I have something to confess: I’ve never actually beaten a Zelda game before. I’ve played a few of them, like The Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess, but what would usually happen with those games is that I’d play for a while, come back to it after a few months and end up being completely lost. Although I’ve gotten back into The Wind Waker HD and I’m currently having a lot of fun with it, the Zelda game that I’ve always wanted to beat was the original one on the NES.

The Legend of Zelda is pretty much impossible to beat without a guide. There are so many cryptic hints that it’s incredibly easy to miss items that are required to beat the game because you had to bomb a very specific rock or burn a very specific bush to get to those items. Although exploring the world for the sake of exploring it can be fun, you’re bound to end up having phrases like “WHERE DO I GO?” and “WHAT DO I DO?” echoing in your head throughout your playthrough. The most consistently fun part of this game would be the dungeons, and while there are enemies that eventually become really annoying to fight, these dungeons are still fun.

Overall, The Legend of Zelda is a fun time that’s worth playing whether you’re a fan of the Zelda series or not, but the cryptic design and annoying enemies makes it clear that this was one of the earlier games on the NES.