Scholarly Post - Jon Bayens

If a single role-playing game, RPG, character had to be named as the most iconic of them all it would be Link from The Legend of Zelda series. With his first game release being in 1986 in the title The Legend of Zelda, Link can still be seen today continuing his epic quest. The game has survived all throughout the years because of its very unique game play involving a mix of action, adventure, and puzzle solving. Because of this it is one of Nintendo's most important franchises.

For being a game that has lasted this long it has actually kept many similarities between all its titles. Each game features the hero Link on a quest to save princess Zelda from a dark evil, usually Ganon, while harnessing the power of the master sword and triforce, which is a magical item bestowed upon Link by the goddesses. The success of this franchise is not even debatable as of December of 2011 the series has sold over 67.93 million copies since its original release in 1986. Through these many years the character of Link has also been advanced and changed to fit the new technology available to Nintendo.

With each adaptation of the game the current doom facing the world, the world, and Link himself generally change. The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time was a huge turning point in the series as well as the best selling title. This is most likely because it was the first three-dimensional title released in the series. It was being developed around the same time as Super Mario 64, the first three-dimensional title in the Mario franchise; however, because of the complexity of The Legend of Zelda it took an additional two years to release. After twenty five years of the franchise Eiji Aonuma, the producer of the series, said, "our aim has always been to produce something different, something you've never seen before in a video game. To that end, a lot of our past innovations have become something that can only be seen in a Zelda game."[1]

The Legend of Zelda (1986)

The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time (1998)

Because of the many different forms the adventure may take it has opened the game up to be so much more than just a simple RPG. Especially with the advancements in the systems used to play the game it has allowed the franchise to "not really [be] a genre in itself, but it should never limit itself to one genre. With Zelda we're always trying to do something unique." [2] Unique is an understatement. In no other game can you go from grappling through the ruins of a temple floating in the sky to transforming yourself to be able to traverse a dungeon sunken in a lake.

The mastermind behind this series is none other than the same mastermind behind the Mario franchise, Shigeru Miyamoto.  The inspiration for this game "was born in the rolling hills of Kyoto Japan" [3] with a young boy exploring the country side. Miyamoto armed himself with a lantern and explored a dark cavern. It was this feeling that he had from his childhood that he wanted to recreate and give to the players of the very first Legend of Zelda game. In the first game many things had yet to be discovered about the series, but it helped pave the pathway into the game that it is today. Throughout the different games there have been a couple experiments that were tried that didn't survive through the series. In Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, our hero appeared in a "side-scrolling adventure" instead of his previous isometric view. In later games only a couple times in very specific areas did the game ever return to being a side-scroller.

Although The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time was the most prominent and best selling title, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, which came out six years prior, set up and named a lot of things that are known to be iconic of the series. This game "crafted Hyrule into a living, breathing world. The opening sees a terrible storm pounding on the rooftop of a humble woodland home."

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1992)

Being a leading innovator in game play physically as well as intellectually and holding true to itself with each additional title in the series is what has allowed the franchise to thrive the way that it has. With the end of each game the quest may be over, but the journey to save Hyrule from evil forces never ends.


1. Cowen, Nick "Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - Interview," November 9, 2011. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2011/nov/09/legend-of-zelda-skyward-sword (accessed November 5, 2012).

2. Ibid.

3. Hoggins, Tom "The Legend of Zelda: retrospective and interview with Eiji Aonuma," December 16, 2009. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/video-games/6826685/The-Legend-of-Zelda-retrospective-and-interview-with-Eiji-Aonuma-part-1.html (accessed November 5, 2012). 

Edited