Review: Lil Gator Game captures the best of The Legend of Zelda

at the first blush, Lil Gator game looks like an enlarged and anti-aliased version of A short hike. While the game certainly appears to be heavily influenced by the indie favorite – from its adorable animal characters to its larger park setting – it was also clearly influenced by another series of games: The Legend of Zelda.

The developers of MegaWobble have packed Lil Gator game brimming with Zelda references. The game literally starts with a conversation between two characters about a Legend of Hero game, and one of the first items you get is a t-shirt turned into a glider with a design that looks the same like Link’s paraglider The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. But Lil Gator game isn’t just a transparent ploy to target longtime Zelda fans through references; It’s the Zelda-like I didn’t know I needed. It combines the exploration elements of breath of the wild with a sense of charm and seriousness that reminds me of it The wind watchr and tells an overarching story that is a joyful ode to those of us who grew up playing Zelda games and wanted to be Link.

Lil Gator game follows the story of a little alligator – I named mine Ham – and her older sister. When you start, you see the two of them as kids who decide to make their own version of a Legend of Hero game that they can play outside with two players. Fast forward a few years and the older sister has grown up and gone to college. To Ham’s delight, she returns home for the autumn break, but he is soon saddened to find that she is glued to her computer while working on a group project. Ham then takes it upon himself to create a game so cool that her sister can’t help but want to play again, just like the two did as kids.

The general premise of the game is simple. As a little alligator, you run around looking for friends and fulfilling their wishes as part of your invented game. There are additional features that I’ll let players discover for themselves, but most of the action in the game involves climbing, gliding, and collecting cardboard scraps from enemies’ cut-out props to craft new items and outfits. As you explore the wooded island park, venture up and around waterfalls, meander through playsets, and absorb the fall colors of the yellow, orange, and red trees.

While the gameplay seems to have more impact breath of the wildwhat struck me and what I really love about the game is how it balances the childlike facade of the protagonist’s perspective with a poignant emotional core reminiscent of wind alarm clock.

The Legend of Zelda: The wind alarm clock follows a young Link as he sets out to rescue his kidnapped sister from Ganon. It’s the first Zelda game that made me cry; The clip of Link waving goodbye to his grandma against the big blue sky was permanently etched into my childhood brain. This game, like many Zelda games, has a dark story at its core, but it also features a cartoonish, cel-shaded look and downright whimsical dialogue and world design. Link fights monsters but also encounters eccentric characters, such as a man who dons an all-white fringed jacket and dances day and night, and a group of school children who bully Link but then challenge him to a game of hide-and-seek.

Lil Gator game contains a similar lightness that I miss in modern Zelda games. The game oozes with childish playfulness; Some characters burst into rainbow confetti to make an exit, and the scrawled text lacks proper capitalization or punctuation. You can turn a corner on a hill and see a monkey wearing a tuxedo and colorful armpit bracelets, or complete an entire quest line to turn on the water for the local splash pool.

But just like in wind alarm clock, the childlike nature of the game couples with its deeper emotional story. while you explore Lil Gator game‘s World, you will find that the island is steeped in memories of past adventures; You will occasionally see greyed out versions of you and your sister that make a connection to that past. As you interact with these silhouettes, you’ll see all of your character’s and sister’s past memories – from the two sharing a quiet moment between sheer cliffs, to the couple happily plunging down a hill.

The stakes of Lil Gator game are significantly smaller than those in wind alarm clock; You’re not saving your sister from Ganon, but from the stress of a group project. Regardless, the emotional drive feels just as important. Whenever you complete a quest, the alligator will send a silly selfie to his sister to show her how cool everything is. In their excitement, they often double- and triple-text their sister, only to receive rather muffled replies. The alligator’s genuine love for her sister feels almost sad, but also touching, as it captures exactly what a one-sided relationship can be like when people are at different stages of life.

It’s a beautiful gem of a game that touches on my nostalgia for Zelda but still managed to tell a unique story through the alligator’s and her sister’s relationship. It’s a story about the little alligator’s deeper desire to reconnect with someone in the present, and how games make this possible. So if you are looking for a charming pick-me-up beforehand The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom comes out, don’t ignore Lil Gator game.