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The Legend of Zelda is an action adventure game originally created for the Nintendo

Legend of zelda cover (with cartridge) gold

Entertainment System by Nintendo.

Info[]

Developed at the same time as Super Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda was the creation Shigira Miyomoto. It is a fantasy based action/exploration game, starring the titlar hero, Link. At it's release, the game was critically acclaimed for it's graphics and innovative gameplay.

Gameplay[]

When The Legend of Zelda was released, its gameplay defied categorization, incorporating elements from action games as well as adventure games, role-playing games, and puzzle games into it. The game begins with the player controlling Link, armed with a small shield, from an overhead perspective. A sword is immediately available in a cave in front of him on the opening screen of the game. To advance, Link must explore the Overworld, a large outdoor map with varied environments.

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Link in the overworld.

  Throughout the game, merchants, gamblers, old ladies, and other people guide Link with cryptic clues. These people are scattered across the Overworld and hidden in caves, shrubbery, or behind walls.  

Barring Link's progress are creatures he must battle to locate the entrances to nine underground dungeons. Each dungeon is a unique, maze-like collection of rooms connected by doors and secret passages and guarded by monsters different from those found on the Overworld. Link must successfully navigate through each dungeon to obtain one of the eight pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom. Dungeons also hide useful items, such as a boomerang for retrieving items and stunning enemies and a Recorder with magical properties. The first six dungeons have visible entrances; the remaining three are hidden. Except for the final dungeon, which cannot be entered until the previous eight have been completed, the order of completing dungeons is somewhat arbitrary; but many dungeons can be reached only by using items gained in the previous one.

Non-linearity — the ability to take different paths to complete the game — separated Zelda from its contemporaries. Link can freely wander the Overworld, finding and buying items at any point. This flexibility enables unusual ways of playing the game; for example, it is possible to reach the final boss of the game, but not defeat him, without taking a sword. Nintendo of America's management initially feared that players might become frustrated with the new concept, left wondering what to do next. As a result, the American version of the game's manual contains many hints, tips, and suggestions for players.

Second Quest[]

Main article: Second Quest

After completing the game, the player has access to a more difficult quest, officially referred to as the Second Quest, where dungeons and the placement of items are different and enemies are stronger; however, the Overworld is almost identical. Although a more difficult "replay" was not unique to the Legend of Zelda series, few games offered a "second quest" with entirely different levels to complete. Interestingly, entering "ZELDA" as the player's name starts the Second Quest immediately, without completion of the First Quest being required. The dungeon maps also form the letters necessary to spell ZELDA. The Second Quest can be replayed each time that it is completed.

BS The Legend of Zelda[]

Main article: BS The Legend of Zelda

BS The Legend of Zelda, based on the original The Legend of Zelda, was released for download in four episodes on the Satellaview, a satellite modem add-on to Nintendo's Super Famicom system, from August 9, 1995, to August 30, 1995. The first game broadcast on the Satellaview, BS Zelda featured updated graphics, a smaller Overworld, and different dungeons. Link and Zelda were replaced by the Satellaview mascots, a boy wearing a backward baseball cap and a girl with red hair. It also featured "Sound Link", where every few minutes players were cautioned to listen carefully as a live narrator, broadcast over the network, gave them play clues. When the game was rebroadcast in December 1996, the layout of the world was changed again. This revision had a smaller broadcast audience and is known as Map 2. Sometimes these two games are known as the Third and Fourth Quest, similar to the Second Quest.

SomecallmeJohnny[]

Johnny set a large-scaled Zelda Marathon, and this was the first game he reviewed. Johnny gave the game a mixed review, stating that while it had it's strong points, it overall was not a great adventure and it hadn't aged very well.

Let's Play[]

Johnny's LP of Legend of Zelda lasts for 2 hours and 14 minutes (approx.) and has a total of nine parts.

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