Earliest Zelda Memories

[MrMosley]

This thread is to simply name some of the earliest memories you have of the Zelda series. Its not meant to necessarily be which game you played or beat first, but rather the first times you remember encountering anything relative to Zelda.

My very first memory of Zelda was actually with Link's Awakening. I remember loving the game, thinking Link's name was Zelda, and always wanting to play it when I went to my cousin's house since I didn't actually have the game myself. I don't remember specifics about playing the game, just the music of the intro and such sticks out in my mind.

I also remember going to my other cousin's house and seeing Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link. The only thing I really remember about it was that it was a gold cartridge, and I though that was neat. Other than that, I had no clue what game it was, and I honestly can't remember if I played LA before or after I seen Zelda 2 there. I do know that I never made the connection that they were of the same game series.

Another one of my earliest memories came a bit later. I may or may not have played many Zelda games at this point, but I do know I had played and beaten LA by this time and probably also had played OoT as well. I used to subscribe to a gaming magazine called Expert Gamer, which has changed its name since and I'm not sure if it even exists at all now. But in one of the issues I had when I was very young, it had an image of the very end of ALttP, where Link was holding up the Triforce. It was a contest to see who could name what game that came from, and they would win a T-shirt with the Expert Gamer logo on it. I can remember looking at that picture and having absolutely no clue what game it was. I kept thinking Link looked like a football player for some odd reason, or was wearing some multi-colored knight armor. Its odd to be able to remember looking at an image of a game that I am so fond of now and being clueless as to what it was, but I can remember that pretty vividly because I kinda wanted to win that shirt.

The last one I can think of that would constitute as an actual early memory in my book is going to my aunt's house boat on the lake and playing Ocarina of Time on the N64. This aunt of mine was actually the mother of the cousin who had Link's Awakening, where I used to play it as a kid all the time. Anyway, I can remember going there and seeing the game and actually playing it for the first time. I don't remember anything about playing through it, but I know I didn't get too far (I was probably more interested in going out on the lake). The most vivid memory I have of that event was that one of the files on the game he had named "Ganondorf", which I thought was very odd. I also had no clue who Ganondorf was at the time.

[jugglaj91]

My earliest memory is playing the original LoZ for NES. I had no idea what it was. All I remember about this is that if I had full hearts I could shoot a sword beam at enemies which at the time I thought this was AWESOME!!! Mind you this was back in 1999 so it was after the N64 and OOT. I had always played Pokemon on my Gameboy, Mario, or Sonic the Hedgehog. I know I didn't get very far in LoZ, or how far I got to be honest. But it a memory I don't think I will ever forget. Also: I knew the game was named Zelda so like others I though Link's name was Zelda LOL!!

[CZG]

First, I saw a gold cassette in the stores. The only one. With a very intriguing picture on the cover.
It got me interested to say the least. I never saw any commercials, I didn't know anything about this game and I hadn't even heard from Nintendo or Zelda at all.... But I knew I had to get this game...

So I waited several months for my birthday to come...
Having bought the LoZ game (got it from my parents actually), on the way home... I read the manual.
Oh wow, I can save this time (I just played Wonderboy in Mosterland on the Commodore 64 on TAPE, which very often jammed)! Also the map looked amazing and it got me so excited!

I hooked up my new console, skipped Mario for starters and started playing Zelda right away when we got home.
Before I moved Link around, I listened to the overworld theme. Twice. Or maybe even three times.

I was hooked on the game from that point.
When I entered the cave and got the Wooden Sword, I couldn't stop playing...

[GBA_Master]

The farthest back I can remember is getting caught by those stupid guards at the forsaken fortress. WW was my first game.

[Jesper]

I always thought Link's name was Zelda aswell :P
My most rememberable thing from Zelda was when the King (in WW) owned Ganon's *** by touching the Triforce. Epic music, epic cutscene.

[Reyh]

Well, my earliest memories of Legend of Zelda, was the first game in the series, LoZ. I didn't own the game, but when I went over to my cousins they had a crap ton of NES games, LoZ in the gold cartridge was one of them. Now I don't think I played this one, not at that point, but I still remember them battling through the overworld, and a few dungeons.

Now, the first game I can actually remember playing was ALttP, and boy did I play that game. It wasn't until I was older did I actually sit down and try and beat it. I was constantly exploring, finding heart pieces, secret items, etc. I remember how pumped I got whenever I found a new dungeon item, especially the Red and Blue Mails. I probably have more hours in this game, then I do any other game. Except maybe Super Mario World. Maybe.

[Ikana]

I remember playing the OOT for the very first time.I was like four when I first played it.I remember I erased my brothers file and he got so mad at me.

