What was your first Zelda?

[FightGanonFight]

So, here's a topic that I think everyone can get into, and one I'm almost surprised that our new joinees haven't created yet.
So tell us, come and share your stories.

Over the last 29 years the Zelda series has had a lot of entires and starting points for fans to come into and enjoy the games.
What was your first Zelda, and was it that Zelda that got you into the franchise? Why? Why not?

For me, my first Zelda, and the one that is constantly going toe to toe for my favourite alongside Majora's Mask, is A Link to the Past.
I never owned the game, but I remember playing it at a friend's house and just being enthralled at how bright it was, how catchy the music was, the (very) limited voice acting, not knowing where to go in that first thunderstorm.
Having to borrow it and find my way through, learning the secret passage way into the castle and getting to that first Boss and then the Sanctuary, it was all ingrained in my mind from about 7 years old.

I never even owned a copy of A Link To The Past until a friend got me the GBA version years later which I played through on my original DS and then later the Wii and Wii U Virtual Console versions. To me the game is still very foreboding and sinister, and there's a certain emotional feel to the game that later Zelda's haven't quite been able to rekindle.

Ok, your turn!

 

[chai pudding]

My first real brush with Zelda was Twilight Princess. My brother always told me about playing Zelda I and II when he was younger and I had always been intrigued. Unfortunately, I didn't own any game system that would allow me to play the good old classics.

Then a few years down the road my sister started to play Super Smash Bros Brawl quite frequently, and sometimes I'd join in. I was always attracted to the TP characters, simply because their design was magnificent. --I hardly ever played as Zelda, but one day I decided to have a go at it. I thought she was kind of dull, but then I hit a button--the button. Shiek? Who was Shiek? Well I soon found out Shiek was a badass and I became almost invincible.--

Anyway, my sister eventually found out about TP and I looked into it some more and eventually got it. The amount of time I spent playing it was embarrassing. Not only was I initially so horrible at killing anything that I would die AT LEAST three times in a ten minute span, but I got distracted so easily. The amount of fish that I caught would solve the world's hunger problem.

I eventually finished it, and I moved on to OoT. But, TP will always have a special meaning for me. I loved the puzzles and the story and the art and I loved the way that it challenged the way I worked things out.

I play through it often now, and I think what makes this game one of my favorites was the memories that were formed playing it. Pulling all nighters with my sister as we slowly made our way through the 9th ring of hell (the water dungeon) only to be confronted by a easy boss, the time when I had made huge amounts of progress and the power shut off, forcing me into a slight depression. It was great! ^^

next up?  

[Mistress Yubelle Amoria]

Oh ho ho ho.
I was introduced to the series through Ocarina of Time. My neighbor had the game, and this of course caught my eye for being far superior to anything I had seen before it in any sort of game. Nintendo's leap into the 3D space I feel really revolutionised what was thought possible for the time and the impact it has had on the game's industry going forward is unsurpassed.

With Ocarina, I suppose you could say that I was entranced.
Entranced by the music (original Fire Temple music FTW), the go anywhere and get lost non-linear game play, the graphics, which were amazing for 1998. Everything just came together stupendously.
I rented it from the video store every weekend, and since that store only had one copy, I had to keep restarting again and again as some other children would delete my file and my progress. It was a magical time.

Ocarina of Time is not my favourite game, but it is the game I have the most respect for and brought me into the Zelda fold.
And without that game, I would not be here today, my pretties, nor would I have met my wife. So thank you, Ocarina of Time.  

[Malu CLBS]

In my early years, all I knew about Zelda was that it had a cartoon show that transmitted on Fridays instead of the Mario Bros. cartoon, which I loved watching. The Zelda cartoon I did not watch because I thought it was boring (yeah, I know...). One of those days I thought of maybe renting the NES game, but my sister reminded me how much we hated the cartoon, so I didn't.

I had seen images from aLttP and LA in magazines but when it really caught my attention was when I saw images on 3D. It looked so good I thought I should give it a try. Man, was I blown away. So, as you might guess, my first Zelda was Ocarina of Time. And it remains up to now, my favorite Zelda game. Although, to be fair, Majora's Mask is also my favorite game. I can never decide which one I like the most, so I just pair them together as my favorite Zelda game, and I can get away with it because they both star the same Link. Anyway, I played the games I had missed before I became a fan and have played all the games that came after OoT.

I still haven't watched the Zelda cartoon, though. razz  

[Thak]

I was such a youngin! I used to watch my brother play his games, and one day he let me start a new game on Link to the Past on ye old SNES.
I don't even remember if I was able to read the text at that age.

 

[Angelically Scarred]

When I was a toddler, my father would give me the spare nintendo 64 controller and I always believed that I was the one controlling Link. I grew up "playing" OoT and as soon as I learned to read, I fell even more in love with it. I've always enjoyed re-starting this game and it took me more than a decade to actually sit down and finish it because of that(plus dumb corrupted save files, ty gamecube and nintendo 64. I actually beat it on the wii lol). I've played every single Zelda game that has come out after OoT (but I have not completed them all) and have even gone back to play some of the older ones. I have to admit that I don't like them as much as I do the newer ones, but that's just me.  

[CosmicLink]

Twilight Princess.
For the longest time I would look at it on youtube, and see all my friends talking about how amazing the game was and how cool the atmosphere was. Ever since I first found out about Zelda, I was super interested in Link- there was something about him that was really appealing and drew me towards the game. He eminated this air of heroism and individuality that was really cool...
So years pass. around 8 to be exact. I FINALLY get the Wii-U and i've kinda forgotten about my Zelda interest for a while, when my brother comes home one day with Hyrule Warriors. This may have been the first "Zelda" i've played, but it wasn't the one that really grabbed me. Playing it got me really interested in the other games and I planned on buying them myself when a close friend of mine just up and handed me TP one day, saying "you deserve it". I laughed it off, but after playing it...wow. The scene where Colon is injured and talks to link about what it means to be a hero made me wanna cry. For a game I never played until a recently, it sent a wave of nostalgia I have rarely felt. Setting sun and auburn skies floated by as I played through. But yeah. That game definitely is the one I hold most dear. But in all technicality Hyrule Warriors was the first I played.  

[Kupomo]

My first console was a Gameboy,so Link's Awkening.  

[fairy-phoenix]

I can't really remember if it was The Legend of Zelda for the NES or it was Zelda II: The Adventure of Link for the NES.