History of The Legend of Zelda series. History of The Legend of Zelda series The legend of zelda heroes

: E - Everyone
OFLC (A) : G- General
PEGI: 16
USK : USK 6[d] and USK 0[d]

Screenwriter

Tezuka, Takashi [d]

Programmer Nakago, Toshihiko [d] and Yasunari Soejima[d]

The Legend of Zelda (jap. THE HYRULE FANTASY THE HYRULE FANTASY Jeruda no Densetsu, also known as "The Hyrule Fantasy: The Legend of Zelda" in Japan) is a video game developed by Shigeru Miyamoto and released by Nintendo for the Famicom in 1986. In August 1987, the game was released in the North American market, in November of the same year - in Europe.

Plot

The plot of the game The Legend of Zelda described in a very concise manner in the introduction to the game and much more detailed in the illustrated user manual that accompanied the game. The game takes place in the fictional kingdom of Hyrule (eng. Hyrule). The army of the powerful Prince of Darkness Ganon (eng. Ganon) that invaded Hyrule plunged the kingdom into chaos, Ganon himself captured the Triforce of Power, a magical artifact that bestows great power on its owner. Princess Hyrule Zelda, who wielded another artifact, the Triforce of Wisdom, split it into eight fragments and hid them from Ganon in the secret dungeons of the kingdom.

The booklet tells how one day an old woman named Impa, Princess Zelda's trusted nurse, was surrounded by Ganon's henchmen, and main character game Link put them to flight. Impa told Link about the disaster that had befallen Hyrule, and he decided to save Zelda. But in order to fight Ganon, he must first find and put together fragments of the Triforce of Wisdom scattered throughout the country.

Game process

Game process The Legend of Zelda is a combination of action, adventure, RPG and puzzle games. The player is invited to control the main character in real time and fight opponents in arcade mode, while at the same time it is possible to increase the hero's performance and weapon characteristics during the game, there is an inventory with the ability to use a number of useful items. The game interface is presented on two screens - "main" and "auxiliary", switching between which is done by pressing the "Start" button. On the main screen are game events: move game character by level, fights with monsters, etc., while the auxiliary screen displays the character's inventory, the number of Triforce fragments found and used in this moment additional weapon.

The game world is shown in a "top-side" projection, the player controls a character named Link (you can assign a different name), which initially has only a light shield from equipment. Having found a sword or any other weapon, the player gets the opportunity to attack the monsters and begins to explore the world.

A killed enemy can leave behind a bonus: gems Rupees(acting in the game as a means of payment), or a heart that restores the level of health. Sometimes, killing a monster can release a fairy, a magical creature that fully restores Link's health. Sometimes - a magical watch that paralyzes monsters for a while.

There is no world map in the game, only dungeon maps (which are hidden in labyrinths and require additional search) and a kind of radar in the upper left corner of the "main" screen, which displays Link's real location in the game world. The user manual, contrary to tradition, did not contain detailed map game world, only instructions for reaching the first labyrinth and a map fragment, guided by which the player could find the second labyrinth.

Weapons and armor

The main weapon in the game is the sword. The game has three different swords available to the player and differing in their characteristics: the base sword (eng. Sword), White sword (eng. White sword) and Magic sword (eng. Magical sword). Each subsequent one deals damage 2 times greater than the previous one. As long as Link's health is undamaged (i.e. all hearts indicating his health level remain red), he is able to throw his sword when attacking, dealing damage to the enemy from a safe distance. As soon as Link is wounded and his health is reduced, he loses the ability to such an attack and is forced to cut enemies in melee, or use an additional weapon.

These weapons are:

wooden boomerang (paralyzes the enemy, able to kill a weak enemy and helps to pick up bonuses that are out of reach for the game character)
magical boomerang (does more damage)
wooden arrows
silver arrows
bow (without it, arrows are useless)
Bombs (Initially, Link can carry a maximum of eight bombs, but this number may increase as you explore the dungeons)
magic wand (spell power can be increased by finding a spell book Book of Magic)

The basic shield that Link starts the game with can only protect against attacks at the beginning of the game. It is desirable to replace it with a more durable magic (eng. Magical shield), which can stop most attacks of opponents and which can be purchased from a merchant.

Inventory

The game has a set of items, the use of which can greatly facilitate its passage, and the fact that without some of them it is impossible to complete the game encourages the player to actively search. Some of the items (usually in their basic version) can be purchased from a merchant, more valuable ones are hidden in the caches of the labyrinths.

List of items:

food (piece of meat) - can be used as bait to distract monsters, or to bribe.
blue candle - with its help you can illuminate the dark rooms of the labyrinth, as well as discover caches on the surface by burning bushes. When used, it throws out a tongue of flame that can damage both monsters and Link himself.
red candle - performs the same functions as the blue one, but can illuminate more than once per labyrinth room.
blue ring - reduces damage from enemy attacks by half.
red ring - reduces damage from an enemy attack to a quarter.
bracelet of strength - gives Link strength enough to lift stones (which helps to find caches).
flute is an ancient musical instrument endowed with magical properties. Can be used against some bosses, and can also be used to locate caches. Critical to the progress of the game.
a raft is a means to overcome water barriers. Critical to pass.
stairs - a means to overcome obstacles. Critical to pass.
key - with its help unlock the doors in the labyrinths. Disposable item.
magic key - unlocks doors, can be used an infinite number of times.
labyrinth map - helps to navigate in an unfamiliar maze.
labyrinth compass - marks the location of the Triforce fragment and a hidden valuable item on the map.
living water - restores the level of health, there are two types: blue and red.

NPCs

In addition to the monsters (see below), there are a small number of NPCs in the game world that the player can interact with. Some of the NPCs are involved in trading, others can provide valuable information that can help you progress through the game. The location of these characters is fixed, most often they live in caves, in hidden dungeons and (sometimes) in labyrinths. In total, there are three types of non-player characters in the game: the old man, the old woman and the merchant. Sometimes the role of an NPC is played by a neutral monster (usually a moblin).

Some of the inhabitants offer to play a game (" Lat's Play Money Making Game”), in which you can win a certain number of Rupees.

labyrinths

Eight fragments of the Triforce of Wisdom are hidden in eight underground labyrinths inhabited by monsters. Each fragment is guarded by a boss, which usually requires more time or ingenuity to defeat (usually a clearly expressed superiority in one thing turns into a weakness for the boss in another, rare NPCs found in labyrinths can point to boss vulnerabilities).

Eight labyrinths are the so-called. quests and are numbered from 1 to 8, as the difficulty of passing and the danger of the monsters encountered in them increase. The user manual strongly advised to follow the order of passage, since the items found in some labyrinths can greatly facilitate the passage of others. Having found all eight fragments of the Triforce of Wisdom, Link must blow up the wall in the mountain and get into the ninth labyrinth - Death Mountain, Ganon's abode. In each of them, in addition to a fragment of the Triforce, one (in the final labyrinths - two) inventory items are also hidden, which cannot be found elsewhere and which cannot be purchased from merchants.

