Tuesday, February 26, 2013

9 - Blast to the Past: NES Mar 08, 2011 7:08PM PST


This blog begins my chronicling of my favorite games from past consoles and handhelds.  They will include one game from each system that I owned, and I will explain why I chose each one.
After deep contemplation, I chose "The Legend of Zelda" as my favorite NES game.  There are so many reasons to choose this game.  The gold cartridge.  It was the first cartridge to have battery saves.  Looking back, I think it utilized the NES's limited color pallette better than any game.  Likewise for the audio.
"Zelda" marked the beginning of one of Nintendo's greatest franchises.  Many of the items found in later Zeldas - bombs, arrows, boomerang, fairies, rupees, master sword - originated from that game.  I first played Zelda when I was 8 or 9, so long ago I can barely remember it, and it was the first game that truly captured my imagination.  I spent hours searching the overworld for all the labyrinths and hidden rooms, back when strategies and walkthroughs were hard to find in the pre-internet days.  
I'll never forget finding Gannon's skull-shaped labyrinth for the first time.  So scary!  So challenging!  Beating "The Legend of Zelda" awarded me a sense of accomplishment that compelled me seek out new challenges over the years.
Interestingly enough, I recenetly discovered the existence of "The Legend of Zelda: Third Quest", a limited-time downloadable 16-bit version of "The Legend of Zelda" that was broadcast over Nintendo of Japan's exclusive Satellaview service in the 90's, now playable as an emulation ROM.  It's a worthy update to this classic game, and I promise I won't seek any hints on the internet as I play through it.

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