I believe that the rupies cap being 255 is due to the value being encoded on 8 bits (2^8 = 256 possible values, 0 to 255). The patch might be increasing this to 10 bits to go up to 1023 maximum rupies (2^10 = 1024 values, 0 to 1023), limited to 999 with 3 digits to not break the HUD. As for why it wasn't possible to do this from the start, it might be because early Famicom dev kits were less flexible than modern tools, or that the ROM was confined to a maximum size in order to be released on the disk system (the original medium the game came out on).
It's a bit limit. 255 or sometimes 256 is the upper limit of basic 8 bit hex values. So at the time they just used the upper limit as this game was so new working on the hardware was not easy. Once they had a feel for it they could easily boost the values. It's why later games used extra chips. This game is so old it used a very basic 8 bit hex value.
Or if they got rid of the 1 Rupee as a drop they could just encode the values as a multiple of 5. So the real max could be 5*255 = 1275 but cut off at 999.
@@Simchen It could be feasible yes, but then they would have needed another variable to store arrow count (as it would be strange for the player to only update the rupies count every 5 arrow shot). As you realistically can't use only 3 bits for the arrows (max arrow count woud be 7), you end up using more bits than using 8 bits for rupies and sharing them between the two🙂
As an 80’s baby I can definitely say that feeling when you figured out what a cryptic clue meant (where faeries don’t live) or burning the right bush (dungeon 8) was indescribable. Burn every bush, bomb every wall and push every block, rock, grave, etc.
Second quest level 8 broke the mold on overworld bombable walls, it took my brother and I so much searching, I still remember arguing it wasn't wasting bombs trying across the river on all those screens
This is so crazy to me. I remember being a small child and spending hours on this game and beating it. No internet, no guides. I used to be much more persistent than I am now apparently.
Cart came with a map bro, and we had friends and family also playing. My parents even played it, and they turn out to hate video games later. We kids who were there did not do it solo with no help no matter how we remember it that way. I know my dad showed me where the Cheap Magical Shield tree is.
You also had more time and no worries. Coming home at 13:00, being done with homework around 14h and then having the whooole day. As an adult you work until 17-18, need to shop groceries, cook, clean and then have maybe 1-2h for gaming. Tenacity disappeared out of necessity. No time for grind and blindly check nooks and cranies. 😢
i, too, used a guide to beat the first legend of zelda. lately, i've been burnt out on playing games just to play them and have been experiencing them fully without guides and it has been a complete game changer. it is so fun and rewarding to find out things on your own. instead of saying screw it and looking up a guide, i'll take a break, reflect, and come back clearer headed and ready to tackle the challenge. i think people are too frantic to move on to the next game, the next hot thing or old hot thing to say they did this or that instead of soaking up that media.
Man you and me are on the same vibe with this stuff. A lot of older games have a lot more fun value in them than people are aware of because they focus on the the things that haven't aged. 90% of Zelda 1 is fun and functional.
I completely agree that it should be okay to use walkthroughs to beat older and more cryptic games such as this one. It's like you said, most people today won't have access to a schoolyard of friends discussing this game every day for months, but we do have the internet. And we may not have the manuals or guides that came with the game, but we do have walkthroughs. It all pretty much boils down to the same thing. Either you receive a little help, or you have an incredible amount of patience and time lol.
The problem is that you're comparing yourself, an adult, to literal children. I do think adults are more than capable to figure stuff out on their own. However, like you said, adults don't have an infinite amount of time, so it makes sense for them to use external help too out of the need to fit gaming in their schedule.
Imagine being a kid in Australia where we didn't have access to Nintendo Power or other strategy guides, I got Zelda from Cash Converters so it didn't come with a manual. I remember discovering the graveyard after getting through the lost woods by accident, it was like I unlocked the second half of the game by accident. Nobody had Zelda when I was in school, most my friends still had an atari or played Alex Kidd and Sonic on their Sega Master Systems.
Good video! I remember getting the 3DS port of Zelda as a part of the ambassador program, and trying so hard to beat it without looking anything up. Later I found my uncles old notes on the game when he played it when he was my age, and following them like a treasure map. It is 100% why I have such a high regard for this game.
The game came with an instruction manual that explained a lot of the more obscure parts of the game, and a sealed map that showed the way through the early part of the game. Without the manual and map, completing Zelda unaided is more difficult than it was intended to be.
Haven't finished watching the video yet (still really early on), but I went through a similar experience with playing Zelda 1 and getting it done JUST to say I've finished Zelda 1. A year or two later, I gave it a shot again but this time with an NES map open on the side showed every spot you could visit in the game and what it had. That experience completely changed how I felt about Zelda 1. Having that NES map open on the side felt like an irl treasure map where I can see there was treasure in certain areas, and it was up to me to get there. Since I forgot what every item did too, the items themselves were a surprise too. I did it with Zelda 2 and Metroid (NES) too and it was so much fun that i've decided that's how i'll be playing most old-school adventure games. It felt great to know where to go, without being directly told how or when.
