| The Legend Of Zelda |
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, is a Video Game designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and published by Nintendo . Set in the Fantasy land of Hyrule , this is a classic example of the Action-adventure genre, which centers around a young hero ( Link ) and his quest to rescue Princess Zelda from the evil Ganon by collecting the eight fragments of a powerful artifact known as the Triforce . As the inaugural game of ''The Legend Of Zelda'' Series , it was first released in Japan as a debut title for the Famicom 's Disk System peripheral. With its vast world, open-ended gameplay, scrolling capabilities, and Save system, ''The Legend of Zelda'' featured groundbreaking technological and gameplay advancements. Because the Famicom Disk System was not released outside of Japan, the game was published internationally on the Nintendo Entertainment System 's Cartridge format in 1987, with an internal battery to facilitate data saving, where it enjoyed even greater critical and financial success. As one of Nintendo's flagship franchises, '' Zelda '' is among the most recognized names in video game history. STORY AND CHARACTERS ''The Legend of Zelda'' According to the manual, Impa fled for her life, but was overtaken by her pursuers. As Ganon's henchmen surrounded her, a youth drove the monsters off. The boy's name was Link , and Impa told him of Hyrule's plight.The Legend of Zelda Instruction Booklet (1989), p. 4 Link resolved to save Zelda, but to fight Ganon he had to find and reassemble the scattered fragments of the Triforce. Undeterred, Link set off for Hyrule in an epic adventure.The Legend of Zelda Instruction Booklet (1989), p. 4 During the course of the game, Link locates the eight underground Labyrinth s (or Dungeon s) and retrieves the Triforce fragments from the clutches of powerful guardian monsters. Along the way, he picks up a variety of useful Item s and upgrades to aid him in his quest. With the Triforce of Wisdom, Link is able to infiltrate Ganon's Fortress high upon Death Mountain . He confronts the Prince of Darkness, destroying him with a Silver Arrow discovered deep within Ganon's dungeons. Link picks up the Triforce of Power from Ganon's ashes and returns both Triforces to Princess Zelda, whom he releases from her nearby cell. According to Zelda's words, peace would then return to Hyrule. A "symbol of courage, strength and wisdom",3 Link was designed by Miyamoto as a begins the game an ordinary boy but grows in strength and fortitude to triumph over the ultimate evil.4 The name of the princess was inspired by . She was a famous and beautiful woman from all accounts, and I liked the sound of her name. So I took the liberty of using her name for the very first ''Zelda'' title," Miyamoto explained.5 GAMEPLAY s in the Overworld .]] When ''The Legend of Zelda'' was released its gameplay defied categorization, incorporating elements from Action Game s, Adventure Game s, Role-playing Games , and Puzzle Games . The game begins with the player controlling Link from an Overhead Perspective , armed with a small shield. 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. Scattered across the overworld (which according to Nintendo Power , was modelled after the state of Washington ) and hidden in caves, shrubbery, or behind walls are Merchant s, Gambler s, old ladies, and other people who guide Link with cryptic clues. 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 Passage s and guarded by Monster s different from those found on the overworld. Link must successfully navigate 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, but 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 only be reached using items gained in the previous one. Nonlinearity , 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.6 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. After completing the game, the player has access to a more difficult quest, officially referred to as the Second Quest,ZELDA: The Second Quest Begins (1988), p. 27 where dungeons and the placement of items are different and enemies stronger.ZELDA: The Second Quest Begins (1988), p. 28 Although a more difficult "replay" was not unique to ''Zelda'', few games offered a "second quest" with entirely different levels to complete.7 Entering "ZELDA" as the player's name starts the second quest immediately.ZELDA: The Second Quest Begins (1988), p. 26 The Second Quest can be replayed each time it is completed. DEVELOPMENT AND RELEASE Designer Shigeru Miyamoto was responsible for the development of '' Super Mario Bros. '', which was released for the Famicom and Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985. In ''Mario'', Miyamoto downplayed the value of the High Score in favor of a more concrete goal—to "complete" the game. The evolution of games from endurance tests to simple Narrative s gave players a goal beyond simple continued survival.8 Miyamoto's team worked on ''The Legend of Zelda'' and ''s and Puzzle s.9 With ''The Legend of Zelda'', Miyamoto wanted to take the idea of a game "world" even further, giving players a "miniature garden that they can put inside their drawer." He drew his inspiration from his experiences as a boy around Kyoto , where he explored nearby fields, woods, and caves, and through the ''Zelda'' titles he always tries to impart to players some of the sense of exploration and limitless wonder he felt. "When I was a child," he said, "I went hiking and found a lake. It was quite a surprise for me to stumble upon it. When I traveled around the country without a map, trying to find my way, stumbling on amazing things as I went, I realized how it felt to go on an adventure like this."Sheff (1993), p. 51 The memory of being lost amid the Maze of sliding doors in his family's home in Sonobe was recreated in ''Zelda In the initial game designs, the player would start the game with the sword already in their inventory. According to Miyamoto, those in Japan were confused and had trouble finding their way through the multiple path dungeons. Rather than listening to the