The intro of the game has her in a baseball cap so it can be "gender androgynous" until you choose what gender you wish to play as, so canonically Girl Link is a lesbian.
So these games were released for the Satellaview, a very unique Super Famicom peripheral that I never heard of until last night. It was a team up with a company named St.GIGA, an extremely strange radio station. which was able to download games via a satellite connection during certain times of the day.
The idea was that these games would be "broadcast" similar to a TV show. So Ancient Stone Tablets was only able to be played from like 4PM to 7PM because that's when the satellite link would be strong enough to send Girl Link to your television screens. It also allows a leaderboard system, so some games would be able to handle tournament play and, in some cases, live voice acting?! Even Ancient Stone Tablets had a points system where you would win prizes if you were the global leader in rupees and whatnot.
The plot of the game is it's a direct sequel to Link to the Past but also an isekai. You play as a young hero (boy or girl) who is wisked away to Hyrule to help Sahasrahla's failbrother Aginah recover the stone tablets to defeat Ganon, or whatever.
The game itself is just Link to the Past. Same sprites, same map (with far less difficult dungeons), same deal. The big difference is two things:
- The game is split up into four parts, each with a one hour time limit.
- There is a cyron on the bottom where Aginah gives you updates and hints Otacon style.
So over the hour certain events or abilities will be granted to you. For instance, at one point it starts raining, which means bombs don't work and Zoras pop out everywhere to attack. Or you'll get unlimited arrows, or the ability to use Bombas or things like that.
What's also cool is because of the time limit, certain events are triggered not by your progress but by the minute. For example, in the game at one point the cyron goes off saying Zelda needs help in the glade below the Earth Temple. You go, defeat the octorocks, and then take Zelda back to the castle. Then you go back to whatever the hell it was you were doing. It's a cool premise, the idea of broadcast gaming.
I'm having trouble getting the save state to carry over from day one to day two so I only scratched the surface here but this is such an interesting idea. It definitely is just Link to the Past: Remix Edition but once I figure out how to get day 2 running I am all in.
