Similar games to Zelda on Gamecube

[kamikazekeeg]

Basically my dad plays ALOT of Zelda in his free time.  I grew up with the original NES with me and him playing it and once he retired and needed time to fill, I got him into the rest of the Zelda games.  He's played pretty much everything other than the Wii and DS ones cause of the motion controls and being on handheld only.

So I was thinking of more games that might be similar to Zelda, nothing too over-complicated or too crazy with the combat that he might be able to handle.  So basically maybe action rpg type stuff, probably nothing involving turn based as I don't think he'd be super interested in that.  I got him Starfox Adventures, but after awhile, he wasn't really liking it.  Open to any ideas for what to look at getting him.

[pacpix]

He may enjoy Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy.  I never finished it, but the time I did spend with it was very enjoyable and a similar gameplay experience to Zelda.

[abe]

The Hobbit, which released back in 2003 for the PC, GBA, GCN, PS2, & Xbox. I've never had any personal experience, but I've heard many times that it shares some similarities with Zelda games. It's certainly good for fans of the book, though the reviews I've seen seem mixed. Some people like it, some really don't. On the bright side, it's not an expensive game to pick up.
Also, has he played the Master Quest version of Ocarina of Time for the GameCube?

[kingrat101]

Not for GC, but the Fable games remind a lot of Zelda, just more humor and a little deeper RPG elements

[argyle]

He may enjoy Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy.  I never finished it, but the time I did spend with it was very enjoyable and a similar gameplay experience to Zelda.

As soon as I saw the topic, this is the first game that came to my mind.  Really fun game - unfortunately my save corrupted when I was over half-way through the game so I never finished. 

[burningdoom]

Here's some that are pretty much just Zelda clones, and are pretty fun (but still, don't expect them to trump the Zelda games, well except Crystalis that is.) A lot of these are also available on Wii Virtual Console (but not all of them, unfortunately).

-3D Dot Heroes (PS3)
-Alundra (PS1)
-Beyond Oasis (Genesis)
-Crystalis (NES & GBC)
-Dark Cloud 1 & 2 (PS2)
-Elemental Gimmick Gear (Dreamcast)
-Evoland (PC) (very short, though)
-Golden Axe: Warrior (Master System)
-Golvellius: Valley of Doom (Master System)
-Landstalker (Genesis)
-Legend of Oasis (Saturn)
-Neutopia 1 & 2 (TurboGrafx-16)

[argyle]

Here's some that are pretty much just Zelda clones, and are pretty fun (but still, don't expect them to trump the Zelda games, well except Crystalis that is.) A lot of these are also available on Wii Virtual Console (but not all of them, unfortunately).

-3D Dot Heroes (PS3)
-Alundra (PS1)
-Beyond Oasis (Genesis)
-Crystalis (NES)
-Dark Cloud 1 & 2 (PS2)
-Elemental Gimmick Gear (Dreamcast)
-Evoland (PC) (very short, though)
-Golden Axe: Warrior (Master System)
-Golvellius: Valley of Doom (Master System)
-Landstalker (Genesis)
-Legend of Oasis (Saturn)
-Neutopia 1 & 2 (TurboGrafx-16)

The Dark Cloud games are definitely not Zelda clones. 

You also left off Okami and Darksiders.  And I'd say Alundra & Okami can stand toe-to-toe with any 2D or 3D Zelda respectively. 

[soera]

Here's some that are pretty much just Zelda clones, and are pretty fun (but still, don't expect them to trump the Zelda games, well except Crystalis that is.) A lot of these are also available on Wii Virtual Console (but not all of them, unfortunately).

-3D Dot Heroes (PS3)
-Alundra (PS1)
-Beyond Oasis (Genesis)
-Crystalis (NES)
-Dark Cloud 1 & 2 (PS2)
-Elemental Gimmick Gear (Dreamcast)
-Evoland (PC) (very short, though)
-Golden Axe: Warrior (Master System)
-Golvellius: Valley of Doom (Master System)
-Landstalker (Genesis)
-Legend of Oasis (Saturn)
-Neutopia 1 & 2 (TurboGrafx-16)

Landstalker is a decent game. Golvellius and Golden Axe warrior Id put both above the original Zelda. 3D dot game heroes "is" Zelda with different graphics. Alundra is a pretty neat title too.

[kamikazekeeg]

Thanks for all the games to check out, some I know of and may work for him, others I'm not sure, like I'd love for him to play Okami a super favorite of mine, but not sure if it's right for him or not.

The Steam sale today though got me thinking that I had made a family account at one point for them to have a game or two and was wondering if there were any like zelda knock offs or similar games for 2D or 3D on that.  Maybe I can find a sale there and it's much easier as a number of the brought up games are on systems I'm just not gonna spend the time setting up or getting all sorts of emulators for lol

[burningdoom]

The Dark Cloud games are definitely not Zelda clones. 

Why not? They're both action-adventure games. They're both set in a fantasy setting. They both have an overworld and dungeons, items collection is a focus.

[kamikazekeeg]

The Dark Cloud games are definitely not Zelda clones. 

Why not? They're both action-adventure games. They're both set in a fantasy setting. They both have an overworld and dungeons, items collection is a focus.

Even the main guy looks familiar to Link lol I think the only real difference was that Dark Cloud had the whole village thing which is what made it sorta stand out.

[argyle]

The Dark Cloud games are definitely not Zelda clones. 

Why not? They're both action-adventure games. They're both set in a fantasy setting. They both have an overworld and dungeons, items collection is a focus.

Your first 2 points, yes, but those are pretty vague & lots of games are action/adventure in a fantasy setting.  Overworld?  Not really - there are towns, but you travel between them via menu - there's no free overworld type exploration where you can walk from one city to the next.  Building the cities, "collecting" people to fill them and taking pictures to create inventions are also major focuses of the game.  Item collection?  No, not in the Zelda sense, not at all - you collect resources to build up your weapons & create buildings in your towns, but it's not like you're finding items to solve puzzles.  And they do both have dungeons, but Dark Cloud has randomly generated dungeons whose emphasis is on combat & grinding for items (and some Spheda one you clear a floor ) - not at all like the pre-designed puzzle heavy dungeons you find in Zelda.

Dark Cloud is a dungeon crawler, but even that doesn't really fully describe it because the way it combines elements of different games comes together as something wholly unique IMO.  Dark Cloud 2 would most likely be in my top-10 games of all time.   

[argyle]

The Dark Cloud games are definitely not Zelda clones. 

Why not? They're both action-adventure games. They're both set in a fantasy setting. They both have an overworld and dungeons, items collection is a focus.

Even the main guy looks familiar to Link lol I think the only real difference was that Dark Cloud had the whole village thing which is what made it sorta stand out.

 



If you say so...    I mean...umm...they're all white males?   

[kamikazekeeg]

I would only say it for Dark Cloud 1.  Dark Cloud 2 I never played and looks to have set itself apart alot more.  But that first one with the green hat, gloves, and boots, just makes me think of Link lol

[abe]

Thanks for all the games to check out, some I know of and may work for him, others I'm not sure, like I'd love for him to play Okami a super favorite of mine, but not sure if it's right for him or not.

The Steam sale today though got me thinking that I had made a family account at one point for them to have a game or two and was wondering if there were any like zelda knock offs or similar games for 2D or 3D on that.  Maybe I can find a sale there and it's much easier as a number of the brought up games are on systems I'm just not gonna spend the time setting up or getting all sorts of emulators for lol

Ittle Dew is a great Zelda clone that's on sale on Steam 50% right now, only $5. I'd recommend it. It plays like LttP, but a bit more puzzle oriented.