The Evolution of Zelda (By VideoGamer1030)

The Legend of Zelda is one of the most influential titles of all time. It was the first game with a save battery, the first console game to be completely open ended, and it also spawned many amazing sequels. The original can be hard to appreciate if it is first tried now, because so many games have since followed its example.

Zelda is viewed from a top down perspective and takes place in the land of Hyrule. The hero, Link, carries his powerful sword and finds other weapons like explosive bombs or long range bows. Despite how much Zelda changed gaming, it was nowhere near perfect. Zelda was a completely different series back when it started. The original Zelda was nearly lifeless: only having a few old men and women giving vague hints or selling supplies. Only later did Zelda characters actually have personality. There were no villages in the original Zelda, everyone lived in caves, with monsters roaming the outdoors. I suppose you can say the people were hiding from the monsters. If that were the case though, where are the old village remains? Why are old men actually inside the dungeons!?

Another difference was that Zelda was far less puzzle based. Zelda's initial premise was like Metroid: An obstacle course with a lot of action. Like Metroid, Zelda's puzzles usually consisted of examining and bombing suspicious areas. The initial premise did not work for the Zelda series at all. Metroid's atmosphere is better suited for a desolate world, and the sidescrolling made it more suitable for action.

Zelda went under a complete change in Zelda 2: Adventure of Link, taking a cue from Mario and Metroid's sidescrolling elements. However, this proved to be a bad change for Zelda, as Metroid's combat/equipment/atmosphere was far better suited for sidescrolling. The RPG elements of Zelda 2 were poor- Zelda 2 had annoying enemy encounters and pointless leveling up. Zelda 2 didn't take in the one feature it actually needed from RPGs: good story and characterization.

Luckily, Zelda: A Link to the Past finally got it right by bringing back the top down perspective and by having a great plot and world design (with a convenient map at hand). The world was much more interactive due to different areas like villages, lakes, mountains, and castles: all of which host unique characters. The dungeons in A Link to the Past were more thought provoking. Action was still important and was improved as well due to better equipment. A Link to the Past fully established and also perfected the Zelda formula.

After the fantastic portable adventure in Zelda Link's Awakening, Ocarina of Time came out and introduced a further dramatic change for the series. The game introduced Lock On targeting and brought the series to 3D. Miyamoto wanted to create the most immersive experience possible with Ocarina of Time, and he succeeded. OoT had a large barren field that crossed over to all sections of Hyrule. It was expansive and at the same time simple to navigate. OoT had horse riding to really immerse the player, a good substitution for the speedy pegasus boots. OoT also introduced a musical instrument that is actually playable over a simple flute that summons a bird or ocarina with pre-programmed songs. All the sections of Hyrule had a vast amount of characters. The market place alone was booming with life and offered what the entire Kakoriko Village offered in A Link to the Past. Ocarina of Time also offered cinematic bosses, including one of the best endings in video game history.

Zelda games further offered great experiences- like the dark collapsing world of Majora's Mask and the light hearted sea adventure of Windwaker. These games focused on sidequests more than earlier games in the series. The games let you connect to the people in the Zelda world and learn more about them. The sidequests offer prizes but more importantly give the world more life. Majora's Mask in particular shows how people live out their daily lives even though they know the moon will crash into the Earth. It's a sad but fascinating study of how people continue to strive forward. Majora's Mask also had transformation masks, which were nothing short of fantastic. It's always good when games have multiple characters with different abilities; and Majora's Mask offered that in an even better way. While the masks were dropped later in the series, there were other innovations to be seen in the series like the time traveling/season changing from the Oracle games or the different cel shaded artstyle from Windwaker.

All games in the series offer great graphical styles and offer something new to the player. Zelda dramatically changed, but most notably between Zelda 1 and Ocarina of Time. Afterwards, games in the series started to play with the Zelda formula instead of strictly following it. Newer games offer different characters, different music, different weapons, and different atmospheres. Link's Awakening was the first to take place outside Hyrule, and proved to be much more compelling because of it. Zelda Twilight Princess adhered to the formula most but also offered a fantastic adventure with much originality. Even so, the Zelda series should try more radical approaches again, because another game in Hyrule would be greatly tiresome. It's a series known for trying new things and hopefully it will continue to do so.