List of labyrinths and items:

Eagle (Level 1) - bow.
Moon (Level 2) - magical boomerang.
Manji (Level 3) - Raft.
Snake (Level 4) - stairs.
Lizard (Level 5) - flute.
Dragon (Level 6) - magic staff.
Demon (Level 7) - red candle.
Lion (Level 8) - magic key, staff spell book.
Death Mountain (Level 9) - Ganon's abode - silver arrows, red ring.

Opponents

Presented in the order listed in the game's user manual.

Surface Dwellers

Tektite- a spider-like creature with one eye, there are blue and red.
Octorok- an octopus that lives underground. Spits stones, there are red and blue.
Leever- a creature living underground, feeds on the energy of creatures that inadvertently come too close to it. There are also blue and red ones.
Peahat- ghosts of flowers move around the area, spinning along the vertical axis. Can only be destroyed when stopped.
Molblin- goblins with muzzles of bulldogs, live in the forests. They attack by throwing spears at the hero.
Armos- mighty warriors, once turned into stone statues. They come to life at Link's careless touch.
Ghini- ghosts guarding cemeteries. As strong as Armos.
Lynel- defenders of the Death Mountains, similar to centaurs.
Zola- half fish, half woman, lives in the water.
Rock- ordinary stones falling in the Death Mountains during rockfalls.

dwellers in labyrinths

Zol & Gel- jelly-like creatures living in underground labyrinths. From the impact Zol is divided into two Gel, which are smaller in size.
rope- venomous snakes attack swiftly.
Vire & Keese- winged devils, when hit by Vire, it splits into two Keese, which are similar to bats, but more aggressive.
Stalfos- living skeletons.
Wall Master- the hand of a monster that emerges from the walls of the labyrinth. If he manages to grab Link, he transports him back to the entrance to the labyrinth.
Goriya- red or blue devils, armed with boomerangs.
Wizzrobe- Powerful Masters of Movement. They appear here and there and attack Link with spells.
darknut- knights in armor, blocking any of Link's attacks with their shield.
Pols Voice- rabbit-shaped ghosts with big ears.
Like Like- tubular monsters that devour magical shields.
Gibdo- living mummies.
Moldorm- a giant worm that lives in labyrinths.
Dadongo- a giant rhinoceros that looks like a triceratops.
Manhandla- a giant carnivorous cannibal plant with four mouthed arms.
Aquamentus- a unicorn that emits rays.
Patra- attack in groups.
Diggdogger- a giant sea urchin, being attacked, is divided into a group of smaller creatures.
Gohma- a giant crab with a hard shell. Dies if shot with a bow in an open eye.
Gleeok- a multi-headed dragon (the number of heads varies from two to four). The severed heads remain active and continue to attack Link.
Bubble- the spirits of the dead. Their touch confuses Link, resulting in him being unable to lift his sword for some time after the collision.
Ganon- the last leader. It is invisible and only appears when struck with a sword. After a few hits, he freezes, at which point you need to shoot him with a bow with silver arrows.

Second Quest

After passing The Legend of Zelda the player gets more difficult level, officially called Second campaign(English Second Quest). The "Second Campaign" is distinguished by other mazes, a change in the location of objects in them, and stronger monsters. It is possible to launch the "Second Campaign" at the beginning of a new game, for this it is enough to create account named player Zelda.

Production

The game was developed by a creative team led by Shigeru Miyamoto. At the same time with The Legend of Zelda the same lineup worked on Super Mario Bros. trying, according to Miyamoto, to preserve the individuality of both projects, so different from each other

Plot

Title screen of the game.

The plot of the game The Legend of Zelda described in a very concise manner in the introduction to the game and much more detailed in the illustrated user manual that accompanied the game. The game is set in the fictional kingdom of Hyrule. Hyrule). The army of the mighty Prince of Darkness Ganon invaded Hyrule. Ganon) plunged the kingdom into chaos, Ganon himself captured the Triforce of Power, a magical artifact that bestows great power on its owner. Princess Hyrule Zelda, who owned another artifact, the Triforce of Wisdom, split it into eight fragments and hid them from Ganon in the secret dungeons of the kingdom.

The booklet tells how one day an old woman named Impa, Princess Zelda's trusted nurse, was surrounded by Ganon's minions, and the game's protagonist Link put them to flight. Impa told Link about the disaster that had befallen Hyrule, and he decided to save Zelda. But in order to fight Ganon, he must first find and put together fragments of the Triforce of Wisdom scattered throughout the country.

Gameplay

Game process The Legend of Zelda is a combination of action, adventure, RPG and puzzle games. The player is invited to control the main character in real time and fight opponents in arcade mode, while at the same time it is possible to increase the hero's performance and weapon characteristics during the game, there is an inventory with the ability to use a number of useful items. The game interface is presented on two screens - "main" and "auxiliary", switching between which is done by pressing the "Start" button. On the main screen, game events take place: the movement of the game character through the level, battles with monsters, etc., while the auxiliary screen displays the character's inventory, the number of Triforce fragments found, and the additional weapon currently in use.

Labyrinth (Level 3 - "Manji").

The game world is shown in a "top-side" projection, the player controls a character named Link (you can assign a different name), which initially has only a light shield from equipment. Having found a sword (or any other weapon), the player gets the opportunity to attack the monsters and begins to explore the world.

There is no world map in the game, only dungeon maps (which are hidden in labyrinths and require additional search) and a kind of radar in the upper left corner of the "main" screen, which displays Link's real location in the game world. The user manual, contrary to tradition, did not contain a detailed map of the game world, only instructions for reaching the first labyrinth and a fragment of the map, guided by which the player could find the second labyrinth.

Weapons and armor

The main weapon in the game is the sword. The game has three different swords available to the player and differing in their characteristics: the base sword (eng. Sword), White sword (eng. white sword) and the Magic Sword (eng. magic sword). Each subsequent one deals damage 2 times greater than the previous one. As long as Link's health is undamaged (i.e. all hearts indicating his health level remain red), he is able to throw his sword when attacking, dealing damage to the enemy from a safe distance. As soon as Link is wounded and his health is reduced, he loses the ability to such an attack and is forced to cut enemies in melee, or use an additional weapon.

These weapons are:

wooden boomerang (paralyzes the enemy, able to kill a weak enemy and helps to pick up bonuses that are out of reach for the game character)
magical boomerang (does more damage)
wooden arrows
silver arrows
bow (without it, arrows are useless)
Bombs (Initially, Link can carry a maximum of eight bombs, but this number may increase as you explore the dungeons)
magic wand (spell power can be increased by finding a spell book Book of Magic)

The basic shield that Link starts the game with can only protect against attacks at the beginning of the game. It is desirable to replace it with a more durable magic (eng. Magical shield) that can stop most enemy attacks and can be purchased from a merchant.

Inventory

Auxiliary screen. 7 out of 8 fragments of the Triforce have already been found by the player.

