Happy Birthday Zelda! 20 years old today
by Conrad Quilty-Harper 
{ Feb 21st 2006 at 12:30AM }
The Legend of
Zelda was first released on the Famicon in Japan on February 21st, 1986, twenty years ago today. Defying
categorization at the time of its release, it included elements from puzzle, action-adventure and role-playing games
and featured an innovative save-game feature when previously games had used password based systems. When Twilight
Princess is eventually released, there will be a total of ten core games in the Zelda franchise.What's your most memorable encounter with Link and his quest to save Princess Zelda from the clutches of evil Ganon?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Byron Huskey @ Feb 21st 2006 12:41AM
Besides the entire Ocarina of Time experience (or playing TP at E3 for an hour), I'd have to say it'd be playing Link to the Past with my mom, and her kicking Ganon's ass with the silver arrows. Go Mom!
Sloopydrew @ Feb 21st 2006 12:42AM
Half that time was spent developing Twilight Princess.
bd @ Feb 21st 2006 12:42AM
My most memorable moment is when ArtGuy comes and debunks this bullshit because everyone know that it was some obscure console that introduced us to action-adventure-RPG games, save features, and both together. Where is he when he's most needed?
Armin @ Feb 21st 2006 12:47AM
I remember when I got Ocarina of Time for my N64. Was 14-15 then, and I remeber skipping school just to play the game. I would call in sick for over two weeks.
That's the sort of impact it had on me. No games today make you wanna skip school/work.
Maybe Twillight Princess :)
geves @ Feb 21st 2006 12:47AM
happy birthday link.
now get out of my house and get a job. your 20 years old for crying out loud. time to accept some responsibility.
Enigma @ Feb 21st 2006 12:53AM
"That's the sort of impact it had on me. No games today make you wanna skip school/work."
Or maybe your just older!
Jago @ Feb 21st 2006 12:54AM
I was 18 I think when OoT came out and was living in boredom central (aka Phoenix, AZ) for school and I too ditched school for 2 days.
To this day that has been the ONLY game that has made me do that...except now if I were to do that I would have to take a sick day from work. Of course...I may do that when the Revolution comes out...decision...decisions...
Ike @ Feb 21st 2006 12:56AM
I seem to recal more then 10
The Legend of Zelda - NES
Zelda II, Adventures of Link - NES
Link to the Past - SNES
Link to the past/Four Swords - GBA
Minish Cap - GBA
Majora's Mask - N64
Ocarina of Time - N64
Ocarina of Time Master Quest - GC
Four Swords Adventure - GC
Wind Waker - GC
Oracle of Ages - GB
Oracle of Seasons - Gb
Links awakening DX - GB
Anthony Lainez @ Feb 21st 2006 1:02AM
Man The best memory of A Legend of Zelda game would have to be when my Aunt bougt me A Link to the past back then. I cried cause I thought the game was stupid and just not a Mario game. it all changed when I finally figured out how to use the Peguses shoes? and got the Book from that Shelf.. from there it took me a year to beat that game with my friends helping me to solve puzzles and giving me good advice.. I was soo happy when I beat the game.. Still One of my Fave Zeldas of all time.
vidGuy @ Feb 21st 2006 1:04AM
Wow, Link is 4 days older than me! Yes, my 20th is on Saturday.
Most memorable... I guess the whole OoT experience was the greatest. It was the first LoZ game I played to the end. I've since gone back and beat a couple of the older ones, but I still keep a N64 around to play OoT every once in a while. I think I've beat it 4 times now.
I can't wait for TP... it's the only game I'm looking forward to. And I for one expect it to top OoT; just wait, the delays will be worth it.
MyNameisGame @ Feb 21st 2006 1:08AM
I must say that my best Zelda experience is that I never seem to get bored with cutting grand and breaking those stones.
The Minish Cap is definitely a gem in it's own right. I litteraly kept on pressing select to see what that cap had to say this time :)
BLANKartist @ Feb 21st 2006 1:09AM
Ah yes, Ocarina of Time. I remember spending my 2 weeks vacation over Christmas in a basement playing my little heart out. What a wicked game. After a year or so of the Xbox, I just picked up a GameCube and am thoroughly enjoying Windwalker (alhtough I don't have the time anymore, so I cheat with a walkthrough). :P
MyNameisGame @ Feb 21st 2006 1:13AM
Grand = Grass
--edit---
Stagger @ Feb 21st 2006 1:14AM
When I got A Link to the Past I was about 5 or 6...so I would role play in the game, pretend Link was a home owner...would go to his house throw pots into the cooking pot in the room like I was cooking...and then pull on it so it looked like Link was pissing into it (and struggling haha)...Yeah I had a weird imagination.
