Legend of Zelda Informations

The Legend of Zelda? is a high fantasy action-adventure video game series created by Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka and developed and published by Nintendo with some portable installments such as The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap developed by Flagship/Capcom. The gameplay consists of a mixture of action, adventure, puzzle solving, and role-playing. The series centers on Link, the main playable character and protagonist. Link is often given the task of rescuing Princess Zelda and the most common setting of the series, Hyrule, from Ganondorf, also known as Ganon who is the primary antagonist of the series. However, other settings and antagonists have appeared throughout the games, with Vaati having recently become the series' secondary antagonist. The story commonly involves a relic known as the Triforce, a set of three golden triangles of omnipotence. The protagonist in each game is usually not the same incarnation of Link, but a few exceptions do exist.

The Legend of Zelda series has sold over 57 million copies since the release of the first game, The Legend of Zelda, and continues to be successful worldwide. The series consists of 15 official games on all of Nintendo's major consoles, as well as several spin-offs. An American animated series based on the games aired in 1989, and individual manga adaptions which are officially endorsed and commissioned by Nintendo have been produced in Japan since 1997.

Gameplay

The Legend of Zelda games feature a mixture of puzzles, action, adventure/battle gameplay, and exploration. These elements have remained constant throughout the series, but with refinements and additions featured in each new game. The player is frequently rewarded for solving puzzles or exploring areas. Most Zelda games involve locating and exploring dungeons, in which puzzles are solved and enemies fought, then defeating the dungeon's boss. Each dungeon usually has one major item inside, which is usually essential for solving many of the puzzles in that dungeon and often plays a crucial role in defeating that dungeon's boss. Some items are consistent and appear many times throughout the series, while others are unique to a single game. The series also consists of stealth gameplay, where the player must avoid enemies while proceeding through a level, as well as racing elements. Small clone games of Legend of Zelda can be found on softendo games site on www.softendo.com

Chronology

Although the chronology of the Legend of Zelda series is a subject of controversy by its fans due to the fact that there are no solid confirmations from Nintendo, it is generally agreed upon that The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past precedes The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, the first two games released in the series. Ocarina of Time is also a prequel, going even further back and implicitly retelling the backstory of A Link to the Past. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask has been cited by Nintendo as the direct sequel to Ocarina of Time. The Wind Waker takes place a hundred years after the events of Ocarina of Time, in a parallel timestream. The game explicitly references the "Hero of Time" from that game, and states that, due to his absence, it was necessary to flood Hyrule to stop Ganon. The Minish Cap, Four Swords and Four Swords Adventures include references to other titles and producer Eiji Aonuma have stated that these games are supposed to be the oldest games in the series, preceding Ocarina of Time.

In an interview conducted by Nintendo Dream with Aonuma in December 2006, it was revealed that there are two parallel universes in the Zelda chronology. The timeline is split at the end of Ocarina of Time, when Link is sent back in time by Princess Zelda to live through his childhood, while the original events of Ocarina of Time continue on a different path. Once returned to his original time, Link leaves the Master Sword in its place, preventing Ganondorf's plan from coming to fruition, and goes to see Zelda again, resulting in the "Child Timeline". The Wind Waker occurs in the "Adult Timeline", after the Hero of Time saved Hyrule in Ocarina of Time, and it is directly followed by Phantom Hourglass. Spirit Tracks takes place one hundred years after Phantom Hourglass. Just visit Softendo to see small games.

Some have speculated that each Zelda title is simply a retelling of the Zelda legend, and that differences between settings and characters aren't progressions in a timeline but merely different retellings. They typically cite a quote at the beginning of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker: "This is but one of the legends of which the people speak."

Inspiration

The Legend of Zelda was principally inspired by Shigeru Miyamoto's explorations as a young boy in the hillsides surrounding his childhood home in Kyoto, Japan where he ventured into forests with secluded lakes, caves, and rural villages. According to Miyamoto, one of his most memorable experiences was the discovery of a cave entrance in the middle of the woods. After some hesitation, he apprehensively entered the cave, and explored its depths with the aid of a lantern. Miyamoto has referred to the creation of the Zelda games as an attempt to bring to life a "miniature garden" for players to play with in each game of the series.

