The Legend of Zelda

Embark on a quest to find the Triforce, slay Ganon and save Princess Zelda in the timeless adventure game from Shigeru Miyamoto that invented the genre. Originally released for the Famicom Disk System in Japan, the game arrived in the US on cartridge in 1987. In an ingenious marketing ploy, Nintendo released the game on a gold cartridge, so if you hadn't heard about the glory of Zelda, the shiny cart would definitely catch your attention. And since Zelda originated on the Disk System, the US version also included the ability to save your game status via battery back-up -- a first for the NES. The game's release heralded the end of the days when console games were all about linear quests and never-ending twitch gameplay with small level variations or increasing speed settings.