The Legend of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda is the first game in the Legend of Zelda video game series. Although not the first adventure game, it is credited for perfecting the adventure genre.
Gameplay
The goal of The Legend of Zelda is to collect the pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom, defeat Ganon and to rescue Zelda. To obtain the pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom, the player must explore the first eight dungeons in the game then go to the last dungeon to defeat Ganon.
Controls
D Pad: Moves Link around and select your secondary item. Also controls the direction of the boomerang
A:Sword Attack
B:Secondary Item
Start:Brings up the progress screen
Select:Lets you move the cursor on the save select screen and pauses
Save Select
The Legend of Zelda is one of the first if not the very first video game to have a save feature. On the select screen, you can continue your progress, register your name, or eliminate your name. When you register your name, you start a new game and create a name for the file. In elimination mode, you are able to erase one of the files so you are able to start a new game on that file. The numbers below the name of your file represent the number of game overs you had during your quest. The hearts under Life represent the amount of health you currently have in your quest.
Development
The Legend of Zelda and the original Super Mario Bros. were being designed simultaneously by the same development team. They had set out to make the games opposite of one another. Where as Mario would follow a linear pathway, while the Legend of Zelda would have a more open world experience. Miyamoto got the idea of the open world experience from his childhood, where he would go out exploring into the wilderness.[1] Miyamoto was less concerned with Zelda being a game of getting the most points or reaching the end of a linear path. Instead, Miyamoto wanted gamers to relax and enjoy themselves as they made their way through the adventure. It was because of this that some basic gameplay elements, such as communicating with characters and shop owners were included.[2]
The name for Princess Zelda was inspired by Zelda Fitzgerald. Miyamoto stated, "Zelda was the name of the wife of the famous novelist Francis Scott Fitzgerald. She was a famous and beautiful woman from all accounts, and I liked the sound of her name. So I took the liberty of using her name for the very first Zelda title."[3]
On February 21, 1986, the Legend of Zelda released as a launch title for the Famicom Disk System. It was released alongside several other titles including a re-release of Super Mario Bros, along with a number of sports titles.
Story
Plot
- Main article: The Legend of Zelda Story
- This story is taken directly from the western localization of the game's instruction manual...
A long, long time ago the World was in an age of Chaos. In the middle of this chaos, in a little kingdom in the land of Hyrule, a legend was being banded down from generation to generation, the legend of the "Triforce"; golden triangles possessing mystical powers.
One day, an evil army attacked this peaceful little kingdom and stole the Triforce of Power. This army was led by Ganon, the powerful Prince of Darkness who sought to plunge the World into fear and darkness under his rule. Fearing his wicked rule, Princess Zelda, the princess of this kingdom, split up the Triforce of Wisdom into eight fragments and hid them throughout the realm to save the last remaining Triforce from the cluthes of the evil Ganon. At the same time, she commanded her most trustworthy nursemaid, Impa, to secretly escape into the land and go find a man with enough courage to destroy the evil Ganon. Upon hearing this, Ganon grew angry, imprisoned the princess, and sent out a party in search of Impa.
Braving forests and mountains, Impa fled for her life from her pursuers. As she reached the very limit of her energy she found herself surrounded by Ganon's evil henchmen. Cornered! What could she do? ... But wait!
All was not lost. A young lad appeared. He skillfully drove off Ganon's henchmen, and saved Impa from a fate worse than death. His name was Link. During his travels he had come across Impa and Ganon's henchmen. Impa told Link the whole story of the princess Zelda and the evil Ganon. Burning with a sense of justice, Link resolved to save Zelda, but Ganon was a powerful opponent. He held the Triforce of Power. And so, in order to fight off Ganon, Link had to bring the scattered eight fragments of the Triforce of Wisdom together to rebuild the mystical Triangle.
If he couldn't do this, there would be no chance Link could fight his way into Death Mountain where Ganon lived. Can Link really destroy Ganon and save the Princess Zelda? Only your skill can answer that question. Good luck. Use the Triforce wisely.
Timeline Placement
The Legend of Zelda features the same Link as its direct sequel, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. In 1991 when A Link to the Past was release, it was a distant prequel to the first few Zelda titles. Over the next 20 years, the series expanded rapidly with new game and the timeline became a bit more blurry. The Legend of Zelda had a direct timeline placement with the Adventure of Link and A Link to the Past, but very little in relation to the rest of the series.
In December of 2012, Hyrule Historia revealed the complete Legend of Zelda Timeline. It was revealed that there were three outcomes branching from Ocarina of Time. One of the outcomes involved Link failing to defeat Ganondorf and is often times referred to as the Downfall branch of the timeline. After Ocarina of Time, the Downfall branch continues with the Imprisoning War, followed by the events of A Link to the Past, Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages, Link's Awakening, The Legend of Zelda, and Adventure of Link.
