The Legend of Zelda
Story
The Prince of Darkness, Ganon, has stolen the Triforce of Power and is scheming to capture the other one. Fearing the worst, Princess Zelda broke up the Triforce of Wisdom into 8 fragments and hide them in eight Palaces scattered throughout the world of Hyrule. Enraged, Ganon captures the Princess and releases his minions into the world, bringing chaos unto the land. A young boy named Link hence sets off on a quest to save the Princess and to bring peace back to Hyrule.
Special Features
The first Zelda looks quite crude in present standards but it is one of the first games that provides game players a large map to explore and intriguing mazes to solve. Viewing from a top-down perspective, Link can brandish his sword and defeat enemies, while travelling to seek out the eight Palaces littered throughout the world. Within the Palaces are complicated mazes, cunning traps and powerful enemies that seek to test Link�s skills to the limit. In the maze, Link often has to complete certain tasks before he can obtain important Keys to unlock closed doors. The end of the maze will lead him to the Palace Guardian, which he has to defeat in order to obtain one of the precious fragments of the Triforce. This system adds much depth to the gameplay and makes conquering dungeons very addictive and satisfying.
Link can use a variety of weapons such as the bomb, the boomerang and bow & arrow to either defeat his enemies, or use them to solve puzzles in the maze. Link also fights his enemies not only with strength, but also with wit and strategic gameplay. Some enemies require good dodging, while some cannot be defeated unless a task is first performed. In his quest, Link gathers Special Items that enables him to clear obstacles to progress through the game. To aid Link in his quest, there are also Vessels of Hearts littered in the world that enable him to extend his limited life. There are also Fairy fountains that will help him recover his health. After conquering all Palaces, Link has to rebuild the Triforce and confront the evil Ganon to save the Princess. In the process of his adventure, Link also uncovers the secrets of the Triforce and to obtain clues to save Hyrule from a century-long curse. The Legend of Zelda indeed is a revolution that sets the standard for future ARPGs.
One secret worth mentioning involves completing and replaying the game. In the second round, the dungeons wouldn�t be in their original place but have been totally dislocated and hidden in different parts of the world. To this day, I have not found all the replaying dungeons on my own. Perhaps I need to look at the FAQs and play the game a second time? No matter what, this first Zelda paves the way for its future legacy, which soon develops into a legend that makes the series immortal in the gaming world.
Rating: 8.5 (at its time), 6 (now) |
