Ever since I played the Legend of Zelda on the NES years ago, I have been hooked on the series. I have loved playing every Zelda game that Nintendo has released throughout the years. Even though I was skeptical of the Wind Waker when it was first announced, I was still was one of the first people to pick it up, and I am really ecstatic about this latest game that Nintendo showed at E3 this year. When I heard that Nintendo was re-releasing many of its classic NES games, I was very happy to hear that The Legend of Zelda would be one of them. Does this game still captivate me, just like it did so many years ago? Read on to find out!

Here is the storyline for the game that started it all: The world was in an age of chaos. The evil wizard, Ganon, and his dark army have captured the Triforce of Power. Princess Zelda, knowing that she and her kingdom that held the Triforce of Wisdom, was in danger, split the Triforce into eight pieces and spread them across the land of Hyrule. Zelda than sent her servant, Impa, to search for a hero who could challenge and defeat Ganon. During her search, Ganon’s army attacked her, and than out of nowhere a young boy saved her from certain death. His name is Link, and it is up to him to save the land of Hyrule from Ganon and restore peace once more.

The Legend of Zelda is one of the very first action RPG’s to really make it mainstream. The adventure will take players through the world of Hyrule, finding different weapons, keys, dungeons, money, and anything else needed to complete this game. What really helped make this game standout was the variety of environments players went though. There are deserts, ocean, forest, mountains, prairies, and many other locations to fight through. Also all of the dangerous dungeons have their own unique theme.

The game plays out like this: you go into a new location; there will be several enemies to fight with. They can be defeated using any one of Links weapons, but the best one to use is usually the sword. Than go visit other places defeating more enemies, gathering money to buy upgrades to some of your weapons. After that, you must make it to a dungeon, then figure out the maze and try to defeat the boss and gather a piece of the Triforce. Then you exit the dungeon and repeat the process all over again. While I am making it sound repetitive, it really is not as the enemies and dungeon layouts are all varied, and the way to defeat enemies depends on what weapon you are using.

Another thing that made this game so special was all of the secrets hidden throughout the world. You could accidentally place a bomb on a mountain trying to defeat an enemy then boom - you might uncover a secret cavern loaded with goodies. The enemies in the game, especially the boss, get progressively harder as the game goes on. The first few dungeons are pretty easy and can be beaten within a short time, but later on, especially the last levels, will throw you for a loop, and you will die many times before you finally figure out the secret and beat that level.

Just like Super Mario Brothers, the Legend of Zelda looks almost exactly like its NES counterpart. The only problem is that since the GBA screen is not as high vertically as TV’s are, there is a little compression found. This is not a huge deal, and most of you will hardly even notice it. Other than that, it is just as accurate as the original game.

The sound is as memorable as always. I just love hearing the classic sound effects, such as swing of the sword, collecting rubies, and finding the fairies. The classic music is in the game as well, from the over world, to hidden caves levels, and even the dungeons! Just hearing this music will give you a strong case of nostalgia while playing it.

The Legend of Zelda is rated E for Everyone!

Gameplay: 9.3
This is classic Zelda gameplay, you just have to love it!

Graphics: 8.3
This game looks almost 100% like the NES original, which is a good thing!

Sound: 9.5
All of the classic Zelda sounds are restored perfectly in this GBA offering.

Difficulty: Medium
This game was one of the most challenging things I have even played year ago, and today it still took me a while to beat the game.

Concept: 8.9
Many other games have copied The Legend of Zelda’s action RPG formula, but none of them come close to the original.

Multiplayer: N/A

Overall: 9.0
The Legend of Zelda was one of the best games to be released on the NES years ago, and even though it is over fifteen years old, it still retains the fun factor as it did back then. I highly suggest you all pick up this game to see how the Zelda games got their start you will not regret it!