The Legend of Zelda: It's old and it shows.

Title: The Legend of Zelda (Zeruda no Densetsu)
Original Release: Feb. 21, 1986
Game #: 1
Chronologically: #5, Young Link timeline

According to Wikipedia, the first game in the series is "set in the fantasy land of Hyrule, the plot centers on a boy named Link, the playable protagonist, who aims to rescue Princess Zelda from the primary antagonist, Ganon, by collecting eight fragments of the Triforce of Wisdom, a powerful artifact." I'm not really sure why they haven't updated the basic plot in 24 years, but if it works for Mario I guess it works for Zelda, too.

For 1986, the graphics must have been pretty good, but honestly - the game looks awful. It really does.

For example, if you had to guess without context, what would you say this was? My first guess was a giant snail.


Actually, they're boulders, as you can see in the image to the right. At least, I think they're boulders. I'm still not completely convinced.

The basic layout of the screen is very simplistic, but not unfamiliar to the modern Zelda player. You can see an overworld map (kind of) in the top left of the screen, a section which counts the number of rupees (Zelda's currency), keys, and bombs the player has, and a section which directs the player to press A to swing Link's sword and B to use whichever quest item Link has equipped.

The Legend of Zelda doesn't use the traditional "HP" system to keep track of Link's health, and instead gives him a number of hearts (you can see those in the top right of the screen) that are taken away when Link is hit by an enemy. When all his hearts disappear, Link dies. There are a number of ways to restore his hearts in-game, and as Link progresses on his quest it's possible to increase his maximum number of hearts.

The Legend of Zelda series has changed a bit over the years, becoming more RPG-like in its more recent incarnations, but the first game in the series is very much a dungeon-crawler with puzzle elements. It's very non-linear - you can go where you want, when you want, and tackle the dungeons in any order you wish (although it's easier to defeat some of them having defeated others first, kind of like Megaman.) It's even possible to get to the final battle without having a sword!

Chronologically, there are many different arguments for when the first Zelda game takes place, but I'm most convinced by this theory, which is the one I'm using. (There have been some strong arguments made that Twilight Princess fits into the Young Link timeline, somewhere down the line, and Spirit Tracks is after the Phantom Hourglass on the Adult Link timeline.) This theory suggests that the Legend of Zelda is the third game on the Young Link timeline, and the fifth chronologically.

So that's the basic overview of this game. My next post will be (hopefully) my experiences actually playing the game, followed by my review of this title. Wish me luck!