Let's Play 21: "The Legend of Zelda" Part 1 Quiz

Answer: Link

"The Legend of Zelda" introduces us to the principals of the series: Zelda, Ganon, Impa, Link, and the Triforce. Although Impa features heavily in the backstory of both "Zelda II: The Adventure of Link" and "The Legend of Zelda", she does not appear in the game.

Miyamoto chose the name Link, because he wanted to link the player into the fantasy world Hyrule.

Answer: Two

One of the game's most famous features is the presence of the second quest. Once you defeat Gannon, a whole second quest opens. Though the actual geography of the overworld map is largely the same, having only minor differences, all item and almost all dungeon locations are shifted and the dungeons themselves are entirely different.

Miyamoto and his team developed "Super Mario Bros." and "The Legend of Zelda" at the same time. Both titles feature a "second quest", though "Super Mario Bros." unfortunately does not feature changed levels but instead just replaces enemies. "Super Mario Bros. 2: The Lost Levels", to me, always felt like a second quest, like "The Legend of Zelda".

Answer: False

The goddesses of the Triforce are not introduced to the series until "The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past" (or, as it is known in Japan, "The Legend of Zelda: The Trifoce of the Gods"). The Nintendo 64 title "Ocarina of Time" is where Nintendo really begins to flesh out the backstory of these three mystery goddesses.

Answer: Triforce of Wisdom

An important point to remember in the story of "The Legend of Zelda" is that it is not Gannon who hid the Triforce fragments in the game but rather Princess Zelda.

It is important to remember this because logically that means the all the dungeon enemies and bosses are NOT servants of Gannon. Zelda broke the Triforce of Wisdom into eight fragments and hit them in secret dungeons throughout the land in order to prevent Gannon from having both the Triforce of Power, which he already had, and the Triforce of Wisdom. If the dungeon enemies were servants of Gannon, they could simply unite the Triforce of Wisdom and present it to Gannon.

It is only after Link has reunited the eight fragments of the Triforce of Wisdom is he "wise" and experienced enough to face Gannon, the ultimate king of evil. He's quite an attractive pig monster too.

Answer: Super Mario Bros.

"Super Mario Bros." and "The Legend of Zelda" were made in conjunction with each other. Miyamoto decided that all the linear designs would go to Mario, and all the open ended gameplay would go to Link. "Super Mario Bros." came out in 1985, and "The Legend of Zelda" came out in February 1986 for the Famicom Disk System. "The Legend of Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link" came out in January 1987 for the Famicom Disk System. Japan had both Zelda titles before the United States even got the first.

Answer: Executive Producer

There are several errors in the end credits. Shigeru Miyamoto is listed as "S. Miyahon", Takashi Tezuka is "Ten Ten", and Toshihiko Nakago as "T. Nakazoo". It should be noted that in the end credits of "Zelda II: The Adventure of Link", Miyamoto is also listed as "Miyahon". Hiroshi Yamauchi, Nintendo's President during that era, was incorrectly identified as "Executive Producer".

Answer: True

Miyamoto and his team developed both "Super Mario Bros." and "The Legend of Zelda" concurrently. Miyamoto wanted all the linear ideas incorporated into Mario, and all the non-linear gameplay ideas he used of "The Legend of Zelda". They released "The Legend of Zelda" for the Famicom Disk System in February 21, 1986.

Within a year Nintendo released a second game in the series for the Famicom Disk System: "The Legend of Zelda 2: Link no Bōken" in January 1987. The FDS version of "Zelda II: The Adventure of Link" as the sequel is known outside of Japan features numerous differences from the PAL and US version that was released nearly two years. The most drastic difference is the leveling.

Nintendo released "The Legend of Zelda" in the United States in August of 1987, a year and a half after it appeared in Japan. Japan had both NES "Zelda" games before the other regions even got the first.

"The Legend of Zelda" would not be released on for the Famicom until 1992. Nintendo never released "Zelda II" on cartridge format in Japan.

Answer: Pols Voice

The instruction booklet for "The Legend of Zelda" had this rather puzzling description of Pols Voice: "A ghost with big ears and a weak point - he hates loud noise."

This is a true for the Famicom version of "The Legend of Zelda", because the Famicom included a microphone with the system. By blowing into the microphone, all the Pols Voice on the screen will be killed. As the NES did not have a microphone, this functionality did not cross over in the NES release although they still included it in the instruction manual. In all subsequent titles where Pols Voices were included they are vulnerable to the Recorder.

Answer: F. Scott Fitzgerald

Zelda Fitzgerald had a tumultuous marriage with F. Scott Fitzgerald. According to Shigeru Miyamoto, "Zelda was the name of the wife of the famous novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald. She was a famous and beautiful woman from all accounts, and I liked the sound of her name. So I took the liberty of using her name for the very first "Zelda" title."

Answer: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

Directly south of Death Mountain where you get the hammer, a miniature version of the original game's map appears in "Zelda II: The Adventure of Link." The map is quite small and not wholly accurate, but it is quite clear this section of the Overworld is a very clear reference to the first game. This little Easter egg was probably included to give "Zelda II" a sense of scope.