The Legend of Zelda is one of those games, of course, that is so garlanded it’s sometimes hard to see clearly – pioneering in many respects, an instant classic, and the instigator of one of gaming’s longest-running and most-loved series. So to get some idea of what the game actually was, we’re going to go right back to the mid-80s and look at the original development. It was the morning of February 1, 1985, and Nintendo needed a hit. Shigeru Miyamoto, Takashi Tezuka, and Toshihiko Nakago were working on the first Mario game for the Famicom, and Super Mario Bros. would be finished and released by September of that year.…

Ocarina of Time is a game embalmed by layers upon layers of impenetrable nostalgia. It’s a hallowed relic of our collective youth, enshrined in the temples of our memory. Do not take its name in vain. Touch only with a conservationist’s glove, lest its magic disperse. That status isn’t surprising: indeed, it’s almost what it was designed for. Unlike earlier Zelda games, Ocarina of Time is fundamentally about nostalgia, childhood and growing up. Link is a boy living among the forest children of the Kokiri, but he is an outsider; unlike them, he will grow old. He is compelled to leave his snug childhood shelter and venture into a large,…