Spoiler Love It or Leave It: The Original Zelda

[Norm]

The game that started it all. It's still fun 26 years after it launched in the US, and there's little to be said about it that needs to be said. On February 21, 1986 The Hyrule Fantasy: Legend of Zelda was released as a launch title for the Famicom Disk System, an attachment for the popular Famicom (released as the NES in other regions) that allowed one to play games written on, and save on, a floppy disk. Over a year later, on August 22, 1987, the game that was a hit in Japan was released in the U.S. as simply The Legend of Zelda. It was the first game released in cartridge format to be able to save without an add-on, thanks to a battery in the cartridge that prevented the RAM from being wiped. It became a hit, and was the first game on the NES to sell over a million copies, beating Super Mario Bros., which launched a year earlier. It came in 1st place on Game Informer's Top 200 Games of All Time. It was rated by Nintendo Power as the best NES game ever.

However, the game does have some flaws. The graphics aren't the best, even when you consider the age, and the audio, even by 8-bit standards, isn't exactly perfect. These are just little nitpicks, but it's a con, and that must be addressed. The gameplay is also confusing, as it drops you in the middle of the overworld, with no hints as to where you are to go or what you are to do. This can be a major turnoff to the game, as it is hard to like the game if you have to light every tree on fire to find the secret entrance to a dungeon. It can also be difficult to figure out the weaknesses of enemies, the Pols Voice in particular. The dungeons can also be confusing with their maze-like design, and this lends to some very annoying situations.

The game had a lot of good things about it, too. While the graphics and music aren't the best, the gameplay sure as heck is. You can get lost in the gameplay, in a good way, which is possibly lent to by the fact that you are just dropped into the overworld. The gameplay is addicting, and the secrets give gamers cause to try and find every secret in existence. In addition, the Second Quest gives gamers a reason to replay it. There are certain bragging rights that gamers are anxious to get, and one of them is the completion of the Second Quest. The Legend of Zelda also does away with annoying passwords that are excessively long.

Overall, I give this game the seal of the Old Man, as in the game is old, but always good, and a definite love it for any fans of the series or retro gamers outright. It's a classic, and has been proven by the innumerable ports the game has received.

So remember that the next time you buy Wii Shop points for no reason at all.

 

[KawiNinjaZX]

I'm almost 30 years old and my earliest memories are playing the original Mario and Zelda games. The original LoZ was amazing when it came out. Every kid I knew played it and being one of the earliest NES games I thought the graphics were good. For anyone who played OoT when it launched, that's how ground breaking the original felt.

 

[HyruleHistory10]

I only Beat LOZ like 5 months ago. My big turnoff all the times b4 when i played it was i didnt know where anything was so i spent hours and got bored. But once i found a map i used it sparingly and i had a blast and loved it. It is not my Fav but comes up as third lol

 

[misskitten]

I only tried it out this past year and for me it's okay, but it's only because it was the start of the series that I respect it. I like it far more than Zelda II (which I absolutely cannot stand) and I did play it through a couple of temples without consulting a single guide, but it's not a game I imagine myself revisiting or even completing the first time around. I love storylines and characters and LoZ is basically just one huge board with various enemies stuck onto it. I was introduced to the series through OoT, so I am partial to the 3d games, however I am playing Link's Awakening on my 3DS and love it, and I find Minish Cap just adorable, so it's not that I can't be a fan of the 2d titles... I just want more than just one open world with no direction whatsoever...

 

[Gannon]

Love it. I think that's it's one of the best Zelda games!

 

[Sinharvest]

My first Zelda game . Not the best to me, but an amazing groundbreaking game none the less. One of the strongest points of that game is the freedom you get, you can do any dungeon in any order as long as you can get to it, also your not really forced to do anything. And, tons of really super hidden omg I need a guide to play this game, stuff.

 

[SavageWizzrobe]

I like the original LoZ, but it's not my favourite. I like the non-linearity of the game (you can do the game in pretty much whatever order you like) and the sheer amount of secrets, even if they are ridiculously obscure. Obviously, as the first game in the series it doesn't really have sidequests (unless you consider finding the hidden heart containers a sidequest) and it has very shallow NPCs and a simplistic plot. However, it was a great start to the series when it came out, so I respect it for that.