to put into Metroid is places to use the Ice Beam to get to places... like I said, now I'm torn This has already become one of my favorite topics on the board.

@OGTL - Dude, play the game, even if via emu. It's a solid game, and, well... it's the original! It's pretty fun, but the worst part is saving up a bit of rupees to get a couple of items. I found that I like to have some of the more expensive items early on, but that requires you to do some fighting over and over and over. If you just go through it without doing that though, you should get plenty of rupees to get what you need at the appropriate times. Play it and have fun!

I'd say Metroid just because I find it to be much more complicated than Zelda.

i don't see why everyone gets so confused over that one. the east most penninsula in that dungeon is where the triforce piece is. some people say it's not a penninsula, but the room with the triforce piece is surrounded by nothing on 3 sides.... therefore making it a "penninsula"


that's how i've always thought of it anyways. some people say it's the secret place you get to by the raft..... but that's an island not a penninsula

a game i think gets confusing is Shadowgate though.

ithe room with the triforce piece is surrounded by nothing on 3 sides.... therefore making it a "penninsula"


that's how i've always thought of it anyways. some people say it's the secret place you get to by the raft..... but that's an island not a penninsula

i get your last part of your post, but a peninsula is surrounded by water in 3 different directions not nothing.

ithe room with the triforce piece is surrounded by nothing on 3 sides.... therefore making it a "penninsula"


that's how i've always thought of it anyways. some people say it's the secret place you get to by the raft..... but that's an island not a penninsula

i get your last part of your post, but a peninsula is surrounded by water in 3 different directions not nothing.

yeah i know, and that's why it's a CLUE, or a RIDDLE

Because its solution conflicts with the words in the hint? Now that's just crazy! Neither the place with the triforce nor the island with the heart are peninsulas.

The screen at the top right with the 100 rupee 'secret to everybody', however is a peninsula. Well, sort of. The map ends at the top. But it's not unreasonable to imagine water beyond that screen. I have a vivid imagination.

Either that, or the translation was bad. Which is likely. Very likely.

I'd have to say Metroid. That's not to say Zelda is ridiculously easy though.

Have to go with Metroid on this one. I still to this day cannot finish the original Metroid. Theres no map so its ridiculolsly easy to get lost in it.

@Roth:
If you play it with an emulator, it's pretty easy to get rupees: Just save before you play the "Let's play money making game" game.


Isn't it funny? With the sentence "Eastmost penninsula is the secret" the old man obviously tells you three different things in one sentence: Where the dungeon is, that there is a secret island and where to get 100 rupees.

Metroid is more difficult.
In Zelda you can wander and eventually find a dungeon, which just happens to be labeled "Level 1" or something.
As far as knowing which wall to bomb I think that 'tapping' it with your sword works to tell you a simple, yes/no, if it's bombable.

That doesn't work in the original does it? I know it does in the later games but not Legend of Zelda.

That's right. My mistake.