List of items:

food (piece of meat) - can be used as bait to distract monsters, or to bribe.
blue candle - with its help you can illuminate the dark rooms of the labyrinth, as well as discover caches on the surface by burning bushes. When used, it throws out a tongue of flame that can damage both monsters and Link himself.
red candle - performs the same function as the blue one, but can illuminate more than one room of the labyrinth at a time.
blue ring - reduces damage from enemy attacks by half.
red ring - reduces damage from an enemy attack to a quarter.
bracelet of strength - gives Link strength enough to lift stones (which helps to find caches).
flute is an ancient musical instrument endowed with magical properties. Can be used against some bosses, and can also be used to locate caches. Critical to the progress of the game.
a raft is a means to overcome water barriers. Critical to pass.
stairs - a means to overcome obstacles. Critical to pass.
key - with its help unlock the doors in the labyrinths. Disposable item.
magic key - unlocks doors, can be used an infinite number of times.
labyrinth map - helps to navigate in an unfamiliar maze.
labyrinth compass - marks the location of the Triforce fragment and a hidden valuable item on the map.
living water - restores the level of health, there are two types: blue and red.

Text introduction to the game. The name of the main antagonist Ganon is spelled (probably erroneously) as Gannon.

NPCs

Some of the inhabitants offer to play a game (" Lat's Play Money Making Game”), in which you can win a certain number of Rupees

labyrinths

Eight labyrinths are the so-called. quests and are numbered from 1 to 8, as the difficulty of passing and the danger of the monsters encountered in them increase. The user manual strongly advised to follow the order of passage, since the items found in some labyrinths can greatly facilitate the passage of others. After finding all eight fragments of the Triforce of Wisdom, Link must blow up the wall in the mountain and get into the ninth labyrinth - Death Mountains (eng. Death Mountain), home of Ganon. Starting from the 2nd labyrinth, in addition to the Triforce fragment, each of them also hides one (two in the final labyrinths) inventory items that cannot be found elsewhere and cannot be purchased from merchants.

List of labyrinths and items:

Eagle (Level 1) - bow.
Moon (Level 2) - magical boomerang.
Manji (Level 3) - Raft.
Snake (Level 4) - stairs.
Lizard (Level 5) - flute.
Dragon (Level 6) - magic staff.
Demon (Level 7) - red candle.
Lion (Level 8) - magic key, staff spell book.
Death Mountain (Level 9) - Ganon's abode - silver arrows, red ring.

Opponents

Presented in the order listed in the game's user manual.

Surface Dwellers

Tektite- a spider-like creature with one eye, there are blue and red.
Octorok- an octopus that lives underground. Spits stones, there are red and blue.
Leever- a creature living underground, feeds on the energy of creatures that inadvertently come too close to it. There are also blue and red ones.
Peahat- ghosts of flowers move around the area, spinning along the vertical axis. Can only be destroyed when stopped.
Molblin- goblins with muzzles of bulldogs, live in the forests. They attack by throwing spears at the hero.
Armos- mighty warriors, once turned into stone statues. They come to life at Link's careless touch.
Ghini- ghosts guarding cemeteries. As strong as Armos.
Lynel- defenders of the Death Mountains, similar to centaurs.
Zola- half fish, half woman, lives in the water.
Rock- ordinary stones falling in the Death Mountains during rockfalls.

dwellers in labyrinths

Zol & Gel- jelly-like creatures living in underground labyrinths. From the impact Zol is divided into two Gel, which are smaller in size.
rope- venomous snakes attack swiftly.
Vire & Keese- winged devils, when hit by Vire, it splits into two Keese, which are similar to bats, but more aggressive.
Stalfos- living skeletons.
Wall Master- the hand of a monster that emerges from the walls of the labyrinth. If he manages to grab Link, he transports him back to the entrance to the labyrinth.
Goriya- red or blue devils, armed with boomerangs.
Wizzrobe- Powerful Masters of Movement. They appear here and there and attack Link with spells.
darknut- knights in armor, blocking Link's frontal attacks with their shield.
Pols Voice- rabbit-shaped ghosts with big ears.
Like Like- tubular monsters that devour magical shields.
Gibdo- living mummies.
Moldorm- a giant worm that lives in labyrinths.
Dadongo- a giant rhinoceros that looks like a triceratops.
Manhandla- a giant carnivorous cannibal plant with four mouthed arms.
Aquamentus- a unicorn that emits rays.
Patra- attack in groups.
Diggdogger- a giant sea urchin, being attacked, is divided into a group of smaller creatures.
Gohma- a giant crab with a hard shell. Dies if shot with a bow in an open eye.
Gleeok- a multi-headed dragon (the number of heads varies from two to four). The severed heads remain active and continue to attack Link.
Bubble- the spirits of the dead. Their touch confuses Link, resulting in him being unable to lift his sword for some time after the collision.
Ganon- the final boss. It is invisible and only appears when struck with a sword. After a few hits, he freezes, at which point you need to shoot him with a bow with silver arrows.

Second Quest

After passing The Legend of Zelda a more difficult level becomes available to the player, officially called Second Quest(English) Second Quest). The second Quest features other labyrinths, a change in the location of objects in them, and stronger monsters. It is possible to start the Second Quest at the beginning of a new game, for this it is enough to create a player account with the name Zelda.

Production

The game was worked on by a creative team led by Shigeru Miyamoto. At the same time with The Legend of Zelda the same lineup worked on Super Mario Bros. trying, according to Miyamoto, to preserve the individuality of both projects, so different from each other. Miyamoto's team was co-created by designer Tezuka Takashi and composer Koji Kondo.

Confession

In the first issue of the magazine Nintendo Power(July-August 1988) the game topped the top thirty and continued to hold high positions until the early 1990s. In the same year The Legend of Zelda was selected by the players for the Nintendo Power Awards in the "Best Challenge" category.

Sources, notes

Links

"The Legend of Zelda" at Zelda.com
The Legend of Zelda (game)(English) on the website MobyGames

Series The Legend of Zelda
Main Series	The Legend of Zelda

The Legend of Zelda is unusual in many ways. Let's start with the genre. All games in the series are usually referred to as RPGs (in extreme cases - action / RPG), although there is no reason for this. The gameplay has something from action, adventure, RPG, puzzles and even platformers; at the same time, there are not so many similarities with RPG. With the same success, Shenmue can be attributed to RPG, metal gear Solid or any other game with a well-thought-out plot, no obvious division into locations, inventory and development of the protagonist's capabilities. In my opinion, The Legend of Zelda is classified as an RPG, let's say, "out of respect." It is not the components of the gameplay that are taken into account, but their impact on the player. And in this quality, The Legend of Zelda is very close to final fantasy or, for example, Grandia. And far from classic action/adventure like Metal Gear Solid or Silent Hill.

