The Legend of Zelda




 * From zeldawiki.org


 * GBA release June 7, 2004  February 14, 2004  July 9, 2004

Wii Virtual Console release November 19, 2006 December 2, 2006 December 8, 2006 December 7, 2006

3DS Virtual Console release August 31, 2011 August 31, 2011 September 1, 2011 September 1, 2011 ! style="border:1pxsolidrgb(66,103,135);"|Rating(s) PEGI:  3 / 7 CERO:  A CB:  G USK:  0 ! style="border:1pxsolidrgb(66,103,135);"|Platform(s) ! style="border:1pxsolidrgb(66,103,135);"|Successor ! colspan="2" style="border:1pxsolidrgb(66,103,135);"| Guide/Walkthrough at StrategyWiki The Legend of Zelda was the very first Zelda game released. It centers its plot around a boy named Link, who becomes the central protagonist throughout the series. It came out as early as 1986 for the Famicom in Japan, and was later released in the western world, including Europe and the US in 1987. It has since then been re-released several times, for the Nintendo GameCube as well as the Game Boy Advance. The Japanese version of the game on the Famicom is known as The Hyrule Fantasy: The Legend of Zelda. {| class="toc" id="toc" style="font-size:12px;color:rgb(210,210,210);border-color:rgb(66,103,135);font-family:sans-serif;line-height:19.1875px;"
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 * style="border:1pxsolidrgb(66,103,135);"|ESRB:  E
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 * style="border:1pxsolidrgb(66,103,135);"|Famicom Disk System, Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance,Wii, Nintendo 3DS
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 * style="border:1pxsolidrgb(66,103,135);font-style:italic;"|Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
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 * }

Contents
[hide] *1 Story
 * 2 Gameplay
 * 2.1 Dungeon Exploration
 * 2.2 Overworld Exploration
 * 2.3 Second Quest
 * 3 Game Information
 * 3.1 Japanese Version
 * 3.2 Graphics and Audio
 * 3.3 Setting
 * 3.4 Timeline Placement
 * 3.5 Mistranslations
 * 3.6 Completion Records
 * 4 Listings
 * 4.1 Characters
 * 4.2 Bosses
 * 4.3 Enemies
 * 4.4 Dungeons
 * 4.5 Items
 * 4.6 Credits
 * 4.7 Glitches
 * 4.8 Hacks
 * 5 Reception
 * 5.1 Sales
 * 5.2 Reviews
 * 5.3 Fan Reception
 * 6 Ports and Remakes
 * 7 Legacy
 * 8 Trivia
 * 9 Gallery
 * 9.1 Illustrations
 * 9.2 Box Art
 * 9.3 Cartridge and Logos
 * 9.4 Advertisement
 * 10 References
 * }

Story
"A long, long time ago the World was in an age of Chaos.

''"In the midst of this chaos, in a little kingdom in the land of Hyrule, a legend was being handed down from generation to generation, the legend of the 'Triforce'; golden triangles possessing mystical powers. One day, an evil army attacked this peaceful little kingdom and stole the Triforce of Power. This army was led by Ganon, the powerful Prince of Darkness who sought to plunge the World into fear and darkness under his rule. Fearing his wicked rule, Zelda, the princess of this kingdom, split up the Triforce of Wisdom into eight fragments and hid them throughout the realm to save the last remaining Triforce from the clutches of the evil Ganon. At the same time, she commanded her most trustworthy nursemaid, Impa, to secretly escape into the land and go find a man with enough courage to destroy the evil Ganon. Upon hearing this, Ganon grew angry, imprisoned the princess, and sent out a party in search of Impa."''

"Braving forests and mountains, Impa fled for her life from her pursuers. As she reached the very limit of her energy she found herself surrounded by Ganon's evil henchmen. Cornered! What could she do? ... But wait! All was not lost. A young lad appeared. He skillfully drove off Ganon's henchmen, and saved Impa from a fate worse than death."

"His name was Link. During his travels he had come across Impa and Ganon's henchmen. Impa told Link the whole story of the princess Zelda and the evil Ganon. Burning with a sense of justice, Link resolved to save Zelda, but Ganon was a powerful opponent. He held the Triforce of Power. And so, in order to fight off Ganon, Link had to bring the scattered eight fragments of the Triforce of Wisdom together to rebuild the mystical triangle. If he couldn't do this, there would be no chance Link could fight his way into Death Mountain where Ganon lived."

