Video games have been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember. I can recall playing Combat, Asteroids and Pitfall on the Atari as early as the age of five. My love for games continued into adulthood with Playstation and Xbox games, especially the sports related ones. I'm even big on smartphone games.
The game that really made myself into a gamer, however, was The Legend of Zelda, the Nintendo (NES) version in the vintage gold cartridge. I fell in love with that game and that series. My gameplay level intensified once I discovered this game.
The Legend of Zelda was the first game where I sought out the help of strategy guides and Nintendo Power magazine. It was also the first one that I stayed up all night on weekends playing. The goal for Link to finish quests, defeat Gannon, and rescue Princess Zelda was extremely appealing to me. I can recall running up the long distance phone bill calling the Nintendo Power help hotline.
The choice of weapons, the adventure, challenges and depth of the game grabbed my attention, although the graphics were primitive by current standards. Plus, you had to blow several times into that gold cartridge to keep it functional. I would be so livid when a power outage would come or the game would freeze before I could save it. It was that intense.
I felt so awesome when I finally beat the game and defeated the evil Gannon. I even went back and played the 2nd quest and beat that one as well. I also played the sequel, The Adventure of Link, and again was victorious.
The last game of the Zelda franchise I played and completed was The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for the Super Nintendo. I bought that game in high school, and still played it for 3 years, even after beating it. The storyline and the graphics were much sharper.
I grew older and focused my attention on sports games such as Madden and NCAA football, and later on the Grand Theft Auto series. I'm a non-traditional gamer, as I don't do a lot of of the RPGs or online play. I'm also not big on the 1st person games such as Halo or the Call of Duty series. However, I take the games I play seriously. It's in my competitive nature.
It's hard to believe looking back that one game could have that type of long term impact on me. It has and it did though. The Legend of Zelda raised the bar for gaming and helped inspire other quest related games such as Final Fantasy and even World of Warcraft. It is also a game series that never seems to grow old. It only improves.
My advice to gamers and game designers is to not forget games such as Zelda. It truly transcended all of gaming, and gave many gamers such as myself sleepless nights and excitement.
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