One of the most popular video game franchises in history, The Legend of Zelda has been released on multiple consoles and systems. This 1986 action-adventure game was developed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It was one of the first games to offer a battery-backed save function.
During its development, Nintendo faced many technical difficulties. To create a world that was both complex and accessible, they used a variety of techniques. Their 1987 NES version was based on cross-cultural mythological tropes. For example, red smoke appeared as a ritual to revive Ganon.
Throughout the game, the player had to navigate through various levels of a cave. Link rode an elephant-like mount through the cave. His goal was to rescue Princess Zelda. In order to do this, Link had to collect two important fragments of the Triforce.
The Legend of Zelda was the first NES cartridge to feature a battery-backed save function. However, the game did not sell as well as Twilight Princess and Breath of the Wild.
It also received mistranslations, which led to its later revisions. While the original release used the B button to launch the sword, all development versions of subsequent 3D Zelda games have used the A button.
The game also has a dungeon tune that is used throughout the series. Eventually, this dungeon tune would become the franchise’s main theme.
In 2004, The Legend of Zelda was re-released as part of Nintendo’s “Classic NES Series” for the Game Boy Advance. The game was praised for its epic score.
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