[Icetomeetyou]

I don't really remember actually playing one. But I do remember my friend telling me about Sheik and how he was really a princess in disguise. It made me want to play, but my mom wouldn't let me get any game system. I also had a weird feeling when I heard Saria's Song when I was about 10-11. Like I'd heard it before and for some reason when I heard it I remember somenoe in green.

Yeah I know that sounds stupid and like I'm totally making it up. But I assume you this is 100% ture.

[Tily]

My earliest memory was watching my babysitter play LoZ on my old NES console, so this was WAY back in the day lol. She was always so good and I always kept watching to see how far she would get. The farthest I remember was her getting to the mummies in the dark room or old tree, lol. I don't really remember which but all I knew was the game seemed so cool to me, especially since it was all gold plated!

[LinkandI]

My cousin introduced me to the game (OoT) and I remeber her letting me play, she simply handed me the controller once she got out into hyrule field, I was about 7 and my cousin is 4 years older than me. But what I remeber most was being afraid of the skullchild and not wanting to play if it was night. I learned about the sun song and so then I just wouldn't play until my cousin got it so I could play during the day time :) Now, obviously it doesn't bother me, but when I was that old I was scared. I didn't want to do temples either, I just ran around and killed gold skultulas, did side quests, and got heart containers.

[Tails]

I remember the kokiri forest very well.... VERY well! Seriosly, I was so bad at OoT as a kid I couldn't even get past the first room in the Deku tree >.>. So I would just roam around the Kokiri forest and lost woods for hours on end >.<

I did the same thing with Majora's mask as well. I would start a new game, play through the entire 3 day cycle, and die a the end XD. Over, and Over again! I must have memorized every aspect of clock town by the time I was done.

After that, I kinda gave up on Zelda... and played sonic until I was a young teen... then got into it again :)

[Skull_Kid]

Good ol'times... tons of afternoons trying to beat ALttP without any guides(back in 1993/4), it took me almost a year to finish the game...
My face when I first plugged OoT in my N64...
Oh, and the joy of a "lost" childhood when I saw that ALttP was ported to the GBA, wich brought me back to gaming.
And the Xmas gift that was so important this year, a copy of the SNES ALttP

[Y2K3]

My first memory of Zelda was one of two senarios. They both happened around the same time, so I cannot remember which was first. Either the Zelda Cartoon, which I absolutely loved when I Was young. I don't think I really knew what it was other than this segment in the Super Mario Bros. Super Show. Ther other possibility was play my uncle's Adventure of Link game. I also had no idea what it was other than 'that really hard game that I didn't understand'. Even still, I loved the game, and the music.

[NorthApple]

Heh, when I think back a bunch of OoT and MM memories get in my way- desperately jumping into the moat to avoid stalchilds, Epona leaping over the broken bridge, the warp pool to Zora's Waterfall, chasing the Bombers, I could go on and on all day. But honestly, they're not technically my earliest Zelda memories, I was 6 at the time anyway. So. *pushes them to the side*

I don't know what order these were in, at one point I thought LttP and LA were the same game anyway. No, I remember watching my dad play LttP, and was amazed as he pushed an orange block along out over empty space to find an invisible pathway. I also remember being outside Hyrule Castle, and he actually handed me the controller~! I was so happy, but I remember spending ages trying to get into Hyrule Castle under the archway, but being warped to the darkworld every time, with the brown grass and the bomb-throwing Hinox. I can remember absolutely adoring the shallow water you found in some caves, the way it was covered in ripples and made that 'splish' 'splish' noise when you walked in in~
And I think we had some kind of Game Genie, because we used to play LA on the big tv, though it looked entirely green. I remember the village song, the ballad of the windfish Marin sung, the chainchomp thing you could take for a walk, the boys playing catch, and the screen full of bushes~

The only other Zelda-related thing I remember was helping my mum make an LttP cave-themed birthday cake for my dad, and we made a pathway out of little biscuits, and used gummy turtles and chocolate mice as enemies, and a little plastic chest with a gummy heart inside in the middle~

[Link 2 the past]

First time video game I ever played was LttP. To this day it is still my all time favorite video game.

I only played the NES games a couple of times as a kid over at a friends house, they seemed so primitive compared to LttP.

Only once they were put on the Wii VC did I beat the original game, I still can't beat AoL.

[lonely_moon]

My first memory of LoZ would be of Ocarina of Time. Seeing the sweeping camera angles, Link riding through Hyrule Field at dawn on Epona in the opening cutscene. My brother was playing it, and he chose a file that was already there (it was a second-hand copy), and the first actual gameplay I saw was of Adult Link in the Temple of Time. Naturally, my obsession with the series began there, and hasn't once ceased.