Another important The feature Legend of Zelda is the personality of the protagonist (the game, which is significant, does not bear his name!). In every part of the series, his name is Link, but, as a rule, these are different creatures, just very similar. Link is usually a boy of twelve, but there are also adult incarnations, such as in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Among gamers and gaming journalists, Link is generally considered an elf, but this is not entirely true. In the world of The Legend of Zelda, there are actually no such creatures, and the protagonist's race is called Hylian. Another thing is that Link is sharp-eared, dressed in a green cloak and shoots a bow perfectly. In general, he has all the qualities of a real elf. As for the personalities of individual Links, they are considered to be different people, unless the game itself explicitly states otherwise. For example, Majora's Mask and Ocarina of Time have one main character, Link's Awakening and A Link to the Past have the same main character. According to Majora's Mask producer and Twilight Princess director Eiji Aonuma, the main idea behind The Legend of Zelda is that when the world of Hyrule is threatened, new hero– and by all means named Link. Finally, The Legend of Zelda is an RPG with a silent character. It's about not only about voice acting, but also about direct participation in dialogues in general. Link only listens to others and occasionally chooses answers to a question. Therefore, the hero's response to events, his opinion can only be judged by exclamations and facial expressions. And even the name can be changed to whatever the player chooses.

The basis of almost all games in the series is the passage of levels - "dungeons". In them you need to fight enemies, solve logic puzzles, look for treasure chests. And at the end, a boss awaits, guarding some important item for passing the game. In this sense, The Legend of Zelda is similar to the series Metroid, Mega Man and Castlevania (which, by the way, is also often referred to as an RPG). However, the gamer is free to choose in what order to complete the levels - they are combined into a single virtual world where you can move freely. Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of the series, admitted to reporters how the idea for the very first The Legend of Zelda was born. It turns out that as a boy he loved to wander through the forests and fields around Kyoto. There, discoveries were constantly waiting for him, like a lake lurking in the thicket or a godforsaken village. Most of all, he remembered the adventure with the cave, which he discovered in the heart of the forest. Overcoming fear, Miyamoto armed himself with a lamp and went inside. It was these childhood impressions that the game designer tried to convey to gamers in the future.

Start

In 2006, the film Grandma's Boy was released on wide screens (in the Russian box office - "A Boy for Three"), one of whose heroes boasts: "I passed The Legend of Zelda before he could even walk." Fortunately, I was six years old in 1986, and I stood firmly on two legs, only in the Soviet Union few people had heard of the NES prefix. Meanwhile, you can not evaluate The Legend of Zelda, not taking into account the date of its birth. Incredibly entertaining but monstrously simple arcade games were then widespread; their main task is to go through many levels and score a record number of points. Average age gamers was also much lower than it is now - about the same as Miyamoto's when he explored his caves. The Legend of Zelda turned out to be strikingly different from the hits of that time and gave millions of teenagers, tired of the endless pursuit of records, the illusion of a real adventure. The hero of the game was thrown into a whole magical world without a map, without a sensible weapon and even the slightest idea of where to go and what to do. The only sane source of information - the manual that came with the game - was not particularly generous with advice. The Legend of Zelda is a game for the curious. For those who wanted not just to go through the levels one by one, but to explore the world, get to know its inhabitants, listen to their complaints and get quest items one by one - in the order that they considered necessary. Lack of information encouraged experiments. “What happens if you go to that cave?” the gamer asked, involuntarily repeating the thoughts of little Miyamoto, and took a step into the unknown. The need for additional pumping (due to which, even in Final Fantasy, even in Diablo, the hero needs to complete all the quests strictly in turn) was absent. After all, Link from the very beginning can slaughter any monster with an ordinary sword. It's just a question of the skill of the gamer, not of his ward. And, as a result, he can go to any labyrinth, not caring about the level of the enemies living there!

The plot of the very first The Legend of Zelda (NES, 1986) laid the foundation for the mythology of the entire series. The evil sorcerer Ganon took possession of the Triforce of Power artifact and with its help subjugated almost the entire world of Hyrule. For the final victory, however, he also needs the Triforce of Wisdom, the guardian of which is Princess Zelda. Upon learning of the sorcerer's intentions, she divided the artifact into eight pieces and hid them in different parts of her kingdom. Before the inevitable captivity, she sent a faithful servant named Impa in search of a hero who would save her and the whole world from the villain. They became Link. To get to the goal, I had to first find several important items, such as a ladder, a bow with arrows and a raft. Each of them allowed to overcome a certain type of obstacles and gain access to new dungeons. Link eventually assembled all eight pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom, defeated Ganon, and saved Zelda. In general terms, any The Legend of Zelda looks the same - up to the very latest.

It is curious that in the second part - The Legend of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (NES, 1988) - Shigeru Miyamoto went too far with innovations. Wherever you spit - the second part contradicts the first. Experience points and random battles (Random Encounter) were added, and for some reason the money disappeared. The overall world map was still top-down, but the dungeons were explored from the side, and the gameplay of The Legend of Zelda II is very reminiscent of a platformer. Instead of collecting artifacts, the hero carries them around the dungeons and hides them. Huge world exploration replaced normal passage levels, but the battles varied. The game became more like the usual console RPGs of the time, like Exile. Probably, if the ideas of the second part of The Legend of Zelda were adopted, then the series would turn into another competitor to Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. However, this did not happen.

The Legend of Zelda (NES)

Birth of a legend

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES, 1992) - one of the best 2D games ever - defined further development series. It was already SNES time; gamers and developers were already very familiar with Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and Phantasy Star. Requirements for the quality of graphics and plot have grown significantly role playing. It was necessary to find a way to preserve the identity of the series, and not lose its old fans, and attract new ones. Therefore, the decision of Shigeru Miyamoto, the third part of The Legend of Zelda returned to its roots. Only the top view (or rather, "three-quarters") was still used, and Link freely traveled around the world. No pumping was required - any enemy can be killed with an ordinary sword. But Link, as before, had to collect useful additional items, like a boomerang.

Keeping the basics of the gameplay, the developers have repeatedly improved the quality of each of its features. For the first time, a well-thought-out plot appeared with lively dialogues, many memorable characters. In Link to the Past, the action took place in the same Hyrule, but dozens of times larger and more diverse. Powerful wizards, mysterious beauties, impudent thieves and brave warriors were waiting for the hero around every corner. As before, the passage was not linear - the gamer himself chose which adventures he liked best. In many ways, the game was similar to Light Crusader, Land Stalker, and especially Beyond Oasis for Mega drive well known to Russian gamers. At every step, an obstacle can be encountered, behind which lies the road to an unknown corner of the world. To overcome it, you must first get an item or get a new ability. Moreover, this item or ability opens access not to one specific new passage (as in most RPGs), but to many at once (the path to which was previously blocked by the same obstacles). Sometimes you need to return to the very beginning of the game in order to get some especially secret chest. Finally, the dungeons became a real masterpiece of game design - moderately intricate, replete with interesting logical riddles and inhabited by beautiful and very diverse enemies.

The logical continuation of Link to the Past was Link's Awakening (GB, 1993), later re-released for GBC. Keeping intact the basics of the gameplay, the developers have changed the scene. However, the fictional island of Koholint still very much resembled Hyrule; migrated to new game many characters and bosses. Another thing is the script. Instead of the usual fairy tale about the struggle between good and evil, we got a surreal story about Link's dream. Say, the hero sailed on a ship that crashed and woke up on an unknown shore. Having warmed himself with the locals, he immediately went to explore the local caves. However, labyrinths, enemies, and bosses are deliberately implausible; there is no dramatic intensity in the game. And after passing the last dungeon, the hero ... simply wakes up. And finally, in Link's Awakening, for the first time, an important feature of the series appeared - the hero learned to play musical instruments.

