The Legend of Zelda is largely criticized as one of the best gaming franchises today. With it's beautiful music, great game play, challenging yet feasible puzzles and overall charm, just playing 10 minutes of any Zelda game will get you hooked (unless if your playing those other Zelda games that were on the Philips CDi, those are a mockery to the name "Zelda", they weren't even on a Nintendo console. I bet they weren't even approved by Nintendo. But I digress). I know I did when I played Ocarina of Time.....*sighs happily*. It's fair to say that these games have touched our hearts over the years. So what better than to go to the game were it all started? The Legend of Zelda for the NES was one of the first real RPG of it's time, creating the benchmark of other RPG's of running around and doing side quests along the way. So grab that sword in that cave, as we look at the Legend of Zelda.
First off, this game was unique at the time as to it tells you the story briefly at the title screen. Just waiting a little while and then some text appears, telling you the story. So it turns out Gannon, the Prince of Darkness, has stolen the Triforce of Power, and has kidnapped the Princess Zelda. She had the Triforce of Wisdom, but she smashed it into eight pieces and hid them before Gannon could take it. In the instruction booklet, Zelda tells her body guard Impa to look for someone courageous enough to save Hyrule. Impa sees a young boy save an old lady from some henchmen, and she tells him he must go on a quest to save Hyrule. So you, Link, must restore the Triforce and defeat the evil Gannon. Then a list of all the items scroll down, so you can see what you can get....oooh, magic wand. Now, I know what your thinking. "Where is the Triforce of Courage?" Well, it just doesn't exist yet. There were only two Triforces at the time. In the second game onwards, there are three. Happy? Oh, and this is a kid we're talking about. An eight year old boy on a dangerous quest. That's quite a lot to buy, you know. Well, as no one else has complained about it, I'll keep quite about it. Also, has anyone noticed that even though this is called "The Legend of Zelda", you hardly see or play as Zelda herself? You play as Link all the time, and it's called The Legend of Zelda? What's the Legend of Zelda? She gets kidnapped a lot.....what a legend. This really should eb called "The Legend of Link"....hmm....that doesn't sound catchy....but still....
So you begin your game in a green zone with a choice of three paths, so you....oh look a cave. Wonder what's inside it. Then there it is....probably one of the best sayings in video gaming history. An old man appears with fire on both of his sides and he says: "It's dangerous to go along. Take this!" With a sword in front of him, you naturally pick it up. And now your truly are ready for your quest. Thanks old man. Don't you need to go to Angle Land to present Pit with a stronger set of arrows? While he's gone, lets explore the place. So you'll come across enemies such as these red things that throw boulders at you and these pig men known an moblins, I think that's what they're called. So then you go to attack and....oh joy ^^ it shoots lazer beams at your enemy. What an awesome sword *gets hit then waves sword around, nothing happens* at least, when your health is full. Enemies drop all kinds of things such as Rupies, the currency of Hyrule, hearts to restore your life, a clock that stops time and makes you invincible and, if your really really lucky, a bunch of bombs.
After you explored a bit, and I don't know why, but you always seem to get to the first dungeon straight away. You naturally go north, then right, then north. Then your interested with the proposal of a bridge and there you go. I don't know how the designers do it. Once your in, you need to defeat the boss and retrieve a piece of the Triforce. To do that, you need to defeat a hoard of enemies, collect keys to unlock doors, solve some puzzles and collect new items that will aid you in your quest. There is a compass that tells you were the Triforce piece is, and a map, that shows you all the rooms in the dungeon. try to defeat all the enemies in every room you can. You might get rewarded by something a little better than a key. Even the old man makes another appearance if you look correctly, but I have no idea what he's talking about. The first dungeon is a pretty easy one. You fight a dragon and you gain a heart container per boss defeated. But there are heart containers hidden around Hyrule. You might even need to use a bomb to break open a wall to get to it. sadly, there aren't any cracks in this game, so a breakable wall looks the same as a nice and sturdy one. Way to go Nintendo =( Also the bosses aren't that creative. You'll find some of the same bosses in future dungeons as regular enemies. Don't forget the timeless Dragon with Two Heads, Dragon with Three Heads, and of course (and this on is a really good one), the Dragon with Four Heads.....Come on, you call that creative?
After the first dungeon, however, I don't know were to go. I traveled far and wide to look for the second dungeon. I found the third and fifth, but I want to do the second one. Confused about that area were you seem to go round in circles? A nice lady in the corner of Hyrule will tell you how to get through that part....for a price. So after what seems like an hour wandering, and having collected the Magical shield (which protects you against more things, yay ^^), I found it. It's in the Lost Woods if you were wondering. So after the forth dungeon or so, you collect more items an hints to help you along your journey. Such as a raft and a ladder. The old man gives you some cryptic clues that sometimes don't make sense. Why can't he just give me a straight answer? I'm going to stab you now, not that it'll make a....ahhhhh! He's attacking me with fire balls! I hit him and now he's trying to kill me! Nice effect, I gotta admit. Sometimes, you might come across the old man with a new sword. Only when you master the old one can you obtain this one. How do I know it's mastered? Must I return with full hearts? No, that's not it, do I kill a certain amount of enemies? No, that's not it either. I'll come back later. I later realized you need a certain amount of hearts to get a new sword.
