Ex Carta

The booklet accompanying the cartridge includes a map of Level 2 of the game, spanning two pages. The map is divided into 30 rectangles (15 on each page), each representing a single ‘screen’ of gameplay. The illustrations of the terrain are slightly softened from the pixelation of the screen iteration, giving the map a slightly more ethereal and pastoral mood in keeping with the atmosphere of the game itself. The colour scheme is simple and elegant, with a sandy texture for the areas Zelda is able to traverse, green for vegetation and a darker brown for other terrain features.

Nintendo’s original The Legend of Zelda combined puzzle-solving with open-world exploration, helping define the digital action-adventure genre. Released in Japan on the Famicom Disk System, its evocative overworld map and distinctive gold cartridge helped launch a still much-loved franchise.

The very first edition of The Legend of Zelda was released in Japan on February 21, 1986, for the Famicom Disk System, a floppy disk-based add-on for Nintendo’s Family Computer. Developed by Nintendo and led by Shigeru Miyamoto (b.1952) and Takashi Tezuka, the game broke new ground by combining open-world exploration with action and puzzle-solving. Miyamoto, described as the ‘father of modern video games’, is the creator of not only Zelda, but other iconic Nintendo franchises such as Mario and Donkey Kong.

In The Legend of Zelda, players took control of a young hero named Link wandering the realm of Hyrule, tasked with rescuing Princess Zelda from the evil Ganon by recovering eight fragments of the Triforce of Wisdom. The game’s innovative open-ended structure, allowing players to explore dungeons in various orders and uncover secrets at their own pace, was revolutionary for the time. Its influence can still be clearly seen in contemporary games such as Elden Ring (2022).

Miyamoto says that his wider inspirations for his unique game designs include the natural world and the Japanese notion of kyokan; the emotional connection and sense of belonging shared by players resulting from the immersive nature of game playing. Underpinning this is an intentional evocation of childhood experiences of joy and wonder. Critically acclaimed and commercially successful, the game laid the foundation for an enduring franchise and helped define the action-adventure genre, influencing countless titles in the decades that followed. Zelda has been referenced in everything from TV shows and films to academic studies and design theory, and it remains a benchmark against which many adventure games are still measured.

When The Legend of Zelda was released outside Japan in 1987 for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), it came on a gold-coloured cartridge – an iconic piece of marketing that emphasized the game’s mythical atmosphere and special status. This version also featured a battery-backed save system, a rare innovation that allowed players to retain progress without using passwords. The original Famicom Disk System version made use of the Disk Card format’s expanded storage capacity – up to 112 kilobytes – which initially exceeded that of standard Famicom cartridges, though cartridge technology quickly caught up and eventually surpassed it.

Cover art for Ninendo's First Japanese version of The Legend of Zelda: The Hyrule Fantasy