It’s the eleventh anniversary of Nintendo’s release of what is arguably the greatest video game series of all time and what is most certainly the most popular, The Legend of Zelda. To celebrate, I’ve put together a list of the best Zelda histories on the net.
The best history by far is this video retrospective from Grametrailers.com. Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, A, Part Six, B
History Archive – The Legend Of Zelda
The Legend Of Zelda series has been one of the most popular consoles games of recent times, with many different additions released since the original “The Legend Of Zelda” in 1987. The game is produced by awarding winning games designer Shigeru Miyamoto.
Miyamoto based the game on his experiences in the surrounding hills of his Kyoto home town with its forests, lakes and caves which gave him great adventures as a boy. His abiding memory was of the discovery of a large cave, which he entered and explored on many occasions – this has become a major element of the Zelda series.
While the game itself is named after Princess Zelda, it revolves around a boy named Link and his adventures in pursuit of the rescue of Princess Zelda. In fact Princess Zelda does not appear in a couple of the games, although there are a number of flashback, and verbal mentions of her. The series of games revolve around the land of Hyrule and Links constant battles with arch enemy Ganon (also appearing as Ganondorf and other characters in later games).
The Book of Mudora
Hyrule’s past is a locked treasure of secrets. Much of the lore, the legends, and the history of the magical and mystical land have been lost to the ages and are forever trapped in the dark halls of Time, never to see the reaches of the world again. Despite the vigorous study of researchers and historians to find the answers to questions that have plagued scholars’ minds for years, much of the effort put forth to find those answers has been in vain.
Despite the hopelessness of the cause, there is yet one magical artifact in the whole of Hyrule that has kept an accurate record of the history of this fair land since the world’s creation. In fact, the artifact is rumored to have been created by the goddesses itself. It is, indeed, the legendary Book of Mudora.
Within the Book of Mudora is the complete account of Hyrule that begins with the creation of the land. It includes all of the significant events throughout history — the reigns of kings and the fierce battles they’ve fought, gallant princesses of impeccable beauty and magical talent, heroes of courage and the adventures they journeyed, deathly villains in their self-pursuit of power.
GDC 2004: The History of Zelda
Eiji Aonuma speaks about the essence of Zelda.
Good Afternoon. My name is Eiji Aonuma and I work in the software production department of Entertainment Analysis and Development, or EAD, at Nintendo Company Ltd. For roughly eight years, I’ve been doing work related to a game known as Zelda. But, I never imagined an opportunity for me to talk to you about this experience would ever come. I was very surprised when the opportunity arose and at the same time I was incredibly honored. So, let me outline for you the topics I will be talking about today as I outline the evolution of the Zelda Franchise. I’ll start by introducing to you, in order, the numerous titles in the series that have appeared in the series since the birth of the first Zelda game. Next, I will explain how Zelda has changed over the years. Then I’ll talk about my main theme today, which is behind-the-scenes of the franchise’s evolution. I’ll talk about what it means to be Zelda-esque. or what is Zelda-ness. Finally, I’ll talk about approaches to evolving the franchise. I’m sure that many of you that are here today are familiar with the Zelda franchise, but since some of you might not be, I’d like to take a look back at Zelda’s history. Let’s start by taking a look at each of the Zelda games in the order that they were released.
The History of Zelda at EuroGamer
“Most of us were probably children when we first played The Legend of Zelda, and to a generation used to endless repetition and high-score chasing, its vast, open world and free-roaming structure were mind-boggling. It was incredibly difficult to play without a map, as there was absolutely nothing to indicate what was going on (bar an amusingly badly-translated story that provided little in the way of guidance) – you switched it on, started the game, and there you were, in the middle of a field without even a sword for protection, with all sorts of nasties in every direction and an infectiousmelody playing in the background.” Read Part 1 & Part 2
The Legend of Zelda: Evolution of a Franchise
Two years after that, in 1987, we saw the now celebrated release of the first title in the Zelda series, The Legend of Zelda. This game unveiled the top-down viewpoint. This was followed up the next year with the 1988 release of The Adventure of Link, a more action-oriented Zelda with side-scrolling areas. This marks the year I joined Nintendo, which technically means that Zelda has seniority over me at Nintendo.
In 1991 we released the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, and followed that a year later with the release of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past on that system. With this title, the Zelda series once again returned to the top-down isometric view. It can probably be said that were it not for this title, the Zelda franchise would never have developed.
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