Uploaded November 2014 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Hello gamers and welcome to day four, week eleven of our 100 reviews in 100 days countdown!
Kickstarting a Genre in the number 47 position...
The Legend of Zelda
In 1987, when I was six years old, my parents bought me a copy of the Legend of Zelda. I owe them for that. Big time. I’d played video games before, but the original Zelda was the first game that I vividly remember, and it was certainly the first game that made me sit back and say “Holy shit, you can do this in a game?!?!” And if you’re wondering why I was cursing like that when I was six, it’s probably got something to do with the fact that my father is the Picasso of profanity. Love you, Dad! Anyway, my memories of playing the original Zelda are surprisingly clear, considering that it was almost 30 years ago. The game made that substantial of an impression on me, and deservedly so. At the time, there was literally nothing else like it. The game felt massive, complex, detailed and exciting. It made my tiny little 6-year-old brain do explodey things. I’m still not sure how Nintendo managed to cram as much content as they did on to an 8-bit cartridge. It’s astounding. The Legend of Zelda, as great as it is in and of itself, is also responsible for kicking off what has arguably been the greatest video game franchise of all time, which takes this game from being great to being historically great. No other franchise that I can think of has been as consistently great over so long a period of time, and no other franchise has been as consistently popular with gamers and critics alike. Almost half of the games from this franchise are appearing in our countdown of the top 100 games ever. So yeah. Link and Zelda kick ass and take names better than almost anybody.
Hello gamers and welcome to day four, week eleven of our 100 reviews in 100 days countdown!
Kickstarting a Genre in the number 47 position...
The Legend of Zelda
In 1987, when I was six years old, my parents bought me a copy of the Legend of Zelda. I owe them for that. Big time. I’d played video games before, but the original Zelda was the first game that I vividly remember, and it was certainly the first game that made me sit back and say “Holy shit, you can do this in a game?!?!” And if you’re wondering why I was cursing like that when I was six, it’s probably got something to do with the fact that my father is the Picasso of profanity. Love you, Dad! Anyway, my memories of playing the original Zelda are surprisingly clear, considering that it was almost 30 years ago. The game made that substantial of an impression on me, and deservedly so. At the time, there was literally nothing else like it. The game felt massive, complex, detailed and exciting. It made my tiny little 6-year-old brain do explodey things. I’m still not sure how Nintendo managed to cram as much content as they did on to an 8-bit cartridge. It’s astounding. The Legend of Zelda, as great as it is in and of itself, is also responsible for kicking off what has arguably been the greatest video game franchise of all time, which takes this game from being great to being historically great. No other franchise that I can think of has been as consistently great over so long a period of time, and no other franchise has been as consistently popular with gamers and critics alike. Almost half of the games from this franchise are appearing in our countdown of the top 100 games ever. So yeah. Link and Zelda kick ass and take names better than almost anybody.
