BY JC FLETCHER
This is but one of the legends of which the people speak…
Long ago, there existed a kingdom where a golden power lay hidden. It was a prosperous land blessed with green forests, tall mountains, and peace. But one day a man of great evil found the golden power and took it for himself…
With its strength at his command, he spread darkness across the kingdom.
But then, when all hope had died, and the hour of doom seemed at hand…
…a young boy clothed in green appeared as if out of nowhere. Wielding the blade of evil's bane, he sealed the dark one away and gave the land light. This boy, who traveled through time to save, was known as the Hero of Time. The boy's tale was passed down through generations until it became legend…
But then… a day came when a fell wind began to blow across the kingdom.
The great evil that all thought had been forever sealed away by the hero once again crept forth from the depths of the earth, eager to resume its dark designs. The people believed that the Hero of Time would again come to save them.
…But the hero did not appear.
Faced by an onslaught of evil, the people could do nothing but appeal to the gods. In their last hour, as doom drew nigh, they left their future in the hands of fate.
What became of that kingdom…? None remain who know.
The memory of the kingdom vanished, but its legend survived on the wind's breath. On a certain island, it became customary to garb boys in green when they came of age. Clothed in the green of fields, they aspired to find heroic blades and cast down evil. The elders wished only for the youths to know courage like the hero of legend…
(From The Legend of Zelda: the Wind Waker, 2003)
The stories have run together over time so that it is difficult to tell when the Links of two tales are the same, but it does not matter. Whenever evil threatens the land of Hyrule, usually in the form of the reborn sorcerer Ganon, a young boy named Link, pointy-eared and clad in a green tunic, will undertake his first journey from home, oblivious to the adventure ahead. Along the way, he will gather many magical tools, relics from earlier ages that have been lost to the ages- the reflective Mirror Shield, the Megaton Hammer, and the Iron Boots, for example, and always the powerful Master Sword and the Silver Arrows.
(The Legend of Zelda, 1987)
Link has sailed the oceans with the wind at his command, has changed form with magical masks, and has even traveled in time. He travels across the deserts, forests, and seas of Hyrule, through mazelike dungeons and decrepit ruins, facing both Ganon's minions and the indigenous monsters of the region.
Link rarely quests for the explicit purpose of defeating Ganon, instead he ventures out with the goal of rescuing his sister, or Princess Zelda of Hyrule, or for no reason at all; but unbeknownst to him, fate always pits the innocent boy against the wizard, and despite his youth and inexperience, Link is always the victor against the larger, older, and immensely powerful Ganon.
(The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, 1992)
Just as Link's fate steers him toward Ganon, so are both of their fates driven to the Triforces of Power, Wisdom, and Courage, the three magical golden triangles left to Hyrule by the goddesses Din, Nayru, and Farore. With every revival of Ganon comes a race to the Triforce, for whoever assembles all three is granted anything he desires. With every defeat of Ganon, Link ensures the return of the Triforce into safe hands for at least another generation, and he disappears into obscurity again.
(The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, 2003)
COMMENTARY
I apologize for the Nintendo/Miyamoto-centrism, but the influence of the Mario and Zelda games on the medium, and especially on the perceptions of video games held by people of my age group, cannot be overestimated. Simply put, Mario and Zelda were defining moments in video game history. The Legend of Zelda featured a large-massive for the time-- "overworld" that was fully explorable, dispensing with the metered level structure found in previous games. As such, the emphasis was on exploration; the player was expected to find the eight dungeons (which could theoretically be completed in any order, if the player could deal with the high difficulty of the later dungeons without the health upgrades and weapons found in the earlier ones) simply by wandering, slowly obtaining the items that would allow entry into obscure and secret locations in the land of Hyrule. To a gamer of the time, the size and variety of the world seemed almost infinite, limited though it may appear now.
Zelda featured a "fantasy" type storyline usually popular in computer role playing games, but without all of the Dungeons and Dragons-style number crunching, resulting in an approachable adventure that was still deeper than any console gaming experience that had come before; this revolutionary gameplay coupled with some truly awful (but noticeable) television advertisements created one of the biggest hits of video game history.
A personal anecdote: I remember being on the playground at my elementary school, trying to describe Zelda to my friends shortly after its release. For some reason, they refused to believe I possessed the game, as if the cartridge itself (which was cast in shiny gold plastic, unlike the other matte grey Nintendo Entertainment System cartridges) were a treasure to be obtained only by the most stalwart of adventurers. Even before they had played it, they were fully sucked in by Zelda.
This attitude has not changed. A new Zelda game is always an event, anticipated with a passion that few other series merit, and for good reason: the games, always under the watchful eye of original creator Shigeru Miyamoto (though occasionally directed by others) have set the standard for video game adventures, and have always exceeded gamers' already high expectations.
Gamespot: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.
http://www.gamespot.com/gamecube/adventure/legendofzeldathewindwaker/
Game information, including reviews, walkthroughs, screenshots and movies. Source of Wind Waker screenshot.
The Legend of Zelda (Game.) Nintendo, Nintendo Entertainment System, 1987.
Legend of Zelda screenshot captured by JC Fletcher.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (Game.) Nintendo, Nintendo Gamecube, 2003.
Source of story prologue.
Zelda Elements.
http://www.planetnintendo.com/zelda/3screenshots.shtml
Source of A Link to the Past screenshot.
