the legend of zelda

1. Video game released in the United States in 1986 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Developed by Shigeru Miyamoto. The player assumed the role of the young hero, Link, in his quest to reassemble the shattered Triforce of Wisdom, defeat the evil Ganon, and rescue Zelda, Princess of Hyrule. In the course of this adventure, the player had to combat foes, explore dungeons, acquire items, and solve rudimentary puzzles. Highly acclaimed at the time because of it's huge overworld and the unprecedented degree of freedom it allowed, the game nonetheless had numerous flaws and shortcomings: the story was... derivative, to say the least; combat was tricky, mostly because Link didn't move very smoothly; the "puzzles" generally amounted to "bomb walls/burn plants/push blocks/kill enemies"; the dungeons started to get very monotonous around the third palette swap, ect... These, and other problems would plague the Zelda series throughout its life, steadily becoming more manifest in sequels, as the series lapsed into decadence. 2. The series of action/adventure games produced by Shigeru Miyamoto, and published exclusively by Nintendo. Apart from the original (a genuinely visionary effort in its time), and Ocarina of Time, these games are characterized by unremarkable combat, insipid puzzles, and poorly-designed overworlds. 3. The Legend of Zelda: a Link to the Past. The third incarnation of the Zelda series, released in 1992 on the Super NES, can best be described as the point when the Zelda franchise, Shigeru Miyamoto, and Nintendo itself all jumped the shark simultaneously.