Currently Online 
| happydolphin said: What I was trying to say is that pointing the finger to 3D is blaming the usual suspect, when there is much more going on than just 3D. Alot of it going on in the developer's mind, great and wonderful things, but in the end things that made the world lose track of what, at its roots, made Zelda Zelda... |
I totally get what you're saying, and I don't mean to disparage 3D as an inferior game type to 2D. Personally, I like Metroid Prime better than any 2D Metroid because of how phenomenally well that game was done, even though it existed first as a 2D classic. It literally feels exactly how Metroid should from a 1st person perspective in a 3D space, but it's undeniable that the fundamental gameplay must be adapted to by someone used to the original.
In parting, I'll just elaborate a bit more on your example that Zelda remains on a single plane for both game types:
Imagine Ocarina viewed from above with a fixed camera, so that it appears exactly like ALttP. In ALttP, if a Keese is flying toward Link from the right, it's going to hit him if he doesn't move or kill it. It's simple to understand that Link swinging his sword will make contact with it, as they are on the same plane. However, in Ocarina viewed from the same overhead angle, the Keese could in fact be up in the air where Link's sword won't hit it at all. Now consider that it could actually be two Keese, one right on top of the other from the overhead view, when in fact in 3D space one is high in the air while the other is on Link's plane. Again, this is where the depth of a 3D space changes things.
Believe me, I've thought about the transition from 2D to 3D many times, and how x & y-axis gameplay could exist unchanged in a 3D space. That's why 2.5D games, such as Strider 2 on the PS1, can offer a flat plane of gameplay from a multitude of angles thanks to 3D graphics, but once depth is introduced into the equation of gameplay, things change.
There are hybrids though, such as Metroid other M, where enemies and movement exist both on a 2D plane and in and out of the screen, so perhaps these types of games will eventually lead to what you seem to be speaking of.