I also found out that some things aren't explained properly. You need to buy a candle to make things a hell of a lot easier in dungeons, you don't know were the next dungeon is, and how were you supposed to know that moving a block would bring a stair case? Although the Armos (those statue things) were done very well. You touch them because you think you can move them, until you realize that they are brought to life by your touch. Don't ask me how. Sometimes, thought, there is something under them. Mostly stairs (finding stairs near a dungeon entrance brings you in the dungeons first room....for some reason). but maybe one of them have a item under them....I won't tell you were. Also, has anyone noticed that the music is pretty much the same for the entire game? The dungeon and over world theme are the same throughout the game, apart from Gannons lair. But the odd thing is that it doesn't get annoying. The music is done so well that you enjoy listening to it, even if's it's the same old music. Truly a timeless classic piece of music.
Overall, I give this game a 8.9/10 I love this game, it's game play is remarkable and is truly a classic among classics. Although not perfect, it was one of the first games of it's kind, so for them to have so much of this done right is remarkable. There are a few things to iron out, and the save feature was faulty (thanks to this site, however, that problem is solved), and you spend nearly half the time wandering aimlessly, but that's all part of the charm of an RPG. I didn't think I would like this game, I thought it would be boring and far too hard, but I am so glad I'm wrong. From now on, I'm going to look forward to new Zelda games, despite if it's in 2D or 3D.
Graphics 8 Sound 7 Addictive 10 Depth 9 Story 7 Difficulty 8
The Legend of Zelda Box Description:
Welcome to the Legend of Zelda. Where the only sound you'll hear is your own heart pounding as you race through forests, lakes, mountains and dungeonous mazes in an attempt to restore peace to the land of Hyrule. Along the way you'll be challenged by Tektites, Wizzrobes and an endless array of ruthless creatures who'll stop at nothing to prevent you from finding the lost fragments of the Triforce of Wisdom. But don't despair. With a little luck and a lot of courage, you'll conquer your adversaries, unite the Triforce fragments and unravel the mystery of the Legend of Zelda.
The Legend of Zelda Description: In one of the darkest times in the Kingdom of Hyrule, a young, pointy-eared boy named Link takes on an epic quest to restore the fragmented Triforce of Wisdom and save the Princess Zelda from the clutches of the evil, power-hungry Ganon.The Legend of Zelda for the NES marks the first action-adventure title of the popular Nintendo series. Players must make their way through the various forests, graveyards, plains, and deserts of the Overworld to find the secret entrances of the eight dungeons in an attempt to piece together the broken Triforce. Once all pieces are joined, Link will be able to gain entry to Death Mountain, home of Ganon, and prison of Princess Zelda.The game is drawn in a top-down perspective. Link begins his quest in the Overworld, which features forests, mountains and lakes and is divided into several screens. Link can explore the Overworld freely, though when he enters a screen, he will encounter several enemies. He can attack them with his sword. If link is at full health, he can toss his sword to attack enemies from afar, but when he is hurt, even slightly, he can only fight in melee range. Link's health is represented by hearts; initially he can have a maximum of three hearts, but as he progresses in the game, he will find heart containers that increase his maximum health. The enemies are varied - some attack from up close, some shoot projectiles. When killed, they often leave behind an item - a heart to restore energy, rupees that function as money (and can be used to buy stuff in various shops in the Overworld), or bombs which can be picked up and set down to attack enemies or destroy some walls. When enemies are killed, they stay dead and will not re-appear once the screen is entered again. There are other items to find in the game; some function as weapons, while others are used to solve puzzles. To find the Triforce pieces, Link must explore dungeons. Once he finds an entrance to the dungeon and goes in, he must explore the rooms, fight enemies and collect keys until he finds the boss monster he must defeat. He will then be able to pick up a Triforce piece. Once he does so, however, all the monsters in the Overworld come back to life. If Link dies on his quest, he can continue it; he will go back to his start position in the Overworld, but with the items he managed to collect so far. When Link finishes his quest, the pl;ayer can choose to play the "2nd quest", which is essentially a harder version of the game. The Legend of Zelda is known for several factors that were revolutionary at the time: A full world that could be freely explored, power-ups that would permanently enhance your character's abilities, and a battery back-up save feature that allowed players to retain their progress instead of having to start over. The gameplay balanced out frequent action sequences with discovery, secrets, and exploration.
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