The Legend of Zelda
Introduction
The Legend of Zelda was developed by Nintendo R&D4, directed and produced by Shigeru Miyamoto with Takashi Tezuka as story writer, and built alongside Super Mario Bros as a launch title for the Family Computer Disk System, released in Japan in February 1986 before reaching the NES on cartridge in North America and Europe more than a year later. Miyamoto drew on his own childhood memories of exploring the countryside and hillside caves around his hometown for the game’s sense of open discovery, while Tezuka leaned on Tolkien-style fantasy for its story and setting. Players guide the hero Link across the overworld of Hyrule and through eight dungeons in search of pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom, fighting monsters, solving environmental puzzles, and buying or finding new equipment to reach previously inaccessible areas, all in a non-linear structure that let players tackle much of the adventure in an order of their own choosing. That open, item-gated exploration design was groundbreaking for a console game at the time and made The Legend of Zelda one of the most influential action-adventure titles ever made, spawning a franchise that has continued for decades.
