I admit that I was a little late to the Legend of Zelda party. I remember occasionally playing it at friends’ houses, but the game was far too difficult for any of us to make significant progress in. It wasn’t until I was a little older, and could actually hold my own against the octoroks and tektites that I learned to appreciate this one. To this day it remains one of my all time favorite games, and was truly a landmark release for the action adventure genre. Some of its flaws are significantly more apparent now than they were when it was originally released, but the original Zelda is still overflowing with charm and polish. Following the launch of a multitude of sequels I thought it would be interesting to take a look back at the classic that started it all. The experience is still solid enough even for newer gamers, and today I’m here to tell you why.
The Legend of Zelda takes place in a fantasy world called Hyrule. It is here that a powerful item known as the tri-force exists, and many have sought its power. Unfortunately an evil man named Ganon is after this relic, and kidnaps the kingdom’s princess (Zelda) in an effort to track it down. Fortunately she was able to divide it into pieces and spread it throughout the kingdom before evil mitts could be laid upon it. You play as a young green tunic clad youth named Link who must track down all eight of the tri-force pieces which are located at the end of several different monster and puzzle filled labyrinths. There’s very little dialogue throughout the adventure, and no major plot twists. The scenario is pretty good overall considering the fact that this is a NES title. Despite popular opinion the Legend of Zelda is not an RPG and is instead action based. You view the action from an overhead perspective as you guide Link through a series of single screen areas across a world map. While traversing these wilds enemies frequently appear, and your primary method of attack is via Link’s sword with the A button while special items are designated to the B. The overworld is your means of travel, and it is on here that you will find the eight dungeons.
The dungeons are set up all in the same way. They consist of a series of single screen rooms with doors leading to others, stairs which lead up or down a level, and a few important items strewn about. These include keys to open locked doors which are sometimes held by enemies, only appear after you’ve defeated all of the enemies in a specific room, or are revealed when you push a specific block. Usually your progression will be stopped by a locked door, and that’s why it’s easiest to just check every possible aforementioned method for revealing items. You will also find a map hidden in each of the dungeons. This reveals the layout and each room, but its most useful function is in showing you areas that you’ve already visited. This is extremely helpful because some of the dungeons (especially the final one) are quite large and can be confusing to traverse. The most important thing you’ll find in any dungeon however are new tools. These are typically used to progress through the current labyrinth as well as unlock the next. Some can be used as weapons while others have varying helpful effects that are only useful for travel.
There are however a few minor problems I have with the original Legend of Zelda. The first is that the game rarely properly explains where you need to go next. Finding some of the dungeons in this game is downright cryptic, and I simply can’t imagine anyone would be able to figure it out with just simple experimentation. The dungeons are a little more straightforward, but all obstacles can be solved simply by following a formula. Each time you reach a new room defeat all of the enemies on-screen, try pushing every block, and bomb the center of each wall. Following these rules is a little monotonous, but it’s the only sure fire way to ensure that nothing gets past you. In addition the tools in this game are a little on the boring side compared to subsequent installments. You get a boomerang, ladder (for crossing single tiles of water), a raft (pretty self explanatory), bombs, bow and arrow, a candle, flute, and enemy bait in the form of meat. Unfortunately most of these items serve only one function, and they’re not particularly inventive. These generally aren’t even particularly useful against enemies. Speaking of which, combat is fairly difficult with a limited life bar (in the beginning) but overall this quest is not a particularly daunting one.
The Legend of Zelda is a little rough even by graphical standards of the NES. To me it looks like its running on the same engine as the original Super Mario Bros. with limited details, blocky characters, and absolutely no outlines. The game has a very ‘soft’ look to it that is aged, but still has its charms. The art style is really nice; the enemy designs in particular are a big part of what made this title so memorable when it was released. The landscape is quite barren with only trees, rocks, and barriers populating it. The ground itself is single color on the overworld and this gets old very quickly. Fortunately the floor inside the labyrinths features actual texture which is nice compared to the single color set up of the rest of the game. Unfortunately this title suffers from the typical NES slowdown which occurs when too many enemies are on-screen at once. It actually helps when you’re given more reaction time to dodge attacks, but it’s a fair bit distracting. The soundtrack is amazing. The over world theme has a huge air of adventure, and the labyrinth music is daunting and perfectly fitting. Unfortunately there are only a few different compositions here, but everything is nicely done by now legendary composer Koji Kondo. It’s hard to fault it too much.
