Game Debate #133: The Legend of Zelda

[Reed Rothchild | 9,585]

[Gloves | 11,836]

Never played i...

Kidding. Great game, always loved the 2nd quest "twist" as a kid, and felt like a fuckin' genius stumbling upon naming my character ZELDA and starting on the 2nd quest immediately.

[TDIRunner | 2,773]

Never actually finished it, but I've played it enough to know I love it and it's an amazing game.  The music is absolutely epic.  

[a3quit4s | 4,125]

9/10. Everyone should play it! Other Zelda’s have taken their places in my top 10 but the original is great and an all time classic

[Hammerfestus | 3,884]

10.  Love this game.  Ive played it a lot over the years.  The only Zelda I’ve finished  

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,017]

This for me is a 9. Objectively an incredible game but just not one of my all time favorites. 

[rdrunner | 422]

10/10 - As I said before when we debated The Adventure of Link, any discussion about the best games of all time starts with the two gold carts on the NES.  Playing through this was the defining gaming moment in my childhood, along with countless others.

Looking back, it's funny how friends play a role in solving these games when there was no internet to help you.  I was once told that the Meat was a necessary item to be used while fighting Ganon, as if laying it out would help you hit him while he's invisible.  Just keep swinging your sword while standing on it and boom!  For the longest time I would do this every time I fought him because it "worked", despite myself.

[Tanooki | 4,952]

I'm sure given comments I got no one will be shocked this one got a 9 and not a 10.

It's late, we all know Zelda, so why write something big to justify it right?  Simply put, an early if not the earliest of the open world concept games on the old NES back in the day.  It was something new, they learned a lot, then even went into the weed to experiment once with the sequel to never repeat that again outside of some minor side scrolling in Link's Awakening, and the CDi stuff many shall prefer not be named.  The thing is, open world can openly backfire a bit too causing days, months...years?? of confusion.  Nintendo knew this, Tips & Tactics, Fun Club, early Nintendo Power, Official Player's Guide, NES Atlas, the list goes on how many times they've had to re-print the overworld map.  Why?  Because if you lived in a bubble, got this game fresh, had no help...how many hours a day could someone put into burning bushes before finding that dungeon required to get the triforce piece to finish the game?  And that's just one of a few screwball utterly senseless moments of questionable design.  But, we had help, so I just bring it up, not beat it to death for it, so yeah... 9.

[AstralSoul | 503]

I gave it a 7, I think it's a great start to an amazing franchise but I personally never enjoyed it that much. I find it hard to believe anyone ever got through it without a guide. Had I not followed one (20 years after the fact, mind you) I would have never finished it. Finding the dungeons and navigating the world was too cryptic for me. I didn't play it growing up so maybe I missed out the whole "spend 100s of hours on an NES til you figure out where everything is" thing. At any rate, it's certainly not a bad game, and it launched a masterpiece franchise so that's definitely saying something. I just wish I enjoyed it more than I actually do.

[PekoponTAS | 171]

I gave it a 10. If you haven't done second quest, you haven't truly beaten the game yet. Get on that if you haven't by now, as life is only so long. There's a much better final line at the end of the credits that solidifies second quest as the true ending. You'll feel really good seeing it, and be happy you finally did if you've only ever played first quest before.

[Webhead123 | 687]

Fantastic game, worth playing even today, despite its age and limitations. It isn't as completely obscure as some other NES adventure titles, nor is it as difficult. It was a game that I didn't play a whole lot in my youth, as I never owned it and only rented it occasionally but returning to play it properly in my adult years, I enjoyed it even more than I thought I would. I was surprised that I was able to get through 99% of the game without any help from maps or guides. It was a satisfying feeling.

I give it 8/10, if only because of some slightly fussy control and one or two points in the game that are a bit cryptic (*grumble grumble*) but it is a classic for a reason.

Edited December 22, 2022 by Webhead123

[CodysGameRoom | 2,008]

10/10. My favorite video game of all time.

[OptOut | 8,892]

[Brickman | 4,014]

Easy 10 for me. My third favourite Zelda. I feel like replaying it now haha.

[RH | 4,970]

I have a tough time rating this one and I'm not sure I really can.  I know it's a classic.  I can see it from my past experience with it, but since I didn't own it as a kid but managed to play it a bit from the start at friends homes, and maybe put an hour into it around my college years because of the emulation scene at the time, I've just not played this game enough to give it a fair review.

That said, I probably have played  it enough to not really say that I've "never played it".  It's just one of those games that I feel was good for the NES era but when I pop it in now, I just think it's fun but I'd rather play Link's Awakening or A Link to the Past.  I can appreciate historical context, considering the improved options, I just feel like this a game you had to appreciate in it's hey-day to want to come back and complete it.

