The Legend of Zelda

Original title: The Hyrule fantasy: Zeruda no densetsu

Video Game
1986
E

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

Follows the story of a young boy named Link that must save a kidnapped princess from the evil, demonic Ganon, who put a spell on his lair which can only be removed with the 3 pieces of the T... Read allFollows the story of a young boy named Link that must save a kidnapped princess from the evil, demonic Ganon, who put a spell on his lair which can only be removed with the 3 pieces of the Triforce, a golden triangle with mystical powers.Follows the story of a young boy named Link that must save a kidnapped princess from the evil, demonic Ganon, who put a spell on his lair which can only be removed with the 3 pieces of the Triforce, a golden triangle with mystical powers.

Directors
- Shigeru Miyamoto
- Takashi Tezuka
Writers

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.6/10

3.3K

YOUR RATING

Directors
- Shigeru Miyamoto
- Takashi Tezuka
Writers

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
First console game that allowed the player to save their progress.

Goofs
In one of the dungeons, you will receive a hint that the enemy Pols Voice dislikes noise - yet blowing the whistle does nothing to hurt the enemy. The Famicom (the original Japanese version of the NES) had a microphone, and the player could make noise in it to kill these enemies. As the American NES aborted this feature, this was not possible. Nintendo went ahead and translated this hint verbatim, but because of the lack of a microphone in the American NES, it no longer made any sense and was often misinterpreted.

Quotes
Old Man: It's dangerous to go alone! Take this.

Crazy credits
During the end credits, the entire crew except for executive producer Hiroshi Yamauchi is listed under pseudonyms. E.g. producer/director Shigeru Miyamoto is credited as "S. Miyahon", and composer Koji Kondo as "Konchan". See also Trivia.

Alternate versions
The instruction manual for the game states that the Pols Voice, a yellow pointy-eared enemy, "hates loud noise". Although this fact was made irrelevant by the game's release on the North American NES, it was a useful tip in the game's original version for the Famicom Disk System in Japan. On the Famicom, a small microphone was built into the "player 2" controller, and blowing or shouting into this microphone would kill any Pols Voices in the area.

Connections
Featured in The Legend of Zelda NES Commercial (1986)

User reviews24

Review

Featured review

The start of an awesome series

One of the larger landmarks in the history of gaming, Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda broke away from the mold of nearly every other game out at the time, adopting an unprecedented, overhead action/RPG interface which shocked and amazed on its early NES debut. To say it was one of those innovations that ''worked'' and was passable would be an understatement. It was really and truly an amazing first effort by Shigeru Miyamoto, head of Nintendo, which along with Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong, helped propel rapidly not only Miyamoto's own career but the direction and pace gaming was moving at.

Two of the features which set this esteemed Zelda precursor apart from other games out at the time, interestingly, appear even before the game has begun! What's this -- a detailed story in the same vein as the questionable follow up to Super Mario Bros., before the title screen even comes up?? A map, abundant with hints and tips, just vague enough not to rain on the parade of exploration and discovery??? And a Save Battery???? You don't see this kind of stuff every day, folks!

And who could forget the main theme of Legend of Zelda? Quite possibly the most enjoyed and remembered tune in all of video-gaming, the fittingly titled ''main theme'', plays throughout the whole game except in dungeons(where an equally enjoyable tune plays). I don't know of anyone who has heard Zelda's main theme and not gotten in stuck in their head; it's just that enchanting.

If the name of the game and the series which it is in didn't recommend this game to you already, then let me do so now! Legend of Zelda is a fabulous action/RPG that does wonderfully what no other game could at the time and that is create a challenging, exciting hybrid-RPG with enough thought and work put into it to keep its legendary status and appeal afloat for years and years in the ever-developing sea of electronic gaming. Relatively few people still play older games in this day and age, but let me tell you that Legend of Zelda is one of the first choices for anyone who does. Every gamer worth his salt in that era had played and beaten this game -- most of them doing so multiple times. What's not to like?