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The Legend of Zelda is a fantasy action adventure series from the mind of Shigeru Miyamoto. Link is always the star of the game, and usually has to save Princess Zelda.

Overview
The basic Zelda logo
The basic Zelda logo

The Legend of Zelda is one of Nintendo's many well-known franchises. Most of the games are fantasy action-adventure games, usually in an top-down view or third-person. The franchise was created by Shigeru Miyamoto (of Mario fame) and Takashi Tezuka. Most of the games are developed and published by Nintendo, but a few are developed by Capcom's in-house development studios, and there were three titles on the Philips CD-i. Most of the games share gameplay, with puzzle-solving, action, adventure, some RPG elements, and sometimes some other aspects.

All games in the franchise center around Link (although it is rarely the same Link) saving the Princess Zelda (again, rarely the same Zelda), and fighting a menace, usually Ganondorf/Ganon or another monster akin to him. The games also typically take place in the fictional land of Hyrule, although it has been in other lands too. The Triforce is a key object that appears in nearly every Legend of Zelda game, which is an object that is built by the gods of Hyrule.

The Legend of Zelda franchise has sold around 52 million copies since the release of the original The Legend of Zelda. The series has fourteen games in all in the main series, although there have been various spin-offs and Japanese-only games, as well as some unofficial games on the CD-i (which are infamous for their bad quality). In addition, there was an animated series that ran for thirteen episodes in North America. The Legend of Zelda has also had various manga adaptions, but none of them have been produced in North America.

Games

Nintendo Entertainment System
The Legend of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda


The Legend of Zelda franchise started in 1987 when The Legend of Zelda was released by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The Legend of Zelda was a revolutionary game, not only with a new save system (unheard of in a console at the time), but also with the gameplay. The gameplay itself was in a free roaming world. The player could go and explore the land of Hyrule, without any restrictions (unlike the many linear games on the NES). Although, in classic Nintendo fashion, this game had a main quest, which was save the Princess Zelda from the evil king Ganon, and to restore the Triforce. An updated version of the game, titled BS Zelda no Densetsu, was later released only in Japan on the Satellaview (an attachment for the Super Famicom).

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
In the following year the game Zelda II: The Adventure of Link was released which is the only game to date that was in side-scrolling style 2D, and this game is considered by many Legend of Zelda fans to be the black sheep of the Legend of Zelda franchise.  However, the game did add several features that would become mainstays for the rest of the series, including the magic meter and the hammer. Zelda II also introduced some RPG elements, including experience points.

Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past


Only one Zelda game was released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (not counting Japanese only titles), The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. This game was a return to the traditional Legend of Zelda gameplay. This game refined the original in many ways. A Dark World was implemented, which Link could travel to and from. In this Dark World, monsters reigned, making Link's quest even more difficult. A new feature was also the Pieces of Heart scattered across Hyrule, which encouraged exploration. Pieces of Heart have been in every Legend of Zelda title since A Link to the Past. A Link to the Past is widely recognized as one of the greatest games of all time, and is considered one of the high points of the series. A Japanese loose "sequel" was released on the Sattelaview, titled BS Zelda no Densetsu Kodai no Sekiban. Later, A Link to the Past was released on the Game Boy Advance as The Legend of Zelda: A LInk to the Past / Four Swords. It included another game, Four Swords, which was a multiplayer based game.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Nintendo 64


The Nintendo 64 was Nintendo's first successful 3D system (the Virtual Boy was a commercial failure), and Nintendo fans was first treated with the amazing Super Mario 64 as a preview of what was to come for the green clothed hero. In 1998, it happened. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was released, and fans were treated to the time ground-breaking 3D graphics and a sheer scope that at the time was unheard of. Even though it looked like something totally new, the core was still there. The game retained many of the elements that made it popular in the first place. But perhaps the most important addition was the Ocarina (which had been in A LInk to the Past, but was expounded on in Ocarina of Time).

The Ocarina is an instrument that allowed the player to alter the setting in many ways (altering time, weather, etc.). Koji Kondo (a longtime composer for Nintendo) had conducted ten songs for this Ocarina. The most important innovation, however, was the revolutionary Z-targeting system which let you lock on to a single target and focus on fighting him. This proved to be the way to control third-person action games in 3D; the system was simple and easy to get into, and every 3D Legend of Zelda game since has contained the Z-targeting system. Ocarina of Time is considered by many the greatest game of all time. It holds the top spot on GameRankings.com and is highly revered by almost every gamer.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Two years later, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask was released. This game was not another adventure in Hyrule. Link had traveled to Termina , a place threatened by a moon that was going to fall on the residence of Termina and wipe out everyone. The biggest change, however, was the fact that there was a three day time limit to finish the game. On the third day, the moon would collide with Termina and the game would end. To prevent this, the Ocarina could be played to move from day to day. The game did not feature either Ganondorf or Zelda, which is rare for a Legend of Zelda game, but overall the game was well-received by fans and critics alike.

