History VideoGame / TheLegendOfZeldaI

''The Legend of Zelda'' is a 1986 top-down ActionAdventure HackAndSlash and the first game in ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' franchise. One of the early role-playing games with nonlinear setup, it is credited as one of the most important games among them for codifying many of the genre's touchstones.

* DevelopersForesight: You start with three heart containers, and the game will not allow you to have fewer than that. If you somehow manage to reach one of the "Leave your Life or Money" rooms in the second quest with only three heart containers, the game will empty all of your hearts, but will allow you to leave without taking a heart container. However, take ''any'' damage before finding a way to heal, and it's Game Over.

* HeroesWantRedheads: The sprite and artwork of Princess Zelda are shown with red/brown hair.

Originally released as ''The Hyrule Fantasy: Zelda no Densetsu''[[note]]translating to "The Legend of Zelda" -- they would soon drop the subtitle[[/note]] for the Famicom Disk System's launch in Japan on February 21, 1986, it was ported to cartridges for the Famicom's western counterpart, the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem, in North America a year and change later on June 30, 1987, and subsequently Europe in November 1987.

Both the original adventure and the "second quest" would eventually be remade as ''VideoGame/BSTheLegendOfZelda'', an enhanced version for the UsefulNotes/{{Satellaview}} [[UsefulNotes/SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystem Super Famicom]] add-on with new dungeon layouts and voice acting. This version of the game is notable for being the first game to allow the player to play as Princess Zelda.

The game can be played on the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch as part of its ''Nintendo Entertainment System -- Nintendo Switch Online'' suite of emulated classics. In addition, a special version of the game entitled '' The Legend of Zelda: Living the Life of Luxury!'' is also available. This special edition of the game attempts to enhance accessibility by giving access to nearly every single item at the start of the game in addition to a massive cache of Rupees.

The game would also get a re-release in November, 2021 as a special edition UsefulNotes/GameAndWatch to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the game's original release.

* {{Feelies}}: The game came with a poster-sized map which had the locations of most of the dungeons and could be used for taking notes. Much to the general annoyance of people who owned the original, this map has not been re-released with any of the remakes.

->[[AC:many years ago prince]][[AC:darkness [[red:"gannon"]] stole]][[AC:one of the [[blue:triforce]] with]][[AC:power. princess [[red:zelda]]]][[AC:had one of the [[blue:triforce]]]][[AC:with wisdom. she divided]][[AC:it into '''"[[blue:8]]"''' units to hide]][[AC:it from [[red:"gannon"]] before]][[AC:she was captured.]][[AC:[[red:go find the "8" units]]]][[AC:[[green:"link"]] [[red:to save her.]]]]

* GameMod: ''Redux'' keeps most of the game as-is, but adds numerous quality-of-life improvements over the vanilla version: Among other tweaks, your sword attack is now a quarter-circle slash rather than a direct stab, the Overworld map reflects the actual layout instead of being a simple grey rectangle, walls and trees are given subtle visual cues that they can be bombed or burned, there are three new BGM tracks for the dungeons, arrows have their own ammunition stock rather than drawing from your rupee count, your wallet now holds 999 rupees instead of 255, many enemies have been redrawn to reflect the manual artwork, and Link's blue tunic is given a more vibrant blue color.

%%* DamageDiscrimination: Played straight with bombs, averted with the Candles and the "Book of Magic"-enhanced Magical Rod.%%How?

'''[[TropeCodifier The]]''' ActionAdventure Game.

The first game in ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' franchise, the original ''Legend of Zelda'' was a top-down ActionAdventure HackAndSlash, with a very nonlinear setup.

* AlmightyIdiot: According to ''Literature/HyruleHistoria'', Ganon never fully recovered from his botched resurrection in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames''; his next chronological appearance occurs in this game, and is described as a beast deprived of Ganondorf's genius intellect, explaining why the final battle is more of a simple KingKoopaCopy boss fight in comparison to the more complex battles in other games.

* KingKoopaCopy: In this game, Ganon is a PigMan SorcerousOverlord who kidnapped Princess Zelda and tries to conquer the magical kingdom of Hyrule, similar to the plot of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros1'' and its antagonist Bowser.

* WantonCrueltyToTheCommonComma: The opening crawl really goes to town with unnecessary quotation marks, to the point that it almost sounds like it's being sarcastic.

** Along with the bombable stone walls and burnable trees, the overworld on the second quest also features several hidden doors that you must play the Recorder to reveal. They function just like the entrance to Level 7 in the first quest, only most of them are nowhere near any deserted fairy springs and no hints are given that this can be done outside of those spots, so the player is unlikely to discover this on their own unless they just happen to try warping in an area that contains one of the these passages. Worse yet, it's not optional, since this is method is how you're expected to find the entrance to Level 6.

