The first Zelda I ever played was "The Legend of Zelda" on the NES and it remains my favorite Zelda game ever.
Do I think it is the "best" Zelda game? Probably not. A Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time were simply amazing for their generations. I haven't played many of the handheld Zelda other than Link's Awakening.
Something about the original just stands apart from the rest. I think the reason why I like it so much is because it was designed to allow you to do the work. There were some vague clues given by some people in the game but nothing specific. You simply got plopped into this world and knew that you had to save Zelda but that was it. Where was she? How do you get there? How to do you that heart container on the platform in the water? Wander around and see what you find. All the hidden rooms in the rocks and trees and no one but friends to tell you where they are.
All the new Zelda games are all about talking to someone who tells you where to go and what you need to do. They are so linear now and seem to have lost the wonder and adventure aspect that made Zelda great. Twilight Princess did intrigue me a bit with the caves that you would find. You didn't need them but could explore them if you wanted. You might find something, you might not.
I wish, with all my heart, that they would make a top-down Zelda game resembling the original or A Link to the Past and that it would remove the RPG elements so prevalent today and go back to action adventure that makes you do the work and the exploring. I want to get put into a game and not know where to go first and have no one tell me where I am going next.
You didn't need to finish each level in the original Zelda to go to the next level. Sometimes you didn't even need the items from previous levels to play or finish later levels. I miss that. I want to be put into Hyrule and go. Don't tell me or lead me to the levels. Let me find them. Let me find the hidden items, rupees, hearts, etc.
I remember when I first saw the original Zelda. I just sat in awe. Watching the older kids playing it trying to figure out where they were going and what they were supposed to do next. Just exploring until they stumbled across something and had to work through it. It was true adventure. Not guided story telling.
I will probably be waiting forever for the game I want. I'll probably die before getting it to. =/
P.S. Stop giving me so many rupees. Who cares how much things cost when rupees are handed out like candy.
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