"Can Link really destroy Ganon and save Princess Zelda?

"Only your skill can answer that question. Good luck. Use the Triforce wisely."[1] [2]

Gameplay
Screenshot of gameplayThe game itself introduces a new level of gaming, one that includes roleplaying, action, adventure, and puzzle/logic.

Dungeon Exploration
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 passages and guarded by monsters 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 conceal 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 can't 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.

Overworld Exploration
<p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(210,210,210);font-family:sans-serif;">Non linearity, 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's possible to reach the final boss of the game (but not defeat him) without taking a sword. 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.

Second Quest
<p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(210,210,210);font-family:sans-serif;">After completing the game, the player has access to a more difficult quest, officially referred to as the Second Quest, where dungeons and the placement of items are different, with enemies stronger. Although a more difficult "replay" wasn't unique to Zelda, few games offered a "second quest" with entirely different levels to complete. Entering "ZELDA" as the player's name starts the second quest immediately. The Second Quest can be replayed each time it's completed.

Japanese Version
<p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(210,210,210);font-family:sans-serif;">The Legend of Zelda was originally released in 1986 as a flagship title for the Famicom Disk System in Japan. Apart from facilitating data saving, the disk drive also added an extra sound channel on top of the Famicom's original five. This has caused the original release to sport a quite different sound compared to the more widespread cartridge release. This difference is most notable during the title screen.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(210,210,210);font-family:sans-serif;">The Book of Magic is known as the Bible in the Japanese version of the game. This was likely changed because it violated Nintendo of America's, at the time, very strict content guidelines which among others disapproved of any religious content or references inside games released for their systems. Interestingly enough, all depictions of the cross were kept intact. Note that the legend of the three Golden Goddesses wasn't mentioned until 1991 in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

Graphics and Audio
<p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(210,210,210);font-family:sans-serif;">Being a game designed originally to be stored in an 8-bit cartridge, the game's graphics don't use too many elements, instead they use different colors for the same ones; the trees, in order to indicate the type of place they are placed in, are colored either green or orange; the dungeons are made of bricks painted blue, green, yellow or white, and so on.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(210,210,210);font-family:sans-serif;">The game features three background themes: The overworld tune, the dungeon tune and the final level's tune. The first theme is frequently reused in subsequent games. In fact, over the years, it has become the franchise's signature music. The dungeon theme is used as the theme for the Royal Crypt in The Minish Cap. Sound samples like the one when Link collects a new item and the one when a new path is open are also frequent among current Zelda games.

Setting
<p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(210,210,210);font-family:sans-serif;">With this game being the first in the franchise, it's the first time Hyrule is portrayed, and it's divided into numerous parts and landscapes, such as the Lost Woods, Death Mountain, a central lake, a forest, a graveyard, and a shore; as Link walks through them, he manages to find the hidden labyrinths where the fragments of the Triforce are kept. It's unknown whether or not the nameless regions reappeared in later games with official names.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(210,210,210);font-family:sans-serif;">Unlike most overworlds in the Zelda series, this incarnation of Hyrule is entirely explorable from the beginning, meaning that Link can go to almost any corner and space of it, in a total absence of linearity. It should be noted that it remains intact in the Second Quest, with the only changes being the locations of the labyrinths and those of special prizes.

Timeline Placement
<p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(210,210,210);font-family:sans-serif;">According to the timeline revealed in Hyrule Historia, The Legend of Zelda takes place in the "Downfall" branch, which, in a whole, takes place after The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. After Ganon is defeated twice, in A Link to the Pastand the Oracle series, Hyrule entered 'The Golden Era', in which the wise Hyrule monarchs used the Triforce to govern the land. After the king's death and the attempt of the Prince of Hyrule to assemble the complete Triforce, Hyrule was lead into the 'Era of Decline'. The Prince of Darkness, Ganon was revived, leading to the events of The Legend of Zelda. Immediately following this game, the events of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link take place.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(210,210,210);font-family:sans-serif;">Both this game and its sequel are linked in continuity, since the first game revolves around retrieving two of the major fragments of the Triforce, and Ganon is fought in order to rescue Princess Zelda; the second game revolves around finding the third major fragment in order to revive an incarnation of Zelda that was comatose for a very long time, and to impede the revival of Ganon.