The Legend of Zelda
Release: July 1987
Sales: 6.5 million worldwide

The History
The Legend of Zelda took place from an overhead three-quarters perspective. You guided Link across an expansive overworld and through the depths of nine separate dungeons. The world of Hyrule was filled with hidden passageways and caves, and Link needed all his skills and abilities to uncover its secrets. Link used an inventory of useful items in his quest for the eight pieces of the Triforce. Before its release, gamers had never seen an action title with such a nonlinear, detailed, and expansive world.

This senile old man considers a sword an additional person

Octoroks and Leevers and Tekties, oh my!

The first Zelda title was revolutionary in more than just gameplay, too. Most previous video games were single-serving affairs, offering no continuity from one gaming session to the next. Those few titles with a lengthy quest used passwords to record a player's progress. Unfortunately, because passwords are prone to human error in their transcribing and reentering, a single misinterpreted character could mean the difference between the Final Dungeon and the Very, Very Beginning. Zelda introduced a battery-based backup to record your progress. When it came time to continue your quest, you simply selected the correct file and continued. No muss, no fuss, no hassle - as long as you held down "reset" while turning "power off."

This secret is the bomb!

The foreboding entrance to Level Six

The packaging was also somewhat unprecedented. Previous NES games were a mass-produced commodity, with every "game pak" the same dull gray. Nintendo wanted gamers to know that Zelda was something special, so the first run of cartridges was a shiny gold color. Even before playing, you knew that Zelda wasn't like other games.

As for the female name that is the title? Miyamoto admits that he took the name from F. Scott Fitzgerald's wife, Zelda. Literary critics, be forewarned: There's no hidden meaning or subtext. Miyamoto simply liked the sound of the name. Link, poor guy, has to settle for occasional second billing in the subtitles.

The Legend of Zelda combined new gameplay paradigms with state-of-the art technology to produce a title far beyond any that had come before. Miyamoto wasn't through dreaming, but the first seed of his "miniature garden" had been planted.