February 21st marks the 30th Anniversary of The Legend of Zelda NES video game. While the Super Mario franchise might be Nintendo’s most well known, and beloved franchises’, not many can argue that The Legend of Zelda franchise is one of the most influential and game-changing franchises in all of video game history.
While I’m not going to write about the history of the franchise and all the amazing games in the series throughout these last 30 years, no, I’m going to tell the story of the first time I saw the box for The Legend of Zelda for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1986 when I was 11 years old.
Back when I was a kid, I used to go out to dinner with my Grandparents just about every Friday night, and after dinner we’d go to Concord Mall and walk around. I would normally drag them into KB Toys, and I would usually walk out with a new toy, or if I was lucky, a new video game. This particular Friday evening, we went to our local Target store after dinner, and I wasn’t too excited about this decision. Target didn’t have as big of toy or video section as KB Toys or the mecca of toy stores in the area, Toys R Us, or the late Children’s Palace toy store. So this night we went to Target, and after constant badgering, I talked my Grandparents to take me to the video game section. Back in the 80’s, there was no internet, there was no online reviews or Youtube videos of games. Video store rentals really hadn’t started to rent games yet so you could try them out before you bought it. Other than games that got converted from their arcade game cousins, or commercials on TV or comic books, the only real way to market the game was the box art of the video game.
The box art was crucial in the selling of the game. The art usually showed a lot of action of the main character or concept of the game. On the back of the box there might be some more artwork, but most of the time there were 3 small panels of actual gameplay so you could see the graphics of the game. Most of the time though, the games were kept behind the register counter of the store, thus all you could see of the game was the front box art; except for at this Target. Back in these early days of games, this Target store had them all on pegs hanging in the “video game aisle.” And in these early days, like I said, Target wasn’t known for its huge video game selection. Most of the games I saw were either ones I had, or ones I wasn’t interested in, but then I saw it. Up on the top peg was a gold box. No fancy action art scenes. Just pure gold, and crest with a hole cut out in the top corner of the crest, and in that hole you could see what looked like actual gold peeking through.
I was very curious about this game; again, there was no internet, so I had no idea what this game was, or what it was about, but it was nothing I’ve seen before. I quickly grabbed a copy off the shelf and flipped it over to read about it on the back, but what blew me was that the graphics looked amazing (for the day) and it was the first role-playing game I remember for the NES. I was a huge fan of the D&D games for the Commodore 64 during this same time period, and this was the first game that looked like it could’ve been set in that genre. But what drew my attention the most was written on the back of the box; “Includes Battery-Backed Memory.”
This blew my mind. Until now, most NES games used a tedious password system to save your point in a game. But if this “batter-backed memory” was what I thought it was, then this game will save all the data onto the cartridge, and I wouldn’t have to write down long, complicated passwords. This was a game changer for 1986, and the home console games. The only games I knew that you could actually “save” your games back then were computer games. Your Commodore 64’s, or Apple II e’s. To me, this was amazing. I had to have it. I then started to “pitch” my Grandparents on why this game was so amazing (even though I never heard of it before this night) and I threw out the classic kid line, “if you buy me this now, I won’t ask for another game for a long time.” Needless to say, they didn’t buy it for me that night. You win some, you lose some.
Fast-forward about two weeks, and when I came home from school I noticed a Target bag on the kitchen table, and while I didn’t think too much about it, as I was getting ready to start watching my afternoon cartoon’s, GI Joe, and Transformers, my Grandmother came into my room and asked if I saw what was in the bag? I said, “no” and then went back to my shows. She said, “well, why don’t you go take a look in it?” I said, “I will during the commercial.” How did we survive before the DVR was invented? I digress. So during the commercial, I went into the kitchen and opened the bag, and to my delight was my very own copy of The Legend of Zelda! I was ecstatic! I game my Grandma a huge hug, and I quickly turned off my cartoon and turned my NES, and the rest is history. My 30 year love affair with The Legend of Zelda series was born.
Some of my favorite memories as a kid playing games were from this game. Again, in the days before the internet, if you got stuck in a game, you had to call the Nintendo Tip-Hotline. This was toll call, and you got to talk to a game counselor, and they would talk you through certain dungeons you were stuck in, or puzzles you couldn’t figure out. Luckily, I didn’t have to call this number too often, as my best friend Ryan, also had the game, and we’d spend sometimes 30 minutes on the phone with each other as we were trying to help each other out as we both getting further and further into the game. Decades before online gaming, and using the headsets to talk to fellow players, we were constantly calling each other at all times of the day and night when one of us got stuck. I could go on and on about the opening title sequence, and how amazing the theme song was, but that’s for another time. So, happy birthday to the Legend of Zelda and thank you Shigeru Miyamoto, the man responsible for the most influential game of all-time, and for creating some of my favorite childhood memories.
By BJ Eaglesfield