At the peak of fame

As you know, many genres have experienced serious shocks in the transition from 2D to 3D. Shigeru Miyamoto once compared working on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64, 1998) to losing his virginity. Indeed, for the development of game design, the project has done as much as super mario 64 or let's say Final Fantasy VII. However, Ocarina of Time didn't even have worthy opponents to learn from. No one knew what the three-dimensional The Legend of Zelda should be - there was only the idea that the basics gameplay must remain intact.

Oddly enough, the features of the Nintendo 64 console helped to preserve the spirit and letter of the original. Unlike the PlayStation and Saturn, it worked on cartridges. And this meant that, on the one hand, you can forget about CG-rollers illustrating the game's plot, and on the other hand, you can avoid lengthy level loading. On the Nintendo 64, it was possible what modern consoles and PCs came with great difficulty and only recently - the creation of a huge single three-dimensional world in which the gamer roams freely without any delay. This technology was perfect for The Legend of Zelda - all that remained was to place treasure chests, enemies and traps. On the contrary, the classic Japanese RPG with florid conversations, random battles in separate arenas and control of a whole squad of characters did not interfere with downloads at all, but CG videos turned out to be vital. That's why these types of games have flourished on the PlayStation and Saturn. At the same time, action/RPGs on these platforms were having a hard time. The continuation of Beyond Oasis was not much different from the first part; Alundra, Brave Fencer Musashi and Threads of Fate are also not remembered by gamers. Only with the advent of the PlayStation 2 did Ocarina of Time have a worthy replacement - Dark Cloud 2 and the Kingdom Hearts series.

Ocarina of Time impressed with interactivity. If the obstacle that stands in the way of the hero - be it a river or a fence - can be overcome in real life, then in the game it does not become an obstacle. You can walk to the mountain looming on the horizon, pick up a stone lying on the ground, and play a melody on the found ocarina. Final Fantasy VI and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past are still somehow similar to each other. Final Fantasy VII, with its pre-rendered backgrounds and pre-defined paths, and Ocarina of Time, with its freedom of action in a 3D world, are as far away as day and night. The 3D combat system was also successful. The fact is that Link is able to “target” a specific opponent, after which he freely moves around the battlefield, not being afraid to lose the enemy due to an unsuccessful camera turn. The idea was later adopted by many 3D games of various genres.

According to the vast majority of critics, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is the best (!) game in the history of the industry. It became the first project to receive 40 out of 40 points in the prestigious Japanese magazine Famitsu (before that, for twelve years, he had never given anyone the highest rating!). According to GameRankings.com (as well as GameStats and MetaCritic), The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time has the highest average score among gaming publications around the world - 9.79 out of 10. At the same time, the most authoritative world magazines put exactly 10 points; on 9 and 9.5, the lesser-known ones ventured (including, most ridiculously, the official Nintendo Power!).

The developer of the sixth part of The Legend of Zelda, Majora's Mask (N64, 2000), was not Shigeru Miyamoto, but his colleague Eiji Aonuma. He faced a difficult task - to create a worthy sequel to Ocarina of Time. In addition, the release of Majora's Mask in the US was timed to coincide with the launch of the PlayStation 2, and the game was intended to deter Nintendo fans from buying a competitor's console. Although Majora's Mask uses the same graphics engine, it is quite different from Ocarina of Time. The scene of action was the world of Termina, which is about to fall down the moon that has descended from orbit. In order to save everything, Link travels back in time and repeatedly lives through the three days before the disaster. It is this sense of the impending apocalypse that makes the game the darkest in the series, and it also makes you seriously empathize with its characters. Imagine what it's like to talk to people who, at the most, will go to the next world in three days? As for the gameplay, the main innovation is the clock ticking in real time. Link can only travel around the game world for three virtual days. Time is up - he has to go back in time and start all over again, from the central city. Therefore, the gamer needs to think in advance what he should have time to do in one three-day cycle, and what to postpone for the next one. One hour in the game corresponds to one minute in real time. At the same time, the rest of the inhabitants of the Termina world do not sit at home and do not wander idly through the streets. Key characters have their own, predetermined "schedule" of actions, and, knowing it, Link can cross paths with them and change the fate of people - cure a dying soldier or reunite a couple of lovers.

While Shigeru Miyamoto experimented with 3D graphics, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (GB, 2001) and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (GB, 2001) continued the tradition of the series' 2D games. Directly worked on the project Capcom and studio Flagship; the father of the series only looked after her. At first, it was about the release of a trilogy, which would include the updated first two parts of The Legend of Zelda and one fresh part of the series. Plans changed several times, and as a result, gamers received two cartridges with games that seemed to be different, but complementary to each other. Passing one of them, a person receives a password that opens up new missions in the second. It’s hard not to notice the influence of the Pokemon series here, in which the same game is sold to gamers two or three times in the same way. The rest of the games are similar to Link's Awakening, and it's all about finding parts of the Triforce artifact and saving the world of Hyrule from the sorcerer Ganon. At the same time, in Oracle of Ages the emphasis is on logic puzzles, and in Oracle of Seasons - on action.

Zelda new time

In 2000, a tech demo was shown at Spaceworld, where an adult Link ran through a three-dimensional maze, briskly brandishing a sword. The press immediately decided that Shigeru Miyamoto was developing new part series that will continue Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. Indeed, the gameplay in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GC, 2003) was similar to the one familiar from Ocarina of Time, but the design changed dramatically. Link appeared before the gamer as a small child, and the graphics engine used the cel-shading technology previously used in Jet Set Radio. She made the game extremely similar to an interactive cartoon. It is curious that Nintendo, when promoting the GameCube, diligently tried to rid it of the image of a "children's console", releasing adult games on it, like Eternal Darkness and resident evil. Perhaps it was The Wind Waker that ruined all the efforts made by the PR department. "Children's Zelda", contrary to fears, did not turn out to be any simplistic, but still could not attract a new adult audience (that is, not Nintendo fans) - rather, push it away. But in vain. After all, "children's" design is not the only innovation. The hero of this game on a fragile boat floats in the boundless sea from island to island (in which the magic wand that controls the wind helps him in many ways) - for some reason there are no continents left in Hyrule.

Zelda's father

It's worth starting with the fact that Shigeru Miyamoto is probably the most talented video game developer in the world. Unlike Yuji Naki, Peter Molinet or Michel Ancel, Miyamoto is the man whose games get the highest marks in the press, win the love of millions of gamers, and bring huge profits to the publisher. He knows how to create masterpieces, whose cultural influence extends far beyond the gaming community. Putting out a game that a handful of fans would consider to be a work of art and wasting publisher money is easier than it sounds. Making art "go to the people" is much more difficult.

