Difficulty:

Very Hard

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Masterpiece"

The Legend of Zelda is a true masterpiece. And I'm not just saying that. The original Zelda had a certain quality that later Zelda games could not carry on - its level of difficulty. I would find myself dying over and over and over again. This did make the game frustrating, but everyone likes a good challenge.

Gameplay: The simple idea of swinging a sword and wielding a shield came to life in The Legend of Zelda. Only one item was assigned to one button, and that's just about as simple as it gets. The enemies, though, are tough cookies and will continue to make your adventuring in the humongous land of Hyrule extremely difficult. Well... it's difficult but fun.

Graphics: 8-bit graphics, of course, are the standard of the 80's. The Legend of Zelda may have had primitive graphics, but it made up for it with just about everything else.

Presentation: Once again, there are no actual cutscenes, but you will be pleased to know that reading the text of pixelated characters is very satisfying and brings a feeling of nostalgia to anyone who has played an old Zelda.

Sound: The beeps in this game created wonderful melodies that would go on to inspire even more beautiful soundtracks in later games.

My verdict: Zelda is very simple and very hard - but is still amazing to this day. If you're sick of all those old Mario games, then try out a game that can actually save your progress. The Legend of Zelda was not only innovative because of its brilliant dungeon design, but also because of its advancement in technology (as in the battery-powered save function). If you want the best of the best, The Legend of Zelda is a no-brainer.