I remember trying to hit the guy you get the bottle from outside of the desert with rocks to leave me alone, thinking the rocks falling on Death Mt. were giant terds, spending long amounts of time humping my dying uncle right in the beginning, and of course beating the crap out of cukoos to get them to swarm you and lag the hell out my SNES. Aw, good times =)
Jago @ Feb 21st 2006 1:21AM
I actually never finsihed OoT...I could never make it past the Water Temple.
/hangs head in shame
I never made it past the Ice Temple (in Dark Realm) in Link to the Past
/hides under desk
80s @ Feb 21st 2006 1:23AM
Does anybody else still have the Zelda theme stuck in their heads?
Jago @ Feb 21st 2006 1:28AM
Heads?
Hell I have it on my cell phone (along with a couple Super Mario Bros tones.)
:-)
Noah @ Feb 21st 2006 1:54AM
wooo zelda has the same birthday as me
go me
Crosswayboy @ Feb 21st 2006 1:54AM
I remember swapping Zelda information on the playground at recess back in elementary school with the other kids. There was one kid who had beat it and everybody else looked up to him.
Mike A @ Feb 21st 2006 2:08AM
Dude you gave him -1 stars for not beating the water temple? Thats low...
Gonzo @ Feb 21st 2006 2:16AM
Poor bastard can't even legally drink yet. Do they know that on xplay?
Happy Birthday Link, maybe in another 20 yrs we can finally play Twilight Princess.
geves @ Feb 21st 2006 2:42AM
gonzo did you forget the rules of the internet?
11. thou shalt not mention horrible television programming in the same breath as an icon (in this case link)
Will @ Feb 21st 2006 3:18AM
Haha Jago I never made it out of either of those places too, it was a sad day when my sister beat OOT and I was still stuck in the water temple :P
The ZeroCorpse @ Feb 21st 2006 3:28AM
My best memory of Link/Zelda:
When I turned off that boring game on my NES and turned on Ys Book I & II on my TG16-CD instead.
And then never, ever played another Japanese style RPG again.
(well, I tried a few, but they always suck, so I give up.)
Jago @ Feb 21st 2006 3:39AM
That's nice...you can leave now.
Jas @ Feb 21st 2006 4:25AM
"Poor bastard can't even legally drink yet. Do they know that on xplay?"
Links not American, Hes British! and has been drinking since 18, thats why the whole world was wierd looking in Wind Waker, he was permanently drunk, think hes off the booze for Twilight Princess.
The Ocarina of Time was the best gaming experience ive ever had, and for the guy who got stuck on the water temple, you should cut off your right hand and never lift a pad again, that was the best puzzle EVER, amazing level design.
Probot @ Feb 21st 2006 4:56AM
"... and turned on Ys Book I & II on my TG16-CD instead.
And then never, ever played another Japanese style RPG again."
That funny. Ys seems like a pretty prime example of a Japanese-style RPG, while Zelda is less so.
@Ike #8,
I don't think Link's Awakening DX, Four Swords for the GBA, or Ocarina of Time Master Quest count as part of the "main series." Hence the 10 mentioned in the post.
My most memorable Zelda moment would have to be playing Ocarina of Time and changing to the adult Link for the first time. Or maybe learning to shop lift in Link's Awakening...and then finding out what happens when you go back in the shop. Either way, I've never played a bad Zelda game.
Kajex @ Feb 21st 2006 6:10AM
First memorable moment in Zelda history?
...
Falling 500 feet from a ledge as adult Link, and laughing my head off at the voice-over as he hits the ground...
"WWAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! *hits groun* ai... ji... x______x"
... Or the time I messed around with the Chickens.
"*thwack!* >=D"
"*crows!*"
"o.o;?"
"*Alfred Hitchcock*"
"o______o *flee*"
...
Or knocking off the fisherman's hat.
"... >.> =D *lets it fly.*"
"^_^ *whistles and idles.*"
"*knocks off hat.* o.o! XD XD XD"
"o.o? *looks around.* O_____O;!?"
Can't forget those mysterious poems in Link's Awakening.
"... wtf? What the heck does that mean? O.o; 'Both end the same way- CRASH'? o.o;; wtf?"
My favoritest moment?
Endgame of OOT.
The scene after Ganon's palace falls, when you hear a noise from the rubble, and Zelda gasps. I always do this, for dramatic effect.
I walk. Slowly. I don't run. I walk slowly towards the center, as if cautiously looking to see. I turn back looking at Zelda. And I keep going.
And then it happens.
Ganondorf pops out from the rubble, looking uber-pissed-as-hell, and morphs into Ganon, an entity much larger than you are. Whereupon I discovered that Deku Nuts can also damage him. I use every weapon I have to defeat him, including the Nuts, the Ice, Fire and Light Arrows, Bombs, Longshot, Hammer, Sword And Goron Knife.
