A long, long time ago the World was in an age of Chaos. In the middle of this chaos, in a little kingdom in the land of Hyrule, a legend was being banded down from generation to generation, the legend of the "Triforce;" golden triangles possessing mystical powers.

One day, an evil army attacked this peaceful little kingdom and stole the Triforce of Power. This army was led by Ganon, the powerful Prince of Darkness who sought to plunge the World into fear and darkness under his rule. Fearing his wicked rule, Zelda, the princess of this kingdom, split up the Triforce of Wisdom into eight fragments and hid them throughout the realm to save the last remaining Triforce from the clutches of the evil Ganon. At the same time, she commanded her most trustworthy nursemaid, Impa, to secretly escape into the land and go find a man with enough courage to destroy the evil Ganon. Upon hearing this, Ganon grew angry, imprisoned the princess, and sent out a party in search of Impa.

Braving forests and mountains, Impa fled for her life from her pursuers. As she reached the very limit of her energy she found herself surrounded by Ganon's evil henchmen. Cornered! What could she do? ... But wait!

All was not lost. A young lad appeared. He skillfully drove off Ganon's henchmen, and saved Impa from a fate worse than death. His name was Link. During his travels he had come across Impa and Ganon's henchmen. Impa told Link the whole story of the princess Zelda and the evil Ganon. Burning with a sense of justice, Link resolved to save Zelda, but Ganon was a powerful opponent. He held the Triforce of Power. And so, in order to fight off Ganon, Link had to bring the scattered eight fragments of the Triforce of Wisdom together to rebuild the mystical Triangle.

If he couldn't do this, there would be no chance Link could fight his way into Death Mountain where Ganon lived. Can Link really destroy Ganon and save the Princess Zelda? Only your skill can answer that question. Good luck. Use the Triforce wisely.

The protagonist. A skillful lad with a burning sense of justice. Wants to gather the eight fragments of the Triforce of Wisdom that are hidden throughout Hyrule. Then he must fight his way into Death Mountain to defeat Ganon and rescue Princess Zelda.

The fair princess of Hyrule and damsel in distress. She split up the Triforce of Wisdom into eight pieces and hid them throughout the realm to save them from the evil clutches of Ganon. Summoned for a hero brave enough to defeat Ganon and bring back peace to Hyrule.

The antagonist and Prince of Darkness. Led his army on an attack on the Hyrule kingdom, stealing the Triforce of Power in the ensuing events. He is holding Princess Zelda captive in his dungeon.

he Legend of Zelda, although being an early-generation NES game, stands as one of the most classic video games of all time. The plot is simple: rescue the princess who has been abducted by the villain. Along the way, you'll have to collect eight pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom that Princess Zelda hid throughout Hyrule, the once peaceful kingdom the game takes place in.

Graphically, the game is really pleasing. Although the characters and backgrounds are not rendered with much detail, there is something about the graphics that I really like. Perhaps it is the fact that it reminds me of a board game, with each little on-screen character representing a playing piece. You move around the land of Hyrule one screen at a time, with a group of enemies appearing in set places on each different screen.

One of my favorite things about this game is all the items you collect in the course of your adventure. Your first valuable item is a sword you receive from an old wise man, but that is only the beginning. There are also boomerangs (wooden and magical) that stun enemies, a raft Link can use to cross seas and lakes, and a mysterious whistle that warps you to several places around Hyrule, plus many other accessories. You even upgrade your sword twice, which is a really cool idea.

The music in The Legend of Zelda is above average—the adventurous Overworld theme tends to stick in your head and play repeatedly. Inside the many labyrinths, a cool track driving the sense of danger plays. Even the sound effects are good, like when you discover a secret or raise an item you just found. The one bad thing about the music in this game is that the tracks are really short, which means more frequent loops and, consequently, music that sounds very repetitive.

This game is challenging; count on using maps to prevent getting lost around Hyrule. If you are skilled enough to complete it, a second quest awaits you with new sets of challenges. Even though I first played and completed both quests of this game many years ago, The Legend of Zelda is still one of those games I could see myself playing all over again and enjoying.

JAG
March 10, 1999

The first thing on your tasks list is to get the sword from the old man.

Shoot your sword to destroy Zola.

You must collect all the pieces of the Triforce before fighting Ganon.

Don't get lost in Ganon's labyrinth!