The Legend of Zelda

JudoChinX

April 16, 2010

The Zelda series will always hold a special place in my heart. When I was only four-years old or so, my uncle came and lived with my family for a few months while he worked away from his home. Along with him he brought a classic Nintendo Entertainment System, a console I wasn't too familiar with as my first and only console at that time was a Super Nintendo. He brought a few games with him, but one in particular caught my eye. There was something a little unusual about this particular game: the cartridge had a shiny gold casing. I had a simpler mind at that time, so this detail caught my attention. As I'm sure you've guessed, this game was The Legend of Zelda, one of the most beloved games of all time.

This copy of The Legend of Zelda had a small problem. The battery that held my saved game while the console was off was dead, so more often than not, my game was limited to only one session. Though I never really had the opportunity to progress very far, I still enjoyed exploring the game's massive map, saving up my rupees to purchase the lamp that I'd use to burn nearby trees down.

Granted, I never conquered the first dungeon, but there was still a great sense of wonder as I played. Eventually my uncle returned to his family, and I was without The Legend of Zelda. Not being too informed in the gaming world at that time, I wasn't aware that A Link to the Past had been released, so I was quite surprised when a friend brought it over to my house and suggested we give it a shot. What ensued was nothing short of addiction. I convinced him to let me borrow the game, and as I came across new obstacles that I was unable to pass, we'd get together to exhaust our shared strategies. In the end I overcame these trials and completed the game, but after my experience in Hyrule was over, it was still on my mind. I couldn't shake it. My friend and I still talked about it non-stop. Now that the dungeons were out of the way, we then had time to try to track down all of the heart pieces and to further explore the world for hidden items.

Looking back on my experience with Zelda, it's fun to think about why I felt so compelled to play this game again and again. Some of it was likely that I rarely had a new game to play. When you're a kid without employment, it's difficult to fund your video game compulsion. But even then, I still had other ways to be entertained. The real reason had to be the sense of exploration and achievment I found within the game's world. It was one of my first experiences with a game that added new items to my arsenal that could be used to unlock once unreachable areas. It was also one of my first games where puzzles were one of the major obstacles standing between me and and success. With a fine balance between difficulty and progression, A Link to the Past was always a way to feel accomplished yet not frustrated.

After A Link to the Past, I played Link's Awakening (which I believe to be one of the most underrated entries in the series), and from there I played Ocarina of Time. Though my interest has waned with some of the newer titles, I still, and always will, adore Zelda.

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