Why the Legend of Zelda is the Greatest Video Game

Gameinformer magazine recently named the original Legend of Zelda video game as the greatest of all time. As Zelda is my favorite game, I was pleasantly surprised. How does a game from 1987 stand the test of time in an ever changing medium like video games? Here's how an 8-bit hero named Link kept our attention and found a place in gamers' hearts.

Innovations in the Legend of Zelda
When it comes to Zelda there is a long list of "firsts." The Legend of Zelda was the first game to have a saving battery device in it. Each player could add their name and save their progress in one of the three slots. If you used the name "Zelda," another version of the game was unlocked. All the dungeons and caves were in different places in the map. This added greatly to the replay value. Before the internal battery, most games either had to played through and beaten without turning off the console or there was a very long pass code that needed to be entered every time you wanted to pick up where you left off. If you copied the pass code wrong, you were out of luck.

Another innovation was the non-linear approach to the way the player explored the map. Before the Legend of Zelda, games were side scrolling. The player was led from mission to mission. There was no ability to wander around freely in the map. With Zelda, for the first time, players were able to explore Hyrule on their own. What sort of things could a player do in Hyrule? This leads to another first, the ability to collect and use a variety of items freely. As Link, you could bomb the side of a mountain and find a new cave. You could use the candle to burn a bush and find treasure or a new dungeon. The secrets in Zelda added richness and depth to the game.

The Lasting Impact of the Legend of Zelda
In latest issue of Gameinformer, out of the best 200 games, 7 of them are Legend of Zelda titles. Even though 22 years has past since the original's release, the Legend of Zelda is the standard for what an action/adventure game should be. Never has a gaming franchise combined fighting, puzzle solving, exploration and fantasy in such a unique way. Even the music of Zelda is instantly familiar to gamers. From the Light/Dark worlds of A Link to the Past to the time manipulation of Majora's Mask, every new canon game in the franchise has a fresh and exciting approach to its formula. It's no wonder that Zelda continues to enthrall gamers young and old to this day.

If you haven't played the home console Zelda games, you can download most of them onto your Wii through their virtual console store. The games range from 500 to 1,000 Wii points.

Sources:

Personal Experience

http://www.zelda.com

Gameinformer magazine issue 200

www.gameinformer.com