(Originally published to Glitchwave on 11/8/2021)
[Image from igdb.com]
The Legend of Zelda
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre(s): Action-Adventure
Platforms: NES
Release Date: February 21, 1986
In essence, The Legend of Zelda is the archetypal fantasy story in video game form. All of the elements from the oldest of fantasy tales are present in Zelda, such as the hero’s quest, a damsel in distress, a wicked villain from some nether realm, magical aid, swords, shields, etc. The makeup of Zelda should be familiar to anyone with even the slightest knowledge of the fantasy genre, regardless of what medium. The key difference is the endearing source of inspiration that separates The Legend of Zelda from its fantasy sources. Shigeru Miyamoto has claimed that the prime inspiration to create The Legend of Zelda was to capture the wondrous sense of adventure he would get galavanting around the woods near his house as a child. I wouldn’t know this feeling because I spent my childhood playing video games (just kidding), but I can use my imagination. It’s the sensation that the world is vast and life has no clear objective. It’s the sense of freedom and appreciation for the world's beauty that one only has time to explore when they are young. This is the core of The Legend of Zelda, with the fantasy makeup and its relatively discernable fantasy quirks as secondary aspects. Old fantasy tropes are most likely what Miyamoto conjured up when he was playing in the woods, and this elevated his experience and sense of excitement.
Nintendo committed to this sense of getting lost in the wonderment of nature by making The Legend of Zelda free-flowing by design. The game begins with a young boy in a green tunic brandishing a small shield in what appears to be a forest setting (or at least from what I can tell from the 8-bit graphics) with no context. People somewhat familiar with the game know to enter the cave on the beginning screen and talk to the old man to receive the sword, but this isn’t clear. I’d imagine plenty of kids in 1986 venturing off without ever entering the cave, wondering why they are rendered defenseless against all of the enemies. There is absolutely no facilitation when it comes to directing the player through The Legend of Zelda, and that’s the underlying magic of it. Most of the entire map of the game can be explored as soon as the player starts it. The world map is designed like a grid in that each part of it occupies the same rectangular space no matter where the player is. There is also a loading sequence whenever the player enters another space on the grid, a minor foible common in the NES era. With this foible in mind, I’m thoroughly impressed that the developers could render this spacious, non-linear world on an early NES game, so the minute hiccup of loading through each screen is understandable. The lack of concrete direction intertwined with the vastness of the game’s world expertly conveys the feeling of getting lost in a fantasy setting. The world of Zelda consists of marshy plains, craggy mountain paths, deep blue lakes, etc., and is something to be in awe of. Sure, one has to use their imagination a bit due to the 8-bit graphics, but the scope of the world presented here gives it that spectacle. The Legend of Zelda’s world design was something to marvel at.
One could argue that the lack of guidance or assistance on the game’s part gives the game a sense of aimlessness, but that isn’t true. It also doesn’t have to come with negative connotations. Little direction gives the player the incentive to dig through every nook and cranny in Hyrule. There is a secret seemingly in every square inch of the world map. The player can burn bushes with the candle, blow up a wall with a bomb, play the flute in a designated area, etc. to unveil the world’s secrets. It’s always incredibly satisfying to discover something new in this game. The secrets also come with a plethora of rewards. Uncovering these hidden areas will reward the player with extra rupees, shops with special items, a gambling mini-game that can earn the player tons of rupees (or drain them), etc. The most valuable items the player has to search for are the heart containers which increase Link’s maximum health. Heart containers are earned through beating the game’s bosses, but this won’t be enough to unlock the hidden sword upgrades in the recesses of the overworld. This gives the player all the more incentive to scrounge around Hyrule to get the most out of it.
