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How has Zelda shaped you as a gamer? The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past was released 20 years ago today, and I've got to say that that game really did shape me as a gamer. I don't remember getting that game, but I do remember watching my dad and my brother play it together when we got to visit my dad.
It was amazing and everyone was really happy and we solved the puzzles together, it was great! Then, a while later, on Christmas like in the N64 kid meme, we got The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
It was, hands down, one of the best presents I've ever been given in my life (I'm 24). Every single time my brother and I went to visit my dad we'd play OoT, and we'd always, always, find something new to do.
This was way back in the days of GameFAQs, when kids would print out literally 300+ pages of guides in order to play the game, rather than just going out and buying the real guides. I remember printing out soooo many guides from GameFAQs back then, ha!
Anyways, I remember finding the Kokiri Sword for the first time, and I remember how stupid that Mido kid looked, and how scary the Deku tree is the first time you see it. Think about it, that is a HUGE TREE! TALKING TO YOU! Telling you things, that you have to believe because why not? But honestly, it's a tree! Creepy.
And there are so many other memories after that, but the two I remember the most are being able to do the Gerudo horse-riding archery minigame better than my dad and brother, and the part where you make the frogs sing near the entrance to Zora's Domain.
After I finished The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, I realized that there were probably other games out there that I could play and be really great at, and learn their stories and their characters and come to love them as much as I loved Link and Zelda and Nabooru and even Navi by the end of it all.
So I began playing so many other games, I can't even begin to list them all but, trust me, it was a lot. And I loved all of them and it all began because of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
If The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time has shaped you as a gamer as much as it's shaped me, go vote for it in Video Game Deathmatch: Greatest Story Ever Told Edition! There's only one day left for you to vote for it and all the other great match-ups, so hurry on over!
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OBOLGER
i remember back when i played ocarina of time games werent 60 dolllars,i thought its graphics were realistic, and was used to playing on an n64 control and using gamefaqs,now i go back and im likewow these graphis are no where close to real and i cant use the n64 control as easily as i used to but its still one of the best games of all time
lilbrinkie
I see a lot of your initial reactions to OoT in this article, and the events you remember, but I don't really get a feel for how it shaped you as a gamer. How did playing other games through the lens of Ocarina affect your perception and judgment of them? Do you see analogs for the Legend of Zelda characters in each game you play? I started reading this article expecting a bit more, so would you be willing to elaborate?
And GameFAQs is still around. And it's still awesome :)
mikegonzalez2k
When the original Legend of Zelda came out in 1986 on the NES it was the first game I ever officially owned. I was only 8 at the time but even at that young an age it changed my life forever. That was around the time I had just started learning to play the piano, and one of the first songs I learned by ear was the Outerworld theme. Without the aid of guides of any sort I spent hours on that game learning every puzzle. It instilled in me a life long passion for video games that has led me to program them. I think a lot of the advanced problem solving skills I have today are a direct result of challenging my childhood with such puzzles. The passion I had for gaming then led me down a path to learn math, and physics, and ultimately helped to develop my computer science engineering skills. I am forever grateful to people like Koji Kondo and Shigeru Miyamoto who have made this series a lifelong work of art. It's perfection on many levels. The creatures throughout the game, both NPC and enemies are artistically digital gold, its soundtrack from a musician point of view rivals most symphonies in how it transcends being mere music and invokes emotion. The Legend of Zelda has touched many generations over the past 25 years and will hopefully continue to for many more to come.
Btw the Zelda Symphony concert will be at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on June 06, hope some of you will also attend. I'm looking forward to being there.
brsterkens
oooh i was going to be 15 my birth day was nov 25 the game came out on the 21 and house arrest couldn't have been better. I played that game so hard, mario 64 took my breath away and OoT blu my mind. i never like the psx even though it was 3d it just looked so flat to me.
Aaronindhouse
I too was of the generation that played nes and snes when I was little, but i grew up with the n64. Ocarina of time was the game that gripped my imagination as a little kid. To this day, even with its dated graphics, ocarina of time has a very palpable atmosphere that just draws me in. One of the things i loved to do the most as a kid was go watch the little particles zip around in the kokiri forest. I even wrote a Zelda fanfic as kid for an elementary school writing assignment. Lol.
Ocarina of time was was a big step In gaming history. No Zelda since has quite been able to capture the magic that ocarina of time, or even some of the earlier nes and snes titles, had.
camaro72toy
This story should be about how embarassing the latest Zelda really is, and how it ruined my experience as a gamer. How did it get a 10 out of 10? Must have paid the gaming companies off to get that score, cause I wouldn't have even given it a 1 out of 10. They should have thrown it in Shigerus lap and told him that if he ever comes to Nintendo with a product like this again, then he can consider himself fired. I have never once in my 25 years of gaming seen such a pop up filled, sprites everywhere they are not supposed to be, ugly game. Just feels like Nintendo can't be trusted to make a quality game anymore, and I'm jumping ship.
Bloodthr0e
Super Mario Bros is probably the game that originally got me into video games, but I'm not going to rush out and vote SMB in a contest for the greatest story ever told in gaming. There's nothing wrong with a game you loved not having the best story ever told. The great thing about games is that they can be fun regardless of their story and that's what Nintendo games are. It's the same with non-video games like sports. They don't need any kind of story in order to be a fun pastime that brings people together.
TheCrystal
I remember always playing the song of the sun when roaming the fields of Hyrule just because I was too lazy to deal with the undead. I had that song memorized so hard in my head. Another good memory is throwing dogs around and slicing chickens
lafaille
Great story. I would like to read more of how Zelda changed other gamers. Im 22 and I passionately remember when i played A Link to the Past!. Completely changed my life playing on a Super Nintendo the first system I bought with my own money. Does not get any better.
brj1212
You never beat me in any mini games! ha
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