videogame memories: The Legend of Zelda

[King Aquamentus]

This is a new kind of thread I am going to try and launch. Hopefully these will become popular and rouse some discussion in them. Despite the first pick, this discussion isn't really connected to Zelda Classic, but just the game in general.

Talk about this first game, in whatever incarnation you originally encountered it. I'm assuming we're all familiar with this game in some form or another, so I thought it'd be an easy start. :) If it looks good, I (or whoever wants) can maybe try some threads for games they wanna topic on. It's a really simple thing for a board, but on the other hand, nobody's doing it. So I'm gonna be the guy to do this and just get some healthy talk going around back and forth about elements and memories and whatever from the game.

This game was one of the very first waking memories I had in life, right after Super Mario Bros. I know this to be true, because when I saw Link in the game, I thought he needed a mushroom like Mario, so he could get big! On a somewhat similar note to Super Mario Bros however, there was a health bonus/penalty: if you took a single hit, you lost the ability to throw flashing swords. That's how I saw the ability to shoot beams: Something completely normal, but a lost privilege if you weren't at full health. Naturally, I was always scrambling not to get hit, and quite often this kept me roaming in safe areas, and clear out of dungeons. I do remember the very first time I ever actually went into a dungeon, wasn't scared of the music, and actually beat it though: It was a very terrifying feat for me at that young age (I was a very young toddler at the LEAST), but when I found the Triforce, I felt like I'd just beaten the game. In fact, I probably thought I did beat it. I'd done something I'd never done before, and as far as I was concerned, I'd seen all of Hyrule (I hadn't: I'd only explored roughly a sixth of it!)

I never beat the game until I was about 13 years old. By now, there had been several Zeldas out, and I'd toppled those challenges, but the first game still beckoned to me. What's most awesome? I beat it on the same day that I had gone to the local renaissance festival (dressed as Link)! This was an awesome way to end the day. :)

[rock_nog]

Heh, I remember Zelda blowing my mind because it was one of the first games I'd ever played that let me go wherever I wanted. I didn't have a map, though, so actually, that ended up becoming kind of frustrating. Also, I discovered the second quest accidentally, and didn't even realize it. When I first played the game, I put my name in as Zelda, not really thinking about it. I mean, it was Zelda on the cover, and I'm one of those guys who's never very creative with naming characters. Thus, I thought the game was friggin' impossible for the longest time - I mean, laser skeletons in the first dungeon? Holy crap. Oh, and it took me years to actually beat the game (though partly because I never owned it, just rented it, for many years). I first played it when I was 8 or so, and I didn't beat it until college, when I finally bought a copy for myself.

[mrz84]

Like King Aquamentus, I had encountered the series with the first game at an early age. My father introduced it to me along with Mario Bros when I was around 3-5 (can't remember the exact time as it has been a long time, over 25+ years) and watched him play it a lot so I knew how to get past the first 3 dungeons on my own at least and to get the white sword. I remember getting as far as the 6th dungeon on my own eventually before I couldn't figure out where the last 2 dungeons were (I had no idea of dungeon 9's existence until years later) having the notion that all the dungeons had similar entrances, but learned that wasn't true once I found one of the Gambling Dens and a Heart/Potion choice in similar buildings. It wasn't until several years later when I finally found the last 2 pieces of the Triforce and then searched for Death Mountain which took literally weeks of searching between schoolwork and other pursuits (other video games, tv shows, etc) that I finally found Lv 9 and was freaked the hell out the first time I entered it. I also had no idea how to progress after several failed attempts to find Ganon inside. I finally beat the game a few months later, relieved and excited that I had finally beat one of my favorite NES games...then I went on to finish Zelda 2 for the upmillionth time (ya, I beat Zelda 2 before the first one. meh.)

[Goriya]

Well, Zelda Classic version 1.90 was literally my first game, so I guess I'll talk about that instead, considering the first quest I played was 1st.qst.

I just kinda played it, and after a while, I started to get better. Really, I somehow guessed most of the secrets and found them. I played Level 1 and 2 multiple times so I knew them in and out. And Level 5 was the hardest level when I first played it, due to the existence of Blue Darknuts.

So yeah, Zelda 1 remains amazing.

[erm2003]

Ah the first Legend of Zelda. I can probably thank this game for getting me into video games in the first place. I have quite an odd story because when we first got the NES it was Christmas 1989 (I think, maybe 1990) and we didn't get the game immediately. At some point down the road my parents rented the game and my mom actually started playing it first. I remember getting into the game by watching her play it and eventually I gave it a try.

I remember some of the later levels in the game were causing me a lot of trouble. They were probably levels 6 and 8. I really didn't like Wizzrobes and Darknuts when I was younger and I had a lot of trouble with them. At one point I decided to try the 2nd quest before the first one. Not sure why, but I do vaguely remember finishing the 2nd quest before I went back and finish the 1st.

I also remember being stuck at Ganon and not knowing how to damage him or make him appear. Yep, my mom had to clue me in to what to do there... but now I love to go back and play the game at least once a year. Nostalgia.

[Brasel]

I remember watching my dad play it. I wasn't really aloud to play it for awhile because he was afraid I'd delete his game. When I finally did get to play it, I had already seen a lot of the secrets and knew how to get through a lot of the earlier levels just from watching my dad. My mom played it too, and we'd give the enemies names. I remember calling wizrobes "whoop whoops" because of the sound they made. I called like likes "pancakes" and goriyas "boomerang guys". I did end up beating it and the 2nd quest before my dad did. I think that burned him.

[King Aquamentus]

I used to think that the Wizzrobes were Gohma, based purely on the fact that they reminded me in a weird way of Whoopi Goldberg, and the name Gohma made me think of her.