But from what I can gather, it's a largely "open world" title and much of what you can do, you can do straight from the start if you're careful an an excellent player.  If that's true, props for being a legit "open world" title on the NES.  I've never made it further than beating the first dungeon.

Sorry, but I just can't feel like I can properly rate this one.  I'd love to play through it but there are just too many higher priorities.

[glazball | 172]

Also an easy 10/10 for me.  If Super Mario Bros. can be considered Miyamoto's "5th Symphony," then Legend of Zelda is his "9th".  Truly a masterpiece and one of the greatest video games of all time.

[twiztor | 855]

the easiest 10/10 in the history of games. 

one of the few games i had as a kid, and therefore i spent a TON of time playing it. This gave me all the time in the world to explore and discover everything this game had to offer. If i had come across it as an adult? probably would be much lower due to how cryptic and hidden everything is.

[MagusSmurf | 577]

Most other overhead action-adventure and action-RPGs from the era generally only have passable area design at best, even the otherwise good games. For this and Startropics though, Nintendo actually put in the effort. And the combat is really good too!

On the other hand, while the degree to which Zelda 1 is indecipherable on your own tends to be wildly overstated...It does have its moments. The English script being a little "wat" here and there doesn't help.

 

[Makar | 1,946]

Gave it a 6. Is a good game, yes. Is it better than a lot of other zelda games, no. This isn’t one of the Zelda’s I like to go back and play whereas I do enjoy replaying link to the past, links awakening, oracle or ages and seasons, OOT, and windwaker. 

[Dr. Morbis | 2,091]

I had never heard of this game when I got it for Christmas in 1987, and as long as I live I'll never forget the moment I opened up the box and saw that golden cartridge for the first time.  All you Americans had that little window cut-out on the front of the box so you knew the cart was gold, but us Canadians did not have that, so I was utterly blown away.  What is this thing?  And then I read the text on the front of the cart:

Experience the challenge of endless adventure...

Man it's hard to top that.  Anyway, for anyone around when the game came out, it was pretty mindblowing, but I can definitely see how it would be tough to jump into now - it is really rough around the edges and ridiculously cryptic.  Everyone considers Zelda II to be the black sheep nowadays, but Zelda II is actually super polished and a lot easier to play through in modern times, though my heart will always be with the original.

Edited December 22, 2022 by Dr. Morbis

[JamesRobot | 5,831]

Hated the game as a kid.  I preferred Zelda II at the time and still didn't really "get" Zelda until Ocarina or maybe even Minish Cap.

Now I can see the core formula at work in The Legend of Zelda and appreciate it.  I didn't beat LoZ on my own until the beginning of this year.  It's not my favorite Zelda but I do really like it. And it's probably the game that I've had the most growth with over the greatest period of time.  I give it a 9.  Everyone should play it.

[wongojack | 221]

Hey - I haven't voted on this one yet.  It is an easy 10/10 with only a few games ever surpassing it for me.  I know that the game is cryptic, but it is also not very big, and when you get into the groove, you start to understand which walls to bomb and which bushes to burn with the candle.  This learning makes the 2nd quest even more fun than the first.

But really, the memories of playing this game are so strong and so powerful that it goes on Mt Rushmore for me, and for a guy who really never clicked with Mario at all, Zelda is the best Nintendo has ever offered - and this is the genesis of all of that.

• Perfect - no
• Legendary - yes

10/10

 

Edited December 24, 2022 by wongojack

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

Easy 10/10. It's an amazing game and the second quest gives it even more replay value after you finish the game.

[OptOut | 8,892]

You know, I kinda boxed myself into a corner with my 4/10 for Lttp... I couldn't, in good conscience rate THIS game higher than that, but even I am not DERANGED enough to rate the original Zelda 3 out of ten... So, 4 it is! 

 

[fcgamer | 4,753]

I didn't have the game growing up - I only got it years later from Funcoland probably when I was 14 or 15. I had played Links Awakening a few years earlier as a childhood friend lent me his copy as he was getting into skateboards and smokes and drugs, hahaha.

Great game, not my top favorite but I'd gladly play this one a few times a year if I had the time and was actively gaming.

My brother (who basically shuns game series we didn't have as a child...he's on the spectrum) sat down and completed this game too, of his free choosing. He used a Game Genie to nerf the difficulty a bit, but he had a lot of fun with the game. The only other time he enjoyed a game from outside a series he had growing up was Batman Returns on NES (I convinced him it was essentially TMNT) and Final Fantasy VI (he loves the soundtrack for that as well, due to the experience). That's how you know a game is great though