What's the secret? Shigeru Miyamoto is a true perfectionist. He will never let his game be released unfinished. And not only his own - he has the right to interfere in the work of any of the internal Nintendo teams. For example, one day the company was going to publish Twinkle Popo with projected sales of around 200,000 copies. Shigeru Miyamoto stated that with a little tweaking it would turn into a real hit. As a result, the game was released under the name Kirby's Dream Land and sold 5 million copies worldwide. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was supposed to go on sale on the day the Nintendo 64 launched in 1996. Miyamoto insisted on pushing back the release date. And this RPG appeared in stores only two years later, became the best game in the history of the industry and brought Nintendo half a billion dollars.

With The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - the same story. The game was originally produced by producer Eiji Aonuma, and by the end of 2005 the game could have gone on sale. However, Miyamoto was not very pleased with the result and took over the project. The result is in front of you.

In a sense, the game once again returned to its roots - as in 1986, the gamer freely studied the new world and how a child rejoiced at every unknown island that appeared on the horizon. Naturally, the matter was not without treasure maps, and the darkness of other additional quests. For example, Link can take photos of monsters and NPCs, which are used by a sculptor living on one of the islands to make figurines. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker garnered a huge number of awards (including 40 points from Famitsu!) and sold well. Another thing is that they also reproached her a lot and not in vain. The game world has become a little larger than in Ocarina of Time, some of the dungeons were not built so well, and there are no major innovations in the game. Perhaps it was the design change that made it possible to divert the attention of gamers and reviewers from the shortcomings. It is also worth noting that by that time, competitors were also moving. First of all, this is Kingdom Hearts - action / RPG from Square Enix and Disney with a focus on platforming, the second - Dark Cloud 2 with an interesting weapon forging system, offering a huge and very diverse world to explore.

So far, the series has developed more or less consistently (excluding, of course, the second part). Unlike, say, Super Mario Bros. or Final Fantasy, The Legend of Zelda didn't branch out into a different genre or gameplay concept. The first sign was The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, released on the same cartridge with a port of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (GBA, 2003). Please note: this is the first part of the series, which has a multiplayer mode! Later, a direct sequel appeared on the GameCube - The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventure (GC, 2004). In "Four Swords" the traditional study of the game world is replaced by the usual passage of levels. And its main highlight is riddles designed to be played by four (or at least two). Bosses, of course, are also better to bring down not alone. At the same time, in the case of Four Swords Adventure, a GameCube, four GBAs and four link cables are required for a good rest. The fact is that portable consoles are needed to control characters; in addition, the action is often transferred directly to their screens. Without the GBA, you can go through the single-player mode, but this is not very interesting - the graphics in the game are far from being at the level of the GameCube! Along with Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, Four Swords Adventure is one of the few games that makes good use of the GC and GBA connection, and great fun for big company gamers. However, it must be admitted that the Four Swords was created primarily to illustrate this technology, and does not quite meet the high standards of the series. This is well shown by relatively low ratings (the average score in the world press is "only" 8.4 out of 10), and "weak" sales (less than a million copies).

On the contrary, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (GBA, 2004) fits perfectly into the tradition of the series. The game combined the adorable 2D graphics and gameplay of A Link to the Past with the character design of the 3D Wind Waker, while also offering something new - Link's ability to shrink in size. So the hero can penetrate into the corners of the levels inaccessible at first. There is no multiplayer in the game - this is the usual part of The Legend of Zelda with many additional tasks. Moreover, this is the latest 2D The Legend of Zelda, made in the best traditions of 16-bit RPGs.).

You can read about The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (GC, Wii, 2006) in Sergey Ovchinnikov's review in this issue. From myself, I’ll add that the game has become the antipode of Wind Waker - more action, more mature design, more intense plot. In a sense, the series is back in the days of Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, but with the experience of Wind Waker and The Minish Cap. Finally, the next part of The Legend of Zelda is called Phantom Hourglass and will be released on the Nintendo DS. It will look like Wind Waker (using cel-shading technology), although the gameplay is closer to Majora's Mask (there is time travel). Like Four Swords, it will have a multiplayer mode.

Curious facts

Princess Zelda is named after Zelda Fitzgerald, the wife of American literature classic Francis Scott Fitzgerald (The Great Gatsby, Tender is the Night). There is no subtext here - Miyamoto just liked the beautiful name.

In the late 80s, two Game & Watch format pocket games based on The Legend of Zelda were released.

Three games with Link appeared on the Philips CD-i console - Link: The Faces of Evil, Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon and Zelda's Adventure. They are awful. Miyamoto has nothing to do with them, and had it not been for Nintendo's willingness to work with Philips to create a CD drive for the Super Nintendo, they would never have seen the light of day.

In the early 90s, 13 episodes of the animated series The Legend of Zelda were filmed. Its plot is borrowed from the first two parts of The Legend of Zelda. He is also terrible. By the way, comics created on his motives - too.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time cost $10 million to develop and generated about $450 million in sales.

Neither of Shigeru Miyamoto's two children has yet expressed a desire to follow in their father's footsteps.

The Legend of Zelda is only the eighth-highest selling game series in the world. But there are no passing parts in it at all - not a single one! Each game bearing the proud name of The Legend of Zelda is a real masterpiece of art and a new step in the development of the console action/RPG genre. Many conventional platform RPGs (such as Suikoden or Grandia) repeat the gameplay from part to part, changing only the plot, and this suits everyone. Others (say, Final Fantasy) in each new series discard all findings game mechanics and compose it from scratch. Both are evidence of the helplessness of game designers. Shigeru Miyamoto and his faithful companion Eiji Aonuma are able to create something new without destroying the old. I don't know what the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess will turn out to be - maybe Zombie Link and Alien Zelda will appear there. But I am firmly convinced that this will be a real Adventure with a capital letter, which will briefly return me to an irretrievably bygone childhood.

There are games that are inextricably linked with a particular console and company. For example, Sonic The Hedgehog and SEGA, Uncharted and Sony. Of course, there are such games and the old-timer gaming industry, by Nintendo. Moreover, there are a lot of such games - the Mario universe, whose games have become the standard for platformers, Mario Kart as one of the best family arcade racing games, and, of course, The Legend of Zelda, which has slowly but surely formed all the attributes over its thirty-year history. Action Adventure genre. Just about the history of this series, we will talk in the next cycle "Looking into the Past".

The Legend of Zelda (1986, NES)

Although the first The Legend of Zelda was released in 1986, the history of its creation goes back to the late 70s and is built on a lot of happy accidents. Shigeru Miyamoto, you must have heard this name if you are at least somewhat fond of games, because it is he who is rightfully considered the "father" of The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros and Donkey Kong. But once he was an ordinary artist! It so happened that Shigeru's father had a long friendship with Hiroshi Yamauchi, who recently became the head of Nintendo of Japan. And so, at a family dinner, Shigeru, who had just graduated from Kanazawa College of Art and still did not really know what to expect from life, was introduced to Yamauchi and made such a good impression that he was soon hired by Nintendo as an artist in the planning department.

