It was the year Nineteen Hundred Eighty Six when a new star would be born on the horizon.
A little hero, known only as "Link," would birth a world containing dozens of items, dark labyrinths, evil enemies, and lands full of exploration.
The game was known as The Legend of Zelda to us and Zeruda no Densetsu to the fans in Japan. In 1987, Link would jump the pond to the United States and sell thousands upon thousands of little gold cartridges to the general public. Some people argue that the best video game ever created on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is, without a doubt, The Legend of Zelda. As of September 2005, the Legend of Zelda series has sold 47 million units, according to Nintendo sales figures. Regardless of sales figures and actual copies sold, The Legend of Zelda is revered as one of the best adventure RPG's on a console system, and it laid the path for all adventure games that followed.
Zelda has probably been so successful because of its mix of game play styles. There is plenty of action to be found fighting octorocks and dodging arrow fire from hobgoblins. Yet, one could also spend hours adventuring through the world, solving puzzles, bombing walls, lighting trees on fire, and searching out people to help you. In many ways, Zelda was a role playing, adventure, action, and puzzle solving game all bundled in one design. With so many varieties of play it is no wonder that fans of all ages and gender spent hours in front of the television ordering Link around the world.
Zelda also contained an ever increasing difficulty, based on different labyrinth 'levels' and world areas. A new player was never in over their head, unless they strayed too far from the destined path. Link starts in the plush grasslands and ends the game in Death Mountain, giving him many varying degrees of challenge. A gamer was rewarded for putting in extra hours of adventuring and hunting when they came upon heart containers just out of eyesight. A gamer could opt to enter labyrinth number one with three hearts for life or, potentially, four or five if they hunted for hearts ahead of time (often a gamer who had beaten the game before would accomplish these feats quickly). This reward for extra effort may have been the birth of the "side quest", now common in modern RPG games.
This game contained many unique items that other games just never provided. You were not a character with a sword and shield that roamed the countryside. You were a boy who obtained boats, ladders, rings, bracers, wands, whistles, shield/sword upgrades, boomerangs, potions, and more. Although only two items could be equipped at a single time, and one was always a sword, you could change your secondary item whenever you wanted, which was usually important for solving many of the game's puzzles.
So why was Zelda so addictive? Perhaps it was because the world was seemingly endless. The dungeons became difficult, but they contained many hidden doors, secret walls, and one new item in each labyrinth that would advance Link's power. One of the reasons the game was so attractive was it's graphics, which were impressive for that timeframe. It may also have been the simple storyline and plot that kept people interested. You found eight pieces of the Triforce (one per labyrinth) in order to save the princess, who was held by the evil Gannon in the last labyrinth. The story was not complex, nor did it contain any twists or turns along the way. It was simple, creative, and well designed.
After the initial release of Zelda, a second, "black sheep" Zelda game, was put into the market in 1988 (one year later for the US fans): Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. Unlike the top-down view of the original Zelda game, this game featured a side scrolling adventure similar to Super Mario Brothers, but in an RPG format. The concept of Rupees was left out, many new enemies were created, and the same gold cartridge was used to maintain that Zelda "look and feel." This game was more difficult to grasp, contained RPG style experience points to gain skills, and, overall, was more difficult. This was largely due to the many lava pits to jump and the nasty labyrinth villains to vanquish. Overall, Zelda II failed to capture the feel of Zelda in many fan's minds, and they were greatly disappointed by the loss of their top-down view adventure. The old school Zelda zealots had to wait another four years to see Link return to their screen in a top-down view, and they had to upgrade to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) to see it.
The finest hour for Nintendo and Zelda fans alike would be 1992, when The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past was born. The third installment in the series, loosely known as Zelda 3, brought back the original top-down format for the game and revived that original Zelda look and feel. Fans quickly forgot the bad taste left from Zelda II when they got A Link to the Past. The third version of Zelda had a few new features that helped to make it a success story. The dungeons were now multiple levels, deep connected by staircases that little Link could traverse, new monsters, new and old items, graphics to match its time, and most notably, the Dark World. Link's puzzle solving skills had to be fine tuned in order to handle the fact that the game took place in two "mirror" worlds, one of Light and one of Dark. Using Link's magic mirror device, he would switch back and forth from the Dark World to the Light World where slight terrain variations could mean new and unique ways of traversing hard to reach areas. A fence in the Light World might be torn down in the Dark World, allowing Link to pass, then switch back to the Light World and be on the other side of the fence.
The third installment had the same mixture of components that made the original Zelda such a hit with a boost in graphic quality. Overall, the graphics of Zelda have never been milestones of technology, but they complemented great game play and a great story. This release lasted five years in the number one spot before finally being retired.
