!The Legend of Zelda (1986)!

The Golden Cartridge shouldn’t have been carrying the data of any other game (except the second Zelda-game of course): because The Legend of Zelda is the Gold medallist amongst the NES-games. Maybe even of all the games. There is only one rating fitting for The Legend of Zelda: the maximum score. It is original, entertaining, can be played both for a short while as over and over again.

Graphics

Graphically the game has a very high variation for a NES-game. Meaning, there are a lot of types of areas, from forests to castles. It isn’t spectacular even for an 8-bit game, but it’s so functional that it doesn’t matter.

Sound

Admitted: you will still hear the theme of The Legend of Zelda at night, going on and on. But it’s a great theme. Of course there is also the Castle theme, but that’s very relevant and spooky.

Playability

The Legend of Zelda is played in a top down perspective. Hyrule (the fictional world where this game is situated) is immensely large for a NES-World. The creators made this possible by making separate areas and linking them altogether. When you move to a next area you see yourself moving on the world map. In theory you’re able to get anywhere in the world right from the start, although you’ll need items to enter some areas. Links movement is easy to control and accurate. Because of the top down perspective you’ll be able to avoid enemies much more fluent than in 2D-games.

Instant Fun Factor

The first time you play this game you’ll probably wonder what you have to do. It’s not build up the way that 9/10 NES-games are: going from level to level or from stage to stage. The levels are integrated castles who you can find on the world map. So you might do Level 3 before you do Level 1, although the first castle is easiest to find. The Legend of Zelda is meant to be played for a long time rather than a short, but still you’ll like when you start playing. You can also gamble, which is the start of a Zelda-series tradition adding mini games that aren’t necessary at all, but that are fun.

Long Term Fun Factor

The coin system, key system, the size of your inventory, the fact that you can use two weapons in stead of one, the fact that you can blow holes in the wall or burn bushes to find secrets: it all adds to the long term fun. When you have finished all nine castles, you will have to start over once more. Only now the variables are mixed up again. So you can start experimenting all over again. You can finish the game without finding all the secrets, but it will be harder.

Graphics: 20/20

Sound: 20/20

Playability: 20/20

Instant Fun Factor: 20/20

Long Term Fun Factor: 20/20

Total score: 100/100