The second accident occurred in 1980, when Nintendo, it seems, had just found a "gold mine" and started doing what they do to this day - video games. "But wasn't it always like that?" - you ask. And you will immediately laugh when you learn that before Yamauchi became the head of the concern, Nintendo was engaged in everything from printing playing cards and making toys for children to instant noodles, taxis, and even "love hotel" chains. Only in 1978, one of the many "test" divisions dealing with purely video games was formed, and immediately "fired" when the Game & Watch portable console (a prototype for the Soviet Electronics) put into mass production brought the company unprecedented profits over the past decades. .

The next step was arcade machines and a large order for the United States. The gigantic batch was packaged and sent to the US, but the game Radar Scope embedded in them did not arouse much interest among the player, because it was too complicated and confusing to play with someone in a bar. With too much hope placed on this game and billions of dollars spent on assembling automata, a failure would mean the end of Nintendo itself. So it would have been, if not for Seeger, who was instructed to immediately come up with and develop a game that could be installed on the same machines and that would save the company. Less than a year has passed, and US schoolchildren are already begging their parents for "quarters" to play Donkey Kong after school.

So Shigeru earned himself an excellent reputation, and a few years later, together with game designer Takashi Tezuka, he received the right to lead the development own game. So in 1986, The Legend of Zelda was born, which took more than a year to develop and perfect, while many NES games were created in less than a month. And it thundered like thunder from a clear sky.

Shigeru's main idea, which he wanted to embody in the project, was freedom of action and choice, which were not in the same Super Mario Bros. The game was also different open world who would like to explore and find all the secrets hidden in it. There is also a nice legend that the basis of the world of the first "Zelda" was Shigeru's childhood memories of exploring the forests and parks closest to the house, and the basis of many dungeons was the layout of the house in which the talented Japanese spent his childhood. In general, the ideas worked with a bang.

The plot of The Legend of Zelda is built around an ordinary boy named Link from the world of Hyrule. Once Link witnessed a monstrous scene - a gang of armed robbers attacked a harmless old woman. The hero immediately, grabbing the blade, rushed into battle and sent them home. Then Link did not know yet that this old woman was an Impa, close to the very heir to the throne, Princess Zelda, and the kingdom itself was in big trouble. The castle is captured by the army of the lord of darkness named Guenon, and he is not interested in gold, not in the hand of the princess, but only in power, and not anyhow, but in power over the whole world.

How is it in magical worlds, only special artifacts can give such power - three parts of the Triforce, even separately, endowing the owner with unprecedented power. From time immemorial, these artifacts were reliably guarded and peace and prosperity reigned in the kingdom of Hyrule, but now one of them is captured by Guenon, and the second is divided into eight parts by Princess Zelda and hidden around the world. Learning from the Impa that the home world is in great danger, Link went in search of pieces of the artifact in order to defeat the villain.

What was The Legend of Zelda? The essence of Zelda is dungeons, always original and inventive. It was like "Skyrim" from 1986. The game had a huge world, every corner of which can and often had to be visited in certain moment to find a bow hidden behind the corridors of the dungeons, and then use it to defeat the boss, which you can’t take in close combat ... Well, or save up Rupees on killing the local undead and buy in full from a local seller.

Although the first Zeldas do not cause almost any "wow" effect now, for a game on an 8-bit cartridge, in which the hero has an inventory, and you can even save in the menu, it was really "wow" for 1986. The main ideas of the first part are non-obvious riddles, a large world full of secrets and mysteries, unique bosses and a rich combat system- migrated to the rest of the series. Of course, at that time, Shigeru still had no idea what he was working on, and the gameplay with the mythology of Zelda had not yet acquired a bunch of conventions, but this was the beginning of a fairy tale that would last for more than thirty years.

Zelda II: Adventure of Link (1987, NES)

The second part of Zelda came out just a few months later, and it was developed with little or no involvement from Shigeru himself. Even the title for the Western market was changed from "The Legend of Zelda" to simply "Zelda II: Adventure of Link". Being left without the supervision of his "father", the game has acquired a couple of innovations and has changed a lot in technical performance. This is probably why the second part is considered the most "strange" and "non-canonical" in the series. However, back then Zelda was not a series, so such experiments are excusable.

Plot Zelda II: Adventure of Link is a direct continuation of the first part. Guenon is defeated, and recent events are gradually forgotten in everyday turmoil. But one day, Link, who helped restore order in Hyrule, found the familiar Triforce mark on his arm, which he told an old friend of Impa about. The old woman escorted him to the sealed gates of one of Hyrule's castles, and as soon as Link touched the gates, the seal dissipated, and the sleeping Princess Zelda appeared before their eyes.

Not everything in the Kingdom was smooth, the external threat was replaced by internal civil strife. When Princess Zelda's brother demanded that she reveal the location of one of the three artifacts - the Triforce of Courage, Zelda naturally refused, for which she incurred the wrath of a relative and court magician who bewitched the Princess. As a result of the spell, he himself died, and the Princess fell into a coma. As the years passed, Zelda was sealed away in the Castle's tower, waiting for someone to revive her by finding parts of the Triforce hidden in the dungeons. Of course, that "someone" was Link.

Zelda II became a mixture of all the then popular genres and game elements. For example, we still traveled the world, but here it became, rather, global map world, as it was in Final Fantasy. The similarities were also added by "random encounters", because of which Link quite accidentally entered into battle, after which the game became an arcade with a side view a la "Castlevania". Just like in traditional JRPGs, Link got a leveling system and characteristics. And he also became a part-time magician - he got a mana scale and learned how to use spells, which, along with potions, were sold by wise elders in cities. Link would cast fireballs, jump higher, and even become invisible - there would be rupees to pay.

Needless to say, Zelda II was completely different from the first part, at least in terms of gameplay. It is difficult to say whether the experiments of the second part were successful, but already in the next game it was decided to return to the roots, and later it was the gameplay of the first part that became traditional for Zelda.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1991, SNES)

The third part of the series appeared in 1991, and again Shigeru Miyamoto was not involved in its development. The thing is that then the young specialist was charged with too many tasks - back in the days of Zelda II, he was involved in several projects at once, and when the development of the third part began, Shigeru's main task was the Mario series. Such a workload did not allow him to become the director of another game, however, he himself wrote the script for the new Zelda, and invited his friend Takashi Tezuka to the post of director, with whom he had worked more than once both with the Super Mario Bros. series and with the first part of The Legend of Zelda. Therefore, the new game was already in the planning stage in the most reliable hands.

For the console market, this was a generational change, so the question naturally arose, on which console to make a new game? Development began for the 8-bit NES, but a year later it became clear that the NES was hopelessly outdated, and the tempting 16-bit and 4-megabit cartridges of the new SNES fit the third Zelda perfectly. However, even this was not enough - in order to implement all the ideas in "A Link to the Past", Seegeru demanded to develop his own cartridge with additional memory. The result of more than three years of development was beyond praise.

