The Legend of Zelda Review
The Legend of Zelda was an amazing game, continues to be now and I suspect will be in the future. It feels like a game that shouldn't have been able to be made, it feels like a game that would need constrictions to function, yet its gameplay and mechanics synthesize almost seamlessly with its open world. Open world is a word used a lot these days, but Zelda almost seemed to forget where it began after the first game and the real world seemed to forget after A Link to the Past until more recent times. The Legend of Zelda is more open, more mysterious and perhaps more immersive than any Zelda game afterwards, with the few, subjective, exceptions.
Zelda's graphics are primitive, even for NES standards, yet engrossing and charming. Coming early on in the systems life, the graphics are tame, yet have the personality of thirty different NES games from lesser developers. Despite the fact that there seem to be many old men and women in this world with the same get-up, it doesn't feel lazy it feels mystical, mysterious and... I guess objectively resourceful.
Sound is once again primitive, but portrays the adventurous tone of the game perfectly. The dungeons feel dangerous, it is a place you have no business in and yet, ride on. The over-world is less dangerous and more to the point, this is the main world, this encompasses everywhere you will need to go to save the princess. The intro braces you for the adventure that is to come. Not ear-gratingly treble-heavy, not bass heavy, sonically and analytically, The Legend of Zelda sounds great but this game resonates emotionally, the music accentuates the feelings you already have exploring this world.
This game feels great, Link is responsive and has two methods of attack, you can either attack with your sword, or use an extra item to inflict damage. Oh by the way you don't even have to pick the sword up at the start of the game so even that is technically optional. This game is simple in execution and works almost flawlessly, whether you feel Link is a bit stiff is on you but in a world where moving both left and down at the same time was almost unheard of, The Legend of Zelda excels in game play.
I didn't play The Legend of Zelda until I was 19 years old, it was also the year I first completed it and have been obsessed with it and consequently, the series ever since. The original is just a world of wonder, a place where I am never restricted, a place that doesn't really tell me in-game that I am the savior of the world and all this stuff, I'm kinda just a kid in the woods fighting things and finding my way to becoming the hero of the world, it almost feels like coincidence that in the end, I beat the villain of this world. The Legend of Zelda is all of your childhood dreams, except this time it isn't a dream.