How would Nintendo try to beat its prior success? A migration to the Game Boy hand held system held the answer. Gamers that loved version three would have to purchase a Game Boy in order to play this not-so-colorful Zelda game: Link's Awakening, in 1993. Although the hand held game might not have been the same as its console brethren in terms of success stories, it did set the stage for many future Zelda releases that would hit other consoles and other hand held gaming platforms.
Five years later (or six years, if you do not count hand held systems), the next Zelda game arrived. On November 23rd 1998, the Zelda series went into the third dimension (3D) with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on the Nintendo 64. Yet again, gamers would have to buy another console platform to play this Zelda hit. The powerhouse console was able to render Link in 3D to satisfy the new technology formats arriving at that time. "Within five months of its release, Ocarina of Time sold over five million copies, and a total of 8.6 million copies have been sold worldwide. It is widely regarded as one of the finest games ever made across any genre and platform." (Wikipedia) How is it that a 3D version of Zelda was a success, where the 2D side scroller just didn't cut the mustard? Perhaps people were now ready for a change, or perhaps, the storyline, awe inspiring graphics, and game play were still on par with the original.
Nintendo also published Majora's Mask for the Nintendo 64 two years later. This game took advantage of Nintendo's RAM Expansion Pack to improve graphic quality. This release was well received, but sat in the shadows of Ocarina of Time on the charts, due to Ocarina's ground breaking look and feel. The fact that Zelda's look and feel was re-used in Majora's Mask, and made even better with the Nintendo Expansion pack, did little to help Majora as it languished in Ocarina's shadow. Note, however, that without purchasing this Expansion Pack, one could not play Majora's Mask at all (other games that came later only used it to enhance the game graphics if one owned the product).
The Zelda series would go on and make two more games for the Game Boy Color in 2001: Oracle of Ages, and Oracle of Seasons. One would be more action based while the other more of a puzzle-based game. In 2003 (US release), Four Swords arrived on the Game Boy Advance. it was a multi-player only release, that appeared with the porting of the Nintendo 64's The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past hit. Four Swords never was released as a stand alone cartridge, and required you to buy the older Nintendo 64 ported hand-held version in order to play it.
The GameCube, Nintendo's 6th generation console, would be the setting for The Wind Waker. In 2003, this was the 10th Zelda game to be published and boosted the sales of the GameCube beyond the wildest of expectations. This release featured Link adventuring between islands using the wind and "magic" to get around to different water-locked lands. This release, again, had many creative puzzles, was mysterious, and included dark adventures. Some found the concept of sailing over the ocean tedious and annoying, while others found the creativity refreshing for the series. The graphics took a new route into "cel-shading," which gives it the cartoon/animation look and feel. At first, many feared that the graphic change would ruin the Zelda image, but it was a success, as usual, for Nintendo. IGN.com reported that The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker topped their chart with 560,000 pre-orders. That is not half bad for a game that was only seen by the general public in magazines and online photos up until that point.
Two years later, in 2005, Nintendo, tried to satisfy people's desires by publishing Four Swords Adventures on the GameCube. This was very similar to the original Game Boy Advance game of a similar name, but it would contain a single player mode. This was not a hit game, like many of the prior releases. However, the next hand held release, known as The Minish Cap, probably assisted in the Game Boy Advance sales boosts with its award winning release. The Minish Cap would take the 2005 GBA Game of the Year by GameSpot, GameSpy Editor's Choice, Game of the Year, and Adventure Game of the year. Not too shabby for a portable game.
What next? We sit and we wait. Nintendo's marketing power is stretching again to bring three more unique Zelda releases for the GameCube, Nintendo DS (hand-held), and Nintendo Wii. The next installment for the GameCube, confirmed for Fall of '06, is Twilight Princess. The Nintendo Wii will be producing Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess which again plans to inovate by making use of the new "wiimote" to control Link. Later in 2006, we should see Phantom Hourglass, a 3D cel-shaded installment similar to The Wind Waker but set to release only on the Nintendo DS hand-held system.
Besides the Mario and Luigi characters, Nintendo has relied on Link and his world to sell its console systems. Many people wait to buy a Nintendo console until they hear word of a Zelda game being produced. This might be why Nintendo has been so successful selling Zelda into all console designs including hand held gaming. If you take a look back at history, you will see a pattern: every great release of Zelda comes with a new console generation. The huge, flagship releases, are always successful and always debut on new Nintendo platforms. With the exception of Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, a hit Zelda game exists only once for each generation of console (perhaps until Twilight Princess arrives for the GameCube). Zelda II was not what all the fans truly wanted, and many other releases were ports to other, smaller devices, or bundle/puzzle games.
There is no denying that Nintendo knows what weapon they hold with The Legend of Zelda series. Now we must wait, and see if that weapon can shoot down the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 sales figures.
