Originally written December 31, 2014

The Legend of Zelda is easily one of the most recognizable franchises of all time. Aside from Mario, it stands as one of Nintendo’s biggest series, and it all dates back to this original game on the NES. While future games in the series evolved it into interesting new directions, this original game laid the groundwork in a great way.

Story:

Just like most older games, The Legend of Zelda has a very simple story. In fact, no real story is presented in the actual game, and so you have to read it in the instruction manual. Basically, you play as Link, who is trying to save Princess Zelda from the evil beast Ganon. To do this, he must navigate the large land of Hyrule, and find the scattered pieces of Triforce across the land so that he can rescue the princess. Pretty basic “save the damsel in distress” type story, but I like it for being basic.

Gameplay:

The Legend of Zelda is an open world game, where players will explore all across Hyrule on their quest. The game really does have a grand scope given how old it is, with Hyrule being pretty large for a game of its time. This really helps you feel like you’re on a big adventure. Link starts his journey with nothing but a sword, but as you explore the world more, you will find other items that you can use, such as a boomerang, bombs, bow and arrow, etc. Some of these items need to be found, while other items can be purchased in caves, using the game’s currency called Rupees. Rupees are gotten by killing enemies, which are scattered all around the land. There’s a nice variety of enemies, and some have to be killed using different strategies. Also, new and harder enemies keep appearing throughout the game, while older enemies become easier to beat once you improve what items you have. Bosses especially usually require specific strategies to beat, and are very hard unless you can figure out what their weakness is.

The game has a pretty simple formula to follow throughout it. Basically, you explore the open world, getting any items you might need. You find a dungeon, which is just one self-contained place where you’ll have to go from room to room, fighting enemies and solving puzzles. Then at the end of the dungeon, you fight a boss, collect the piece of Triforce, and repeat until you beat all nine dungeons. It’s a really basic formula, but it works really well in the game and doesn’t feel repetitive. My big complaint with all of this, however, is the kinds of puzzles they want you to solve are sometimes practically impossible without a walkthrough. No, I don’t like a game having to hold your hand every step of the way, but to even find some dungeons you need to do things like use a bomb to blow up a certain spot on a boulder somewhere on the large map, or burn down a certain tree, or something ridiculous. The game does give you hints at times, but most of the time they’re vague and don’t help. Again, a game doesn’t need to treat you like you’re a child, but I feel like I would have never figured out certain things in here without a walkthrough. Aside from that issue, however, the formula of the game works really well.

Graphics:

First, I’ll talk about the bad stuff with the two issues with the graphics. One, sometimes there’s some slowdown. This is a common thing with NES games, but when there’s too many enemies on screen then the game slows down a bit. It’s not a big problem, but it happens sometimes. Two, I wish there was more color variety in the dungeons. In every dungeon, the color of every room is exactly the same, and while different dungeons are different colors, as a whole I just wish there was a little more variety. This is not at all an issue in the overworld, however. Everything is nice and colorful, and visually pleasing. The enemy designs are also really nice, again with a lot of variety to them. I also never usually had trouble telling what an item was by the look of it, so everything is designed pretty nicely.

Sounds:

Being an NES game, there’s obviously no voice acting, so I’ll judge this on sound effects and music. The sound effects are fine, with nothing sounding ugly to the ears like some NES sound effects sometimes do. As for music, there isn’t a whole lot of variety to it, with almost all of the dungeons having the same music and the overworld having its own music track too. However, the music that the game does have is really good. It’s instantly recognizable and very memorable. In particular, you’ll always remember the jingle that plays every time you’ve solved a puzzle or uncovered a hidden area.

Length/Replay Value:

The length of the game can be pretty broad depending on how you play it. I used a walkthrough and finished the game in about 10 hours, which is still impressive for an NES game. However, if you try to just explore and figure out the game for yourself, you’re probably going to spend a lot more time on it than I did. I found it to be a pretty appropriate length overall though. As for replay value, there isn’t any sidequests or anything like that, but for those that are interested there is a second quest. It’s basically replaying the game, but it’s a lot harder, things are in different spots, etc. This can double your play time if you want it to, but that’s entirely up to you.

All in all, if you’ve never played a Zelda game, then this might not be the easiest game to try out first unless you’re okay with using a walkthrough. Future games in the series are easier to jump into, but this is still a really great adventure game. I recommend it.

4/5