Thirty-five years ago, the first video game dedicated to the iconic saga of The Legend of Zelda, created by the brilliant Japanese game designer, debuted on the market Shigeru Miyamoto. Following what we have already done with Mario, we will try to reconstruct the history and vicissitudes of a series that has forever marked the gaming industry.
The birth of a myth
Shigeru Miyamoto, father of legendary characters such as: Mario, Donkey Kong, Star Fox, Pikmin e F-Zero, decided to bring a new gaming experience to Nintendo consoles. In fact, up until that time the NES it was a console that was limited to a series of arcade titles useful to wander the user, but nothing more.
Precisely for this reason, the brilliant Japanese game designer created the first open-world on console, bringing a huge world completely explorable and full of challenges. To accomplish this, Miyamoto-sama, he thought back to his childhood. In fact, in order to bring that sense of adventure and exploration to the screen, he wanted to make players relive his experiences as a little explorer in the woods of his native land.
Obviously, to give life to this interesting concept it was necessary to adapt everything to the technology of the time and try not to mimic what is already present on the PC. So it was that he started drawing the game map together with Tezuka trying to fill the game world with details and secret passages. All very nice, even if on paper. But it was precisely the implementation that gave the throne to that title. In fact, for the first time the public got to know "The Nintendo style" or the perfectionism and the wealth of details, which somehow still distinguishes the series today, despite some past smudges.
Between Gods, Heroes and Monsters
The storyline of The Legend of Zelda isn't all that difficult. It all starts with an evil sorcerer named Ganondorf (or Ganon, it varies according to the episode and its form), who wants to get there at all costs Triforce (a mystical artifact created by three goddesses for the purpose of maintaining balance in the world of Hyrule) and gaining power by kidnapping the Princess and securing her place on the throne.
Luckily, a young hero stands between Zelda and the misdeeds of Ganondorf. This guy, whose name is Link, will always intervene to save the Princess, as predicted by the gods and legends. In fact, each time frame has its own Link, respective Zelda and the machinations of the King of the Gerudo.
Unfortunately it is not said that good always manages to triumph, in fact, there are very specific narrative arcs, precisely based on the victory of one faction over the other. In addition, the developers of Nintendo have also made some "spin-off" episodes, as they lack the threatening presence of Ganon, such as: Phantom Hourglass e Majora's Mask. This only happens if the evil sorcerer has already been defeated here.
Chronicle of a Legend
Different speech applies to the chronology of this iconic series, in fact, although the plot may seem simple to you, to follow the entire chronology of The Legend of Zelda you will need to have the same memory as those who follow Beautiful. There are many diatribes regarding the temporal positioning of some episodes that over the years have involved players and developers.
The first time that the chronology of the series was mentioned dates back to 2006, when Eiji Aonuma (Producer of the latest titles of the saga) declared to a newspaper that the series hides two narrative universes, both subsequent to Ocarina of Time. One of these involves the return of the blond hero in his time (putting away the Master sword in the pedestal of the Temple of Time) and the imprisonment of Ganondorf in Twilight Kingdom, a place from which he will escape to reappear in Twilight princess. The second narrative branch, which in turn includes Wind Waker and related sequels, are attributable to the timeline with adult Link.
Some books, including the Hyrule Encyclopedia (released on March 2017, XNUMX on the occasion of the series' thirtieth birthday) have tried to clarify the situation further, moving Oracle of Ages e Oracle of Seasons prima di A Link Between Worlds and then Link's Awakening.
Breath of the Wild, the acclaimed title landed on Wii U e switch, as well as being able to give a new breath to the saga has somehow marked the point, finally bringing together all the timelines.
A world full of surprises
Almost all episodes of The Legend of Zelda saga take place in the magical way of Hyrule, an immense place that during the various episodes has evolved in an unexpected way, maintaining some distinctive characteristics.
In fact, we are talking about a territory that contains in its microcosm green plains and torrid deserts, without forgetting active volcanoes and deep lakes. Within these areas there are dungeons, which will allow our fearless hero to obtain very useful tools (bow, bombs, harpoons, etc.) useful for defeating the evil Ganondorf / Ganon.
The iterations that have followed one another over the years have aimed to further enlarge the lands of Hyrule, also highlighting the evolution of its inhabitants, a striking example are the warriors Gerudo, from a life dedicated to theft and murder (Ocarina of Time) to a more peaceful existence (Breath of the Wild).