CodeMonkey
References:
http://www.wikipedia.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Ocarina_of_Time
http://www.nintendo.com
The game was known as The Legend of Zelda to us and Zeruda no Densetsu to the fans in Japan. In 1987, Link would jump the pond to the United States and sell thousands upon thousands of little gold cartridges to the general public. Some people argue that the best video game ever created on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is, without a doubt, The Legend of Zelda. As of September 2005, the Legend of Zelda series has sold 47 million units, according to Nintendo sales figures. Regardless of sales figures and actual copies sold, The Legend of Zelda is revered as one of the best adventure RPG's on a console system, and it laid the path for all adventure games that followed.
Zelda has probably been so successful because of its mix of game play styles. There is plenty of action to be found fighting octorocks and dodging arrow fire from hobgoblins. Yet, one could also spend hours adventuring through the world, solving puzzles, bombing walls, lighting trees on fire, and searching out people to help you. In many ways, Zelda was a role playing, adventure, action, and puzzle solving game all bundled in one design. With so many varieties of play it is no wonder that fans of all ages and gender spent hours in front of the television ordering Link around the world.
Zelda also contained an ever increasing difficulty, based on different labyrinth 'levels' and world areas. A new player was never in over their head, unless they strayed too far from the destined path. Link starts in the plush grasslands and ends the game in Death Mountain, giving him many varying degrees of challenge. A gamer was rewarded for putting in extra hours of adventuring and hunting when they came upon heart containers just out of eyesight. A gamer could opt to enter labyrinth number one with three hearts for life or, potentially, four or five if they hunted for hearts ahead of time (often a gamer who had beaten the game before would accomplish these feats quickly). This reward for extra effort may have been the birth of the "side quest", now common in modern RPG games.
This game contained many unique items that other games just never provided. You were not a character with a sword and shield that roamed the countryside. You were a boy who obtained boats, ladders, rings, bracers, wands, whistles, shield/sword upgrades, boomerangs, potions, and more. Although only two items could be equipped at a single time, and one was always a sword, you could change your secondary item whenever you wanted, which was usually important for solving many of the game's puzzles.
So why was Zelda so addictive? Perhaps it was because the world was seemingly endless. The dungeons became difficult, but they contained many hidden doors, secret walls, and one new item in each labyrinth that would advance Link's power. One of the reasons the game was so attractive was it's graphics, which were impressive for that timeframe. It may also have been the simple storyline and plot that kept people interested. You found eight pieces of the Triforce (one per labyrinth) in order to save the princess, who was held by the evil Gannon in the last labyrinth. The story was not complex, nor did it contain any twists or turns along the way. It was simple, creative, and well designed.
After the initial release of Zelda, a second, "black sheep" Zelda game, was put into the market in 1988 (one year later for the US fans): Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. Unlike the top-down view of the original Zelda game, this game featured a side scrolling adventure similar to Super Mario Brothers, but in an RPG format. The concept of Rupees was left out, many new enemies were created, and the same gold cartridge was used to maintain that Zelda "look and feel." This game was more difficult to grasp, contained RPG style experience points to gain skills, and, overall, was more difficult. This was largely due to the many lava pits to jump and the nasty labyrinth villains to vanquish. Overall, Zelda II failed to capture the feel of Zelda in many fan's minds, and they were greatly disappointed by the loss of their top-down view adventure. The old school Zelda zealots had to wait another four years to see Link return to their screen in a top-down view, and they had to upgrade to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) to see it.
The finest hour for Nintendo and Zelda fans alike would be 1992, when The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past was born. The third installment in the series, loosely known as Zelda 3, brought back the original top-down format for the game and revived that original Zelda look and feel. Fans quickly forgot the bad taste left from Zelda II when they got A Link to the Past. The third version of Zelda had a few new features that helped to make it a success story. The dungeons were now multiple levels, deep connected by staircases that little Link could traverse, new monsters, new and old items, graphics to match its time, and most notably, the Dark World. Link's puzzle solving skills had to be fine tuned in order to handle the fact that the game took place in two "mirror" worlds, one of Light and one of Dark. Using Link's magic mirror device, he would switch back and forth from the Dark World to the Light World where slight terrain variations could mean new and unique ways of traversing hard to reach areas. A fence in the Light World might be torn down in the Dark World, allowing Link to pass, then switch back to the Light World and be on the other side of the fence.
The third installment had the same mixture of components that made the original Zelda such a hit with a boost in graphic quality. Overall, the graphics of Zelda have never been milestones of technology, but they complemented great game play and a great story. This release lasted five years in the number one spot before finally being retired.