Loved it. To death.
keybladeboy777 @ Feb 21st 2006 7:13AM
Happy Birthday Zelda and Crew. In honor of The Legend of Zelda, we will have a toast. *glasses clinking* Cheers!
Kye @ Feb 21st 2006 7:47AM
The first day I got that game I said to myself "I'll try it to see what it's like... I'll stop playing as soon as I get board" ...
That was in the afternoon... the sun had already risen the next day when I forced myself to go to bed from exhaustion! And you can bet your sweet birthday presents I was up in a few hours playing it again.
Back at college a group of us always waited for each other at the end of the day to catch the same bus...
That all changed when i discovered OoT.
From then on it was "Screw everybody else! Must get home asap!!" One night I even got so absorbed in the walk-thru that I missed my stop coming home and got lost! lol.
Often after a stressful day I would come home and just go fishing for a good long while. The trick was to swim to the floating logs in the middle of the lake and be very, very patient. Then when the really big fish bit you had to wear them out, not use brute force. This could take well over 20 mins with one fish!
Ooops... sorry, you guys got me started...
:)
Happy Birthday Link! Probably the greatest Game Hero Ever!
Jay @ Feb 21st 2006 8:13AM
Nobodies going to spot my message or pretty much anyone else here, its just going to be a Gaussian blur of Zelda loving. Let me add to that blur.
I've only completed OoT and Links Awakening. I keep forgetting that I'm not stuck on Link to the Past anymore so I'll play that later, I can't beat that final boss on Minish Cap, I don't want to complete Zelda 1 (just so there's always something to do) and I have to collect all the triforce pieces in WW. Haven't played the rest yet.
It is the best gaming series bar-non. It's just perfect in every way; adventure, humour, difficulty, fun. Everything is pefect. it really is our defining game in the first years of computer gaming.
Be amazing to see (or not) in hundreds of years time, or thousands. Will Zelda still be going? Will there be history lessons devoted to it, where one lone guy says "Right! We're making a new Zelda based on the legends!".
Zelda. The only game with true gameplay.
Spamalot @ Feb 21st 2006 8:23AM
The 2D Zeldas are the real heirs to the crown IMHO.
Minnish Cap, WW (Wut Wut)
--
Spamalot
www.squatsquat.com
A @ Feb 21st 2006 8:26AM
there are plenty of great moments in my history with zelda... but nothing was as impressive as turning on zelda II and seeing the lone sword on the cliff. it was so understated. i was hooked in an instant.
Josh @ Feb 21st 2006 8:35AM
I'm glad someone remembered that today was the 20th anniversary. I just realized yesterday while perusing the web when I saw the release date for the original game. My sister's birthday is today, too, but she wasn't born the same year Zelda was released.
In any case, my best memory? Let's see...Probably playing A Link to the Past almost every day for my entire childhood, making it my favorite game of all-time, watching my dad play the original, and being so excited when he first let me play when I was two or three years old or something like that, and first experiencing all the mystery of Ocarina of Time, exploring its large world, and just generally enjoying the excellent 3D transition the series underwent with that game.
I think it's pretty cool that Twilight Princess, the last Zelda game as we know the series to be released, is coming out in the 20th year of the series, meaning the next 20 years could be with an all new Zelda.
bran @ Feb 21st 2006 8:40AM
Man. I feel old. Well, just a few years older than Link anyway. My most MEMORABLE moment is actually with the original NES game. I was around 4 or 5 and would watch my uncle (and my mom, and my grandpa) play religiously, and I played a little, but not with very much skill. There was just this certian mythic quality to see hidden rooms, doors underneath trees, explodable walls, etc. I would constantly have dreams (and nightmares) were everyday objects suddenly opened up into hidden passages. Even know when I think back to some of the 'secrets' I witnessed, I remember them in bold clarity, though they seemed a lot more vivid when I was a kid.
Since then, I've played and beaten every zelda that has come out so far. Oracale of Seasons/Ages was the most difficult, by far. The water temple has nothing on those games. Zelda II holds a close second, only because even at MAXIMUM power, you're still not all that strong compared to the enemies at Ganon's Tower.
Though I have to say, walking into Gerudo Valley (actually getting across the bridge) for the first time is a pretty amazing memory too.
starburst @ Feb 21st 2006 8:47AM
AHH Zelda OOT that was the best! especially the last stage when you had to fight Ganon whilst escaping out of the castle, that was so hectic!!..I loved it :)
GlitchCog @ Feb 21st 2006 8:53AM
When I got WindWaker I would go into the physics lab at my college and play it on the classroom data projector all night long. Then I'd fall asleep right there in the early hours of the morning and wait for class to begin.
Wasting college resources on Zelda to justify paying so much in tuition made the game even more enjoyable.
