The Legend of Zelda (Video Game Review)

Video Game Review
The Legend of Zelda
Nintendo Entertainment System
1987
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo

While most think that Grand Theft Auto created the sandbox style of gaming, a strong argument could be made for The Legend of Zelda inventing the genre. Shigeru Miyamoto’s pet project about a boy exploring a world to get all the pieces of the Triforce and save the princess was one of the most innovative titles for its time. Even years after its release it’s still interesting and feels fresh. Perhaps Nintendo had no idea what they were about to unleash on North America in 1987 but it definitely changed how people looked at the way games can be played. It also helped that it was really good.

The story begins with Link receiving a sword. With that, he begins his adventure to find all eight pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom and save the princess from the evil Ganon. Ganon has cast an evil cloud over Hyrule and is able to maintain a strong empire of evil due to his possession of the Triforce of Power. Each piece of the Triforce of Wisdom is hidden in various dungeons throughout the kingdom and Link needs to go to each one and defeat the boss monster inside to get the piece. Once all eight pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom are found, Link can set off to fight Ganon and restore peace to Hyrule.

The gameplay is really simple. Link moves around via the d-pad. The A-button swings Link’s sword around and the B-button uses the equipped item. The start button pulls up the inventory and map screen. For a game that involves a lot of gameplay options, the game is incredibly easy to control.

Link starts off with a life bar of three hearts. Getting hit by an enemy will cause his life to decline. Once Link’s life is all gone, he dies and the game is over. Defeating enemies causes items to drop including rupees (the game’s currency which can be used to buy items) and recovery hearts. There are a couple of ways to increase Link’s health bar. The easiest way is defeat the boss of a dungeon. Not only do you get a piece of Triforce for defeating the monster but you get a heart piece that adds to your total number of health bar units. Another way is through exploration and uncovering secrets around the overworld.

Even though the NES had its limitations, the game looks really good. It’s also very large as Link’s Hyrule feels as big as a large world. The game looks cleaner than most games of the NES era. The game also has some of the best sound of the 8-bit years as well. The overworld music is probably one of the most iconic themes in all of gaming. The sound effects also fit the game well. The sounds the sword makes, while not realistic, sound very satisfying.

The game is a lot of fun. Moving from screen to screen defeating enemies as you search for the next dungeon is a blast. In fact, even if you spend a half hour playing the game searching for secrets in the overworld without stepping foot in a dungeon, you don’t feel like you’ve wasted your time. The game doesn’t force you to proceed in exploring the dungeons in a preset order. You navigate Link around a map and decide what Link needs to do next. You could do dungeons out of order if you want but some dungeons are harder or inaccessible without getting special items which can only be found in some of the lower-level dungeons.

One problem though is that some dungeons are next to impossible to find if you don’t use the map included with the original game. Some dungeons are hidden; which means that unless you know exactly where they are, you’re forced to use bombs and other items to see if you can find the secret entrance. Given the large size of Hyrule, that can become a daunting task. One thing about the game that is both good and bad is that there are many secrets to be found. Secret entrances can be hiding in mountainsides or underneath bushes or rocks, or other places. It’s fun to explore but, when it feels like you’ve tried blowing a hole in what feels like the hundredth mountain, the game loses its flavour. It feels at times that if you don’t have prior knowledge on where to find things or how to do specific tasks in the game, you feel completely lost. You shouldn’t need an instruction manual or a hint guide to help you complete the game.

The game though is so good that this is only a minor gripe. The great thing about the game is the experience itself. Exploring the dungeons is fun and the battles can be quite epic at times. The game has solid action-RPG mechanics. For those who finish the game and crave more, a second adventure is built into the title which offers more difficult gameplay and the dungeons have been moved to different locations. The length is impressive and feels bigger than what is expected from a NES cart. It gives modern 3D games a run for its money when it comes to length and variety.

The Legend of Zelda is near-perfect. Nintendo’s first entry for one of the most popular game franchises of all time was a fantastic start. It has its issues (like the fact that some hidden secrets are too hard to find unless you know where to find them in advance) but besides those minor inconveniences, the game plays and feels great. Even though the game has been out for years and is on outdated (some would say prehistoric) hardware, it is still comparable to some of the more sophisticated action-RPGs available on modern-day systems.

☆☆☆☆