How would Nintendo try to beat its prior success? A migration to the Game Boy hand held system held the answer. Gamers that loved version three would have to purchase a Game Boy in order to play this not-so-colorful Zelda game: Link's Awakening, in 1993. Although the hand held game might not have been the same as its console brethren in terms of success stories, it did set the stage for many future Zelda releases that would hit other consoles and other hand held gaming platforms.
Five years later (or six years, if you do not count hand held systems), the next Zelda game arrived. On November 23rd 1998, the Zelda series went into the third dimension (3D) with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on the Nintendo 64. Yet again, gamers would have to buy another console platform to play this Zelda hit. The powerhouse console was able to render Link in 3D to satisfy the new technology formats arriving at that time. "Within five months of its release, Ocarina of Time sold over five million copies, and a total of 8.6 million copies have been sold worldwide. It is widely regarded as one of the finest games ever made across any genre and platform." (Wikipedia) How is it that a 3D version of Zelda was a success, where the 2D side scroller just didn't cut the mustard? Perhaps people were now ready for a change, or perhaps, the storyline, awe inspiring graphics, and game play were still on par with the original.
Nintendo also published Majora's Mask for the Nintendo 64 two years later. This game took advantage of Nintendo's RAM Expansion Pack to improve graphic quality. This release was well received, but sat in the shadows of Ocarina of Time on the charts, due to Ocarina's ground breaking look and feel. The fact that Zelda's look and feel was re-used in Majora's Mask, and made even better with the Nintendo Expansion pack, did little to help Majora as it languished in Ocarina's shadow. Note, however, that without purchasing this Expansion Pack, one could not play Majora's Mask at all (other games that came later only used it to enhance the game graphics if one owned the product).
The Zelda series would go on and make two more games for the Game Boy Color in 2001: Oracle of Ages, and Oracle of Seasons. One would be more action based while the other more of a puzzle-based game. In 2003 (US release), Four Swords arrived on the Game Boy Advance. it was a multi-player only release, that appeared with the porting of the Nintendo 64's The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past hit. Four Swords never was released as a stand alone cartridge, and required you to buy the older Nintendo 64 ported hand-held version in order to play it.
The GameCube, Nintendo's 6th generation console, would be the setting for The Wind Waker. In 2003, this was the 10th Zelda game to be published and boosted the sales of the GameCube beyond the wildest of expectations. This release featured Link adventuring between islands using the wind and "magic" to get around to different water-locked lands. This release, again, had many creative puzzles, was mysterious, and included dark adventures. Some found the concept of sailing over the ocean tedious and annoying, while others found the creativity refreshing for the series. The graphics took a new route into "cel-shading," which gives it the cartoon/animation look and feel. At first, many feared that the graphic change would ruin the Zelda image, but it was a success, as usual, for Nintendo. IGN.com reported that The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker topped their chart with 560,000 pre-orders. That is not half bad for a game that was only seen by the general public in magazines and online photos up until that point.
Two years later, in 2005, Nintendo, tried to satisfy people's desires by publishing Four Swords Adventures on the GameCube. This was very similar to the original Game Boy Advance game of a similar name, but it would contain a single player mode. This was not a hit game, like many of the prior releases. However, the next hand held release, known as The Minish Cap, probably assisted in the Game Boy Advance sales boosts with its award winning release. The Minish Cap would take the 2005 GBA Game of the Year by GameSpot, GameSpy Editor's Choice, Game of the Year, and Adventure Game of the year. Not too shabby for a portable game.
What next? We sit and we wait. Nintendo's marketing power is stretching again to bring three more unique Zelda releases for the GameCube, Nintendo DS (hand-held), and Nintendo Wii. The next installment for the GameCube, confirmed for Fall of '06, is Twilight Princess. The Nintendo Wii will be producing Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess which again plans to inovate by making use of the new "wiimote" to control Link. Later in 2006, we should see Phantom Hourglass, a 3D cel-shaded installment similar to The Wind Waker but set to release only on the Nintendo DS hand-held system.
Besides the Mario and Luigi characters, Nintendo has relied on Link and his world to sell its console systems. Many people wait to buy a Nintendo console until they hear word of a Zelda game being produced. This might be why Nintendo has been so successful selling Zelda into all console designs including hand held gaming. If you take a look back at history, you will see a pattern: every great release of Zelda comes with a new console generation. The huge, flagship releases, are always successful and always debut on new Nintendo platforms. With the exception of Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, a hit Zelda game exists only once for each generation of console (perhaps until Twilight Princess arrives for the GameCube). Zelda II was not what all the fans truly wanted, and many other releases were ports to other, smaller devices, or bundle/puzzle games.
There is no denying that Nintendo knows what weapon they hold with The Legend of Zelda series. Now we must wait, and see if that weapon can shoot down the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 sales figures.
CodeMonkey
References:
http://www.wikipedia.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Ocarina_of_Time
http://www.nintendo.com
