Legend of Zelda (NES)

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JWK1
Posts: 904
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Legend of Zelda (NES)

Postby JWK1 » June 4th, 2010, 9:49 pm

People forget how hugely important to gaming the original Legend of Zelda is.  Today, for every magazine or website (Game Informer) that places it at #1 in their greatest games list, there are two or three that inexplicably place it in the 70s and 80s (Official Nintendo Magazine, IGN readers list). 

What no one can argue, however, is that the game was absolutely huge and influential at the time.  In 1986 and 1987 this blew open the doors to what people percieved a video game to be.  Despite what people may think today about Grand Theft Auto III, THIS is the original go anywhere, do anything, freedom-focused game.  Up to this point, this type of concept had never been tried, at least not to this extent.  Even Nintendo thought the game was a little too risky when the blueprint for Zelda was presented.  They thought that the gamer needed a little more direction on what to do and where to go in a game, and they feared that people would become easily frustrated.  Worse, they feared that gamers would be BORED walking around a huge open land looking for dungeons, heart containers, items, weapons, and pieces of the lost triforce. 

Additionally, extra features would have to be included for this new type of game.  Due to the size, an internal battery would have to be installed to each copy for data saving.  Players would even have to employ a ritual to save that data by holding the reset button when they turned the game off!  Thankfully, Nintendo took a chance on the game, thus altering the history of video games forever.  Upon completion of the project they knew they had something for the ages and they sealed the game in "gold" to entice curious gamers.  It went onto sell millions of copies, influence future RPGs, created a new genre in gaming called Adventure, and "Zelda" and "Link" became household names. 

Truth be told, many of us wouldn't be interested in gaming if it wasn't for the impact of this one game and the series it spawned.  You are Link, lost in the land of Hyrule, looking to save the princess Zelda and the Triforce from the grasps of the evil pig/devil/thing Ganon.  Of course, you don't know any of that; most gamers thought they were playing as Zelda!  Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto has famously cited his childhood love of nature exploration as the inspiration for this game, and it shows.  You traverse a huge, open land of deserts, forests, caves, mountains, dungeons, lakes, and waterfalls with NO DIRECTION. 

If you find the first dungeon first; good for you!  You're going in the correct order!  If you find the fourth dungeon first, without getting any of the necessary weapon upgrades or experience; too bad!  Prepare to die... a lot!  Not only is finding the proper sequence of levels left to chance, there are also pertenant items that are hidden in bushes, rocks, cliffs, caves, or statues that require a precisely placed flame or bomb to acquire.  My next door neighbors, my older brother, and I would get together every day trying to find these items, usually resulting in hour after hour of throwing the candle on random bushes until we found a staircase.  Sometimes it was an important item that we needed to continue our quest.  Sometimes it was money needed to buy items.  Sometimes it was a grumbler asking us to pay for the door repair.  At any rate, everyone felt this game was DIFFERENT. 

But Miyamoto's genius was this exploration concept for the Legend of Zelda.  This was not a platformer that took time and practice to get the reflexes right.  This was a game that took an entire community to talk about TOGETHER in order to compltet.  If Seinfeld is the "water cooler show," then Zelda was the "playground game;" kids at my school would meet together and start conversations off with, "I found the raft!"  This lead to interest from other kids who didn't own the NES and BAM!; instant, no cost marketing for the game and its associated system!  It was a genius concept that Konami would try to emulate for Castlevania II: Simon's Quest.  Other games caught on and followed suit.  Now, you're hard pressed to find an action or adventure game that doesn't require a friend, bradygames strategy guide, or internet walkthrough to reach the end.  But community based games started here. 

It's easy to get caught up in the history of it.  I mean, look at the length of this review already!  But the fact of the matter is, the game is FUN.  Every five years or so I rediscover this game.  We had our SNES hooked up after a couple years of owning it and I saw our then out of style NES sitting in a corner collecting dust.  Next to the system was that golden cartridge and I played it again and loved every minute.  When I was 21, I had been out of the country and away from most technology and entertainment for a full two years.  Upon returning to my parents' house, I found our NES again.  I wondered if Zelda would still be as fun as when I was 7 and started playing.  I played for hours, well into the night.  At 4 a.m. I had to finally call it quits before reaching the final dungeon.  Of course, upon awakening, it was the first thing I did the next day.  After several years of marriage and after finding a cheap, used "NES classics" copy, I bought the GBA version for the peripheral slot on my DS Lite.  And for a few hours I was a kid again, remembering how all that wonder and excitement felt with each successful beam from the Master Sword and angled throw of the silver boomerrang.  It's still enjoyable TODAY.  Reviewers and critics that say love of this game is purely rooted in nostalgia are SO WRONG!  This game will be fun forever.  It will be as incredibly fun, challenging, and epic in 2087 as it was in 1987.

