The "you're Nearly Dead" Sound

[425]

You all know the sound... (except for those of you who are "too good" to ever be down to 1 heart...

The beeping sound that plays when you are down to one or one and a half hearts.

So, do you like this sound, or wish it would go away? In what games is the sound best and worst?

I used to hate the sound, and mute the game whenever it came on, but now, I think it adds to the urgency of the situation, as in "you're surrounded by enemies AND YOU'RE ALMOST DEAD."

I don't like it much in OoT, where it is very annoying, but I like it best in TP, since it is more muted while still adding to the effect.

 

[Elvenknight]

I find it annoying, and turn down my volume, so that I can still hear stuff, but the beeping isn't so annoying. I like Twilight's for that reason.

 

[Fraxinus]

I think it is the worst in the first Legend of Zelda game. I don't know if anyone else noticed this, but the "beeping" actually replaces part of the music. Like, the underworld, for example, has a melody and a harmony playing. Once you are down to your last heart and a half, the harmony of that song is no longer there, but replaced by the "beeping". I think it is mostly because the whole gaming technology was still being worked with, but as a lover of music, it kind of saddened me.

In the newer games, it is--as 425 has said--it's somewhat muted out. It can still get annoying because our hero will also be hunched over gasping if you let him stay stationary for a second or two, but the beeping isn't as much of a beep as much as just a simple tone. It doesn't have to be as loud an obnoxious because in these games, the heart closest to your maximum health that is filled will flash at all times, so my peripheral vision will keep track of its location before it reaches all the way to the left (last heart).

 

[Xinnamin]

The beeping sound really grates on your ears after a while, too high pitched, like it's screaming at you, like Link is constantly screaming in pain (okay, that's maybe a bit exaggerated, but you get the idea). It does its job of reminding you that you're low on health, but it really doesn't need to be so aggravating. It's been a while since I played TP, so I really don't remember what the sound was like in that game. But if it's more muted, that's a lot easier on the ears.

I actually rather wish that instead of an annoying beeping, they should make a new music track with an ambiance of danger that plays instead of the normal background music of the area. No beeping, just different music (idea from pkmn Black/White). I know some people might not like having a different track cover over the normal BGM of the area, but to me, when Link's beeping, the BGM isn't that pleasing to listen to anyways :/

 

[Poste]

i liked it in all games, it actually pumped me up to try harder and beat whatever was killing me

 

[amaterasu]

I hate it in any game. They should have some kind of option to mute it. YA HEAR ME MYAMOTO! STOP. THE. BEEPING.

 

[Azure Sage]

I actually didn't mind. Sure, it bugged me a little, but it was nothing too annoying. I could deal with it. Like Poste, it drove me to try harder to kick the @ss of whatever was kicking my @ss.

 

[amaterasu]

Meh. It really annoyed me when i fell in the poison water in the WoodFall Temple in MM, and it kept beeping, and i was like "OKAY I GET IT! I'M TRYING TO GET OUT!" and of course i ded, used up my fairy, and still died again cuz i couldn't get out. I wasted a whole half a day!

 

[PhantomTriforce]

I used to dislike the sound from early Zelda games too, and would do the same as you: mute the TV. It's gotten better and less annoying, and I don't have any problem with the sound used in Twilight Princess. So I would definitely want them to keep the sound in Skyward Sword and in future Zelda games, but they should make it such that it gives you the warning and isn't annoying. I would also want them to keep the point at which the sound comes the same - which is at (I think) one and a half hearts.

 

[Djinn]

It is a love/hate relationship, I do sometimes ignore the hearts when I am really into the game and just want to defeat a certain enemy. And that little extra noise is very helpful for letting me know that I need to back up a take a potion and heal myself. However there are those occasions where I have no potions and I am just left to go look for hearts. This is when it gets annoying because I have to wonder around for a while looking for some hearts just to make that noise go away. A slight beeping is helpful, but fifteen to twenty minutes of beeping grinds on anyone's nerves.

And I agree it was much much worse in the original LoZ for several reasons. First it was a lot louder in that game than it was in later games. It would overtake the music and all you really heard was this quick heart monitor beeping over and over again. Second, potions were rare and required roaming all across the map to replace, so if you were hurt in a dungeon you really did not want to take the time out to leave and go buy another then come all the way back. Potions were sacred and not to be used unless absolutely necessary. So whenever I got hurt I would tend to stay hurt for a very long time before a monster finally dropped a fairy or a heart, which sometimes a single heart was not enough to stop the beeping. There were no pots to break or statues to bomb to get random hearts, you had to wait for something to drop one. So this meant that you would be hearing the beeping for an easy ten or more minutes each time it began.

I liked how this was handles in other games more. Like in the Mega Man X series, the light on his head would start flashing and he would be breathing heavily when health was low. There are already sound effects for Link's random noises in most of the 3D games. Why not have him do something similar.

I actually rather wish that instead of an annoying beeping, they should make a new music track with an ambiance of danger that plays instead of the normal background music of the area. No beeping, just different music (idea from pkmn Black/White). I know some people might not like having a different track cover over the normal BGM of the area, but to me, when Link's beeping, the BGM isn't that pleasing to listen to anyways :/

I like this idea, something like the combat music in Hyrule field in TP. How the tune would change some when you are on horseback or in a fight. That would be a little better to take than a blaring noise like beeping.

 

[Owner828]

It used to make me want to pull my hair out ( I acctualy did that a little bit once ) but now suddenly its acctually made me more aware to enemys, and suddenly I'm fighting 10x then when I had all my hearts.

 

[navi_the_fairy]

I hate it! Usually by the time I get it, I can't find any hearts for like EVER! That's always my luck lol. TP's is the least annoying, so that's my favorite lol.

 

[Epona]

The only game I've found it to be really annoying in is Zelda II The Adventure of Link. The other games it doesn't bother me so much, but in Zelda II it's just so loud and obnoxious.

 

[Dr3W21]

all of those HOURS on OoT hearing: "BEEP BEEP!! BEEP BEEP!! BEEP BEEP!!" AAHHH!!!!

*ahem* On a more serious note, I think the one on OoT/MM was a bit too obnoxious for me (or anyone else on the planet) to be hearing constantly (because I'm not very good at all). I liked the one from Twilight Princess for it's subtlety, and how you could still notice it without being bothered. Whereas on OoT/MM, it masked over the in-game sounds. On other games, it wasn't nearly as bad, but TP's was the best in my personal opinion.

 

[romani64]

I don't like it much in OoT, where it is very annoying, but I like it best in TP, since it is more muted while still adding to the effect.

i totaly agree with this!!!!!!OoT one is very annoying...and i love te TP one. it sounds cool....