The Legend of Zelda

Note: Many thanks to Zlda.com, where I found most of the images and some of the factual information for this article.

There are many, many gamers around the world with found memories of the original Legend of Zelda. Shigeru Miyamoto's 8-bit masterpiece was one of the most popular games released for the NES, and has gone on to spawn several sequels (including the recent N64 tile: Legend of Zelda - Ocarina of Time).

Telling the story of Link, a young elf out to save the world (and princess Zelda) from the evil Gannon, Zelda contained far more depth than most of the games being released at the time. It was technically innovative, generating several effects that were considered "impossible" at the time (interestingly, later NES titles far surpassed Zelda's graphics and complexity. Apparently "impossible" is a relative term).

So what makes the game so special? Several items, actually, not the least of which is its sheer size. Zelda was most definitely not a "finish in five hours" sort of game, and it very fortunately included a battery-backed save feature (which, at least in early versions, had a tendency to lose your game at random intervals). The graphics were, for their time, outstanding, and the game featured a massive variety of weapons, items, and enemies.

Zelda was one of the first games to creatively mix RPG/Adventure elements into what was, essentially, and action title. As Link collected Heart Containers, he was able increase his maximum health, making it possible to move through the progressively more difficult dungeons, battling the boss monsters. Further, the game was littered with secret areas. Items like the lantern and the bomb allowed Link to burn through trees and blow through walls to find all manner of goodies, from underground shops, to advice-dispensing old men, to gambling dens.

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