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Looking back on it’s library, the NES has some really solid games that still play well and are great fun by today’s standards. Super Mario Brothers 3, River City Ransom, Mega Man 2 and 3, Kirby’s Adventure…I could go on for a while describing some of the awesome titles on the system. Unfortunately, though, there’s one game that just can’t stand up to it’s legacy, despite how much it and it’s sequels have done for the gaming industry, how much of a massive impact the series has had.That game is The Legend of Zelda.

Now don’t get me wrong: I love the Zelda series. You’d be hard-pressed to find a gamer who doesn’t enjoy at least one game in the series. The fact still remains, though, that the original game just hasn’t aged well. It’s due to several things, I think, but the one that comes to mind first is the controls. Link can only move in four directions: Up, right, left, and down. It doesn’t sound like it should be a problem, and maybe I’m just too used to eight-way movement in the later 2D titles, but it’s really freaking hard to fight your way through some of the later areas, like dungeon rooms filled with eight Iron Knuckles at once (Remember them? You can only hurt them by stabbing them in the back), and have to battle against bosses that have to be attacked in one specific point on their body to harm.

Another thing to note is how vauge some of the secrets and dungeon locations are.This is due partly to the Engrish-filled translations of the time (DODONGO DISLIKE SMOKE!), and partially due to Miyamoto hiding dungeons and caves behind unexpected rocks and bushes. If you get stuck, expect to bomb and burn everything in sight trying to find your way to the next dungeon…oh, but once you run out of bombs, get ready to grind for rupees so you can buy more.

Yes, you heard me. Rupees are scarce in The Legend of Zelda, a far cry from the Hyrule visited in the more recent Twilight Princess, which contains an item used just for the purpose of draining your extra rupees. You’ll find yourself having to grind for Rupees now and then just to be able to buy more bombs or different items. Keep in mind that rupees were also used as your ammo for the bow in the original game, too, so shooting things from a distance could drain your wallet quickly, too.

I’m not saying The Legend of Zelda is a *bad* game, so to speak. It’s just filled with a lot of little annoyances like those above that keep it from really still being fun and enjoyable. The worst of them all, though, has to be the entrance to seventh dungeon. It’s hidden beneath a large, out of place pond in one portion of the map. How do you drain the pond to get in? By using the whistle, an item that’s normally used to teleport around the map. The worst part about this is that there’s no clues or anything in the game that lets you know to play the whistle at that one specific point. Sure, nowadays you could use a FAQ or a guide to tell you about that, but where’s the fun in doing that?

Bringing this thing to a conclusion, I really can’t recommend The Legend of Zelda on NES, not with much better, superior games in the series EXTREMELY easily available. If you’ve got a Wii, most of the console games are available on Virtual Console or on Gamecube discs. If you’ve got a GBA, you’re set there, with three GBC titles, and four different ones available for GBA itself, and with a DS you can round out your collection with Phantom Hourglass. If you find yourself absolutely having to play the original game, try not to play it for fun. Instead, look at it like you would a history book, a look at the humble beginnings of one of Nintendo’s most iconic, important, and influential franchises.

The Legend of Zelda is available on the Wii’s Virtual Console for 500 Wii Points. It’s also available on the Game Boy Advance as part of the NES Classics series, and on the Zelda Collector’s disc on Gamecube, along with Zelda II, Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, and Zelda: Majora’s Mask. That’s a bit of a rare find though, so expect to pay upwards of $40.00 or more for it. You might also want to try Startropics, a similar game to Zelda but set in a modern period, also on the Virtual Console for 500 points. If you’re looking to enjoy the very best the Zelda series has to offer, though, you’ve got to grab The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, available for 800 points on the Virtual Console, but it was also released on GBA with the multiplayer title Four Swords.