Editing Portal: The Legend of Zelda

'''The Legend of Zelda''' is a series of fantasy adventure games with RPG elements that has served as the second most popular of Nintendo's internal game franchises. Despite being one of Nintendo's flagship series, there have been relatively few games released over the years, especially when  compared to the [[Portal: Mario Brothers|Mario series]]. This is probably due in part to the care Nintendo puts into each game, and the how series has been kept much more reserved in the area of spin-offs.

The franchise was among the various Nintendo franchises to originate as the brainchild of [[Shigeru Miyamoto]]. The game was inspired by the summers he spent exploring the countryside around his home as a child. Especially influential was a series of caves he found. The original game of the series, ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'', was based heavily on this concept and was released for the [[NES]] in 1986.  

The game was an overhead adventure in which the player controlled [[Link]] in navigating eight dungeons to assemble the [[Triforce|Triforce of Wisdom]] to save [[Princess Zelda]] from [[Ganon]]. This game introduced various staples of the ''Zelda'' series such as the three principal characters, the Triforce (although only two pieces were present in the first game) and the basic gameplay with most of the weapons that would be used throughout the series. It was followed up in 1987 by ''[[Zelda II: The Adventure of Link]]'', which was known for being a dramatic gameplay departure in that it featured side-scrolling gameplay matched with an RPG-like system where Link could level up in order to gain more hearts, magic power or strength. These changes as well as the game's infamous difficulty alienated gamers, so Nintendo returned to the formula of the original for the next game. ''Zelda II'' still did have some impact on the series, as it was the first appearance of the full Triforce and setting up some gameplay details that would be used in later games such as the magic meter and the emphasis on swordfighting.

A new ''Zelda'' was then developed for the [[Nintendo 64]]. It went through various changes and delays until it was finally released in 1998 as ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time]]''. This game told a story that seemed to be intended as Link and Zelda's first battle against [[Ganon]]. It is most notable for bringing ''Zelda'' into the 3-D world with a new gameplay style that put more emphasis on sword combat. This new style also made way for various new gameplay features such as horse riding and aiming arrows, and the storyline was also able to progress with in-game cutscenes that were produced with a cinematic feel. In addition to becoming the most influential game of the series since its inception, it has also remained one of the best-selling games of all time and has often been acclaimed as the best video game. There were attempts to make an expanded version called ''Ura Zelda'' for the [[Nintendo 64DD]], but these fell through with the DD's cancellation. Instead, a new game was made using the ''Ocarina'' engine, which became the Nintendo 64 sidequest game ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask]]''. This game featured Link exploring a different world and infamously featured a time limit that was a challenge to some players while putting off others. Capcom's [[Flagship]] division also began working on several ''Zelda'' games for the [[Game Boy Color]] that would be interconnected. The original plan was for three games that could link up together, one of which would be a remake of ''The Legend of Zelda'', but the remake was eventually scrapped in favor of making only two games, ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons]]'' and ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages|Oracle of Ages]]'', which had some influence from the original ''The Legend of Zelda''.

Nintendo itself worked on a new ''Zelda'' with the launch of the [[Nintendo Gamecube]], with [[Eiji Aonuma]] taking control of the ''Zelda'' franchise. A Gamecube tech demo teased a new realistic ''Zelda'' game, but the next game wound up going in the opposite direction by featuring cel-shaded graphics. Unlike the last big ''Zelda'' game, which was known for its various delays, Nintendo ensured that ''[[The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker]]'' was released when it was intended to in 2002, although it seems to have been at a cost to the game, as at least one planned dungeon was cut entirely. This game renewed the focus on exploration with an entirely new setting by having Link explore an ocean on a boat and visit various islands. This game attracted mixed attention in general due to its cartoony style as well as being shorter and easier than previous ''Zelda'' games, although it still featured a storyline that built up on the events of ''Ocarina'' and expanded on the motivations of Ganondorf. At the same time, Flagship continued developing handheld games. The same year as ''The Wind Waker'', they completed a remake of ''[[The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past & Four Swords|A Link to the Past]]'' for the [[Game Boy Advance]] that came with an original title called ''Four Swords''. ''Four Swords'' was developed as the first multiplayer ''Zelda'' experience and required at least two players to play, although all players were required to have their own cartridge. They followed this up with ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures]]'' for the Gamecube in 2004, which included a single-player mode and was heavily influenced by ''A Link to the Past'' mixed with elements of modern games such as ''The Wind Waker''. The Japanese version had an extra game based on ''The Wind Waker'' called "Tetra Trackers". However, this game's multiplayer mode also had specific technicalities that dragged it down, as each extra player had to have a Game Boy Advance to use as a controller as well as a Gamecube-GBA Link Cable to connect it to the Gamecube. Capcom worked on one last game for the Game Boy Advance, ''[[The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap|The Minish Cap]]'', which acted as a prequel to the ''Four Swords'' games and was a pure, straightforward ''Zelda'' adventure. Nintendo also rereleased ''Ocarina of Time'' for the Gamecube with a new harder "Master Quest" mode that was based on ''Ura Zelda''.

In 2017, ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild]]'' was released as the big ''Zelda'' adventure game for the [[Nintendo Switch]]. This game included some of the gameplay additions from ''Skyward Sword'' (such as the stamina meter and the idea of disposable items) but also revamped the 3-D gameplay style. The game features a hugely expansive land to and encourages freedom of exploration from players. It was released to vast critical acclaim.

''Zelda'' has not inspired many spin-offs. This is likely due to the more serious nature of the ''Zelda'' series which does not lend itself to spin-offs as easily as ''Mario''. Some minor cases have included a ''[[Zelda Game & Watch|Zelda]]'' [[Game & Watch]] game that was based on ''Zelda II'', a [[BS Legend of Zelda|set of ''Zelda'' games]] for the [[Satallaview]] which was based on ''A Link to the Past'' and ''[[Link's Crossbow Training]]''. There is also a subseries of loosely-connected comically-themed games starring [[Tingle]] that started with ''[[Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland]]'', though those games have only seen limited releases outside of Japan if any at all. This also does not count the licensed ''Zelda'' games that were produced for the Phillips CD-i in the 1990s which are not considered canon. For more information on those games, see [[Nintendo Games on Philips CD-i]].

In the years following the release of the Hyrule Historia, some of the games have been clearer about their timeline placement, specially ''A Link Between Worlds'' and ''Tri Force Heroes''. However, ''Breath of the Wild'' caused confusion due to its references to multiple timelines, and Nintendo was unclear on the matter until Aonuma finally stated that it is a story which occurs at the end of every timeline split.  

In each split, ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild|Breath of the Wild]]'' takes place after all other games.