Reception
The Legend of Zelda was a huge commercial success, becoming one of the highest selling titles for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The game sold 6.51 million copies.[4].
The Legend of Zelda was a critical success as well, ranking at the #1 spot in the original NES Top 30 listing of Nintendo Power magazine.[5]. Nearly 7 years later, Nintendo Power retired the Top NES list in January of 1995. The Legend of Zelda was given Hall of Fame status, being one of the all-time greatest titles and having been on the charts for a record 76 months.[6]
The Legend of Zelda placed first in Game Informer's "The Top 200 Games of All Time" list. Game Informer Top 200 Games of All Time
Legacy
The Legend of Zelda was paramount in establishing the Action-Adventure genre.[7] Several games in the late 80's and 90's replicated the formula with games even today being referred to as being Zelda-like or Zelda-clones. Some games such as 3D Dot Game Heroes have been cited as being almost exact replicas of the Zelda series.[8]
The original Legend of Zelda started the Legend of Zelda. A series that has featured over 20 games, including the various side stories and multiplayer games, while selling over 60 millions games.[9]
Re-Releases
The Legend of Zelda was one of the most highly acclaimed games of all time and this warranted several re-releases. In November of 2003, the game was re-released as part of the The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition for the Nintendo GameCube. The collectors edition included the original Legend of Zelda, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, Ocarina of Time, and Majora's Mask.
In 2004, the Legend of Zelda was re-released for the GameBoy Advance as part of Classic NES Series. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link was also a part of this series, along with other NES titles including Super Mario Bros, Donkey Kong, Bomberman, Excitebike, and several others.
In 2006, the Legend of Zelda was once again re-released, this time as a virtual console title for the Nintendo Wii. Several other Legend of Zelda titles have since also been released for the virtual console.
The Nintendo 3DS released in 2011 at the price of $249.99 US Dollars. After slow sales numbers early on, Nintendo announced a significant price cut to $169.99. However, early adapters would become part of the Ambassador program, getting 10 free NES games and 10 free GBA games. The NES games released on September 1st, 2011 and it included another release of the Legend of Zelda. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link was also included as part of the Ambassador program.
Controversy
Each of the first nine dungeons is shaped in a specific design, which corresponds to the name of the dungeon. The first labyrinth is referred to as the Eagle, while the fourth dungeon is referred to as the Snake. The third dungeon of the game is referred to as the Manji, and it is in the shape of a left-facing Swastika. The term Manji is actually a Japanese character and it is very common in Japanese culture. Because of this, it slipped into the game without considering the sensitivity of the symbol. The Manji is considered offensive in western countries due to its relationship to Nazism.
All versions of the game include a cross on Link's shield. However, in virtually all pieces of merchandise, Link's shield is shown in a solid color. This is likely due to the sensitivity of religion in western countries. Furthermore, in the Japanese version of the game, the Book of Magic was referred to as the Bible. When the game was released in the West, that was renamed to the Book of Magic, or the Magic Book.
Characters
Here is a listing of all of the characters found within The Legend of Zelda.
Enemies
Here is a listing of all of the enemies found within The Legend of Zelda.
- Overworld
- Dungeons
Bosses
Here is a listing of all of the bosses found within The Legend of Zelda.
Items
Here is a listing of all of the items found within The Legend of Zelda.
- Equipment
- Inventory
- Dungeon
- Miscellaneous
Dungeons
- Main article: The Legend of Zelda Dungeons
Trivia
- The Japanese version of the game is known as The Hyrule Fantasy
- Despite initial runs of the game being in shiny Gold cartridges, the later Gray re-release versions are more rare. However, compared to most NES titles, both versions are fairly common.
Merchandise
- This Delta Apparel Link Kneeling Shirt wasn't release at the time of the original Legend of Zelda, but it contains the original games Logo and Official Artwork.
Screenshots
References
- ↑ Interview:SuperPlay April 23rd 2003
- ↑ Interview:NTSC-UK August 20th 2003
- ↑ Miyamoto Interview by Todd Mowatt
- ↑ The Legend of Zelda Lifetime Sales
- ↑ Nintendo Power Magazine: Issue #1 July / August 1988
- ↑ Nintendo Power Magazine: Issue #68 January 1995
- ↑ Azubu: Games That Were Genre Pioneers
- ↑ Just How Zelda-like is 3D Dot Game Heroes?
- ↑ April 2011: Legend of Zelda Series 62 Million Games Sold