We all have those PTSD moments from our childhood where we are almost mauled to death by a huge dog in the wonders area that is the backyard. But not everyone takes all that PTSD and puts it into a video game! Well technically neither did Miyamoto until Links Awakening. But at least for the first Legend of Zelda has that imaginative backyard idea brought into a game. And obviously its in the form of the February 21st, 1986 NES game of the same name. I dunno how top down action against knights in a dungeon and a very very gray map is very reminiscent of someones childhood but it does. So lets be a group of therapist and take a look at this moving fairly colorful ink blot and see just how the Nintendo used to think!

{Story/Difficulty}
Ill just start out by saying that I'm not giving you the super mega all over arcing storyline of zelda 1. But more along the lines of how the story of Zelda 1 is told in Zelda 1. But with less broken English like the games opening has! So I'm not reallu going to put spoilers cuz this game is really just Mario squared. So the backstory is that a pig dude named Gannon is causing a big ruckus in the land of Hyrule and has smashed a piece of the Triforce, being the Triforce of Wisdom, which probably means everyone is probably from Idiocracy in this game. But any who after he did that he kinda sorta kidnapped the Legend herself Zelda and now its up to main lead himself Link to get back all 8 pieces of the broken Triforce and recuse Princess Zelda herself and save the day! And really that's the whole plot to the game. Like you do all that and shot a Silver Arrow into Gannon to be able to finish the final blow on him. Which kinda becomes a staple in the series but the way its done in this game is a bit tacked on I feel. There's the little stuff like all the random people you talk to, to 'learn' stuff like that, but at the same time nothing really plot important happens. 'Cept maybe about how its 'Dangerous to go alone' or 'Dodongos dislike smoke' or possibly the biggest plot twist of them all 'Grumble, Grumble.' I dunno where to put this in but at the end of the story section but: I think the first (and to a certain point the second) game is great for making up what you think happened given the context clues of the environment, I know the actual story, but some dungeon entrances and stuff like that make wonder a bit as they all look a bit odd compared to what a lot would become later on in the series. But is this game way to hard to reach the end of? Kinda, a bit. I feel like the first 2 Zelda's aren't AS hard as people make them to be, but they are still unforgiving. 2 is way harder but 1 is WAAAAAAY harder to find out what to do or where to go next. And if its not trying to find out where to go, or what wall to try and blow up, then its trying to fight with this fairly bland controls. Since the game is top down AND on the NES you can only attack in the 4 normal directions. And if that's not the worst then trying to hit most enemies who can block a lot of different directions does suck. And if that doesn't do you in then losing your sword beam upgrade for sure does. But if you have a guide (I know the cuss words of the gamer's!) then by the time you go into the first dungeon with like 8 hearts the shield and a sword upgrade. But still by end game you'll be challenged to a good degree, for sure with just trying to get to the end of the last dungeon. I think a lot of the designs that they use for the different dungeons honestly aren't that bad, a bit simple at first but they sure challenge you by the end, making you use different items to get through them and stuff. I just feel like you don't actually have a full proper move set to get around all the way like you should be able to. But all in all I for sure feel like the first game is 'harder' because its a hard game that literally feels like the size of Skyrim with secrets more secretive then Skyrim's! Oh and I feel like its way more cryptic then the second game, "Grumble, Grumble' after all. So really I'll give the first Legend of Zelda's difficulty a 8 out of 10. And I'll give the story a 5 out of 10. Really its probably more like a 4.7 out of 10, but I kinda gave it a few more bonus points for the creativity of the game, and to a small extent what everything would become later in the series. Like I dunno if the Great Deku Tree was supposed to be in this game from the get go but spoilers it's somewhere in this game! And its that small charm that I really like about the older games in series like this!

