Legend of Zelda, one of the most beloved video game franchises, turns 35 this Sunday in a sweet time for mass events due to the pandemic and without big announcements about the series that augurs for the holidays.
Developed by veteran Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka from Japanese developer and distributor Nintendo, “The Legend of Zelda” was originally released in the land of the rising sun on February 21, 1986 for the Family Computer Disk System, a console peripheral. Famicom which was characterized by the use of floppy disks.
The original edition of the yellow floppy disk, less remembered than the cartridge that will hit the international market a year later for Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), revolutionized the experience of console users by incorporating for the first time an internal battery that saved the game and continue later.
Nintendo has managed to take advantage of a franchise based on a curse that pleads with its protagonists, the hero Link, Princess Zelda and the villain Ganon, to reincarnate again and again to fight an eternal battle between good and evil that has given birth of one of the most complex chronologies in digital entertainment.
BITTER BIRTHDAY
Since the original title was released in 1986, the franchise has grown to more than forty titles of a wide variety of genres that have garnered sales of over 120 million copies worldwide, according to data from the video game sales platform. . VG Chartz monitoring.
Despite being one of Nintendo’s most representative series, the company has not prepared, at least for now, any big celebration for the event, as happened with 35 years since Super Mario Bros. (whose commemorations arrive in 2021) or Next week marks the 25th anniversary of Pokémon, for which a collaboration with singer Katy Perry has already been announced.
In the latest Nintendo Direct, released this week, an HD remaster of the title “The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword” was announced, originally released in 2011 for the Wii console, with controls adapted to the Switch hybrid.
Also for the console, the launch of franchise-inspired Joy-Con controllers has been announced that will delight fans who, however, remained eager to learn more about “Breath of the Wild 2”, whose release is expected by the end of 2021 and whose progress is kept secret.
Despite this lack of pre-anniversary announcements, Nintendo has been known for squeezing anniversary celebrations for months, so it wouldn’t be surprising if other news is revealed in the future.