Something strange is happening again in the Kingdom of Hyrule. Many years have passed since the last battle with Guenon (not the battle that took place in the first parts; we'll talk about the chronology of events later), and the villain himself is sealed in the former "Holy Realm", which, under the control of Guenon, turned into a new Kingdom of Darkness. Once upon a time, the prosperous Kingdom of Hyrule is beset by all the misfortunes that are possible - crop failure, natural disasters, diseases, and so on. The king naturally decides that Guenon is to blame for this, but, strangely enough, the seal at the entrance to the "Sacred Realm" is safe and sound!

Saddened by ignorance, the King promises anything to the one who can stop the misfortunes that have fallen on the world. Immediately, Aghanim appears on the horizon - an ordinary priest, literally with a snap of his finger, he returned peace to the kingdom with the help of magic never seen before. The promise is fulfilled - Aghanim becomes the second person in Hyrule, heir to the throne, owning unprecedented riches and secrets of the King himself. After this, some suspicions begin to creep into the minds of the inhabitants.

At this very time, Link, as befits a real hero, lives the simple life of a teenager along with his uncle, who was once close to Royal family a swordsman, and now a retired old man who teaches his nephew the mind. But one rainy night, the old man grabs his sword and breaks into the Royal Castle, after which Link has a vision of Princess Zelda asking for help. A bad feeling makes the boy go to the castle in the pouring rain, where Link's mentor is also found, alas, mortally wounded. With the last of his strength, his uncle informs Link that the Kingdom is in great danger, and Princess Zelda is imprisoned in a dungeon. Without thinking twice, Link goes in search of her, and soon learns terrible details about both his life and the events taking place in the castle.

Of course, the plot is much longer and more complicated than this brief retelling. She, in fact, became the beginning of her storyline, and the technical part is not something that does not cause ridicule, but only delights. A 16-bit SNES processor with a Sony sound chip and a whole megabyte of memory did their job - the game was bright, beautiful, filled with amazing special effects for that time. Although Hyrule itself is somewhat reduced in size compared to its predecessors, the detailing of everything around is done at the highest level, and the Kingdom itself has got its own "Dark" version, through which Link will have to wander more than once. What is there, in 2006 A Link "s to the Past was named the best game of all time, and later this part will be re-released on Gameboy Advance.

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At this point, it is worth interrupting and talking a little about the chronology in the universe of The Legend of Zelda, especially since there have already been several footnotes on this topic in the text. At first sight story line of all parts of Zelda seems more complicated than the course of mathematical analysis, but if you look a little, then everything is quite simple and, funny, logical.

One of the main intersections of all parts is Link. Although the series has more than one or two games, and the events of the games unfold over hundreds of years, this kid with sharp ears, a sharp sword and a pointed hat is always ready to help his native kingdom. What is the secret of eternal youth? Yes, the fact that Link is not a separate character, but a kind of legend, a collective image of a hero, the same as those who created the world of the Goddess or the Triforce. Every generation has its own Link, this is nothing unusual, so if trouble happens, look for the boy in green.

Now, actually, about the chronology itself. Three goddesses lived in the world: Din, who created the earth, Faror, who inhabited them and breathed life into the world, and Naira, who gave the world harmony. Having created Hyrule, the goddesses left three golden triangles with a particle of their power - the legendary Triforce - to people, and they themselves went about their business. Since then, Hyrule and its inhabitants have been on their own.

Oddly enough, the first games in the series are at the very end of the storyline, which is divided into several branches somewhere in the middle, and the very first game, chronologically, is Skyward Sword, followed by The Minish Cap and the little Four Sword. The turning point is Ocarina of Time, in which Guenon has not yet become Guenon, and when he did, he fought Link for the first time, which we will talk about later.

This battle had three plot outcomes:

Link overcomes Guenon, and he is sealed in the sacred realm, but breaks out, sows misfortune and pumps a global flood on the land of Hyrule.
Guenon enters the twilight reality.
Link is defeated.

After the first outcome, the events of the "water" parts of Zelda follow - The Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks.

In the second case, the events of perhaps the most "dark" parts of Zelda begin - Majora's Mask, Twilight Princess and Four Sword Adventures.

In the third case, Guenon turns the Sacred Realm into the Kingdom of Darkness, after which the events of A Link's To The Past already known to us, the Oracle dilogy, Link's Awakening and the original The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II begin.

We will continue to consider the games in the series in chronological order, and next in line is the portable Link's Awakening.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (1993, GameBoy)

Released in 1993, "The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening" became a kind of rethinking of the series. It appeared on Gameboy and was the first "big" Zelda on the first "big" portable. Despite the fact that the game was released on a platform with a small monochrome display , the game turned out to be very interesting and unusual in all respects, and you could easily sit in front of the screen of your portable for a good 20 hours if you had it in those years, although Takashi Tezuka himself calls the game "a parody of itself."

"Unusual" it turned out because of the nature of the development. It was originally a small project by one of the programmers at Nintendo, started during the development years of "A Link to the Past". They say "In the office they only talk about the new Zelda, and Gameboy has recently come out. I'll write a Zelda-like toy for him!". In general, the project began without distant plans - Shigeru Miyamoto himself practically did not take part in the development, if he knew about it at all. It is because of the creative chaos among the programmers in Link's Awakening that you can meet Yoshi, Kirby and a couple minor characters from Super Mario Bros (it's hard to imagine how they fit into the Zelda universe at all, but they are there). After some time, the project began to acquire details and conventions, so much so that in 1991, already under the leadership of Tezuka, permission was obtained to develop a portable Zelda, which was first planned as a port of "Link" s to the Past ", and by 1993 became a full-fledged spin-off.

In "Link's Awakening" there is no Zelda, no Guenon, no Hyrule - only Link. Once he, having gone on a trip across the ocean, got into a storm, and after that there was only darkness and a sudden awakening to the cry of seagulls outside the window. Window? Yes, Link was saved by kind people - Taryn and her daughter Marin. They told how they found a barely living body on the coast of Koholint Island. Not even an island, but a tiny island, around which there are only large ocean distances, and local residents for generations have not seen anything but their native island. Through interaction with the characters (not all of them are so friendly) and exploration of the world, Link will have to uncover the secret of the mysterious island and return to his native land.

The notorious "free approach" went to the benefit of the game, because the work of scriptwriters and game designers, aimed at trying to link all the ideas of the developers into a single whole, created something unimaginable for a pocket console. Koholint is only plotted as a "small island", but in fact it is a whole storehouse of interesting and memorable characters with dozens of main and side quests. The dungeons alone, connected by intertwined networks of secret passages, feel about three times larger than Hyrule. What is the plot part worth, containing a whole love branch.

Let the history of Koholint Island be simple and naive, but sometimes this world with all its strange mythology is able to hook on the soul stronger than any heavy rain. From a spin-off, and even for a portable one, no one simply expected this. That is why the game immediately earned the highest ratings in all publications, and even now it is considered at least the second in the top. best parts series for many Zelda fans.

Link's Awakening once again proved that for the release of high-quality and interesting game large computing power and even color are not required. But, nevertheless, to your little 5th anniversary this part of the series has received a color port on the GameBoy Color, so now it can be played anywhere and on any GameBoy emulator, because the GameBoy Advance is able to read the games of its predecessors.