[shadowsoldier]

My first memory was of OoT I had just bought it and I was playing it for what seemed like hours, I can remember the sense of space upon entering hyrule field the first time, the amazing soundtrack, and the most important memory for me was taking in the storyline at full force. Ah some great first impressions.

[Dark Princess]

Well, it would be both The Legend of Zelda and Link's Awakening DX. TLOZ was the first one I had, but I was so young, and I could barely remember any of it.. So the true earliest memory would be of Link's Awakening. I'd always play it and not know what to do. I was five or six when I started going through dungeons and stuff, and I was able to get to the fifth dungeon (I think it was fifth), but then I'd get stuck at that point. I've beaten it a few years ago, though.. :)

[Axle the Beast]

For me that would probably be the first time I played Ocarina of Time. I was considerably younger back than and had never played a Zelda game before. My brother and sister rented OoT and brought it home, and my brother showed me the game. He essentially walked me through it (because I sucked back then) and helped me beat the Deku Tree, go to Hyrule Castle, talk to Zelda, etc.. Sadly I did not get to do Death Mountain. :(

Later on we bought a used copy of A Link to the Past on the SNES, so the bulk of my early Zelda experience comes from that (we didn't get OoT until a while later, around the same time we got Majora's Mask). Still, my earliest memory is of OoT. :)

[LANZZ]

Well, first time i play LoZ is when i finished my high school 2 years ago. My first game is alttp and after beat this game, i fall in love to this series. Until now, i already have all official zelda games (beat 10 of them), cdi games, and a lot of fan games. I also have other zelda stuff like alttp manga, oot manga, valiant comics, moblin's magic spear book, and copy of 'Hero of Time' fan film.

[DesertDweller]

I think I was one of the late-coming Zelda fans. I bought a gamecube used online or something, and it came packaged with The Wind Waker. I remember completely ignoring that game for the real reason I bought the GC: Super Smash Bros Melee.

Several months and no spare cash later, I finally got around to playing WW. I'm so proud of how I played back then; I was so clueless about the most basic puzzles; going through the game was like molasses climbing uphill, and I had wayyy too much fun crawling around and listening to the cute sfx played. I got quite absorbed in the story, but got lost on the gameplay and stopped somewhere around the Tower of the Gods.

Took a year-long hiatus from WW, then remembered I hadn't beaten it and finished the game. I did it all by myself with no help except for the ghost ship, which I admittedly had to look up online after spending hours running through it every time I happened upon it. Of all the Zelda stories, WW holds a special place in my heart. I get chills every time I think of Ganon's final words: "The wind...it is blowing."

I then sold my gamecube a year later or so, and didn't think much of Zelda until my mom bought a random gamecube at a garage sale for no reason whatsoever aside from that it only cost her $10 and came with a controller and memory card.

I got interested in Zelda again and decided to try out the Collector's Edition disc, bought WW again, and the addiction has only gotten worse from there. :D

[Raven]

ALttP at my older brothers friends house, i can't recall too much but I remember the guy playing the flute inside that copse of trees that would dis- appear and the Hyrule Castle. other than that its all a blur.. but now that im older i can play ALttP all by myself lol i joke. i also remember seeing and possibly playing a Zelda LA DX game, but that's even harder to recall... anyway its nice to reflect on stuff like this, i hadn't thought of that stuff for a long time.

[Cooldogs_1]

The year was 1996, I was 6 years old or so. My family and I just got a Super Nintendo with Mario All Stars, and Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. I can barely remember this day, but there exist some memories. I remember opening the box and setting up the SNES. We also got a 2nd controller, this controller had the color A, B, X, Y buttons. The first game I played that day (not the first in my life) was Mario because it came with the SNES.

Anyways, afterwards we played ALTTP. It was the best, because you could free roam and explore. Unlike the Mario games, it gave you an introduction and a story. There was an actual reason for playing the game. For me, I compared it to watching a movie, except you were in it (sort of).

Anyways, without making a long post, I'll end the story here. That was a very long time ago :(! *hates being old*

[#1 LOZ FanGirl]

I was three years old in 1999. Four years before that, my parents bought two N64s. One was blue. The other black. Anyway, my parents had bought OoT in 1999 and my dad started playing it. He could not figure out where to get the Kokiri Sword, so I tried. Yeah, a three year old is bound to mess it up right? Well in my case, no. I found the Kokiri Sword and continued the game. I beat the game in a matter of three days.


When WW was released, my dad and I were the first buyers. We pre-ordered it and went pick it up at the mall when I got a phone call to come and pick it up whenever. I think it was 3 in the morning, but i will always remember that day because it was also the day the war started. I have a lot more stories, but I don't want to bore any of you.