Stingray
Within this particular game world live a series of different populations, here are the main ones:
- Hylia: They are the dominant ethnic group, within them it is possible to include guards, breeders. The Princess Zelda e Link;
- Sheikah: It is a mysterious tribe of fighters devoted to the royal family, among the best known members we can find IMPA, the guardian of Zelda. In Breath of the Wild, we have found that this fighting race is divided into two factions;
- Zora: They are peaceful creatures that take the form of anthropomorphized fish. Despite this, during some episodes of the series, this race of fish-men has proved hostile;
- Goron: We are talking about creatures made of rock that live mainly in mountainous areas. The members of this tribe are peaceful, but also courageous, just think of Darunia in Ocarina of Time or to the sample Daruk by Breath of the Wild;
- Kokiri / Korogu: They first appear in Ocarina of Time and are depicted as creatures of the forest. They have similar features to those of children and wear characteristic green tunics. The constant evolution of the world of Hyrule has transformed these cute children into bizarre sentient tree-shaped creatures: the Korogu;
- Gerudo: One of the most well-known races in The Legend of Zelda, this all-female group of thieves and fighters is mostly known for Ganondorf, their undisputed king and only male of the tribe;
- Rite: This peculiar breed of birds introduces itself to players for the first time in Wind Waker, but it is Breath of the Wild to give them the right size, thanks to Revali, the presumptuous undisputed master champion of archery and updrafts.
Pure innovation
The historic saga that we are preparing to celebrate is not only a work of art from a playful point of view, but it is still today a reference point for many titles in the sector. All this is made possible thanks to the perfect game mechanics that go back to far 1998 have changed the way of video games, starting with the introduction of “lock-on” (also known as Z-Targeting) to the ingenious management of the open world admired in Breath of The Wild.
Other titles have distinguished themselves for aspects different from the gameplay, such as Wind Waker, a video game known for trying to steal the scepter from Ocarina of Time using a very interesting graphic sector, known as toon shading. Twilight Princess instead introduced the dualism between the "normal" world and twilight reality, presenting us a hero divided in half, on the one hand the blond boy with sword and courage, on the other a slave trapped in a wolf's body.
A legendary soundtrack
The Legend of Zelda is not limited to being a beautiful and innovative series on the gameplay side, in fact, the entire play experience gains depth thanks also to the work of the great Koji Kondo, father of the iconic melodies that have accompanied us over the last 35 years.
Many are his songs that have given depth to Link's adventures in the magical world of Hyrule, fromOverworld Theme of the iconic series Zelda's Lullaby, obviously without forgetting the beautiful oriental music dedicated to Gerudo Valley.
The bad experience with CD-i
Few will remember the console Philips CD-i, born after the lack of agreement between Nintendo and PlayStation. It was a machine capable of combining the mode of multimedia players to that of consoles, using a more modern disc support.
Unfortunately, the platform was a complete disaster, for two simple reasons, the first was related to the quality of the titles, material that you would not give to your worst enemy, and the total lack of ergonomics and usefulness of the pads.
Two titles related to the magical world of The Legend of Zelda, arrived on this platform, we are talking about: Zelda: The Wand of Gamelone Link: The Faces of Evil. Both video games have been ridiculed and derided for years because of embarrassing animated sequences and gameplay far from expectations, so much so that Nintendo has to state that these two chapters do not belong to any timeline, downgrading everything to a mere experiment.
Not just video games
Like any successful phenomenon, The Legend of Zelda also made the leap between different media, turning into an interesting cartoon. The series, produced in 1989, had as a background plot the events of the first episode and some elements taken from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.
Obviously, being inspired by the past titles of the series, many aspects that we know only today are missing, after the incredible success of Ocarina of Time, so, in case you want to see them again today, know that not everything you will see could add up.
My experience with the series ...
The "love story" between this incredible series and myself began almost by mistake. Having been born in 1990 I had the great fortune to see the industry evolve and deliver high quality products, from the Dreamcast to the Nintendo 64, obviously without forgetting the PS1 and the compact, but fun GameBoy.
As for me, I was lucky console owner a 64 bit area of Great N. At the time, however, I was too young to raise money for games, so it all depended on my parents' good will and my academic performance.
Scholastic achievement was never a problem, and maybe being an only child benefited me, so there was no shortage of opportunities to stop by the toy store and try to buy a new video game. At the time, toy stores were much less problematic than the current big chains and they decided to make you try the titles directly in-store. After scrutinizing the counter for a good half hour, I was intrigued by a golden emblem and the words "Legend" and "Time", I asked the clerk to try it on, just long enough to understand what it was. After 10 minutes I was already out of the club with this promising title in my hand.
As soon as I got home, I abandoned my backpack and turned on the console, totally unaware that I would be playing the most beautiful title in the history of video games. While playing, I not only had one of the most exciting play experiences ever, but I also had the opportunity to learn French, in spite of those who say that video games are not educational.
Even today, more than 20 years after its release, I dust off the console, blow into the cartridge and set out on an adventure.
That said, let us know in the comments if you too are fond of this incredible story and which of its chapters thrilled you the most.
