The Legend of Zelda. Truly the name of this game is completely legendary all on its own. One of Nintendo's best franchises and one of gaming histories most memorable. From the NES original to the upcoming Twilight Princess, Zelda has captured each of our hearts and put it right into a bottle in Link's inventory.

What probably started as an honest adventure game for the Nintendo Entertainment System back in the day sure turned heads and numbed thumbs all across the world. It was fun, it was puzzling, but most of all, it was spectacular. With swrd-slashing and puzzle-solving, the original Legend of Zelda was easily one of the most popular NES games.

Then came Zelda II. In my book, this is my least favorite Zelda game, not to say I thought it was a bad game. (Perhaps I have grown too used to the thought that Link can not jump by your own free will unless you are pummelling a Pikachu in Smash Bros.). This game was much diffeent than its original, but still stayed true to the Zelda name. It is also one of the few direct sequels of the franchise.

Moving forward a little into the era of the Super Nintendo came one of the most inspiring games to date: Zelda A Link to the Past. Controls were superb, level designs were beyond imagination and the items were magically awesome. If you didn't like the series before this one, you definately loved it now. Link to the Past was much more than just that game you decided one day to rent from Blockbuster because you were bored, it was a breath-taking experience that captivated your mind and tricked it into believing that the magical world of Zelda depended on every presice movement. One wrong slip of your sweaty palm and the world could fall into peril. Now you can't let that happen, can you?

Now, let's skip some more years and some other Zelda games (they are all great, by the way) so we can get to the true gem of the series: Ocarina of Time. Oh, Ocarina of Time... what can I possibly say about this game? How about 'wow' or 'perfect' but I think the best way to even describe this game is by saying 'the reason we even play games to begin with.' This game rattled the very existance of your being. It was so powerful and beautiful that the then perfect #d models just leapt off of the screen. Your face lit up every time you saw that large waterfall or engaged in a battle with a nearby Like-Like. The design was flawless, the sound was memorable, the graphics were stunning and the story was extremely entertaining. Just saying entertaining isn't quite enough to explain how you felt watching this story unfold. You were like a 4 year old waiting for his bed-time story every time you played this game. Definately number 1 game in my book.

Majora's Mask was the next game in the series and it was a great one by any means. Did it make Ocarina of Time look like a fool compared to it? No.. OoT made every other game look like a fool. But though MM didn't quite capture the true essence of Ocarina fully, it did bring about some of the coolest looking characters in the series. All of Link's transformations were great. Zora Link was awesome looking and Feirce Diety was spectacular. And this game wasn't easy either... if you really wanted to get the final mask, you had to go through some hard challenges. But to me the hardest part was the fish.. I hated that fish so much....

Onto the GameCube. Though half of the GC Zelda titles are remakes of the classic ones, there are currently two available that aren't: Wind Waker and Four Swords. Wind Waker had the best graphics ever seen on the console thus far. Four Swords had the graphics of a GBA game. WW had intuitive controls and fascinating boss fights. FS had four Links running around in formations that make the Piwer Rangers look silly. But they both were very good games. WW is more than good, it is superb. But, sadly, both of these games were not given quite the recognition they rightly deserved. WW was said to be a disgrace because it looked like a cartoon. But any hardcore Zelda fan will tell you that graphics don't make the game and that the graphics rock because it captured the world of a young boy and was the most you will ever come to playing a fully animated cartoon. FS was disregarded because it looked like a GBA game.. but not too much was said about this game anyway.

And now we are waiting for Twilight Princess. Will it live up to the Zelda name? Or will it become a disgrace to the series? Who knows, but soon enough I hope to bring you more articles regarding Twilight Princess and Zelda in general.

-ControlFreak0