Welcome back for another of my game ramblings. If you like these random thoughts, you can find the previous ramblings here.
I’ve been gaming for a long long time since the late 1970’s early 1980s, forty plus years it is now…oh that’s scary, isn’t it? Anyway, I’ve played hundreds if not thousands, hmm when I think about it it is more than thousands of games in that time, especially since I started reviewing games. I’ve lived and breathed games and gaming for years, from playing them as a hobby to working in retail selling them and up to now when I play and write about them. So you could say I still live and breathe for gaming!
The Legend of Zelda
There is one series, in particular, I have played from the release of the very first game. Of course, that series is The Legend of Zelda. Guess that didn’t come as much of a surprise to most of you who have followed LadiesGamers!
A Brief History
A brief history of what the game is about for those who don’t know, and if you don’t know it’s time to come out from under the rock you have been hiding under for years! Set in the fantasy land of Hyrule, the plot centres on an elf-like human boy named Link, who aims to collect the eight fragments of the Triforce of Wisdom in order to rescue Princess Zelda from the antagonist, Ganon.
The NES and SNES
From the first game on the NES to the latest game on the Nintendo Switch, I’ve played them all. Like most gamers do have favourites and I do have some of the games I didn’t like as much as others.
Even now I remember the feeling of excitement when I played the first game in the series on the NES, The Legend of Zelda. I was like a big kid at Christmas even though I was around 24 years old at the time. I loved the puzzles, the exploring, and of course, the dungeons with the boss battle at the end. That’s my kind of game.
The N64
After that, I played all the Zelda games as they were released. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past on the SNES. When Links Awakening on the Game Boy came out I didn’t have a Game Boy at the time. But when it comes to gaming that was soon sorted out once I’d bought myself one.
Then along came the N64 with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. By this time I was working in GAME and we got the stock in off new releases a week or so before the game went on sale. One of the benefits of working in GAME at that time was being able to take a game home and try it out.
We could do that with games we weren’t planning on buying as well as games we were going to buy. So I got to start my adventure in Ocarina of Time a week before everyone else in the UK. That facility is no longer available to employees of GAME anymore as one person spoiled a great scheme by not returning the game they had taken home to try.
Ocarina of Time
I enjoyed all the other Zelda games throughout the years, but Ocarina of Time just blew me away. I can still remember the feeling of galloping across Hyrule field on Epona. A feeling of freedom and wonder of what I was going to discover around the new corner.
When The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask was released in November 2000. I played it too, it was the first Zelda game in the series I didn’t fully complete. The reason for that was I didn’t like the clock and the time limit on the day in the game.
However, many years later when the game was re-released on the Nintendo 3DS, I played Majora’s Mask and loved it. Goes to show that returning to a game many years later with older eyes can change your opinion on it.
Present Day
Of course I played the Zelda games when they were re-released on different consoles. Such as the Game Boy Advance, Gamecube, DS, Wii U, and so on. Ocarina of Time is still one of my favourite Zelda games, that feeling of freedom the game offered has never been repeated for me until the release of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Stepping out of the cave in BOTW at the start of the game and Link looking out over Hyrule was a moment of sheer delight for me. I knew then that I was in for a fantastic time with the game. Even now after completing BOTW 4 times (!!), writing, talking, or thinking about it makes me want to go and pay a visit to the game once more.
The Future
Like most fans of the series, I was very happy to see some news on BOTW2 in the recent direct during E3. Just like everyone else we will have to wait another while to see what Nintendo has in store for link and Zelda in BOTW2.
Just don’t make us wait too long please, Nintendo! I’m off to play a game, I leave you to guess which game.
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