TLOZ is a game you really need to put yourself in the mindset of "This is old, this is jank, but I can still have fun"-for. Don't expect any conveniences of modern games and really try to use only the cards you're being given. And if you manage to do that, you can have a great time.
Great video man, really interesting to see this unique perspective. Especially with all the versions you played and can compare against, had no idea those other versions existed. 1986 Zelda is one of the only Zeldas ones I've yet to play. After this I think I will check out the OG via the Switch NES catalog I think. I'm definitely one of those who prefer to experience a game the original way first (Though I will use a guide when I inevitably get stuck.) Played Ocarina with the OG water temple boot swapping, played the 80s Metroid to complete the 2D series. Just need 86 Zelda/Zelda II! Anyway, again, great stuff and looking forward to more when you're able!
You make great points. Back then, you would get zelda for Christmas and that was all you had for the next 6 months until your birthday. People talk about how this game took them years to finally complete. Definitely not an experience players nowadays will be interested in replicating
I played the game for the first time in ~2015 on a raspberry pie emulator. I didn't use a guide unless I got stuck, and enjoyed the experience SO MUCH! Exploration is one of my favorite things to do and this game is perfect in that respect.
Awesome video so far! I played this game myself for the first time last year. I do disagree with the recommendation of not playing this game without outside help, though. I take no issue with using guides when you need them, but the maps shown in the manual we got in America was something the manual says only use if you need it. Miyamoto didn’t want it there at all, I’m not sure that it was there on the Famicom Disk System in Japan. But I think using the manual, the maps it provides, the way it guides you to make your own, and the way it hints at your progression should be plenty. I think it’s the approach that encourages the most creativity, challenge, and exploration in the ways the developers intended. Again, not opposed to other guides, walkthroughs, save states, whatever, play the game in the way that’s most accessible for you. But I would also encourage trying it the way it’s intended before relying on outside help. Edit: Man I’d love to try Redux sometime. Just finished the video! Loved it! I’m in the same boat. Awesome creator, keep up the good work.
Personally, I think the best way to play any of these games is whatever way makes it fun for you. Towards that end, I use an emulator with save states and on occasion cheat codes.
Kids need guides because they need help. Adults need guides due to laziness or to save time, which are totally valid reasons because adults have jobs and even if they're capable of solving puzzles on their own, they might not have the mental energy to do that after a long day of work. But at the end of the day, it's your time and you choose how to spend it. If you're having fun, that's what matters.
Considering that I only had an allowance of a few dollars a week back then and new Nintendo games cost forty or fifty bucks, I really needed every game to keep me busy for awhile and, while I enjoyed a good platformer, the exploration offered by games like Zelda and Metroid was definitely a fun alternative to just replaying the same several levels of Contra or Double Dragon over and over again until I finally got good enough to see what the next one looked like.
I played drawing a map and writing down all the hints and had a lot of fun, I think the game can be beaten without any guide except maybe for finding the location of the last dungeon where the hints are pretty ambiguous. If you are willing to take the time to draw a map for yourself I think it is the best way to play
Zelda 1 will always be special to me. I didnt play it until I was 16 almost 10 years ago now (does it feel worse to say that as you get older) . It clicked. It's literally the zelda formula. Dungeons. Item progression. Heart container's. What I loved about it was that it was the skeleton of what the zelda formula was up until 2012. It's literally just its parts. And that's a beautiful thing. Atleast that's how it made me feel
I played the base version with just the Automap patch and that's it, and I felt that was great. Doesn't really change the game other than having a convenient map without having to look away from the screen and get a general idea of places you haven't been to yet. The hints to the bombable walls and fireable bushes in the overworld for the redux version does seem nice though. I remember spamming the fire on every bush I could sometimes. Used guides to find a couple of those secrets areas though. Also good to see that change isn't added to the dungeons. The dungeons actually do a good job of making the hidden bomb-able walls relatively intuitive. Kind of wish the overworld did that better. The game is honestly not that bad in terms of difficulty since dungeon progress and items are retained after death so I never felt like I was wasting time or needed to save scum. I really appreciated that gameloop and after I played an indie game called Minit, which gives that same vibe, except with a time limit mechanic.
to get the FULL retro experience youd also need to go on a 30 day technology fast before playing it. I remember how it felt playing this game when it was only 4-5 years past cutting-edge (1992) and you truly had to live in that time to understand what this game looked like through a child's eyes, and how the apparent flatness of the game you see today did not exist in a child's mind in that era; we seamlessly filled the gaps with our imaginations, which made for a very full world with deep lore. Im telling you, what modern folk think this game lacks today did not exist back then - this game was perfect. It sucked you into its fantasy world.
