Pros
*One of the best Soundtracks available on the 8-bit NES
*Expansive world with a plethora of enemies to be found and killed
*Puzzles that can be challenging but not overly difficult
 
Cons
*The original game can feel quite short with only 9 levels and the second quest can be a bit too hard compared to the original game.
*The hints given don’t really help much at all due to grammatical error.
 
Console: Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
Date Released: 02/21/1986
Date Reviewed: 07/05/2012
Reviewer: Rob
 
The Legend of Zelda is an old school Nintendo Adventure/RPG game in which you take the role of Link, the Hyrulian youth who is destined to find the Triforce of Wisdom and stop the evil sorcerer Ganon. Serving as the main villain of the game, Ganon has sent his minions to secure the pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom. Link has set out to gather them together so that he can control both the Triforce of Power (which he currently has), and the Triforce of Wisdom. Unfortunately this was split into 8 pieces by Zelda and scattered across Hyrule.   As Link you must gain all the pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom before you can make your way to Ganon’s lair and save the Princess Zelda.
 
The game is full of puzzles and battles against fiendish foes.  Through your travels you must find multiple artifacts to help you to obtain all the Triforce pieces including a magic raft, ladder, power bracelet, blue ring, silver arrow, the list goes on.  Everything has it’s purpose and most help in multiple situations and boss battles.  For example there are bosses that can only be defeated by arrows, bombs, flutes, and some by just some good ol’ fashion beat down.  The dungeons get harder and more intricate as you go along, sometimes you even need to blast your way through a wall just to get to certain parts of the dungeon.  But with a little ingenuity and luck you can find most secrets in the game and push your  way through the main story line, which can be quite challenging on your first play through.  Then if you beat the game you get to play again, but this time things are moved around and all the dungeons are harder! 
 
 
Presentation : A
Graphics / Animation / Sound
 
Graphically this game was very colorful for the time it was released.  They did a great job at making the world very well colored and each enemy had its own style to make them unique for their world.  The land of Hyrule looks pretty good, colors are bright and the layout is interesting to explore with multiple hidden tunnels and caves to discover.  The dungeons are the opposite with dreary colors and dark atmosphere. They actually tend to have a creepy feel to them especially with the soundtrack you are supplied with as you explore.
 
The animations for the characters are done pretty well. Every once in a while the sprites would skip around but this happened very rarely. Link, although easy to control had a few points where it became difficult to control and aim your sword the way you wanted to. There were very few times that I had a problem moving around but a couple of parts there seemed to be too much going on. The game would slow down almost to a crawl and I had a hard time moving about until I killed a couple of creatures.  I was also not a fan that the bow and arrow were never really used all that much and had hardly any animation to it.  It really seemed like you were throwing the arrow as opposed to shooting it.
 
The soundtrack for the game is extremely catchy and can become easily stuck in your head.  Much like the famous Mario Theme, The Legend of Zelda Theme can easily be put down as one of the most popular retro video game songs.  
 
Technically there are only about 3 full songs in the mix, but they are still fun to listen to and never get old.
 
Single Player : C
Game mechanics / Length / difficulty
 
The mechanics for this game are done fairly well. Everything has a certain number of hit points and each weapon does a specific amount of damage to the creatures.  The game was easy to maneuver and battles tend to be simple.   I did have a problem with the amount of bombs you had to go through just to find a hidden wall in a dungeon, especially the ones where the bombs were needed to fight the boss. I also had a problem with the fact that almost everything in the game had no trouble hitting you while you were using a shield that covered your whole body!  Shields are there to protect you from projectiles and are used to parry attacks in real life, why can’t your shield stop things from walking right into you and hurting you!?  I forked out like 130 rupees for that thing and all it does is just stop stronger projectiles from hurting me!  I’m sorry but if a heavily armored knight comes charging at me I’m not going to drop my shield and just start stabbing him in the face!  You pull that shield up and use it to block that metallic bastard!  And don’t get me started on the giant Cheeseburger that eats the 130 rupee shield I just bought!
 
Let’s get to the length of the game. The Legend Of Zelda is pretty fun to play through, and there is a nice saving feature with the cartridge so you could come back and play more at a later date.  But for a kid, who was most likely the person playing this at the time of release, the length was a little short.  The first time you play through and beat the game, it  just seemed like it needed a little more to make it fun.  I was able to complete it recently in about 6 hours on a normal run through. I remembered most things but there were a few that I forgot.  Now the addition of playing Second quest was a cool concept and it is definitely challenging but it’s also just the same game over again. I would have rather had them make a longer game then two of the same thing. 
 
 
 
Multiplayer : F
Game mechanics / features / Online features
 
Old Single-player NES game, no multiplayer to be found here.
 
 
Replay Value : A
Lasting appeal / Bonus Content / DLC 
 
Aside from my complaint of a short campaign and being stuck with a game plus mode, The Legend Of Zelda still has some of the best replay value I’ve ran across in an old school NES game.  The game is fun to play, and there are some cool things you can find that you might not have come across in your first run of the game.  Not to mention once you get the red candle you can start going pyromania all over the forests trying to find hidden tunnels.  Beware though, some people don’t like this and may charge you a fee for burning down their door!  But for the most part the game is great and after replaying this title every couple of years I find a lot of fun is still left in the game.  Not to mention the nostalgia factor is off the charts.
 
As for bonus content there is the Second Quest. Which you may have not known was in there due to a mistake on the developers part. If you would like to access this game plus mode, you can type in the name ZELDA as your Character Name to start directly in the second quest if you managed to lose your game save or something.  The game is definitely harder and the dungeons are almost all moved around minus the first one. I myself have still have not beaten it and continue to find hidden stuff all over the game.  
 
SPOILER ALERT: ( highlight to read ) Quick hint for those who don’t know!  In second quest if you want to find the blue ring it is hidden in the top right corner of the map.  You might just have to walk through a wall to find it. 

Overall : B+

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