The Legend of Zelda is, without a doubt, one of the most iconic sagas in the world of video games. That is why it is not surprising that there are numerous rumors, secrets and curiosities related to this saga born from the imagination and work of Shigeru Miyamoto. Today gamers follow the adventures of Link and are waiting for Breath of The Wild 2, but the news of being the most expensive video game in history belongs to the first The Legend of Zelda, that of the Famicom or original Nintendo Entertainment System, manufactured back in 1987. The game cartridge was sold for $ 870,000, and we will tell you how it managed to break the record that until now held a Super Mario cartridge.
The most expensive video game for collectors
The game in question is The Legend of Zelda and is rated A on the Wata 9.0 system. This certifies that the game has never been opened, and the figure for which it was sold has to do with the fact that it is estimated to be one of only two sealed copies of the game belonging to the “NES TM” line. This was the first production of the Zelda title in its history, and it only ran for a few months in late 1987, before being replaced by a new variant of the game in 1988.
With a sale price at auction that reached $ 870,000, this The Legend of Zelda cartridge outperformed the Super Mario Bros. which was sold for $ 660,000 at a Heritage auction. What did this game mean for the history of videogames?
Link’s First Adventure
The first groundbreaking feature of Link’s original adventure , and his first step toward becoming one of the game’s icons, is the concept of “non-linear adventure.” While video games were somewhat abstract in many of their directions and actions throughout the adventure, in The Legend of Zelda it was the first time that we could openly explore a world and move forward without specific restriction. There were, of course, areas that we could not explore without certain objects, but the path was not fixed as in the platform titles, but we had a wide stage to explore with hundreds of screens that invited us to create our own map of the world and know how to shorten paths.
The way of the hero
Shigeru Miyamoto explained on more than one occasion that, originally, he sought to bring that sense of adventure and excitement that he felt as a child when exploring caves and forests to a video game. In addition, Nintendo was trying to apply what it had learned from action role-playing video game experiences already played on computers.
For this reason, the hero who begins a journey to fight against the darkness and is fighting and evolving is the axis of The Legend of Zelda, and is also the heart of its most recent installments, but renewing the graphic section and the technical possibilities with each new console.
Freedom, discovery and achievements
The Legend of Zelda on the NES inaugurated a style of play that its creators did not know if it was going to be accepted by the public. The fear of offering a non-linear adventure and that it will end up boring or stressing the public was present, but finally the NES game ended up showing that the player was growing and crying out for greater challenges.
That’s what exploring the fantasy world and monsters of The Legend of Zelda is all about . Each dungeon requires skill and attention to advance, and when we obtain the special items and defeat a final boss, the feeling of accomplishment invites us to continue playing and exploring even more.
Koji Kondo and a soundtrack to remember
Link’s adventures would not have been the same without the sound section created by Koji Kondo. Compositions capable of immediately transporting us to fantasy worlds and incredible scenes that even today, with listening to some bars of this game in 8 bits, return to our memory in a matter of seconds.
A curiosity about the game’s soundtrack is that the main theme was composed almost at the last minute. The story behind this is because, originally, Kondo wanted to use Maurice Ravel’s Bolero as the main theme. The idea had been accepted and everything was ready, but a miscalculation ended up forcing Koji to compose a new song.
As of the release date of The Legend of Zelda, Maurice Ravel had been dead for 49 years and 11 months . For his music to become copyright-free in Japan, it took 50 years. The thing is, Nintendo couldn’t wait a month to launch the adventure. Finally, Zelda became an icon of the video game even with those curiosities and miscalculations.