That’s how I felt when LttP came out. I was like whaaaaa? It’s not even a secret anymore! Dungeon locations on the in game map???? Still, ALttP is my fave Zelda so those things didn’t hurt my opinion much.
I had a detailed map of the first quest and my mom taught me how to bomb walls. But i did the entire 2nd quest with no guide, took me a full month of summer break
My nieces favorite Nintendo NES games are the first and second Legend of Zelda games they both stole my 3rd and 6th copy of each aka the last ones I owned glad they loved the games and they also loved watching the Robin Williams advertisements for Zelda with me
The Zelda games have gone through development when it comes to mechanics. But it has also fallen into tropes where the older games, although cruder, have a sense of freedom and exploration.
Zelda I is pretty alright, but it's really Zelda II where the series starts to take on its identify. Unfortunately this then peaked at Faces of Evil, and the series has been steadily losing its identity ever since. Hopefully Nintendo realise that the underground segments in Links Awakening have yet to be topped, and will eventually give us a true series return to form in a 2d sidescroller.
I'm glad you are respecting The Legend of Zelda. I am one of those kids who grew up with Zelda in the 80s. It's very nice to see you showing respect for the game. But I can tell that you don't entirely get it. That's understandable, it's an extremely hard thing to explain the magic of The Legend of Zelda, and I can see that you might just have had to be there when it was brand new. The magic isn't from nostalgia. I can imagine that someone your age could actually come to understand this game, but it wouldn't be easy. I see that you are trying to understand what it would have been like when the mysteries were brand new- that's the right attitude. I play this game a lot, to this day, and every year I learn major things about the game that I never knew. There are still secrets to the game that I know exist, but I don't have my head fully around. The point is, this game is far more deep than you probably realize. Nintendo saw to that. The Legend of Zelda is not an easy game to get good at. It takes years and years, and it actually only gets more and more fun. It's unbelievable terrific in that way. The gift that keeps on giving. Endlessly challenging. Passing it and killing Ganon for the first time is just the beginning. I, myself, am not actually all that nostalgic about The Legend of Zelda- I just simply never stopped playing it- a person doesn't tend to feel nostalgic about a game that he never left in the first place. There has never once been a time that I liked another Zelda game more than this one. Other than Zelda II, there has never once been a truly worthy successor. Yeah it is totally cool that you use guides and stuff to play through it. We had the Official Nintendo Players Guide when we were kids, and I know that is part of the fun of the game. The game is meant to be played with paper and guides. You were right, it is fun to have maps, like a treasure hunt. But, it should be played on a real NES, on a real CRT, with a real cartridge, from a real Zelda box, with a real manual and a real map. None of that is cheap, but it is worth it. I own 15 complete in boxed copies of this game because I love it so much. I didn't like the look of that Zelda Redux at all. I would suggest against that. Though if you play Zelda II ever, you should play "Zelda II: Link is Adventuresome", which is absolutely the new definitive way to play Zelda II- it is just that good. Anyway, thank you for being respectful of The Legend of Zelda. Please continue to try to understand it better. And please be patient with it. The game is actually perfect. The flaws that you mention are not actual flaws- The Legend of Zelda is simply flawless. And continue to try to imagine what it was like to play it back in the day. We had just barely been playing Atari 2600 and Atari 5200 games- and they sucked ass, and at least I recognized Atari for the crap it was. Try to imagine what it would have been like to have The Legend of Zelda just a couple of years after Atari had been our only option. Try to imagine what that instruction manual was like for us, when so much heart and story and lore had been put into it. Try to imagine what it was like to have Nintendo Power, when it first came out. I think it is possible that you could truly understand what Zelda was like for us. We loved it with all of our hearts. And I still do. Hyrule is an incredible land. No other game, not even Zelda II or Zelda III, captured Hyrule properly again- not even close. Try to understand, The Legend of Zelda is not part of an extensive series the way that you think. The Legend of Zelda series is Zelda 1, 2 and 3, and that's it. Ocarina of Time started a completely different series that does not share the same DNA with The Legend of Zelda whatsoever, it only has the name.
One of the things I always wished for as a kid was a 16 bit update ala Super Mario All Stars for Zelda 1&2 and the Oracle games on the SNES. It would have sold well and allowed people that refused to deal with the Game Boy to play the oracle games.
I think that the original is just fine, if you take the game how it is, but obviously that requires a lot of patience! I'd say that I agree that the SNES version obsoletes the original NES version, though I'd say that you can remove the lag and sprite limit in MESEN!
I have a lot of reapect for the first two Zelda games. They both are some of greatest NES games ever made. With that said both games are too cryptic and I wouldn't enjoy either of them like I can now without a guide.