Legend of Zelda  Grade: A+

Greisha1
Posts: 707
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Legend of Zelda (NES)

Postby Greisha1 » June 5th, 2010, 7:48 am

As a kid, not only did I think I was playing as Zelda, I thought the overworld was randomly generated (since every time I rented it, I either put "Greg" or "Zelda").

Needless to say, I was a hopelessly lost 4-year-old when I first played Zelda. But I kept on renting it for some reason!!


Oltobaz1
Posts: 1605
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Legend of Zelda (NES)

Postby Oltobaz1 » June 5th, 2010, 2:01 pm

These two NES reviews are spot on.

snakeboy1
Posts: 1446
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Legend of Zelda (NES)

Postby snakeboy1 » June 6th, 2010, 11:43 am

The original Zelda is still probably my favorite in the series. It's odd to play an action-adventure game nowadays where you actually feel that you are PLAYING the whole time. Now in these types of games, you feel like half the time is spent watching cut-scenes or reading/listening to dialogue. As the reviewer pointed out, in the original LoZ, you are constantly searching for the next dungeon, battling enemies, looking for secrets, etc. Yeah, the game isn't 50 hours long like the newer Zeldas, but whatever it may lack in quantity, it makes up for in quality. You never feel like a passive participant in the game.

I would love to see more games like this where there is no hand-holding, no tutorial, no long-winded story, and very little direction of where to go next. Unfortunately, though, it will never happen since games have gotten too big. Every action-adventure game today has to have a massive world and an "epic" story. I would love to see the next Zelda scale back a little and incorporate some of the no-hand-holding and  no-direction gameplay of the original. Of course it will never happen, but I think it's a nice idea, nonetheless.

JWK1
Posts: 904
Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm

Legend of Zelda (NES)

Postby JWK1 » June 6th, 2010, 4:29 pm

Thanks for reading, everyone.  I'm a new poster on the site, though I've been reading the reviews here for a couple months.  I really liked the guy who did the Super Mario Marathon postings, rating each game.  Think I want to do a couple more reviews and then do a Castlevania series review.  Might be interesting for fans of the franchise.  In fact, I actually bought a PSP just to play Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night (VGC's review of the game sealed the deal).  Zelda is probably second or third on my list of fav franchises.  I wrote this because I'm sick of the game getting no respect when we as "older" gamers (over 28 or so) remember that for two years or so, The Legend of Zelda made the world explode.


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scotland
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Joined: April 7th, 2015, 7:33 pm

Re: Legend of Zelda (NES)

Postby scotland » February 22nd, 2016, 9:48 am

JWK wrote: This was a game that took an entire community to talk about TOGETHER in order to complete.  If Seinfeld is the "water cooler show," then Zelda was the "playground game"


I thought I would bump JWK's reader review on Legend of Zelda on its 30th Birthday on the Famicom. Lots of us have those special games, and I think JWK has this one. Logan Ruckman also has one of his first reviews from back in 2008 http://videogamecritic.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=38790&t=5217. JWK's comment above about this being a 'playground game' might kindle a few memories of you and friends trying to figure out video games, either in Legend of Zelda or other games.

Before it was a gold cartridge with a CR2032 battery inside, the game was originally a Famicom Disk Drive launch title. That let it take advantage of what 8 bit computers had been doing, using magnetic media like floppy disks and tape cassettes to save information without those clunky passwords. Famicom controllers also had microphones (did any other 80s system use microphones?) and that too was incorporated into the original game.

Dave's 2004 NES review gave it an A-, and currently 102 readers have given it an average of A- as well. Actually, there are so many A rated NES games, that an A- grade means Legend of Zelda does not even make the top 25 of the NES games Dave has reviewed. Wow. How about them rupees.

We also have the oddity of the protagonist of "Legend of Zelda" being Link (although you could rename him)

Happy 30th birthday the Legend of Zelda, Hyrule Fantasy.


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