Spencer @ Feb 21st 2006 9:20AM
I've beaten quite a few of them, a few times each. I've beaten:
A Link to the Past (On SNES and GBA...don't have the SNES one anymore)
Link's Awakening
Ocarina of Time
Majora's Mask
Minish Cap (Borrowed from a friend)
Wind Waker
Four Swords
Four Swords Adventures
And they're ALL fun. Every last one. Although, the last two really depend on the other people with whom you play them.
My most memorable Zelda moment? Watching the beginning of Ocarina. It seemed so disconnected from the Zelda games before it. Until, of course, you get further along.
On a side note, Wind Waker has the BEST GANON FIGHT EVAR. (Yes, it's Ganon. He's post-Ganon-ified, so he's Ganon now.)
Morder @ Feb 21st 2006 9:45AM
I guess I'll just have to go against the grain here and say that Majora's Mask is probably my favorite Zelda game. I loved all the collecting. The story was great...just great times. I remember when I first bought it and thought I actually had 72 real hours to beat it...thank god that was wrong...
DCSimian @ Feb 21st 2006 9:46AM
Best Zelda moment...hmmm....*ponders for a moment...*
When playing a Link to the Past, I had collected the three pendant thingys and went to go awaken the Master Sword...that had epic written all over it...I was dazed. On a more pathetic note, I couldn't figure out how to get into the first dungeon, where you had to walk underneath the brush or whatever...so I ended up calling the Nintendo Hotline...yes...I went there.
Never did beat that game...hmmm.
I think the most awe-inspiring moment was my first sword fight in Ocarina of time with the Lizalfos dudes...that was some intense stuff. It was close to perfect...the camera angles, the mechanics, the dramatic finishes...hot damn that was amazing stuff. I was hooked.
TGF @ Feb 21st 2006 9:46AM
Too crazy. I decided to plug in the old NES and beat the second quest for the first time last week. Some old unfinished business. It was good.
Darry @ Feb 21st 2006 9:59AM
Can someone make a montage of Links adventures! or point me to one pls!
bbxboy @ Feb 21st 2006 10:13AM
I'm 35 with (wee) kids, and I just bought a Gameboy Advance SP and The Minish Cap so I'd have something to play on a plane trip. I had forgotten how intensely addictive 2D Zelda was, and it pops you right into that Zelda world you know and love right from the get-go - the music, the sound cues, the quests... it's everything you love about Zelda sitting in your pocket - amazing! My Xbox360 is gathering some serious dust right now =p
jakk of guildofIV @ Feb 21st 2006 10:46AM
thats interesting cuz its my birthday too!
boylie @ Feb 21st 2006 10:46AM
My favourite moment was in OoT, in the water temple. When you walked into that one room and it was just like this foggy haze with the tree in the middle. I just played through the game again the other day and that moment is still amazing. Its crazy how much this game manages to impress me, even today, despite it's age...
chainsaw @ Feb 21st 2006 10:56AM
i still have a map i made of the 8th dungeon in the original zelda game. it's just a bunh of arrows showing how to get from the front door to the red ring to the silver arrow, and then to ganon. when i beat that game, i took a picture of the tv screen. i have to say that was my most exciting gaming moment.
JEG @ Feb 21st 2006 11:00AM
Nobody has mentioned the horrible television rap commercial for the original Zelda..."Tek-Tek-Tektites!"
;-)
The ZeroCorpse @ Feb 21st 2006 11:20AM
Like I said, I played through Ys Book I & II, and THEN never played a whole Japanese RPG after that.
I just didn't get the appeal of Zelda-- Running around with a sword that shoots out at enemies, looking for caves-- It was so dull!
I lied, though. I did play the first Zelda on GBC for a few days. I could never get all the way into it, though. It just seemed so repetitive. Walk here, kill that, walk there, kill this, cut weeds, get gems, talk to this guy, kill that thing, repeat. Granted, I enjoyed it more than any of the Final Fantasy games that I tried, but to me Zelda has never stacked up against games like the Ultima series, Wizardry series, Gold Box AD&D series, Icewind Dale, Baldur's Gate (PC), and even the old Phantasie series. Hell, even Rogue was more involved than the original Zelda!
I think the cuteness/super-deformed thing is what gets people to fall in love with Zelda. Some people just love their fantasy RPGs to look like Hello Kitty, I guess.
Linkman @ Feb 21st 2006 12:42PM
http://www.flashplayer.com/music/lozprincesoftheuniverse_movie.php#bottom/
Check it out! Zelda rules!
DCSimian @ Feb 21st 2006 12:51PM
Holy crap! I totally forgot about that room in the Water Temple, where you fight...well, you know (don't want to spoil for the few that may not have gotten there yet). That fight was intense and the mood the room had set was fantastic!
I think in Wind Waker, in Hyrule Castle...my eyes about fell out...simple, but oh so effective.