I played the original on original hardware and I was a very young kid when I beat the game. Sure, it is convenient to have all the maps and secrets and extra money and all the new quality of life stuff that new LoZ games have, but honestly, all of the stuff that you patched out is really all the stuff that I miss from new Zelda games. I'm glad you're having fun, but at the same time, it is still fun playing it like how it originally was made.
The feeling of disgust I felt hearing “I first played this game on the NES Classic.” I was 6 when this came out. Yes, you’re right, it was a magical and engrossing experience back then. It’s perfect as is. No remake.
The idea of playing games like SOME kids did back then is interesting, but the truth is not every kid had nothing. There were the game manuals, players guides, Nintendo Power and the tip hotline. You would learn things from friends. If you figured those old games out all by yourself, then awesome, but I didn’t. And it was still fun. I mean there are people who think you should only play on original hardware on a CRT, which is cool if you want that, but I could care less. I like sharp pixels and no scanlines. I like not having to get my NES out to struggle with a cartridge that won’t start. It was a pain back in the day, and it still is. I can’t fault people for having their own preferences, but I’m not a fan of telling other people how to enjoy something. Recommendations are nice, but I shouldn’t have to follow them. I have my own preferences, and I have thoughts on the best way to experience certain games, but it’s only a suggestion.
Beat this game with no guide when I was like 10. That being said, I only had 3 or 4 games for the NES. So spending hours figuring shit out wasn’t a big deal. Play games how you want. As long as you’re having fun.
Hello Mr.Welbig659 my name is Isaiah and I have something important to say to you. God loves you and like any father he wants to help you and keep you safe especially from the devil. But I am not just speaking to you about this I am also talking to your fans about this. God loves you all and especially in the times we our living in we are in need of him more than ever. But the choice is ultimately yours have a nice day Shalom Shalom. Happy early Easter.
For this specific game. You don't really need outside help. This game is all about exploring, and that is where half the fun comes from. If you are getting your hand held. It kills all the fun of the original zelda.
Imagine using emulator to save scum the Legend of Zelda. Ew. "People say you should play it without any outside influence. It isn't sensible to ask that of a modern gamer." So basically you're saying a modern gamer has 75 IQ. Get a pdf of the original manual that came with the game. Get a pencil and paper and go to town.
As someone who literally played this on a crt in the early-to-mid '90s, this is still one of the most pretentious comments I've ever seen. You might as well tell people they shouldn't even try playing Doom unless they install it from original floppies on a 486DX with period-accurate mouse, keyboard and monitor. Seriously, this is right up there with gatekeepy bullshit like "If you don't use Gentoo [and/or Arch] you shouldn't be using Linux at all."
@@heinrichagrippa5681 but the first thing people do is complain about how bad it looks when they don’t even realize it’s thier own fault for not displaying it correctly in the right screen
@@trapez77 If you think the kind of people who immediately complain that an 8-bit NES game from 1986 looks "bad" would be blown away by the intricate intended pixel-blending when played on a crt, you're delusional.
@@heinrichagrippa5681 if they appreciate art they will be. Do you think anyone would be impressed by the mona Lisa or persistence of memory if they could only see a blurry mess of the picture
One of the great aspects of this game is that us 80s kids were just getting out of the single screen video games from Atari, Colecovision and intellivision. So being able to explore the world with various weapons and have multiple ways of killing enemies (sword, bomb, candle, wand, bow) even if it wasn’t progressive to beat the game was fun. We’d spend hours at slumber parties taking turns trying to burn every tree to see if it held a secret. It’s unfortunate modern gamers can’t replicate those aspects but you did a really great job getting as close.
I believe that the rupies cap being 255 is due to the value being encoded on 8 bits (2^8 = 256 possible values, 0 to 255). The patch might be increasing this to 10 bits to go up to 1023 maximum rupies (2^10 = 1024 values, 0 to 1023), limited to 999 with 3 digits to not break the HUD.
As for why it wasn't possible to do this from the start, it might be because early Famicom dev kits were less flexible than modern tools, or that the ROM was confined to a maximum size in order to be released on the disk system (the original medium the game came out on).
It's a bit limit. 255 or sometimes 256 is the upper limit of basic 8 bit hex values. So at the time they just used the upper limit as this game was so new working on the hardware was not easy. Once they had a feel for it they could easily boost the values. It's why later games used extra chips. This game is so old it used a very basic 8 bit hex value.
Or if they got rid of the 1 Rupee as a drop they could just encode the values as a multiple of 5. So the real max could be 5*255 = 1275 but cut off at 999.
@@Simchen It could be feasible yes, but then they would have needed another variable to store arrow count (as it would be strange for the player to only update the rupies count every 5 arrow shot). As you realistically can't use only 3 bits for the arrows (max arrow count woud be 7), you end up using more bits than using 8 bits for rupies and sharing them between the two🙂
@@benjib2691 Yes I was talking about the redux version. So that is what they did. They have a separate arrow count ^^
As an 80’s baby I can definitely say that feeling when you figured out what a cryptic clue meant (where faeries don’t live) or burning the right bush (dungeon 8) was indescribable.
