Ah nostalgia... One of my favorite childhood games!

Not the best in the series imo, but still a great game

I think it is one of those games that had to be played when it came out.  When I play it now, most of my enjoyment comes from nostalgia.  It certainly is a great game, but games have evolved since this came out and it is pretty dated...

hmm..

for its time this game is a 10/10 so I expected a higher score from you.

I replayed the game when it was released on the Wii Virtual Console and I've gotta admit that without a walkthrough to find all the dungeons I found myself wandering aimlessly very often. Also, it's a really hard game, enemies take away a lot of hearts in later dungeons. It's still very enjoyable (with a map of the dungeon locations).

I used to hate this game when I was a kid! When I grew up I decided to give the game a shot in the "manly" way (no walkthrough). I was surprised but I enjoyed the game a lot (even when I had no idea of what to do) and it's one of my favourite Zelda games now!

it's about how well the game still holds up today

Apparently not:

The graphics are good for an NES game

Graphics: Decent.

I'm no fan of hand-holding but the other extreme isn't better. I don't want to be told what to do but I want the tools to figure it out by myself.

And just keep in mind that if you played it when it first came out, there was no walkthrough...unless you subscribed to Nintendo Power and/or bought the game guides. The game could take months if you were young, internet-less, and stuck.

My cousin and I often wrote letters to Nintendo asking for hints.  And they replied! I don't think they had an official hint department. We just wrote letters to the address on the back of the booklet. I remember specifically asking them how to kill Gohma.  And we once asked for a map of the Second Quest overworld. And they delivered!  I wonder if my cousin still has any of that stuff...

I liked this one and Zelda 2 but with a walkthrough.