** Along with the bombable stone walls and burnable trees, the overworld on the second quest also features several hidden doors that you must play the Recorder to reveal. They function just like the entrance to Level 7 in the first quest, only most of them are nowhere near any deserted fairy springs and no hints are given that this can be done outside of those spots, so the player is unlikely to discover this unless they just happen to try warping in an area that contains one of the these passages.

* GameMod: ''Redux'' keeps most of the game as-is, but adds numerous quality-of-life improvements over the vanilla version: Among other tweaks, your sword attack is now a 3/4 slash rather than a direct stab, the Overworld map reflects the actual layout instead of being a simple grey rectangle, walls and trees are given subtle visual cues that they can be bombed or burned, there are three new BGM tracks for the dungeons, arrows have their own ammunition stock rather than drawing from your rupee count, your wallet now holds 999 rupees instead of 255, many enemies have been redrawn to reflect the manual artwork, and Link's blue tunic is given a more vibrant blue color.

** Theoretically, you're supposed to clear the first two dungeons before obtaining the White Sword, but since what qualifies you to "master using it" is not the number of dungeons you clear but the amount of Container Hearts you have (5), you can easily pick up two free ones in the overworld map using bombs and grab the White Sword before taking on any dungeons at all. The Magic Sword, meanwhile, requires 12 hearts to obtain, so it can be nabbed right after you beat Level 4 by getting the two remaining Container Hearts on the eastern shore, making Levels 5 and especially 6 much easier. The second quest allows you to get the White Sword early on, but you will have at least beat Level 1 first, since only one Heart Container is now hidden where Link can find it without needing any dungeon-obtained equipment.

** Pushing blocks in dungeons is required to reveal a staircase or to reach a visible one more easily. Nothing in the game tells you that you can push blocks.

** Theoretically, you're supposed to clear the first two dungeons before obtaining the White Sword, but since what qualifies you to "master using it" is not the number of dungeons you clear but the amount of Container Hearts you have (5), you can easily pick up two free ones in the overworld map using bombs and grab the White Sword before taking on any dungeons at all. The Magic Sword, meanwhile, requires 12 hearts to obtain, so it can be nabbed right after you beat Level 4 by getting the two remaining Container Hearts on the eastern shore, making Levels 5 and especially 6 much easier.

* GameMod: Several; the best-known is probably ''[[http://questforcalatia.net/ZeldaC/index.html Zelda Challenge: Outlands]]''.
** ''Redux'' keeps most of the game as-is, but adds numerous quality-of-life improvements over the vanilla version: Among other tweaks, your sword attack is now a 3/4 slash rather than a direct stab, the Overworld map reflects the actual layout instead of being a simple grey rectangle, walls and trees are given subtle visual cues that they can be bombed or burned, there are three new BGM tracks for the dungeons, arrows have their own ammunition stock rather than drawing from your rupee count, your wallet now holds 999 rupees instead of 255, many enemies have been redrawn to reflect the manual artwork, and Link's blue tunic is given a more vibrant blue color.

** ''Redux'' keeps most of the game as-is, but adds numerous quality-of-life improvements over the vanilla version: Among other tweaks, your sword attack is now a 3/4 slash rather than a direct stab, the Overworld map reflects the actual layout instead of being a simple grey rectangle, there are three new BGM tracks for the dungeons, arrows have their own ammunition stock rather than drawing from your rupee count, your wallet now holds 999 instead of 255, many enemies have been redrawn to reflect the manual artwork, and Link's blue tunic is given a more vibrant blue color.

* DegradedBoss: Several bosses appear as normal albeit one-off enemies in later dungeons.

* AIBreaker: Dungeon enemies capable of targeting Link directly (Ropes, Darknuts, Blue Wizzrobes, etc.) can only do so if he's standing directly on a floor tile, and they themselves cannot move along the spaces where tiles meet. You can, so walking on the edges of floor tiles or standing in their four corners makes it much easier to fight these enemies while avoiding the full brunt of their offense.

** [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking The opening storyboard contains several spelling and grammar errors]], most infamously, "Many years ago Prince Darkness Gannon stole one of the Triforce with Power", which originated the misspelling "Gannon". However, this is present in the Japanese version, too. The localizers simply didn't bother to correct it! This was at least addressed in the GBA port, which rewrote the scroll to be more comprehensible.

** Red is used for things that favor Link, while blue favors his enemies. Most of the upgraded items are red, and special items like the Power Bracelet are also red. Weaker enemies are red, while stronger ones are blue. The first two dungeons are colored blue, and there are no red dungeons. Finally, Ganon himself is colored blue, but the ashes shown after his death are red.

* ''[[https://www.reloadedretro.com/games/zelda The Legend of Zelda Reloaded,]]'' created by [=MetalMachine=]. Still in beta; can randomize the overworld, dungeon layout, item placement, enemy placement/difficulty, and numerous other game features.
** Even before creading ''Reloaded'', [=MetalMachine=] was already known for a [[https://z1m1.info combo randomizer]] for ''Zelda I'' and VideoGame/Metroid1.