Burn every bush, bomb every wall and push every block, rock, grave, etc.
Second quest level 8 broke the mold on overworld bombable walls, it took my brother and I so much searching, I still remember arguing it wasn't wasting bombs trying across the river on all those screens
I'm diggin' this "learning to love" series, keep it up!
This is so crazy to me. I remember being a small child and spending hours on this game and beating it. No internet, no guides. I used to be much more persistent than I am now apparently.
Cart came with a map bro, and we had friends and family also playing. My parents even played it, and they turn out to hate video games later. We kids who were there did not do it solo with no help no matter how we remember it that way. I know my dad showed me where the Cheap Magical Shield tree is.
You also had more time and no worries.
Coming home at 13:00, being done with homework around 14h and then having the whooole day.
As an adult you work until 17-18, need to shop groceries, cook, clean and then have maybe 1-2h for gaming.
Tenacity disappeared out of necessity. No time for grind and blindly check nooks and cranies. 😢
kid’s memories aren’t that reliable
i, too, used a guide to beat the first legend of zelda. lately, i've been burnt out on playing games just to play them and have been experiencing them fully without guides and it has been a complete game changer. it is so fun and rewarding to find out things on your own. instead of saying screw it and looking up a guide, i'll take a break, reflect, and come back clearer headed and ready to tackle the challenge. i think people are too frantic to move on to the next game, the next hot thing or old hot thing to say they did this or that instead of soaking up that media.
Great game. I played it several years ago on my 3DS and was pleasantly surprised at how well it holds up.
Man you and me are on the same vibe with this stuff. A lot of older games have a lot more fun value in them than people are aware of because they focus on the the things that haven't aged. 90% of Zelda 1 is fun and functional.
I completely agree that it should be okay to use walkthroughs to beat older and more cryptic games such as this one. It's like you said, most people today won't have access to a schoolyard of friends discussing this game every day for months, but we do have the internet. And we may not have the manuals or guides that came with the game, but we do have walkthroughs. It all pretty much boils down to the same thing. Either you receive a little help, or you have an incredible amount of patience and time lol.
The problem is that you're comparing yourself, an adult, to literal children. I do think adults are more than capable to figure stuff out on their own. However, like you said, adults don't have an infinite amount of time, so it makes sense for them to use external help too out of the need to fit gaming in their schedule.
Imagine being a kid in Australia where we didn't have access to Nintendo Power or other strategy guides, I got Zelda from Cash Converters so it didn't come with a manual.
I remember discovering the graveyard after getting through the lost woods by accident, it was like I unlocked the second half of the game by accident.
Nobody had Zelda when I was in school, most my friends still had an atari or played Alex Kidd and Sonic on their Sega Master Systems.
watching you not throw boomerangs at bats is painful for me to watch
Good video! I remember getting the 3DS port of Zelda as a part of the ambassador program, and trying so hard to beat it without looking anything up. Later I found my uncles old notes on the game when he played it when he was my age, and following them like a treasure map. It is 100% why I have such a high regard for this game.
The game came with an instruction manual that explained a lot of the more obscure parts of the game, and a sealed map that showed the way through the early part of the game. Without the manual and map, completing Zelda unaided is more difficult than it was intended to be.
feels like one of the only game series where the first game might be one of the best
Just found your channel dude, love the content so far keep it up you got a new fan.
Haven't finished watching the video yet (still really early on), but I went through a similar experience with playing Zelda 1 and getting it done JUST to say I've finished Zelda 1.
A year or two later, I gave it a shot again but this time with an NES map open on the side showed every spot you could visit in the game and what it had. That experience completely changed how I felt about Zelda 1.
Having that NES map open on the side felt like an irl treasure map where I can see there was treasure in certain areas, and it was up to me to get there. Since I forgot what every item did too, the items themselves were a surprise too. I did it with Zelda 2 and Metroid (NES) too and it was so much fun that i've decided that's how i'll be playing most old-school adventure games.
It felt great to know where to go, without being directly told how or when.
TLOZ is a game you really need to put yourself in the mindset of "This is old, this is jank, but I can still have fun"-for. Don't expect any conveniences of modern games and really try to use only the cards you're being given. And if you manage to do that, you can have a great time.
Cart came with a map; gamers have ALWAYS used guides for Zelda. I’m from 1986 and I will fight anyone who disagrees
We didn't have guides or walkthroughs, but we had a 1-800 on every cartridge to reach a real human and get advice on any game, for free.
