A couple years ago I did a series of blogs in Gamespot about old NES and SNES games that I had particuarly good memories of playing. Those posts eventually died down, but I thought I'd start writing them again.  So before I start off I thought I'd go ahead and republish the original ones.  

I got my NES in Christmas of 87 along with a lot of other kids in my 5th grade class, and most of us got Zelda along with it. No one was particularly good at it though. In time, we all got stuck trying to find the Level 7 labyrinth. For weeks we all looked for it and came up with nothing. For all we knew it didn't even exist. Then one day while searching that one dead lake where fairies do not live, I decided to check out the opposite end ofHyrule and warp there by using the flute. Suddenly the lake flashed and boom, there it was. When I announced the secret to the class the next day I was hailed as a hero. 20 years has passed since that day and I'm not sure I've ever been admired by that many people in one room again.

Another huge moment was when we all found out that there was a second quest in the game that you could access if you entered your name as ZELDA. Suddenly the game took on a whole new sense of urgency. All the old maps meant nothing! Everything was in a new place. HOW THE HELL WOULD WE FIND THE DEATH MOUNTAIN LABYRINTH NOW???? We were dealing with some heavy stuff.

The game is still remarkably clear in my memory  because of how many times I played through it. For the first year I had my NES Zelda was one of only 5 games I owned, as my parents quickly regretted getting me a NES and tried to limit my time with it any way they could (if he doesn't have games he won't play it right?). As a result, I got very creative with the 4 games I had; SMB, Zelda, Pro Wrestling, and Mike Tyson's Punch Out, and Rush'n'Attack. I would find different ways to play through each game.

For instance, with Zelda I one time tried to play thourgh without picking up any sword other than the Master Sword. I eventually gave in though. By the time I got to the Lvl 5 labyrinth I just couldn't hold my own with bombs, arrows, and the boomerang anymore, so in a moment of weakness that still haunts me I grabbed the white sword (Go up, up, up, up the mountain biatch!).

Anyway, good times. Good times indeed. All this being said, The Adventures of Link was still the superior game, and you'd be a fool and a communist to think otherwise.