When I first played Legend of Zelda, I already had experience with fantasy video games. This proved to actually be a hurdle to me, because I did not go into the obvious cave on the first screen. My thought was "cave means dungeon, which means fighting. I don't have a weapon yet. so I better not go in there yet." I wandered around helplessly for a while before I figured out that that very cave is where you get the weapon.
No idea how, but I barely beat this game back in 1987 as a little kid. No internet, no access to a magazine. We overcame obstacles in the game by word of mouth at school.
Took me about 3 months as a teenager. Plus I was playing other games like Super Mario 2 since I just got my first NES. Nintendo Power helped with the second quest. Far more difficult.
@@AngryCalvin I wonder how long you'd play a game like this. These days I kind of focus on one game at a time, but back then I'd play a game for a while, get bored, and pop in a new one. My friends and I might pull out a stack of 6-7 games to play that afternoon. We might not always get through them all but it wouldn't be unheard of. We probably didn't finish any of them. We did sometimes.
The included manual does help you with some understanding of this game. You should've gotten an award for beating it without Nintendo Power magazine though!
I still remember being in a Kmart reading the back of the box as a kid. The music was incredible from the beginning screen to the dungeon levels. The gold cartridge just made it different.
Damn. You’re going to have 100k subs by the end of the year. All these are insanely well made. Quick, concise…but get the entire point across with all prudent information. Ggs
excellent video. exactly what i was looking for. I have been playing my 35th anniversary LoZ game and watch and falling in love with this game. Thank you!
Yeah, the Zelda game & watch is awesome. Love that it includes the Japanese and other versions of the games, wish the Super Mario Bros one was as good. No reason Mario 2 & 3 couldn't be included on it.
It's always fun to look at the roots of a series as massive and expansive as The Legend of Zelda. It had such humble origins, but is now a juggarnaut franchise, although a different kind of franchise from Mario. I always get this feeling of reverence for this franchise, something I don't get out of Mario, so it's fascinating to look back at how comparatively light-hearted the earlier games were, or at least felt like. I also can't help but ponder the game's exploration roots, and how it got more and more linear as time went on before Nintendo started going back to the open-ended game design again, first dabbling a bit with it in A Link Between World before going full open-world with Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. I'm reminded of A Link to the Past specifically, and how it offered clear goal points where you were supposed to go to, with one video I saw in the past going so far as to say this takes away some of the exploration element. It makes me wonder, would Nintendo have made your objectives more clear in the first Zelda game were they able to back then? I feel like they didn't have as much experience yet and the hardware was limited such that they could only give vague directions and cryptic hints on what to do throughout the game itself, either that or hope that people will actually read the manual that came with the game. What I'm getting at is, is the open-ended design of the first Legend of Zelda a deliberate, intentional choice, or was it something Nintendo had to work with due to circumstances. The game turned out to be a classic, regardless of how it came about, at least I think so.
With this video, I think you have nearly perfectly articulated all the reasons that I loved this game and its sequel so much more than any other games for the NES. Thank you so much!
Zelda was WAY better before the handholding. Draw a map, call a friend, find a magazine article - so much more rewarding when you really work. No obvious "shoot the eye" or "push block on button" puzzles, with a faerie telling you what to do
i imagine this game being the first to sell a million copies has to do with mario bros being included with the system, so its not being counted, because theres no way zelda was ever more popular then mario
I like the Zelda games because they don't have any turn based rpg elements, everything happens from your input. I'm not a fan of RPG's or random encounters
devils advocate here, other than "for it's time" and "hardware limitations" every favorable point you mention can be applied to just about any other game in the franchise and others this title had A TON of flaws that fortunately were fixed in just 4 years, this is an amazing franchise, but dear lord, this game is -rough- down right abrasive around the edges
the ability to just roam and explore is what made this game so good. getting the red candle and just bring every tree in sight. since there was no you tube it was fun to go to school with the map and showing our friends what tree had a secret room. the game was amazing.
Without the level randomizer I get bored instantly almost having memorized where everything is even over 34 years later. This was a revolutionary game. Much better games have come after it but this was influential as anything else. I much rather prefer the Y’s series and I actually prefer playing Zelda 2 but the original Legend of Zelda was earth shattering.
I still have my original boxed copy, but I could never get far as a kid, and by the time I was old enough to probably beat it we were already on to the SNES :D
According to the bureau of vital statistics there are 7244 people using the name Zelda assuming that 244 of them are madam Zelda psychics that mean 7000 people, robin Williams included name or named someone Zelda ..... useless fact number 535 there u go
If you attempt it on NES today, never turn your system off because it will erase your game. NES almost took a flight out my window after it happened the second time.
The same thing happens with SNES games now. It's because they're so old. There is a battery on the board that keeps the game "on" just enough to maintain your save files, thing had a life of 25, maybe 30 years. They are simple to replace if you can find the part and feel like taking your cartridge apart.
I have absolutely no idea why you're calling The Legend of Zelda an 'action RPG' or comparing it to RPGs like Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. The Legend of Zelda is not an RPG. It does not have any RPG-like mechanics such as stat points and level ups. It also doesn't offer player agency and choice over the world - you beat all the dungeons, and then you beat Ganon. There is nothing else you can do - you are forced to do this. There is nothing about The Legend of Zelda that is an action RPG. It's basically an action-adventure game, similar to God of War, Darksiders, Okami, Hob, etc. For a video where you're trying to do a retrospective on the game, you got it completely wrong.