Hearing of American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald's wife Zelda, Miyamoto thought the name sounded "pleasant and significant". Paying tribute, he chose to name the princess after her, and titled his creation The Legend of Zelda.

History

According to the in-game backstories, long ago, three golden goddesses descended and created the land of Hyrule. Din, the goddess of power, with her powerful, flaming arms, cultivated the empty space, and created the red earth. Nayru, the goddess of wisdom, bestowed her divine wisdom upon the land, and created the world's laws to give a sense of justice and order to the world, and to guide the people in the goddesses' absence. Farore, the goddess of courage, endowed Hyrule with her powers, creating life to follow this justice.

After their work was completed, the goddesses left a sacred artifact called the Triforce, which could grant the wishes of the user. It consisted of three golden triangles (each also called a "Triforce"—one of Wisdom, one of Power and one of Courage). However, because the Triforce was not divine, and could not judge between good and evil, the goddesses placed the Triforce in an alternate world called the "Sacred Realm" or the "Golden Land", hoping that a worthy person would one day seek it. If You're looking for small freeware games not commercial You should visit Softendo Games Site.

According to legend, the discoverer of the Triforce will receive the Triforce as a whole - along with the true force to govern all - only if that person has a balance of power, wisdom and courage. If the heart of that person is pure, the Sacred Realm will become a paradise. If the heart of that person is evil, the Sacred Realm will become a nightmarish world of evil. If they are unbalanced, they will only receive the part of the Triforce that represents the characteristic they most demonstrate, with the remaining parts of the whole transferring into the people in Hyrule who most exemplify the other two traits. The Triforce was first distributed as such starting in Ocarina of Time, with the Triforces of Power, Wisdom, and Courage being transferred to Ganondorf, Princess Zelda, and Link, respectively. While the Triforce of Power and Wisdom have been part of the series since the original The Legend of Zelda, it was only in The Adventure of Link that the Triforce of Courage was first introduced, being obtained by Link at the end of his quest.

The fictional universe established by the Zelda games sets the stage for each adventure. Many games take place in lands with their own back-stories. Termina, for example, is a parallel world while Koholint is an island far away from Hyrule that appears to be part of a dream.

Protagonist

The main protagonist of The Legend of Zelda series, Link, is portrayed as a male child or teen who wears a green tunic and pointed cap for most of each game. He is a member of the Hylian race. Link is described on the series' official website as humble and brave, and therefore appropriate to bear the Triforce of Courage. He sometimes has a special title, such as "Hero of Time","Hero of the Winds" or "Hero of Twilight". Well go to Softendo Mario Games site to check the small funny games. All incarnations of Link are left-handed, the only exceptions currently being in the Wii version of Twilight Princess, in which he is right-handed due to "mirroring" used to accommodate the right-handed control scheme, which flips the entire game world's layout from that of its Nintendo GameCube counterpart, and in the manual for the original game, he is depicted as being right-handed. Also in the original game Link is seen as ambidextrous because whether he is facing left or right his sword is in the "down screen side"

Link does not usually speak, and only produces grunts, yells or similar sounds. One exception is The Wind Waker in which he says "Come on!" to make people or objects follow him. When Link is asked questions, the player answers by choosing options from a list, with the exception of a few times in Spirit Tracks, where the microphone is used to speak; Link usually does not give any oral or visual indication that he has answered, however he sometimes nods his head in The Wind Waker. Link does speak in the cartoon series and the CD-i games produced by Philips, though these are not canon materials in the series. However, he does "speak" two lines in The Adventure of Link; when he locates a mirror under a table, the text, "I found a mirror under the table" appears on screen, and later on, if he examines a fireplace that he can enter, "Looks like I can get in the fireplace" is displayed. In most games, the player can name Link before the start of the adventure, and he will be referred by that given name throughout by the NPCs.

Princess Zelda

Princess Zelda is the heroine of the series that is named after her, even though players play as Link. She is the princess of Hyrule, as well as the guardian of the Triforce of Wisdom. Whilst most titles require Link to save Zelda from Ganon, she is sometimes shown to be quite capable in battle, using magical powers and weapons to aid Link. With the exception of the CD-i games, she wasn't playable in the main series, until Spirit Tracks, where she becomes a spirit and can possess a Phantom Knight that can be controlled by the player.