Portal: The Legend of Zelda

Legend of Zelda
Developer	Nintendo
Games	List of all games
Debut	The Legend of Zelda (1986)
Gallery	GH Gallery

For information regarding helping the Gamehiker Wiki with this franchise, please refer to the Legend of Zelda Project Page.

The Legend of Zelda is 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 Mario series. This is probably due in part to the care Nintendo puts into each game, and the series has been kept much more reserved in the area of spin-offs.

History

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 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.

This was followed by The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past in 1992, which was released for the Super NES. This installment expanded on the gameplay of the original and added much more detail to the mythology of Hyrule and the Triforce. It also introduced the concept of exploring dual worlds that would be used in various future installments. A Link to the Past was the most popular game of the series for some time and is known for being an influential Zelda game with its more in-depth dungeons, monstrous bosses and improved item system. The first handheld Zelda, Link's Awakening, was released not long afterwards. It mostly followed the gameplay of A Link to the Past but in a new setting. It is known for being a classic handheld game as well as for its surprisingly bittersweet ending. This set the precedent of sidequest games that were not connected to the Triforce or Ganon (as well as in this case Zelda) and were released for the handheld.

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 64 DD, 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 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. An 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 the ocean on 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 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, which acted as a prequel to the Four Swords games and was a pure, straightforward Zelda adventure.

As the Gamecube neared the end of its lifespan, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess entered development and promised a return to the realistic style that players missed from Ocarina of Time. It featured a darker storyline and a realistic style to take advantage of the Gamecube's graphics. It featured small improvements on the traditional gameplay, the most notable being the addition of mounted gameplay. Due to its delays, it was simultaneously released for the Gamecube and as a launch title for the Nintendo Wii. The Wii version added motion controls and also flipped the map around to account for right-handed players being in the majority. This was followed by a pair of Nintendo DS games that followed the storyline of The Wind Waker, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. These games changed the traditional Zelda controls in order to take advantage of the DS's dual screens and touch screen. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword was later announced as the next major Zelda game for the Wii, and it would be specifically made for the Wii unlike Twilight Princess.

Spin-Offs

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 game that was based on Zelda II, a Zelda game for the Bandai Satallaview which was based on A Link to the Past and the more recent shooting game Link's Crossbow Training. There is also a subseries of loosely-connected comical games starring Tingle. This started with Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, but these games have primarily stayed in Japan. These do not count the licensed Zelda games that were produced for the Phillips CD-i are not considered canon. For more information on these games, see Nintendo Games on Phillips CD-i.

Additionally, characters and settings from the Zelda series have appeared in the Super Smash Bros. series due to it being one of Nintendo's biggest franchises. Link has been playable in all three games, and with Melee Zelda, Ganondorf and Young Link were added to the mix, with Young Link being replaced by the Wind Waker-inspired Toon Link in Brawl.

Continuity

Main article: The Legend of Zelda Timeline

The Legend of Zelda series is among the most well-known in video games for having the most confusing of timelines. Very few games reference to another game, although recently all console games since The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask have referenced back to Ocarina of Time while The Wind Waker has received some direct follow-ups for the Nintendo DS. Most callbacks are vague, but they give the loose basis for the series timeline. Most Zelda games are based largely around the three main characters - Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf. Their fates are usually tied largely in with the Triforce and the Master Sword. As a result, many of the games that take place in Hyrule feature very similar stories, but these storylines have become more complicated over time.

Another notable set of games that are tied together are the Four Swords trilogy. These games follow an implied order of The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, and The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures. All three of these games feature Vaati and the Four Sword as focal points.

Part of the reason for the continuity order being so obscured in confusion is due to Nintendo's focus on the gameplay for individual games over their stories. Ocarina of Time is known to be based on the Seal War/Imprisoning War from the backstory of A Link to the Past, but the specifics of the game's gameplay and storyline evolved to the point where Ocarina's storyline does not accurately match the original story from A Link to the Past. Similarly, Four Swords Adventures was also apparently changed after Miyamoto reportedly "upended the tea table" for the game. The storyline had at one point been called the oldest story in Hyrule by Aonuma, and unused text in the game contains references to the Master Sword and the sages which imply that it would have acted as a true prequel to A Link to the Past, but these elements being stripped from the game instead have left Four Swords Adventures as another game with an uncertain timeline placement.

Other Media

The series has inspired various media adaptations over the years. One of the earliest was a cartoon series which ran with the Super Mario Bros. Super Show in 1989. This cartoon was based solely on the first Zelda game and featured Link constantly protecting Zelda and the Triforce of Wisdom from Ganon and his forces. It had a comical tone in which Link often crudely hit on Zelda, only to be coldly rejected. It is notable as the first time Link was shown with a fairy companion in the form of Spryte, who had her own unrequited crush on Link. The Legend of Zelda only lasted for thirteen episodes, although Link, Zelda and Ganon also appeared in an episode of Captain N: The Game Master. There was also a short series of The Legend of Zelda comics that were made by Valient Comics which based on the cartoon but combined with elements of Zelda II and a stronger loyalty to the games.

Since then, there have mostly been manga and comic adaptations of various individual Zelda games, which usually expand upon the game's storylines while taking some liberties, usually in the form of adding or repuprosing characters to act as as sidekicks or foils to Link. It started when Yu Mishasawa wrote and drew manga versions of The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link in 1989. Shotaro Ishinomori, the creator of the popular manga Cyborg 009, later made a comic version of A Link to the Past that was published in Nintendo Power in 1992. In 1994, Ataru Caviga made a manga counterpart for Link's Awakening which was followed by his own A Link to the Past adaptation in 1995. Akira Himekawa later condensed the storyline of Ocarina of Time into a two-volume adaptation with two bonus chapters. Himekawa has written all of the manga adaptations since, including Majora's Mask, Oracle of Seasons, Oracle of Ages, Four Swords Adventures, another adaptation of A Link to the Past (likely to the GBA remake), The Minish Cap and Phantom Hourglass.

See Also

• Legend of Zelda Timeline
• Characters in Legend of Zelda series
• Games in Legend of Zelda series