Argument
It always strikes me as absurd how much Zelda fans seem to forget the original classic. Of course, these days, it's difficult to remember the Nintendo. More and more, fans are being raised on the console wars of the year 2000 and the glory of the Famicon fades.
That, essentially, is why I am writing this.
I am a fan of the series, always have been, but the original still holds weight in my heart. The illinearity, perhaps? For the only time in the series, the Nintendo classic presents you with a world completely open for exploration. You are neither given a list of things to do or places to go, nor are given any hint of where you should head next. The underworlds were hidden away and you did not quest for them, you stumbled over them – so that you might complete Level 1, and then Level 2, but then run into Level 5 or 6 long before being equipped for either. There was a map present with the instruction guide, of course, but for those who just got a random copy that was for naught. There was no Internet, either.
I remember drawing my own freaking map. I remember arguing with friends – because back then, the Nintendo was fucking huge, and at school recess if anyone had found the legendarily hidden Level 9 they had stories to tell – about the location of items, et cetera.
It'll be hard for kids these days – with their Internet and fluffy spoon-to-mouth strategy guides, to play the 8-bit Legend of Zelda and be really immersed in the experience. But young and with an absence of powerful technology the bits and bytes and textures of Hyrule became a sprawling fantasy universe. The dungeons, with their solemn funeral dirge-ambiance, were horrifying – and being set upon by any kind of new enemy sprite was just as nerve-fraying as running from the zombies in Resident Evil 4.Especially with your feeble life expectancy.
This also presents, as I've stated before, an opportunity of waiting creativity. With only a limited outline to march out on, the plot of the game was as expected of NES games, pretty limited. For one, who are those random old people? Why are there no towns, why are you even there? The idea of re-envisioning this game, through literature, has been nagging at me for a long while. I've looked at the maps, I've read some of the older plot summaries, and more importantly I've completely ignored the hordes of timeline theories which defy the very purpose of the series as a whole.
As a preliminary disclaimer? All you hardcore fans turn off your compendium of knowledge. It doesn't apply.
This novelisation is really just as realistic a fantasy portrayal I can make of the game-series. Above all else, it's for fun. Ever notice how your rupees are depleted every time you fire an arrow? Ever wonder if that's because Link is using sharpened rupees as arrowheads? That's the kind of Hyrule I'm imagining – the barbaric, southern continent, uninhabited where the northern continent holds the castle and cities of the kingdom. Just like before, when I was kid, I read Jeff Rovin's How To Win At Nintendo Games, a novel about getting high scores but vividly describing games like LoZ through words without visual aid. I suppose inherently that would be the guiding principle behind this.
So, enjoy: enjoy a realistic portrayal of geography, of the bestiary, of the items, the faeries, the drama and the story behind The Legend of Zelda (NES). Let's hope I keep it going, eh?