The Legend of Zelda is the legendary 1986 NES action-adventure that started one of gaming’s most iconic franchises. Designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka, it dropped players into the vast overworld of Hyrule with almost no instructions and challenged them to explore, fight, and puzzle their way through nine increasingly complex dungeons to reassemble the Triforce of Wisdom and defeat the evil Ganon.
When it launched on the Famicom Disk System in February 1986 (and on the NES in North America in August 1987), it was revolutionary. While most games moved in one direction — left to right — Zelda offered an open world that scrolled in all four directions, with secrets hidden behind every bush and under every rock. The gold cartridge gleamed on store shelves, and the battery-backed save system meant you could actually preserve your progress, a luxury in an era of passwords and starting over.
You play as Link, a young hero who finds an old man in a cave who gives you a wooden sword and the immortal words “It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this.” From there, you’re on your own. The overworld is a grid of interconnected screens teeming with Octoroks, Moblins, Tektites, and Lynels. Hidden throughout are cave entrances, shops, old men with cryptic advice, and the entrances to nine dungeons — each containing a piece of the Triforce.
Each dungeon is a maze of rooms connected by locked doors, secret passages, and increasingly dangerous enemies. You’ll find essential items in each dungeon: the boomerang, bombs, the bow, the raft, the ladder, the magic wand, and more. Each item opens new areas of both the dungeon and the overworld, creating a metroidvania-like progression loop decades before that term existed. The dungeon bosses — Aquamentus, Dodongo, Manhandla, Gleeok, Digdogger, Gohma, and finally Ganon himself — remain some of the most memorable encounters in gaming history.
How To Play The Legend of Zelda
- Use the Arrow Keys to move Link across the overworld and through dungeons.
- Press Z to swing your sword — this is the A button on the original NES controller.
- Press X to use your currently selected secondary item such as bombs, the boomerang, or the bow — this is the B button.
- Press Enter to open the Start menu where you can view the map and equip secondary items.
- Press Shift to access the Select function, used in some menus.
- Explore everywhere — secrets are hidden behind burnable bushes, bombable walls, and pushable rocks.
- Collect all nine Triforce pieces from the nine dungeons to unlock the final confrontation with Ganon.
Keyboard Controls
- Arrow Keys — D-Pad (movement)
- Z — Button A (swing sword / confirm action)
- X — Button B (use secondary item)
- Enter — Start
- Shift — Select
- Num 1 — Save state
- Num 2 — Load state
Emulator Options
- Right-click the game screen to open the context menu with additional options.
- Use the gear icon in the emulator toolbar to adjust video, audio, and core settings.
- Use the controller icon to view or remap your keyboard and gamepad bindings.
- Use the cheats icon to enter Game Genie or Pro Action Replay codes.
- Use the speaker icon to mute or unmute audio at any time.
- Use the fullscreen icon to expand the game to fill your screen.
