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| Picture credit to my persona copy of The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia. |
When I was nine years old I developed my first crush. Granted I was only nine, but that’s when girls
start thinking about boys. The trouble
was that my guy was not your typical crush.
He was tall, pale, with dark brown hair and ears that were more pointy
than normal. He didn’t live around here; he was from…very far away. He was quite the heroic lad, always running
around saving damsels in distress and breaking clay pots while scaring
chickens. He killed monsters and slashed
at bats with boomerangs and swords, fished in lakes and dungeon crawled for
gems of all colors as he looked for clues to solving the puzzles that would
save the world. He was also a bit of a
lazy and loud mouthed slob at times, but that only made him more charming to
me. Did I mention that he was a cartoon
character from a video game that I had played since I was six? I guess I left that part out…
Nintendo originally existed as a company that created
trading cards. Most notably, cards that
included the face of a now famous Italian plumber we know and love. When they expanded into the video game world
they gave us the ability to have a new realm of reality and a new gamer geek
level of awesome. Of the many games they created,
two icons stuck out: our lovable, high
jumping plumber Mario, and a green clad elf.
This elf would become Nintendo’s most famous adventurer and live on in
many games, timelines, age ranges, and alternate realities. Thanks to the game titles, many non-gamers
call him “Zelda.” That would be his lady
fair. His name is Link, and for a dude
that wears such a weird hat he is scary tough, man.
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| Picture credit to my persona copy of The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia. |
“The Legend of Zelda” was released for the original Nintendo
Entertainment System on February 21st, 1986.
Nintendo already had a slew of playable, 8-bit gems under its belt. They ranged from puzzle games, grid based
decision making dungeoneering, basic sports games, and a few typical two player
pvp’s. Zelda, however, knocked us all on our ears. Even my non-gaming mother couldn’t stop
playing it. It was fantasy, puzzles,
action, and role-play all rolled in one. You had to get a sword (from an old
man in a cave) before you could fight.
You had to kill the monsters to earn the money for potions and gear from
sellers. The world map was
extensive. And the little hero was just
so darn cute…
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| Picture credit to my persona copy of The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia. |
I would love to say that Mario or Rygar, Legend of Kage or
Athena, were the games that turned me into a hard core gamer. They weren’t. It was the adventures of this tall, skinny,
pale skinned elf that knocked me off my feet and kept me up way passed my
bedtime. The game became a sensation
that put Link as one of the ruling class of the gaming industry and one of the
Kings of Nintendo’s virtual realm. All
bowed down to him and all of us wished to bring our proverbial dowry to offer
up to his royal courts.
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| Picture credit to my persona copy of The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia. |
Heck, he and Mario already owned our hearts and wallets. Why not our cows and chickens, huh?
Fast forward one year.
In 1987 they released part two of the Zelda franchise. To this day
Link gets referred to by this moniker despite the fact that it is not only the
name of the Princess he saves, but depending on the game/comic/manga/cartoon
that you watch, the Princess he is either friends with, spirit guided by, or in
love with. This game release, however,
should be what points out to everyone their mistake, but does anyone notice
this? Nope. The game is titled bluntly “Zelda II: The Adventures of Link.” This game stepped it up a notch, making the
fight scenes more interactive (Link could jump for example,) creating new
creatures and Hylian areas to explore (lands, dungeons, etc.,) adding more RP
elements in the form of towns to visit and NPCs to interact with, and giving
Link a more grown-up look with more detail.
For an 8-bit system it was impressive to be able to give that kind of
detail and expansiveness.
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| A panel from the Zelda Manga. Picture credit to my persona copy of The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia. |
The first two games seem to be the only ones that are linked
within their own timeline. According to
the chronology of every other Zelda game there is a reason that you see Link at
a different age. It isn’t just due to
the game plot, such as in Ocarina of Time.
It is because the games themselves are set in different time periods and
different timelines, the varying alternate realities giving Link so many
different stories to choose from that you can make a veritable “Choose You Own
Adventure Story” out of his life. Be it
the SNES release of A Link To The Past (the first game to abandon
side-scrolling capability in the Zelda verse) or the Gamecube release of The
Wind Waker (Link of the high seas solving puzzles, in short,) Link could be
young or old, cute or serious, solving puzzles for fun or saving Hyrule/the entire
universe. The draw of the Zelda
franchise for me was always Link himself and the awesomeness of his
character. What kept me involved was the
versatility of the series and the possibilities it gave you for varying types
of game play.