complaints, Miyamoto took away the sword, forcing players to communicate with each other and share their ideas to solve puzzles. This was a new form of game communication, and in that "Zelda became the inspiration for something very different: Animal Crossing . This was a game based solely on communication."10 In February 1986, Nintendo released the game on the Famicom's new Disk System peripheral. ''The Legend of Zelda'' was joined by a rerelease of ''Super Mario Bros.'' and '' Tennis '', '' Baseball '', '' Golf '', '' Soccer '', and '' Mahjong '' in its introduction of the Famicom Disk System. It made full use of the Disk System’s advantages over the Famicom with a disk size of 128 Kilobytes , which was expensive to produce on cartridge format. Due to the still-limited amount of space on the disk, however, the Japanese version of the game was only in Katakana . It used rewritable disks to Save The Game , rather than Passwords .11 It also used the microphone built into the Famicom's controller that was not included in the NES. This led to confusion in the U.S. as the instruction manual reads that Pol's Voice, a rabbit-like enemy in the game, "hates loud noise";The Legend of Zelda Instruction Booklet (1987), p. 36. Blowing or shouting into the Famicom's microphone kills these creatures. However, they cannot be killed through use of the flute, and on the NES must be killed with either the sword or bow and arrow. Contrary to the fears of Nintendo's management, the game was wildly popular and well received. Nintendo published the game a year later in North America, with a small portion of the box cut out to display the unique gold-colored cartridge. In 1987, ''The Legend of Zelda'' became the first NES title aside from ''Super Mario Bros.'' to sell one million copies.Sheff (1993), p. 172 In 1988, 7 million more NES units were sold, along with 33 million game cartridges. Nintendo of America sought to keep its strong base of fans: anyone who purchased a game and sent in a Warranty card became a member of the Fun Club, whose members got a four-, eight-, and eventually thirty-two-page Newsletter . Seven hundred copies of the first issue were sent out free of charge, but the number grew as the data bank of names got longer.Sheff (1993), p. 178 From the success of magazines in Japan, Nintendo knew that game tips were an incredibly valued asset. Players enjoyed the bimonthly newsletter's Crossword Puzzle s and jokes, but game secrets were most valued. The Fun Club drew kids in by offering tips for the more complicated games, especially ''Zelda'', with its hidden rooms, secret keys, and passageways.Sheff (1993), p. 178 The mailing list grew. By early 1988, there were over 1 million Fun Club members, which led then-Nintendo of America president Minoru Arakawa to start '' Nintendo Power '' magazine.Sheff (1993), p. 178 Since Nintendo did not have many products, it made only a few Commercial s a year, meaning the quality had to be phenomenal. The budget for a single commercial could reach US $ 5 million, easily four or five times more than most companies spent.Sheff (1993), p. 188 One of the first commercials made under Bill White, director of advertising and public relations, was the market introduction for ''The Legend of Zelda'', which received a great deal of attention in the ad industry. In it, a wiry-haired, nerdy guy ( John Kassir ) walks through the dark making goofy noises, yelling out the names of some enemies from the game, and screaming for Zelda.Sheff (1993), p. 188 ''The Legend of Zelda'' was a gold mine for Nintendo, which released a slew of '''' that revolved around themes from ''The Adventure of Link''. RECEPTION ''The Legend of Zelda'' was a , '' Metroid '', and other high-profile games. The game placed first in the player's poll "Top 30" in ''Nintendo Power'' ''The Legend of Zelda'' places prominently in lists of games considered the greatest or most influential: it placed first in '' Game Informer '' Even in its Game Boy Advance port, created 17 years after its initial release, ''The Legend of Zelda'' passes the test of time, scoring 79% at the Game Rankings and 87% at the Game Ratio rankings compilations. In individual ratings, IGN scored ''The Legend of Zelda'' with an 8 out of 10, '' GamePro '' a 4.5 out of 5, ''Nintendo Power'' a 4.5 out of 5, and 1UP.com a 9 out of 10.1819In Gamespot, both Gameboy Advance and the Wii scored 7.2 for its originality. IMPACT AND LEGACY ''The Legend of Zelda'' is considered a spiritual forerunner of the Console Role-playing Game (RPG) genre. Though its gameplay elements are different from those of typical computer or console RPGs, its bright, Cartoon ish graphics, fantasy setting, and musical style were adopted by many RPGs. Its commercial success helped lay the groundwork for involved, nonlinear games in fantasy settings, such as those found in successful RPGs, including '' Crystalis '', '' Soul Blazer '', Square 's '' Seiken Densetsu '' series, and more recently, '' Alundra '' and '' Brave Fencer Musashi ''. ''The Legend of Zelda'' spawned numerous sequels and , Princess Zelda , Ganon , Impa , and the Triforce as the power that binds Hyrule together. The overworld theme and distinctive "secret found" jingle have appeared in one form or another in nearly every subsequent Legend of Zelda title. The theme has also appeared in various other games featuring Zelda references. VERSIONS ''Zelda'' has been re-released on multiple platforms, most recently on the '', as part of the Classic NES Series . A complete fan-made recreation of ''Zelda'' has been developed for Microsoft Windows and DOS under the name Zelda Classic . ''BS Zelda no Densetsu'' See Also: BS Zelda no Densetsu ''BS Zelda no Densetsu'', 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 was replaced by the Satellaview Mascot s, 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.21 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 NES game's Second Quest. FOOTNOTES REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS ; Official sites
; General resources
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