Ocarina of Time was later rereleased as a preorder incentive for The Wind Waker. This version comes with the previously unreleased Ura Zelda and Ocarina of Time Master Quest. Ocarina of Time was also included in the Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition on the GameCube.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

Nintendo GameCube and Nintendo Wii


At Nintendo's Spaceworld Expo 2000, the Nintendo GameCube was revealed, and along with it came a technical tease of a fight between Link and Ganondorf. The style was realistic, like Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. However, the following year a new trailer was released. This time the trailer was cel-shaded and stylized. Fans thought it was a wrong turn in the Legend of Zelda franchise. However, two years later they were all to be proven wrong by The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. The game featured perhaps the youngest Link yet, and a new world where Hyrule is covered in water, and the land is scattered across the Great Sea. There was one aspect of the The Wind Waker that was controversial, and that was the sailing. Epona was gone, and she was replaced with a talking sailboat. The boat was a requirement so that the player could go from island to island, but many gamers felt that the sailing took way too long. However, the game was well-received upon release, with critics and fans alike praising the game as one of the best Zelda games to date.

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures was the next game to be released in the franchise. It was based on the handheld game Four Swords on the Game Boy Advance. This was more of a spin-off game than an actual game in the Legend of Zelda series, with gameplay being level based and primarily multiplayer. There are 24 levels in all. To play in multiplayer, the players must connect to the Nintendo GameCube with a Game Boy Advance connect cable. This is fitting, because the graphics are in the same style as The Minish Cap.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
The next game would be announced at Nintendo's E3 2004 Press conference. Returning to a mature look, a realistic looking Link was seen fighting monsters. The game was a throwback to the Ocarina of Time days, and fans loved it. In 2006, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was released simultaneously with the Nintendo Wii launch on November 19th; however originally planned to be a GameCube game (and released on the GameCube), the Wii version is still considered a port. The game was everything fans hoped for, and featured the classic dark world and light world theme like the Super Nintendo days. Despite having some things that fans were a little unhappy about, Twilight Princess was still well-received.

Handheld Games
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening


Many Legend of Zelda games have been released on handheld systems. The first handheld Legend of Zelda game was released on June 6, 1993 as The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening on the Game Boy. The game featured traditional top-down Legend of Zelda gameplay. This time around, LInk was on Koholint Island (marking the first time a Legend of Zelda game took place outside of Hyrule). It introduced several new abilities for Link, including the ability to jump (which was utilized in side-scrolling portions akin to Zelda II). This was one of the few games to not have Princess Zelda, the Triforce, or Ganon in it. Link's Awakening was later released on the Game Boy Color as an enhanced version titled The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages
The next two Legend of Zelda handheld games were released simultaneously for the Game Boy Color. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons were both released in 2001. They were built to interact uniquely by passwords, making it so that in the respective game the player could unlock the true ending. It is notable that these two games were developed by Capcom's in-house development team, Flagship. Originally, there were going to be three games, but the password system proved to be too complex, so they scrapped the third title. Oracle of Ages is the more puzzle-oriented of the two, while Oracle of Seasons is more action-based (although Oracle of Ages is generally considered the better of the two).

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
In 2005, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap was released. This game is explaining the origins of not only Link's trademark green cap, but also the Four Swords. Ganon (or Ganondorf) do not appear in this game, but rather Vaati is the enemy. The gameplay is traditional Legend of Zelda gameplay. The Minish Cap also features the ability to shrink to Picori (incredibly small intelligent creatures) size, in which he can do pretty much the same things as when he is regularly sized, except on a much smaller scale.

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass was released in 2007 for the Nintendo DS. It is a direct sequel to the Wind Waker, so naturally it has the same cel-shaded graphics. Phantom Hourglass is the same top-down view as other Legend of Zelda games, but there is a catch. Phantom Hourglass is controlled completely with the touch screen. For this, it was commended, making it not only one of the best handheld Legend of Zelda games, but one of the best handheld titles of 2007. Phantom Hourglass also attempts to make the controversial sailing from the Wind Waker more interesting, by making islands closer together and making enemies more common. A direct sequel the game has been announced, titled The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.