Great video man, really interesting to see this unique perspective. Especially with all the versions you played and can compare against, had no idea those other versions existed. 1986 Zelda is one of the only Zeldas ones I've yet to play. After this I think I will check out the OG via the Switch NES catalog I think. I'm definitely one of those who prefer to experience a game the original way first (Though I will use a guide when I inevitably get stuck.) Played Ocarina with the OG water temple boot swapping, played the 80s Metroid to complete the 2D series. Just need 86 Zelda/Zelda II!
Anyway, again, great stuff and looking forward to more when you're able!
You make great points. Back then, you would get zelda for Christmas and that was all you had for the next 6 months until your birthday. People talk about how this game took them years to finally complete. Definitely not an experience players nowadays will be interested in replicating
Just wondering, what RetroArch filter did you use for the CRT effect? Looks great
I played the game for the first time in ~2015 on a raspberry pie emulator. I didn't use a guide unless I got stuck, and enjoyed the experience SO MUCH! Exploration is one of my favorite things to do and this game is perfect in that respect.
Awesome video so far!
I played this game myself for the first time last year.
I do disagree with the recommendation of not playing this game without outside help, though.
I take no issue with using guides when you need them, but the maps shown in the manual we got in America was something the manual says only use if you need it. Miyamoto didn’t want it there at all, I’m not sure that it was there on the Famicom Disk System in Japan.
But I think using the manual, the maps it provides, the way it guides you to make your own, and the way it hints at your progression should be plenty.
I think it’s the approach that encourages the most creativity, challenge, and exploration in the ways the developers intended.
Again, not opposed to other guides, walkthroughs, save states, whatever, play the game in the way that’s most accessible for you.
But I would also encourage trying it the way it’s intended before relying on outside help.
Edit: Man I’d love to try Redux sometime.
Just finished the video! Loved it!
I’m in the same boat.
Awesome creator, keep up the good work.
Played this when it was new. Love the zelda series.
Personally, I think the best way to play any of these games is whatever way makes it fun for you. Towards that end, I use an emulator with save states and on occasion cheat codes.
i tried it and hated it. i’ll have to try it again. Thank you.
Kids need guides because they need help. Adults need guides due to laziness or to save time, which are totally valid reasons because adults have jobs and even if they're capable of solving puzzles on their own, they might not have the mental energy to do that after a long day of work.
But at the end of the day, it's your time and you choose how to spend it. If you're having fun, that's what matters.
Considering that I only had an allowance of a few dollars a week back then and new Nintendo games cost forty or fifty bucks, I really needed every game to keep me busy for awhile and, while I enjoyed a good platformer, the exploration offered by games like Zelda and Metroid was definitely a fun alternative to just replaying the same several levels of Contra or Double Dragon over and over again until I finally got good enough to see what the next one looked like.
I played drawing a map and writing down all the hints and had a lot of fun, I think the game can be beaten without any guide except maybe for finding the location of the last dungeon where the hints are pretty ambiguous. If you are willing to take the time to draw a map for yourself I think it is the best way to play
Zelda 1 will always be special to me. I didnt play it until I was 16 almost 10 years ago now (does it feel worse to say that as you get older) . It clicked. It's literally the zelda formula. Dungeons. Item progression. Heart container's. What I loved about it was that it was the skeleton of what the zelda formula was up until 2012. It's literally just its parts. And that's a beautiful thing. Atleast that's how it made me feel
I played the base version with just the Automap patch and that's it, and I felt that was great.
Doesn't really change the game other than having a convenient map without having to look away from the screen and get a general idea of places you haven't been to yet.
The hints to the bombable walls and fireable bushes in the overworld for the redux version does seem nice though. I remember spamming the fire on every bush I could sometimes. Used guides to find a couple of those secrets areas though.
Also good to see that change isn't added to the dungeons. The dungeons actually do a good job of making the hidden bomb-able walls relatively intuitive. Kind of wish the overworld did that better.
The game is honestly not that bad in terms of difficulty since dungeon progress and items are retained after death so I never felt like I was wasting time or needed to save scum. I really appreciated that gameloop and after I played an indie game called Minit, which gives that same vibe, except with a time limit mechanic.
I swear I hear some demons quest (or some game like that) based music in the background of this video, nice touch
to get the FULL retro experience youd also need to go on a 30 day technology fast before playing it. I remember how it felt playing this game when it was only 4-5 years past cutting-edge (1992) and you truly had to live in that time to understand what this game looked like through a child's eyes, and how the apparent flatness of the game you see today did not exist in a child's mind in that era; we seamlessly filled the gaps with our imaginations, which made for a very full world with deep lore.
Im telling you, what modern folk think this game lacks today did not exist back then - this game was perfect. It sucked you into its fantasy world.
Damn you are so right! I agree! Great video 3:12
Cracks on the bombable walls is heresy.
Not really a puzzle or secret at that point, is it?
Yea idk why they didnt just make the caves and bushes open entrances at that point
That’s how I felt when LttP came out. I was like whaaaaa? It’s not even a secret anymore! Dungeon locations on the in game map????
