The Legend of Zelda. The Original. For NE-stinkin'-S.

[Pike]

I'm pretty sure I was about five years old when I first played this game and I hadn't the faintest idea what I was doing. I died a lot and I didn't really understand how I was really supposed to play it. I played it a lot anyway, but I wouldn't really appreciate this game until much later when I was older. Basically this is a delightful little no-nonsense hack n' slash game where the entire point is just to stab guys with your sword, collect rupees, and explore. That's it. And it is GLORIOUS.

Let's discuss this game and please don't tell me you guys are too young to have played it

[Shauna]

We have it on the virtual console on the 3DS. I have not played it. Should really do so one day!

[Pike]

Seriously, only one reply to this thread so far?

[Flying Mullet]

You are absolutely correct. It is GLORIOUS! The first time I played it I got stuck on the third labyrinth because I couldn't defeat the knight guys that you can't stab from the front, thus I couldn't get the raft and couldn't proceed further. I kept trying to find other ways to advance the game without clearing out that room but to no avail.

[Pumpkin]

I played it a long time ago when I was really little. I don't remember much.

My son is playing it

[The Man]

Earlier this year I played both quests of this game four times in about a month. I still wasn't bored of it by the end, but decided to play all the other 2D Zelda games first (there were several others I had never played).

There's also a ROM hack of this game called Outlands which is pretty good.

interesting fact: all the rooms in the dungeons of a given quest will fit into a 16x16 grid. Observe here.

[Formalhaut]

I played it a long time ago when I was really little. I don't remember much.

My son is playing it

I want a Yerushalmi style Let's Play of that one day.

[Slothy]

I've played it, but never the whole thing. Perhaps we need an EoFF plays for this game.

[Bolivar]

On NES I was only able to find and complete the first dungeon. From there, the game completely lost me.

Most of my experience seeing the game has been on ROM. I once used a guide that got me a bunch of weapons, hearts, the blue tunic and the master sword before completing the first dungeon. I'm still pretty impressed with how nonlinear and exploration-focused the game is (the first Metal Gear is very similar).

I really wish Nintendo would release this as a 3D Classic!!!

[Aulayna]

I played it on this:



Along with the very, very bad port of Majora's Mask which crashed all the time.

[Raistlin]

I played it a little bit many years ago, but like others I never finished it. Maybe I'll go back to it one day, because I love games where you can explore to your heart's content.

[CimminyCricket]

I played it on this:



Along with the very, very bad port of Majora's Mask which crashed all the time.

I have this too!
I don't like that it'll crash on me when I play it. :C

[Venom65437]

Played and beat it on the NES way back in the day for the first time. It was so different from any other game I had played before. It took forever because I didn't know what to do and had no map! I can still go back and play this game any time!

[Del Murder]

Seriously, only one reply to this thread so far?

You post a thread in the wee hours of a Saturday morning and are surprised no one replied to it a few hours later?

I love the original Zelda. In fact, objectively, I feel it is the greatest video game of all time. It's kind of like the Gone With the Wind of video games. Sure, plenty of better games came later, but for what it did during it's time is truly amazing.

This game has aged incredibly well and I could play it now and still be amazed with the depth of it. The fact that the first playthrough is so great, and then there is a second quest with new dungeon design and increased difficulty is just the icing on the cake.

My favorite part is probably all the secrets and treasures scatted across the map. Upgrading Link's sword gives me such a great sense of satisfaction.

[Sephex]

It's a game that bigger developers don't have the balls to make anymore. Not that I mind story in my game, and the original isn't even my favorite Zelda, but I love the fact that the game just starts and you can go do whatever right away. No intro scene, no blocked off sections (not counting areas you need items for), no artificial padding. It's a fun video game that let's the player decide how to handle every objective without muddling the screen with tips or giving any indication of where to go WITHOUT have the player feel helpless.