[Mikau94]

My earliest Zelda memory is probably watching my friend play ALttP

[soulreapersheik]

i have loads of memories of OOT. my best one is being in kokiri forest, walking around, talking to the deku tree....whenever i go there it feels like being at home!

[Forsaken]

My very first memory of Zelda was actually with Link's Awakening. I remember loving the game, thinking Link's name was Zelda, and always wanting to play it when I went to my cousin's house since I didn't actually have the game myself

I had to go over my cousin's place to play games as well, I completely understand you :P
I guess it was because I was too young to own a video-game, and so my lucky cousin got his sister's SNES for christmas. Lucky bastard! xD

Anyways, my very first memories of Zelda games were AlttP scenes. I remember feeling sad and awkward for Link having his uncle kidnapped, and giving tips/trying to help my cousing throughout the game.
My very first contact with english! Yes, thanks video-games I can speak english. I remember bombs, the boomerang and other epic items being used. The Underworld!
Hmm...then skipping to OoT, the ocarina epic songs, the graphics, deaths in water temple, Dark Link, Kakariko-Village...
The amazing soundtrack, storyline, unique characters... I can see myself constantly editing this post so I can add more stuff to it, hah.
By the way, nice thread.

[UltramarineZora]

My earliest memory...

This would have to be when I was about 6 or 7, and I watched my dad play OoT. At the time, this was the coolest game ever. I remember when Link walked into the room to defeat Gohma, and when Gohma came down from the ceiling, I hid behind the couch because I hated spiders. Then my dad beat Gohma and the ring of light came from the ceiling to take Link away, and I was so happy.

After that, I thought OoT was the sweetest game ever. I knew I had to try it. That is eventually how I got addicted. :P

[Steve]

My first memory of Zelda is back when I was four years old, and was playing the original Legend of Zelda for the Nintendo Entertainment System, along with games such as Mike Tyson's Punch Out! and Super Mario Bros. 3.

[athenian200]

My earliest memory of Zelda was reading about Ocarina of Time previews in Nintendo Power. So many people seemed excited about a new Zelda game coming out after 5 years, and I wasn't sure why, having never played one before. The things I read created a certain mixture of emotions in me. Partially a sense of epic adventure mingled with the kind of awe you get when reading mythology, and partially a sense of innovation/exploration mixed with a sense of refinement and being established. Finally, finding out that this series started out on the NES and that I'd never heard of it until now (since no games had been released for it in 5 years) really gave me the sense going in that I was uncovering a lost world filled with unknown magic and tales. I decided to buy the game, having gotten such a vivid impression and lacking any competition for my attention due to the dearth of RPGs on the N64.

My next memory is of being so terrified by ReDeads and the concept of invisible enemies that I became paranoid about there being invisible ReDeads in certain corridors and entryways in my home. I ended up being terrified of the Bottom of the Well, and it took me weeks to get frustrated enough to confront my fear, barreling through it and the Shadow Temple. Let's just say that after I beat the game, I wanted to make extra sure that no evil could leak out of the cartridge (since I was worried the Sage's seal wouldn't be enough to hold it). So I purchased a box of Chinese design with a lot of mystic runes on it and a lock, put my OoT cartridge inside, and locked the box. I then put a label on it that said, "Pandora's Box - Do not open!" I stopped imagining ReDeads after that, but I didn't open it again for 5 years. I stopped being afraid of the game around the same time I stopped believing in religion. I ended up getting a used copy of ALttP after that to satisfy my Zelda cravings, due to realizing 3D gaming was a little too intense for me. I pretty much stuck to my SNES after that until the Gamecube came out.

[Tony Fischer]

My first memory of zelda was roaming the kokiri forest when I was 7 on valentines day, my second memory was going to lake hylia having the crap scared out of me by monsters.

[StrangeWig]

My most memorable moment in a Zelda game happened when I first stepped into Hyrule Field in OoT. After talking with Kaepora, I was walking towards Hyrule castle with that awesome music behing my ears when I noticed that the sun was actualy going down!!! o.O
I was like:
http://blog.nbc.com/ross_blog/TV%20omg.jpg

I spent a lot of time just staring at the sunset!! Till I noticed I was surrounded by skullkids :D

[predsfan88]

I remember playing OoT the first few times. I sucked at it when I was little, so my sister who is also a big Zelda fan took over at the hard parts. Now I can pretty much beat OoT with my eyes closed. I've always wanted to time myself and see how fast I could beat the game, but always lost track of timing it. Plus I always like playing it for the story and not rushing through the game.

[Linky]

Hmm, The earliest memory I have of Zelda is me and my friend were at some after school thing and he had his gameboy playing Minish Cap, at the time I had no clue what it was but now that I'ma Zelda Freak I realize what it was and I now have the game