Thought by many to be the most important game series ever, the Legend of Zelda has captured the imagination of many gamers.
The genius behind it all is Shigeru Miyamoto, creator and producer of all the Zelda games.
What is it that makes this series so popular and unique? One of the main reasons is simply the world that the games create.
The roots of Zelda can be found in another Nintendo super-character: Mario. Nintendo's famed developer, Shigeru
Miyamoto floored millions of gamers around the world with his Super Mario Brothers for the NES in 1986. Gone was the
open-ended "highest score" criteria for success, and in its place was a more concrete goal: "complete" the game.
"Both Mario and Zelda are based on the same concept of making a miniature garden, which the players can explore rather
freely," says Miyamoto, "They have to become creative and independent--they need to think about what they should do next."
Miyamoto took the gameplay concepts of Mario and folded them into the world of Zelda. In order to make this kind of gameplay
compelling, he had to create a world that the gamer would want to explore and inhabit for long periods of time.
The legend of zelda
Release date: Jap, 1986, US, June, 1987, UK, 1987
System:NES
The evil warlock Ganon terrorizes the land of Hyrule with the Triforce of Power. Princess Zelda, now kidnapped,
managed to divide the Triforce of Wisdom into eight pieces. Under the advisement of Zelda's nursemaid, Impa, the young adventurer
Link pledges to reunite the pieces, infiltrate Ganon's fortress and save Zelda. Are you up to the task?
This is the game that started it all. After the game was released in 1986, gamers everywhere were glued
to their TVs searching for that next dungeon or the next piece of the Triforce. The Legend of Zelda is regarded as a
true classic by all gamers, and believe it or not, it was the first game to feature battery backed-up saves instead of passwords.
