The NES is not a console that I used to consider had good games. I felt like most of them were absolutely held back by your inability to save, and while some of those like the Super Mario Bros. games tried to play around this by having very short games with warp zones to later worlds, I can't help but feel like this was playing around a system that was broken from the start. The Legend of Zelda is different. First of all, you can actually save in this game. Second of all, it is a wonderful open world game in an era long before open world games. This game drops you in a moderately sized world and asks you to do whatever you want. You can go in any direction you want, to any place you want as long as it isn't blocked off by an item you need. I have to praise the overworld a lot, because it is not too small, which makes it so that you don't get tired of it. At the same time, it isn't too big either. This is good because you have to start over from the beginning of the map if you die. And trust me, you will die a lot in this game, as it is brutally difficult at some points. I think I died more than 150 times throughout the 14 hours of gameplay. But if you die, you will restart in a map that easily allows you to get back to wherever you previously were. And if you die in a dungeon, you will simply restart from the start of that dungeon, a tradition that other Zelda games have also used. The gameplay is difficult, but fun. I like how you keep all the items you obtained even if you die, making this very Dark Souls-esque. In fact, I think the soulsborne series definitely was inspired by this game specifically. I also have to praise the final dungeon for how great it is design wise. It definitely feels like a true final gauntlet, and it is very satisfying to find your way through that lethal maze of a dungeon. However, not everything this game offers is perfect. The combat is pretty awkward sometimes, because Link stops every time he does something with an item or a sword. This definitely adds to the game's insane difficulty, and arguably in a way that isn't as fun. The soundtrack is also pretty one-note, only containing four songs in its entirety if I remember correctly. Still, this isn't a game that you should miss out on if you like challenging games. Definitely one of the best games for the NES!