21st March 2023, 8:34 AM
As time has gone on, this game's golden luster only grows. It's been steadily approaching LTTP competing for my top 2D Zelda spot. I think it has to do with the simple fact I've played all these old Zeldas multiple times already, so it's the replay value that's gone up in my estimation of what makes each one good. And, for that reason, I end up favoring whichever ones let me switch up my play style or introduce new challenges to the game. While both Link to the Past and Zelda 1 do allow a lot of variety in how each one is approached, Zelda 1 does so with greater freedom. There's a reason Breath of the Wild took it's inspiration (and original development prototyping) directly from this game.
Graphically, I can't say it's the best looking game. If I were being honest, the sprite design of Zelda 2 is superior and there's plenty of better looking NES games, but there's also plenty of worse looking ones and well... by this point Zelda 1 has earned it's "iconic" status, in that almost every sprite is literally an "icon" all by itself, most especially the triforce. The visuals are also well designed simply by making sure every element on screen stands apart from every other element. There's very little in the game you'd ever mix up with something else and everything "pops" from the background appropriately. There's almost no "noise" to result in any confusion, even when a screen's so overfilled the NES can't keep up and the game slows down. Heck the only thing that might blend in depending on the dungeon's background color is the dreaded wall master. This is actually the only game where the "wall masters" come out of the walls instead of the ceiling. (Maybe in later games they should be called "roof masters"? Afraid "dungeon master" is taken...)
Sound design is perfection in PSG. If you like that oldest of "chip tuning" (with just a little bit of PCM sampling thrown in) before either FM or wavetables came to prominence, you'll love these tunes. Koji Kondo has always known how to make tunes that are both pleasing and endlessly repeatable, and these ones, all of them, have stood the test of time. Alright, maybe the ending theme being a little intentionally campy and corny takes one out of the "serious" adventure, but is Zelda 1 really all that serious?
Well, the story is as basic as it gets. "Kill a dark lord, rescue the damsel, save the land". Tried and true old trope, but at least Zelda made Zelda's role more significant in that she took an active part both before and after her capture. It was her efforts that even gave Link the chance to defeat Ganon after all. It's not as though she isn't still a tired sexist trope example, but I've seen worse implementations. Heck even Earthworm Jim's mockery of the trope with "Princess What's-Her-Name" (who is promptly crushed during the ending) still feels more like it's punching down. All the same, combined with the gameplay it let me "sink into" the world's setting of the adventure more than most of Nintendo's contemporaries. I never felt like I was "in" the land of Kid Icarus or Mario the way I did in Zelda. Only Metroid came close to that level of immersion, but in all those cases the stories were clearly borrowing heavily from Western tales like Alice in Wonderland, Greek mythology, the Alien movies, the Rocky movies, and in this case, classic fantasy like The Hobbit.
I've little else to add, but I have to give credit to one thing that always gets well deserved credit. This game's "second playthrough" is, to this day, the most well developed secondary game I've ever seen. Later Castlevania games would have replay added via different characters with completely new mechanics or even a greatly expanded "side story" mode, but only this one really put all it's focus into developing ENTIRELY new maps and even new challenges. The overworld is the same, but every last dungeon is drastically different and by altering the location of entry points and the hidden dungeon treasure, change the way you approach the overworld. Even Ocarina of Time's "Master Quest" mode isn't done to this degree, as locked to the narrative flow of the original game as it is.
So, yes, I'd say this is an absolutely amazing early game. It does stand pointing out though that this game is more of an action game than a puzzler. A few exist, but by and large they're very simple and the focus is more on handling the arrangements of enemies. It's also short and it's gameplay is simplistic compared to later titles. For newcomers, I'd advise coming into this with appropriate expectations. I also wouldn't be surprised if someone, having only played Breath of the Wild, found this game to be so lacking they didn't consider it worth playing. For them, I'd recommend Link to the Past if anything. At least if that one's gameplay is still too simple, it has a much better narrative "flow" (in that it actually has one).
Graphically, I can't say it's the best looking game. If I were being honest, the sprite design of Zelda 2 is superior and there's plenty of better looking NES games, but there's also plenty of worse looking ones and well... by this point Zelda 1 has earned it's "iconic" status, in that almost every sprite is literally an "icon" all by itself, most especially the triforce. The visuals are also well designed simply by making sure every element on screen stands apart from every other element. There's very little in the game you'd ever mix up with something else and everything "pops" from the background appropriately. There's almost no "noise" to result in any confusion, even when a screen's so overfilled the NES can't keep up and the game slows down. Heck the only thing that might blend in depending on the dungeon's background color is the dreaded wall master. This is actually the only game where the "wall masters" come out of the walls instead of the ceiling. (Maybe in later games they should be called "roof masters"? Afraid "dungeon master" is taken...)
Sound design is perfection in PSG. If you like that oldest of "chip tuning" (with just a little bit of PCM sampling thrown in) before either FM or wavetables came to prominence, you'll love these tunes. Koji Kondo has always known how to make tunes that are both pleasing and endlessly repeatable, and these ones, all of them, have stood the test of time. Alright, maybe the ending theme being a little intentionally campy and corny takes one out of the "serious" adventure, but is Zelda 1 really all that serious?
Well, the story is as basic as it gets. "Kill a dark lord, rescue the damsel, save the land". Tried and true old trope, but at least Zelda made Zelda's role more significant in that she took an active part both before and after her capture. It was her efforts that even gave Link the chance to defeat Ganon after all. It's not as though she isn't still a tired sexist trope example, but I've seen worse implementations. Heck even Earthworm Jim's mockery of the trope with "Princess What's-Her-Name" (who is promptly crushed during the ending) still feels more like it's punching down. All the same, combined with the gameplay it let me "sink into" the world's setting of the adventure more than most of Nintendo's contemporaries. I never felt like I was "in" the land of Kid Icarus or Mario the way I did in Zelda. Only Metroid came close to that level of immersion, but in all those cases the stories were clearly borrowing heavily from Western tales like Alice in Wonderland, Greek mythology, the Alien movies, the Rocky movies, and in this case, classic fantasy like The Hobbit.
I've little else to add, but I have to give credit to one thing that always gets well deserved credit. This game's "second playthrough" is, to this day, the most well developed secondary game I've ever seen. Later Castlevania games would have replay added via different characters with completely new mechanics or even a greatly expanded "side story" mode, but only this one really put all it's focus into developing ENTIRELY new maps and even new challenges. The overworld is the same, but every last dungeon is drastically different and by altering the location of entry points and the hidden dungeon treasure, change the way you approach the overworld. Even Ocarina of Time's "Master Quest" mode isn't done to this degree, as locked to the narrative flow of the original game as it is.
So, yes, I'd say this is an absolutely amazing early game. It does stand pointing out though that this game is more of an action game than a puzzler. A few exist, but by and large they're very simple and the focus is more on handling the arrangements of enemies. It's also short and it's gameplay is simplistic compared to later titles. For newcomers, I'd advise coming into this with appropriate expectations. I also wouldn't be surprised if someone, having only played Breath of the Wild, found this game to be so lacking they didn't consider it worth playing. For them, I'd recommend Link to the Past if anything. At least if that one's gameplay is still too simple, it has a much better narrative "flow" (in that it actually has one).
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)