The Legend of Zelda (video game)

The Legend of Zelda
Developer	Nintendo R&D4
Publisher	Nintendo
Platforms	FDS, Game & Watch, GameCube, GBA, 3DS, NES, NES Classic Edition, Wii, Wii U
Released	Famicom Disk System Japan: February 21, 1986 Nintendo Entertainment System North America: July 1987 GameCube NA (Animal Crossing): December 14, 2001 NA (Collector's Edition): November 17, 2003 Game Boy Advance (Classic NES Series) JP: February 14, 2004 NA: June 7, 2004 AU/Oceania: July 9, 2004 Wii JP (Virtual Console): December 2, 2006 Nintendo 3DS JP (Virtual Console): December 22, 2011 Wii U JP (Virtual Console): August 28, 2013 NES Classic Edition NA: November 10, 2016 Nintendo Switch WW (Nintendo Switch Online): October 10, 2018 Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda WW: November 12, 2021
Added to Museum	GameCube (Animal Crossing): January 20, 2003 GameCube (Collector's Edition): December 25, 2003 NES Classic Edition: June 22, 2017 Famicom Mini: August 10, 2017 G&W: The Legend of Zelda: November 29, 2021

The Legend of Zelda (The Hyrule Fantasy ゼルダの伝説, Hyrule Fantasy: Zelda no Densetsu, "Hyrule Fantasy: The Legend of Zelda") was first released for the Family Computer Disk System by Nintendo in 1986.

It started one of Nintendo's most popular series, The Legend of Zelda series. As such, it was brought to most of Nintendo's subsequent systems, either as ports or through emulation.

Story

Zelda, the Princess of the Kingdom of Hyrule, heard that an army was coming to steal the Triforce of Wisdom, so she broke it into eight pieces and scattered them throughout Hyrule to keep its power from the army's leader, Ganon.

Ganon kidnapped Princess Zelda, however, a young man named Link learned what had happened from Zelda's maid, Impa, and set out to restore the Triforce of Wisdom and to rescue Zelda.

Development

The Legend of Zelda was directed and designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. Miyamoto produced the game and Tezuka wrote the story and script.

Versions of the game

As one of Nintendo's most popular titles, The Legend of Zelda has been brought to many different systems, both through traditional game ports and through emulation.

It was first released for the Family Computer Disk System in 1986. It then was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987. Next, it was released on cartridge for the Family Computer in 1994 as Hyrule Fantasy: The Legend of Zelda 1 (The Hyrule Fantasy ゼルダの伝説 1, Hyrule Fantasy: Zelda no Densetsu 1, "Hyrule Fantasy: The Legend of Zelda 1").

The Legend of Zelda was included as an unlockable item in the 2002 GameCube game, Animal Crossing. It can be unlocked in all regions with a code entered using an Action Replay device.

The game was then released on the GameCube in 2003 as part of The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition and was ported to the Game Boy Advance as part of the Classic NES Series in 2004. An emulated version of the NES version was released for the Virtual Console on Wii in 2006. It was released on the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console in 2011, and on the Wii U Virtual Console in 2013.

The Legend of Zelda was also included as one of the 30 games in the NES Classic Edition miniature video game console, that emulated NES games and resembled a miniature NES, in 2016.

It was included in 2018 as part of the NES games for the Nintendo Switch Online service. A version of the NES game with several powerups enabled from the beginning, released as The Legend of Zelda: Living the Life of Luxury!, was also included as part of the NES games for the Nintendo Switch Online service.

The NES version was included in Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda, which was released worldwide in 2021.