Still, ALttP is my fave Zelda so those things didn’t hurt my opinion much.
they’re probably easy to miss if you’re not looking for them
@@younglink309But if it's completely random with no map or NPC to help you out, those secrets quickly become tidious.
You forgot about the Second quest. You can always do a blind save stateless run of it if you want to experience the game with zero assistance
I had a detailed map of the first quest and my mom taught me how to bomb walls. But i did the entire 2nd quest with no guide, took me a full month of summer break
It's become my favorite Zelda game over the last year or so
It doesn't take too much to love this game for what it offers. Although it's harder than it looks. It's all about timing.
My nieces favorite Nintendo NES games are the first and second Legend of Zelda games they both stole my 3rd and 6th copy of each aka the last ones I owned glad they loved the games and they also loved watching the Robin Williams advertisements for Zelda with me
this shit blew me away when i was little
I have tried my best to never use the sword back in the day but usually when I get to bosses I end up using the sword
The Zelda games have gone through development when it comes to mechanics. But it has also fallen into tropes where the older games, although cruder, have a sense of freedom and exploration.
“No save states” makes the game authentic? You are aware you can save at any time using the second NES controller, right?
Zelda I is pretty alright, but it's really Zelda II where the series starts to take on its identify. Unfortunately this then peaked at Faces of Evil, and the series has been steadily losing its identity ever since. Hopefully Nintendo realise that the underground segments in Links Awakening have yet to be topped, and will eventually give us a true series return to form in a 2d sidescroller.
I'm glad you are respecting The Legend of Zelda.
I am one of those kids who grew up with Zelda in the 80s. It's very nice to see you showing respect for the game. But I can tell that you don't entirely get it. That's understandable, it's an extremely hard thing to explain the magic of The Legend of Zelda, and I can see that you might just have had to be there when it was brand new. The magic isn't from nostalgia. I can imagine that someone your age could actually come to understand this game, but it wouldn't be easy. I see that you are trying to understand what it would have been like when the mysteries were brand new- that's the right attitude.
I play this game a lot, to this day, and every year I learn major things about the game that I never knew. There are still secrets to the game that I know exist, but I don't have my head fully around. The point is, this game is far more deep than you probably realize. Nintendo saw to that. The Legend of Zelda is not an easy game to get good at. It takes years and years, and it actually only gets more and more fun. It's unbelievable terrific in that way. The gift that keeps on giving. Endlessly challenging. Passing it and killing Ganon for the first time is just the beginning. I, myself, am not actually all that nostalgic about The Legend of Zelda- I just simply never stopped playing it- a person doesn't tend to feel nostalgic about a game that he never left in the first place.
There has never once been a time that I liked another Zelda game more than this one. Other than Zelda II, there has never once been a truly worthy successor.
Yeah it is totally cool that you use guides and stuff to play through it. We had the Official Nintendo Players Guide when we were kids, and I know that is part of the fun of the game. The game is meant to be played with paper and guides. You were right, it is fun to have maps, like a treasure hunt.
But, it should be played on a real NES, on a real CRT, with a real cartridge, from a real Zelda box, with a real manual and a real map. None of that is cheap, but it is worth it. I own 15 complete in boxed copies of this game because I love it so much. I didn't like the look of that Zelda Redux at all. I would suggest against that. Though if you play Zelda II ever, you should play "Zelda II: Link is Adventuresome", which is absolutely the new definitive way to play Zelda II- it is just that good.
Anyway, thank you for being respectful of The Legend of Zelda. Please continue to try to understand it better. And please be patient with it. The game is actually perfect. The flaws that you mention are not actual flaws- The Legend of Zelda is simply flawless. And continue to try to imagine what it was like to play it back in the day. We had just barely been playing Atari 2600 and Atari 5200 games- and they sucked ass, and at least I recognized Atari for the crap it was. Try to imagine what it would have been like to have The Legend of Zelda just a couple of years after Atari had been our only option. Try to imagine what that instruction manual was like for us, when so much heart and story and lore had been put into it. Try to imagine what it was like to have Nintendo Power, when it first came out. I think it is possible that you could truly understand what Zelda was like for us. We loved it with all of our hearts. And I still do.
Hyrule is an incredible land. No other game, not even Zelda II or Zelda III, captured Hyrule properly again- not even close. Try to understand, The Legend of Zelda is not part of an extensive series the way that you think. The Legend of Zelda series is Zelda 1, 2 and 3, and that's it. Ocarina of Time started a completely different series that does not share the same DNA with The Legend of Zelda whatsoever, it only has the name.
One of the things I always wished for as a kid was a 16 bit update ala Super Mario All Stars for Zelda 1&2 and the Oracle games on the SNES. It would have sold well and allowed people that refused to deal with the Game Boy to play the oracle games.
