Beating my head against the wall and falling into a deep depression about not seeing this sooner. Before there were game FAQS or walk-throughs available online, I once spent seven years on Zelda: A Link To The Past before I finished it (though whether or not you can ever really ‘finish’ Zelda is an entirely separate – and slightly spiritual – question). I also believe that three of those years were spent in one castle. Personally, I think this should warrant a free ticket but Nintendo seem to disagree. 10 minute review (taken from the Wii version from the looks of it) below.
The upshot of all this is that I get deeply nostalgic whenever The Legend Of Zelda Theme comes on my iPod. For the Nintendo generation (gamers playing between 1990 – 2000) Zelda was the ultimate mainstay, and has managed to avoid falling into gimmicky traps as too many of its contemporaries have. It was also the ultimate bridge between younger players and the more experienced, offering free walking worlds to be followed in your own time and a perfect balance of adult strategy and childlike animation. And although Final Fantasy fans will disagree, I think the Zelda series has undoubtedly given us the best musical score for any game series ever.
I should probably take this opportunity to also point out that the animated series which spun-off the game was amazing. It only lasted one season as far as I know, but it was quality on it’s own as well as tied into the franchise.
To celebrate 25 years of Zelda, Nintendo have sent us a 70 piece orchestra and a choir to play a one-off European date tomorrow night at Hammersmith Apollo. This is going to be an incredible event, and hopefully will spawn a CD that will be available to us few who don’t play anything past a Gamecube (ie please don’t just make it a bonus disc on the new game!). If anyone wants to send through a review, share some photos or even give me a ticket feel free to get in touch.
via HMV Apollo
Nintendo is celebrating the 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda video game series in style by hosting a unique symphony concert in London. The Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Symphony Concert Tour will stop off in London for a one-off European date, playing music from the iconic series. The European concert will be held on 25th October 2011 at the HMV Hammersmith Apollo in London, and will include songs hand-picked by Nintendo composer Koji Kondo and his team.
A 70-piece orchestra will be joined by a choir to perform new arrangements of a variety of songs from the series’ 25-year history. The concerts will be produced by Jason Michael Paul Productions, Inc, the producers of PLAY! A Video Game Symphony, which has toured the world performing music from video games.
In celebration of 25 years of The Legend of Zelda series Nintendo recently released The Legend of Zelda™: Ocarina of Time 3D for Nintendo 3DS™ which is a completely remastered version of the classic title. The game now incorporates 3D graphics, as well as a brand new control scheme which utilises the functionalities of Nintendo 3DS. Zelda fans should also look out for The Legend of Zelda™: Skyward Sword available on Wii™ later this year which makes full use of the Wii Remote™ Plus controller to guide Link on his quest to rescue Princess Zelda. Additional 25th anniversary activities will be announced throughout 2011.
There’s been some epic fan art coming off of the 25 year anniversary. And although this is a little more intense than I normally like my Nintendo memories (which is in 8-bit), the below poster is quite stunning. I can’t find the originator, but it’s all 25 years drawn in to a single image. Really nice.
There’s a load out there, but also worth mentioning is this one, which was the collaboration of over 100 artists, and a bit more how I remember it.
