The Year of Zelda: The Adventure Begins

25 years ago, the world was introduced to one of the most Legendary and iconic gaming franchises to ever be established: The Legend of Zelda. It has been said, even by creator Shigeru Miyamoto, that they had absolutely no idea that their new adventure game would evolve into the beloved franchise that it is today.

While many people may have never played through a Zelda game,

practically everyone knows the name, and can easily recognize our elfish Hero, Link. As for myself, I remember playing through the Legend of Zelda as a 4 year old boy, loving every moment of it. Zelda is, in essence, responsible for any and all video gaming I have completed over the years, being the title that officially ensnared me into the virtual world of Action/Adventure.

And so, in celebration of the Year of Zelda, I have embarked on a journey to complete all of the Zelda titles from start to finish, in chronological order. Which in essence is the purpose of this posting! I am going to play through each game, leading up to the eminent release of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for Wii this year, which will determinately conclude my own adventure.

As for now, here is my review (and afterthoughts) of the first installment, for NES, aptly titled

The Legend of Zelda

Many players today might consider this game primitive, with basic graphics, and even a simple gameplay. For it's time, however, this game revolutionized many things. It gave us the use of saving your progress, which is INVALUABLE for this type of game, as well as an overworld that you are free to traverse and discover at your own pace. In theory, a person could have gone straight to the hardest portions of the world and start from there. It was a revolutionary concept, and even today many of its inventions are brought out in games as fundamentals.

I've played this game many times before, but this year was the first time in at least 5 years. I happened to own the Gamecube Collector's Edition of Zelda, containing both of the NES installments, as well as the two N64 installments. And so, using my Wii, I played through Zelda 1. Even without the nostalgia, this game was a really fun ride. There's few more satisfying feelings from a game than seeing Link hold aloft another shard of the Triforce, filling his health and playing that little victory tune.

Which brings me to another point, the music! Few games have such iconic tunes as this game. After a few hours, even my wife was walking around the place humming the overworld theme. If anything, the Legend of Zelda provides for us a look back at what made video gaming so popular in the first place. Even after beating the adventure, and putting the evil Ganon in his place, you'll find a second adventure to go through, where all of the dungeons and items have been swapped around, making this round through a brand new challenge!

So here are some noteworthy aspects of the game, which I will most likely mirror throughout all of my reviews:

Most Useful Item - The Super Boomerang.

Being the second dungeon item, you wouldn't think it'd be so far on the list, but there's nothing more valuable than stunning your enemies, and being able to reach rupees and hearts from far away.

Most Annoying Enemy - Wizzrobes.

The Iron Knuckles may be tough, but there is nothing more annoying than a room full of Wizzrobes gliding around shooting beams. AAARGH!!

Worst Dungeon Boss - Manhandla.

Maybe it's due to its common reappearance throughout the series, this stupid monster is fast and powerful. If you're lucky you can kill it with one Bomb, but that's a rarity. Usually you'll leave it with one claw left, and it'll zip around blasting you.

Coolest Puzzle - Whistling for Dungeon 7: The Demon

Without any guidance, it would have taken me ages to figure this one out... This whistle serves as a warp, UNLESS it's used here! Cool stuff.

So the LoZ is a masterpiece. Plain and simple, it's the epitome of what makes people like me tick and tock, the kind of unbridled nerdiness that resonates throughout time, and can't be replaced. It's lovely. If you've never played this game, go buy a wii and download it. Or find the Gameboy Advance copy and play that, or (God forbid) an emulator! Whatever is necessary. It's the Year of Zelda people. Get on board.

If you'd like a deeper look at all of the heroes, enemies, and gameplay, run over to IGN and check out their own tribute to this game, at http://wii.ign.com/articles/115/1150966p1.html.