I think that the original is just fine, if you take the game how it is, but obviously that requires a lot of patience! I'd say that I agree that the SNES version obsoletes the original NES version, though I'd say that you can remove the lag and sprite limit in MESEN!
i love this game. This game was hard.
I have a lot of reapect for the first two Zelda games. They both are some of greatest NES games ever made. With that said both games are too cryptic and I wouldn't enjoy either of them like I can now without a guide.
What is the game you are claiming is its spiritual successor?????? You can't blue ball us like this man
As good as zelda 1 is. It still aged poorly
But it still aged lightyears better than most NES games
I like Zelda 1 but I feel like the game drops off a bit at around level 6 or so. I've always thought Zelda II holds up a lot better in comparison
Loving Zelda 1 doesn't take "learning"; the game either is your thing or it isn't.
I played the original on original hardware and I was a very young kid when I beat the game. Sure, it is convenient to have all the maps and secrets and extra money and all the new quality of life stuff that new LoZ games have, but honestly, all of the stuff that you patched out is really all the stuff that I miss from new Zelda games. I'm glad you're having fun, but at the same time, it is still fun playing it like how it originally was made.
Only thing completely unacceptable is save states.
The feeling of disgust I felt hearing “I first played this game on the NES Classic.”
I was 6 when this came out. Yes, you’re right, it was a magical and engrossing experience back then. It’s perfect as is. No remake.
The original is the way to go ... that how it was made ... lol
You need the manual for tjis game if you didn't grow up with it
The idea of playing games like SOME kids did back then is interesting, but the truth is not every kid had nothing. There were the game manuals, players guides, Nintendo Power and the tip hotline. You would learn things from friends. If you figured those old games out all by yourself, then awesome, but I didn’t. And it was still fun.
I mean there are people who think you should only play on original hardware on a CRT, which is cool if you want that, but I could care less. I like sharp pixels and no scanlines. I like not having to get my NES out to struggle with a cartridge that won’t start. It was a pain back in the day, and it still is.
I can’t fault people for having their own preferences, but I’m not a fan of telling other people how to enjoy something. Recommendations are nice, but I shouldn’t have to follow them. I have my own preferences, and I have thoughts on the best way to experience certain games, but it’s only a suggestion.
I wrote this comment right before you mentioned the players guides and whatnot lol. But yeah, I feel you.
Beat this game with no guide when I was like 10. That being said, I only had 3 or 4 games for the NES. So spending hours figuring shit out wasn’t a big deal. Play games how you want. As long as you’re having fun.
Hello Mr.Welbig659 my name is Isaiah and I have something important to say to you. God loves you and like any father he wants to help you and keep you safe especially from the devil. But I am not just speaking to you about this I am also talking to your fans about this. God loves you all and especially in the times we our living in we are in need of him more than ever. But the choice is ultimately yours have a nice day Shalom Shalom. Happy early Easter.
For this specific game. You don't really need outside help. This game is all about exploring, and that is where half the fun comes from. If you are getting your hand held. It kills all the fun of the original zelda.
"Modern gamers" suck
Imagine using emulator to save scum the Legend of Zelda. Ew.
"People say you should play it without any outside influence. It isn't sensible to ask that of a modern gamer." So basically you're saying a modern gamer has 75 IQ.
Get a pdf of the original manual that came with the game. Get a pencil and paper and go to town.
If you can’t play on a crt then you shouldn’t play at all
Congratulations you won the award of the stupidest thing I have heard in my life you should be proud I've heard really dumb things before
As someone who literally played this on a crt in the early-to-mid '90s, this is still one of the most pretentious comments I've ever seen. You might as well tell people they shouldn't even try playing Doom unless they install it from original floppies on a 486DX with period-accurate mouse, keyboard and monitor. Seriously, this is right up there with gatekeepy bullshit like "If you don't use Gentoo [and/or Arch] you shouldn't be using Linux at all."
@@heinrichagrippa5681 but the first thing people do is complain about how bad it looks when they don’t even realize it’s thier own fault for not displaying it correctly in the right screen
@@trapez77 If you think the kind of people who immediately complain that an 8-bit NES game from 1986 looks "bad" would be blown away by the intricate intended pixel-blending when played on a crt, you're delusional.
@@heinrichagrippa5681 if they appreciate art they will be. Do you think anyone would be impressed by the mona Lisa or persistence of memory if they could only see a blurry mess of the picture
One of the great aspects of this game is that us 80s kids were just getting out of the single screen video games from Atari, Colecovision and intellivision. So being able to explore the world with various weapons and have multiple ways of killing enemies (sword, bomb, candle, wand, bow) even if it wasn’t progressive to beat the game was fun. We’d spend hours at slumber parties taking turns trying to burn every tree to see if it held a secret. It’s unfortunate modern gamers can’t replicate those aspects but you did a really great job getting as close.