46 Legendary ‘The Legend of Zelda’ T-Shirts

The Legend of Zelda video game series is, at least at a glance, fairly simple. The player controls a hero character (Link) on his quest to recover a magical item (the Triforce) to rescue a princess (the titular Zelda). If it was all so simple, though, the series would have been just another forgettable exercise on the NES. Instead, the game used this remarkably common framework to create one of the best-known and best-loved video game franchises of all time.

The series started with The Legend of Zelda, a fairly basic isometric game that brought about a few major changes to the console market. The battery-save system allowed players to stretch their sessions across multiple systems, and the inventory and health system were incredibly complex for the time. Players would solve basic puzzles and fight bosses who had repeating patterns, creating a genre of its own. The original game was followed quickly by Link’s Adventure, an otherwise forgettable side-scrolling game that introduced a few basic RPG elements to the genre.

From Link’s Adventure eventually came Link’s Awakening, the SNES game that began the process of making the series’ continuity virtually inaccessible. This game took place before the Legend of Zelda, incorporating new tools, a higher level of storytelling and harder puzzles. Widely considered one of the best video games ever made, Link’s Awakening firmly placed the series on the same echelon as Super Mario Bros. or Sonic the Hedgehog.

The next series entry would prove to the most popular of the bunch, redefining gameplay on game consoles for years to come. Ocarina of Time’s strong story made use of the same characters, but turned the atmosphere darker while demanding more of the characters. This began the split between the games’ timeframes, and also created an era of unbridled creativity in the Zelda games.

Along one path came Majora’s Mask and Twilight Princess, direct successors to Ocarina of Time. Using much the same game systems, these games gave players who were fans of puzzle-solving and open-world adventure a chance to explore. Along another came Wind Waker, a cell-shaded game that featured a higher level of difficulty and a more in-depth exploration of the series’ core themes and continuity. Along the way were several handheld games, each part of one path of continuity or another.

The most recent game (as of the time of this writing) is the Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for the Nintendo Wii. Like Wind Waker, this game actually acknowledged the continuity of the series. In fact, Skyward Sword is canonically the first game in the series’ continuity, explaining the links between Zelda, Link, Ganon and the Tri-Force.

The series continues to endure for two great reasons. First, and possibly most importantly, its story is always complex enough to entertain but simple enough for players of all ages to understand. Whether you are a child or an adult, you can understand The Legend of Zelda. Coupled with the fact that these games always seek to innovate, even if it is a small way, players always have something new to find in the series. This is the rare series that does not simply produce new iterations, but seeks to grow with each entry. In short, The Legend of Zelda is really a legendary series of titles.