The Legend of Zelda: 25 Years Old!

By Salvador

May I propose, Zelda's Theorom:

Link + Zelda + Ganondorf + Master Sword + Triforce = $$$$$

Where's the proof you say?

As of last year, the Legend of Zelda franchise is seventeen main games strong with another three on the way and has sold over 59 MILLION copies since the first game The Legend of Zelda.

For a series that celebrates its 25th anniversary this week and has barely changed formula wise and character wise, the Legend of Zelda series still feels as fresh as ever. My favorites have to be the Oracle series and Wind Waker. Ironically enough I hated Wind Waker at first for the art style and by the time all was said and done I had explored every freaking island in that game and scoured every dungeon to make sure I got everything I could out of the game. The only thing I didn't do was take pictures of everything so you could take them to the guy and get the figures made out of them.

I think the opening to the Forsaken Fortress had to do something with winning me over:

1....2.....3! WWWWAAAAAAAAAAAGGGH!!!!!!! Get's me every time.

Here are some quick tidbits that you may have not known about the series.

• The series was created by Shigeru Miyamoto, also the creator of Donkey Kong and Mario Bros.
• Shigeru's inspiration for the series come from his explorations of the caves and hillside when he was a child in Kyoto, Japan.
• Zelda got her name from the wife of author F. Scott Fitzgerald. Miyamoto liked the sound of her name and used it.
• All of the Legend of Zelda games are actually connected. They all take place in the same world, with the Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap being the oldest tale chronologically speaking.
• Ocarina of Time splits the timeline, with Majora's Mask and Twilight Princess following Kid Link's timeline and Wind Waker and its sequels following Adult Link's timeline.
• Link is left handed. He is only right handed in the Wii version of Twilight Princess (because the game was mirrored off the Gamecube version) and the upcoming Skyward Sword.
• Oracle of Ages, Oracles of Seasons, and The Minish Cap were actually designed and developed by Capcom.
• The Oracle series was actually meant to be three games and not two. The development team was stretched too thin working on three games so Miyamoto suggested they cut back on development. Thus, one game was scrapped and the other two became the Oracle of Ages and Seasons games.
• There is a set of Zelda games for the Philips CD-i known as the "Anti" or "Unholy" Triforce. The three games: Link: The Faces of Evil, Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon, and Zelda's Adventure, were created with little to no input from Nintendo and were only made as a contractual agreement between Nintendo and Philips after Nintendo backed out on making a CD add-on for the Super Nintendo. The games were critically panned and Nintendo struck them from the official Zelda canon. Ironically the games are now considered collector's items and fetch anywhere from fifty dollars to over a hundred dollars for a complete copy.

Currently there are three upcoming Zelda games. Skyward Sword is a brand new story that is a prequel to Ocarina of Time coming to the Wii hopefully later this year. In it, Link lives on a set of floating islands in the sky and discovers a second land beneath his overrun with evil forces. He uses the Skyward Sword to travel between the two lands and will eventually find out why they were split.

Also later this year, Ocarina of Time is to be enhanced and remade with 3-D effects for the upcoming Nintendo 3DS. Nintendo is also looking to re-release Link's Awakening on the 3DS's Virtual Console with 3D effects.

Got any other Zelda trivia you care to share? Got a great Zelda story or memory? Leave them in the comments!

Sources:

wikipedia.org

videogamepricecharts.com

1up.com