Other Games
Link: The Faces of Evil
Link: The Faces of Evil


Three Legend of Zelda games were released on the Philips CD-i. Philips and Nintendo had a deal to create a CD peripheral for the SNES, and as part of the deal, Nintendo gave Philips access to their first-party titles. When the deal fell apart, Philips still had these licenses, and so they created several CD-i games based on Nintendo's franchises. The Legend of Zelda had three titles: Link: The Faces of Evil, Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon, and Zelda's Adventure. These games are all considered to be the worst of the franchise, are not even considered canon, and many fans disregard the fact that they are in the series. The Faces of Evil and The Wand of Gamelon was a side-scrolling adventure and platformer. Zelda's Adventure was more traditional to the Legend of Zelda gameplay, but didn't execute it as well as other games in the franchise. The games are infamous for their incredibly cheesy and over-acted cutscenes.

Link's Crossbow Training
Link's Crossbow Training
Link's Crossbow Training is a spin-off in the Twilight Princess world. It was packaged with the Wii Zapper. There are various modes and gameplay options, including a multiplayer mode. In all, there are nine playable levels, each based off an environment from Twilight Princess (and filled with enemies from that particular area). The player is ranked on the performance in the level with a letter grade. Some levels are nothing but a boss battle, while others have Link facing off against waves of enemies, and yet others have Link shooting targets.

Freshly-Picked: Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland
Freshly-Picked: Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland
Tingle, a minor character in the Legend of Zelda series, is unusually popular in Japan, causing him to star in a few of his own games. Freshly-Picked: Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland is an RPG starring Tingle for the Nintendo DS. It was also released in Europe. The game is based all around money, and is known for being punishingly difficult. A sequel has been announced for the game, titled Color-Changing Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love (also for the Nintendo DS). Tingle's Balloon Fight DS is another title starring Tingle. It is only available to Japanese Platinum Club Nintendo members, and is essentially a remake of Balloon Fight, except with Tingle as the main character.

The Legend of Zelda in Other Media


The Legend of Zelda TV Show


The Legend of Zelda was a TV show loosely based off of the games (more specifically, the first two games on the NES). The TV show was produced by DiC Entertainment and ran for thirteen episodes on Fox through September 8, 1989 and December 1, 1989. The show was not very well-received, with IGN giving the DVD release of the show a three, citing poor acting and dialogue, and general repetitiveness. This bad quality is come to be somewhat of a joke among fans, especially Link's catchphrase in the show, "Excuuuuuuse me, princess," which he repeats 49 times during the thirteen episodes.

The show's premise involved Link and Princess Zelda defending the Triforce of Wisdom from the evil wizard Ganon. Each episode is some evil plot that Ganon has  cooked up to try and capture the Triforce (for the ultimate goal of conquering all of Hyrule). Other minor characters included a fairy named Sprite and the king (Zelda's father). Throughout the series, there is a minor sub-plot of Link trying to get a kiss from Zelda, and always failing (usually because the two are interrupted). Several other characters and enemies from the game appear, including Moblins, Octoroks, Gohma, Aquamentus, Keese, and Ropes. In addition, weapons from the game make appearances, including boomerangs, bows, and Link's sword and shield.

Episodes

  1. The Ringer (September 8, 1989)
  2. Cold Spells (September 15, 1989)
  3. The White Knight (September 22, 1989)
  4. Kiss 'n' Tell (September 29, 1989)
  5. Sing for the Unicorn (October 6, 1989)
  6. That Sinking Feeling (October 13, 1989)
  7. Doppelganger (October 20, 1989)
  8. Underworld Connections (October 27, 1989)
  9. Stinging a Stinger (November 3, 1989)
  10. A Hitch in the Works (November 10, 1989)
  11. Fairies in the Spring (November 17, 1989)
  12. The Missing Link (November 24, 1989)
  13. The Moblins Are Revolting (December 1, 1989)

Manga and comics


The Legend of Zelda has had a considerable amount of manga and comic books. Games that have had manga adaptations include The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages/Seasons, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Of note in these adaptations are a possible origin for the Majora's Mask, a plot revealing Agahnim (from A Link to the Past) as a friend of Link's father, but otherwise the manga adaptations generally followed the plot of the games.

In North America, Valiant Comics did a comic book adaptation of the series. The comic series expanded the land of Hyrule, and didn't cover a specific game. The comic ran for two volumes with five issues in each volume. The comic book introduced one character (Captain Krin), and named a previously unnamed character (King Harkinian, named only in The Wind Waker as King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule, but known as merely the King of Hyrule in other games).

Trivia

  • The Wii version of Twilight Princess was a mirror of the Gamecube version. Because Link is traditionally left-handed, everything in the Wii version was reflected in order for Link to hold his sword in his right hand, corresponding to the righthandedness of the majority of people who would play the game, which was the first in the series to use motion sensing.

The Legend of Zelda games
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Name: The Legend of Zelda
Total games: 25 games
First game: The Legend of Zelda
Aliases:
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