Im sure Ill not be alone in this, but once again my answer to your Hot Topic is The Legend Of Zelda. Ive been gaming since I was three and I was occasionally allowed to have a go on my dads ZX Spectrum (48K of memory is all youll ever need, people) but I was first introduced to Nintendos classic adventure em-up at some early point in the summer of 1988, at the tender age of nine. My friend from next door popped over one day and asked if Id like to come round and play his fancy new NES game. Apparently it even came on a golden cartridge. Ive rarely seen such luxury, before or since.
Looking back, Im pretty sure hed started without me, but taken the phrase, Its dangerous to go alone… literally. Im also fairly certain he arrived just as my copy of Sabrewulf had failed to load for the umpteenth time (ahhh, the joys of tape loading…) So off I went and was transported to the Kingdom of Hyrule for the very first time. It was definitely better than Sabrewulf. And Sabrewulf was awesome.
We played Zelda all summer. In fact, we must have played it most of that year once the New Game+, harder quest unlocked at the end.
I still remember getting a stern talking to from my dad for making a single premium rate phone call to the Nintendo helpline because wed spent a week looking for the hidden entrance to Death Mountain on the second quest without success and we needed pointers. No internet FAQs or broadband powered YouTube walkthroughs then. The only kind of dial-up available involved you having to talk to someone on the other end of the phone.
The Legend Of Zelda and its oddball sequel bewitched us both. For years.
A Link To The Past cemented my resolve to scrimp and save all my pocket money and empty my post office account to pay for a SNES of my own.
Years later and Links Awakening DX did the same for the Game Boy Color.
Im not such an obsessive that Ive gone for all the spin-offs and every handheld version. Ive not played either of The Wind Waker sequels. Tingles Rosy Rupeeland just looked weird and the Dynasty Warriors thing didnt look like something Id enjoy at all. But Ive played all the mainline entries, most several times each.
The series has been pretty much entirely responsible for every Nintendo console purchase Ive ever made. Sure, things like Mario, Mario Kart, and Metroid are all epic reasons to keep an eye on Nintendo, but its Zelda that always lures me in for the big spend. Ive always got my eye out for whatever theyve got lined up next for Link, Zelda, and Ganon.
True, Ive not bought them all. Cash flow and changing life priorities, plus not actually liking anything much about the entire generation, stopped me getting an N64. Cash flow and time kept me away from the DS and its 3D sequel, but Ive always found a way to get my ZelRead More – Source
