'The Legend of Zelda'

It is common knowledge that The Legend of Zelda is one of the most played game franchises of all times. From the very beginning, this game series attracted attention with its very first release: The Legend of Zelda for the Nintendo Entertaining System on February 21, 1986 in Japan; August 22, 1986 in North America.

'The Legend of Zelda' (1986)

After the developers grasped the potential this game had, they decided to create another version for the same platform. On January 14, 1987, Nintendo released Zelda II: The Adventure of Link in Japan. It was through this game that players developed an understanding of Link, the main character of the series. This was done by the newly introduced features in the game. For instance, in order for players to unlock missions, they had to make sure they travelled around the map in search of people to talk to and get information from.

The mechanics of the game also demanded that players got familiar with the abilities of Link. In addition, the developers introduced a different way of capturing the main events that took place during gameplay. Boss battles and small action-oriented settings—castles, dungeons, and traversing through buildings—were all displayed in 2D mode. In the previous game, all of this was focalized through a bird's eye perspective, players could only see what was happening from above. These features opened a new paradigm for what later turned to be an incredibly successful video game franchise.

The Various Zelda Games from 1986 to 2017

All in all, Nintendo developers worked on 21 original main releases, as well as 22 remakes. For example, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX (released on December 1, 1998) was also remade in colour, featuring an added dungeon to the game. The Legend of Zelda for the Wii featured five titles, of which The Legend of Zelda, 1986, and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, 1987, were initially created for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Players in search of all versions can also find six The Legend of Zelda games for the Nintendo 3DS, all of which were remade versions of earlier titles released for either the Game Boy Color or the Nintendo 64.

In the spam of three decades, Nintendo has offered its players numerous innovative franchises. One them is The Legend of Zelda. With the game's variations and mechanics, aesthetics and game-play, it has remained and forever will remain one of the Nintendo classics.