My first memories of The Legend of Zelda

The Legend of Zelda series has been my favorite gaming brand ever since I got my hands on the original game at the tender age of six.

My neighbor John’s older sister Bethany had brought it over to show us how awesome the new Nintendo we just got was. She put it in and taught my sister  how to play as I sat in the back of the room in awe.

They soon left to listen to NKOTB or whatever it was girls did back then, and i crept towards the gaming system. I had no idea what I was doing, so I  powered up the system and began fumbling around the menu.

I promptly erased John’s character without even knowing that I did. I was six. I then made another character and began playing. When my neighbor Bethany returned, she realized I had erased her brothers progress and took the game away, never to bring it back again.

I got the game about a year later for Christmas or my birthday, can’t remember. Almost a year later, I had made it all the way to the final dungeon and was stuck. Luckily I had a subscription to Nintendo Power, and in one issue came my godsend—a full map of the maze-like dungeon. My sister Amy navigated me through the final dungeon using the map one bright Saturday morning, and watched from the couch as I sat crossed legged in front of the TV, dealing the final blow to Ganon.

I just recently beat the sequel on the Wii’s Virtual Console, something I thought I would never do (it’s hard!).

To celebrate, I made this video featuring “Zelda Medley,” an awesome chiptunes tribute by Derris-Kharlan.