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| A panel from the Zelda Manga. Picture credit to my persona copy of The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia. |
Link being the strong silent type in his games has always
been his “thing.” It was his identifier that
stood him out as the hero of the day in that brooding, serious sense. There are only two notable exceptions to
this. One was absolutely wonderful and one was so horribly, gruesomely bad that most
dedicated nerds choose not to even speak of it.
We’ll get the bad one out of the way first.
Released October 10th, 1993, Zelda:
Wand of Gamelon, was a beacon of hope for the geekdom...at first. CD-i format, typical Zelda side-scroller from
the NES format (which we hadn’t seen since Link To The Past came out,) and in
this version you played as Zelda herself in an outfit similar to that of her
gear from the cartoon. If that didn’t
sound promising I can’t imagine what would!
And then...the animation cut scenes would come in. The voice acting was as bad as the original
Resident Evil (if you can imagine that.)
The animation look choppy, the inking looked...I don't know how else to say this...runny. I swear the coloring
looked like it needed Pepto to stop the "slushing." And whenever Link opened his mouth…..oh, I swear
every time he did I wanted him to shut up. My
ultimate hero as a child and for the first time made me want to bust his Elf lips
wide with every moronic word he spoke. The
controls are useless, there is no ability to pause the game, the in-game
purchase system for rupees is off at best, the graphics for main game play are
decent for the time, but are unable to be made up for due to the inability to
get around appropriately. There just
wasn’t much that you could walk away with happily with this game. Not even a talking Link made up for it. If anything, the talking Link was one of the
worst parts of it.
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| The 1989 Zelda cartoon. Sadly it only ran for 13 episodes. |
The only time a talking Link was acceptable was the time
that, as a kid, I developed my first crush.
It was what made me fall for a cartoon character as a kid, despite the weirdness of that admission. I’m talking
about why I planted my butt in front of the TV every Friday afternoon instead
of being outside like I normally was.
The Super Mario Bros Super Show was all about Mario, except on Fridays. Then, it was about The Legend of Zelda. Starting in September 1989,
Fridays on the Super Mario Bros Super Show were reserved for an animated
version of Hyrule with some interesting twists.
A fat and mouthy Ganon, a Zelda with a warrior spirit, a talking
Triforce, and a lazy good for nothing smart mouth slob of a hero who, when the
going got tough, fought harder than any
hero ever could. And I was glued to the
TV watching a Link I never had dreamed existed every weekend, loving this
version of my strapping young Elf.
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| Another Zelda cartoon shot. |
Or
maybe not so young...we know how Elvin age progression works…
The Nintendo market keeps bouncing back and forth between
high end and obscurity. Between closing
its doors and being on top of its game again.
Regardless of its future the company has left us with some wonderful gifts
such as a couple of Italian plumbers, a barrel swinging Ape, and an Elfin hero
who uses a sword and three mystical triangles to regularly save a
Princess. Even if your XBox and your
PS3/4 are your preferred toys, you can’t say that you would even have them if
you had never heard the theme song to Zelda coming across your NES. He he has had more game variations and alternate timelines than most game characters in history, had his own TV Show and comic book, he even has a Japanese Manga. From killing Moblins to smashing pots,
collecting rupees to throwing out that annoying “Excuuusssse me, Princess!”
Link has been everywhere, done everything, and is one of the coolest heroes to
ever grace a console.
Respect your elders, novice gamers. You wouldn’t have what you have now if it
wasn’t for the Hero of Hyrule.
Christina Sizemore is trained in only four
things: writing, fighting, paranormal
investigating, and being a mom. At this
point in her life she truly feels that she is not qualified to attempt to learn
any new field. A twenty year martial
artist, mother of three, and writer who is working on the publication of her
first book titled “Finding Your Way: A Guide To Your Path In The Martial Arts,”
she spends her days working out, writing, making fanvids, going to DragonCon,
and playing board games/video games/out in the yard with her kids and husband
who are just as geeky as she is. She is
convinced that one day her skills will be of assistance in the Zombie
Apocalypse and that while she is of no use in the kitchen, she can Buffy that
zombie for ya or teach you the best way to get the blood stains out of your
clothes (Psst…the secret is mixing Crown Cleaner and Shout. Just sayin’.)
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