{Graphics/Sound}
So back to yapping about how i think the game looks pretty unique compared to the rest of the series huh! So i said about how i didnt know what they exactly had planeed for the future of everything we see in game thats kinda a lie. They wasnt really sure what was up with the Triforce and stuff like that but the religious undertone of this game is less Hyrule and more Christan, which is why stuff like the Hyrule shield and Master Sword are missing from the game. I mention this here as I feel it really bleeds over into the graphics in a big way. Like how the one useful shield you get in game has a cross on it, or how the book of magic is literally just a Bible by a different name. And how its really more common to have to defeat Gannon with Holy Arrows instead of Silver Arrows, which in a way is reverse to stuff I was talking about. But anywho, rather then how link doesn't really look to elvish in this game in my opinion and everyone just looking ever so slightly off of how they would later look I think the game looks pretty OK. I really cant describe it, but everything just looks like a rough draft of what everyone would like like 5 games later. And if its not that, then its how pretty barren everything looks. A whole lotta white and if its any color its a lot of the same color with the same repeated shrubs or wall designs. The dungeon designs kinda fall under the same design, there's only like enough variety for like 2 of them and they spread that concept over all of them. The boss design also isn't the most wildest in the series but they look OK, I like how Ghoma looks, and the 3 headed boss is cute I suppose. But nothing to stunning or interesitng, I also don't think that final boss Gannon hods a candle to stuff like Dracula from Castlevania 1 or maybe even Dr. Wiley from Mega Man 1. In passing Ill just say that I think all the items you get look and act unique, if they aren't all super useful! So onto the sounds now! Another instance where I can just make this section nice and sweet and say something like: Hyrule's Theme and call it a day! But there is more to the game then just that. But I hope you like the Hyrule Theme though cuz your going to be hearing it a lot through out the game. And the dungeon theme cuz there is only one of them! I also cant get enough of the secret sound effect, its up there with the likes of Metroid 1 secret sound effect and what not. But there isn't much else to say as there isn't very many other music tracks in the game. Nor is any of the sound effects too memorable to me minus the octorok and the sound of energy beam coming out the end of an upgraded sword. But with how memorable the Hyrule Theme is I'd have to say the sounds of this game is a 8 out 10. And the graphics are a nice 7 out of 10 as well.

{Addictive/Depth}
So with this being the first game there isn't a load of different things to do in it minus just playing the game all the way through. And if that's not enough to tickle your fancy then you can do the Second Quest by putting your name in as Zelda, or after you beat the game for the first time. The big difference is that all the items are found in different spots aaaand that's really about it. But i mean once you find them in the First Quest your sure to forget them in that blank void they call a map you have to use to find them! So unless you've been playing the game forever then you get a few playthoughs before everything becomes the back of your hand in the normal route. The big wonder of this game is trying to find all the secrets in the game. Which is either you getting a load of ruppies or losing a load of ruppies, just depends on how you go about blowing up random walls and burning random bushes. There are other ones where you have to choose between picking a heart container upgrade or a health potion, and i mean, do i really have to tell you which to choose? So after a few playthroughs you might have all the heart containers and all the swords and all that good stuff, but your for sure going to have to use a guide to do all that, unless your a kid from the 80's! Really though there isn't too much else to go on about involving the depth or the addictive factor of this game. If your into games like this then im sure you have a few possible playthoughs of the base quest and the second quest. So id have to give the addictive factor a 7 out of 10. And the depth a 6 out of 10. Really this game has the skeleton of what makes the later Zelda game fairly deep.

And that his how the Triforce cookie crumbled and a young elf boy named Link...... put it together with chocolate icing and duct tape. And once he ate that Triforce cookie and beat up that big bully Gannon than he finally got the girl and saved the world! If you enjoyed that little blast from the past then there are loads more that you can go on with Link, with wonderful games like Zelda 2, or the Wand of Gamelon, or other such wonderful titles! But yeah Zelda 1 is a great game, I just wouldn't say its for everyone, its a game of its time, and its for sure a NES game, I mean just look at the map I keep on throwing mini shade at! But if you love games like A Link to the Past or Links Awakening, Then I feel like you kinda owe it a bit to them to give this game a session or two. Ill give Legend of Zelda a 8.7 out of 10.