This is when I have to play devil’s advocate. While I greatly appreciate the non-linear direction and lack of stringent progression, the game verges into being cryptic all too often. The secrets are located in very specific places on the map, and it would be quite surprising if anyone found these secrets on their own without using a guide. This was even more concerning when this game initially came out due to the lack of resources available to aid the player. I’m convinced the guides in Nintendo Power were created because of The Legend of Zelda. Using a guide diminishes that sense of gratification with exploring, but many of these secrets are much too difficult to find. Most items are perks rewarded with exploration, but some items like the bait are found in secret shops. Finding these secrets wouldn’t be too hassle if the player’s bomb inventory was infinite. As it stands, the player only has access to eight bombs, and this number is only increased by four near the end of the game. Attempting to uncover a wall with a secret will most likely result in having to pay gobs of money refilling bombs. The game even has the nerve to fine the player a sum of rupees for destroying a wall which is cruel and unusual. This also extends to navigating through the dungeons as progression is often furthered through placing a bomb in the center of a wall. This isn’t nearly as hard to pinpoint due to the enclosed spaces, but I often had to exit the dungeon prematurely to restock on bombs. While we’re on the subject, another unfair aspect of the game is being revived with only three hearts. At the beginning of the game, this isn’t much of an issue because the player might not have more than three to five heart containers, but this becomes an issue as the game progresses. The enemies will most likely obliterate the player soon after being revived, and heart pickups aren’t common enough to be relied on. This makes venturing out to buy potions and or locating a fairy fountain to replenish one’s health after dying in a dungeon just as much of a hassle as restocking on bombs.
Claiming that The Legend of Zelda is a directionless excursion wouldn’t be telling the whole truth. There is still one main objective in this game, and it is presented to the player even before the first screen. An evil beast named Ganon has taken a mystical, powerful artifact known as the Triforce of Power. Princess Zelda has scattered the other part of the Triforce, the Triforce of Wisdom, into eight pieces and has scattered them all over Hyrule away from Ganon’s keep. The main objective is to find all eight pieces and defeat Ganon to regain the stolen Triforce of Power from him. These eight pieces of the Triforce are kept in eight dungeons, colossal architectures found in eight corners of the Hyrule overworld. Inside each dungeon is a maze of enemies in close corners, hidden switches and passageways, and a foreboding music track that accompanies the player’s trek through each dungeon. While the dungeons may all have the same core objectives, they are all designed differently, making each one enjoyable to traverse. Each of them offers different enemies, different challenges, different routes, etc., providing variety for the player and compensating for the graphical restrictions. My only complaint with the dungeons is that there is a specific order they have to be completed. Each dungeon is numbered, and each subsequent dungeon is more difficult than the next (mostly). The problem here stems from the game’s non-linear world design. The first dungeon is a little more conspicuously located, but it’s common for players to accidentally stumble into a number of the dungeons unknowingly. This makes me wish that the player could complete the dungeons in any order they wanted, as I feel it would be more appropriate for the game’s overall direction. Because the dungeons have to be completed in a certain order (made so by the progression of items), it negates the core design of Zelda’s world.
Another disappointing aspect of the dungeons is the bosses. The range of enemy types in The Legend of Zelda is incredibly diverse and makes up the foundation of Zelda’s character just as much as the three main players. Their pack-like nature also adds challenge to the game. The bosses, on the other hand, are indicative of how early this game was made in the NES library. Boss battles were still in the primitive stages at this point, so many of them were either too simple to defeat or were used continually to pad the game (take the slew of Bowser encounters from Super Mario Bros., for example). The Legend of Zelda is guilty of both of these. Aquamentus is an exciting yet simple boss as an introduction, but after this, there are so many bosses that either die with one precise hit or end up being a gimmick. The only boss that offered a substantial challenge was Gleeok, the only foe that made me feel inclined to utilize the maximum health sword blaster move. Whether the boss is laughably simple or the Gleeok wild card, there are numerous encounters. Some even repeat their role as guardians of a Triforce piece and are just as underwhelming as they were the first time. Even the fight against Ganon, the mighty king of darkness, combines the gimmicky, simple aspects of the previous bosses. The final dungeon is a royal pain in the ass, so I guess I can be relieved that Ganon is relatively stress-free, but it feels so unsatisfying all the same.
I always thought that my relatively positive opinion of the first Legend of Zelda was the same I had for Super Mario Bros. Like the first NES venture with the Italian plumber, its unparalleled influence on the gaming medium is enough to warrant my respect. At the same time, I feel lukewarm about the game due to its primitive qualities. Upon playing the first Legend of Zelda, I enjoyed it much more than I did when I first played it years ago and have gained a newfound appreciation for it that extends beyond a point of respect. The Legend of Zelda is an incredibly ambitious game for an early NES title or any NES title. Its open-world design might be a tad askew with progression. Still, I appreciate that the developers were willing to make the game atypical to convey the feeling of walking through nature. While it isn’t perfect by any means, the developers did their best with what they had, and this ambition created a monumental wave of influence that cannot be overlooked. I thoroughly enjoyed my time getting lost in The Legend of Zelda.
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