February 21, 1986. That's 25 years ago this Monday, the day when, in Japan, Link took up his very first sword. The original Legend of Zelda launched in that country on that day, and no one at the time could have predicted what else was being launched simultaneously -- an entire series. A franchise, one of the most popular and beloved in the history of the gaming industry. It's The Legend of Zelda's 25th Anniversary, friends, and it's time to give this great game its well-deserved recognition.
Now, this year is huge for the Zelda franchise already. We've already been calling it "The Year of Zelda" around here, and 2011 will be home to two major new releases for the storied series - the 3D remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for Nintendo's new 3DS, and the highly-anticipated The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for the Wii. Those games will be incredible, no doubt, and you can look forward to much more coverage on them - and the entire Zelda franchise - as the year rolls on. But, today, that's not exactly where we're going.
Today is all about The Legend of Zelda - meaning Zelda 1. The first one. It's the game whose anniversary it is, after all, and the one who laid the foundation for the entire franchise to follow. And that's exactly what we'll highlight through the rest of this feature. In honor of the game turning 25, we're going to present 25 different ways that Link's original adventure through Hyrule set the stage for all the sequels to come. The innovations and achievements that set it apart as a true classic - the elements it contained that are still being turned to today, in the series' more modern installments. By the end of the list, we hope you'll have a renewed appreciation for this Nintendo masterpiece. And maybe even be convinced to go back and play through it again - or, maybe, for the first time.
To give your brain a bit of assistance in keeping up with all of this, too, we're going to divide things into five separate categories. The Enemies, The Items, The Gameplay, The Presentation, and our first category that we'll jump into right now.
contiune reading here
can't believe it's been that many years.
