This is just rambling stuff I've written about my experience playing the original Zelda. I had enough Wii Points to download this one after that XMAS REVIEWS topic.

* * *

The familiar Zelda overworld theme plays. I am walking around on sand, destroying countless red circular enemies that shoot balls at me. I continually get hit, and I'm finding the whole experience rather frustrating.

My sister walks in, looks at the television, and asks "What console are you playing?" I explain that it's the Wii, and I've used it to download the original Zelda.

"When was this game made?" she asks.

"1987 I think"

"That's as old as me," she remarks, stating the obvious. Though the game appeared in Japan the previous year, this game is actually older than her. But I was too busy trying not to die to clarify this.

As the screen goes black with a game over for the third time, I say "This game sucks!"

"Why did you buy it?" she asks.

"It's one of those classic games that everyone likes," I tell her.

"Do you like these retro games?" she asks.

"No, not really," I admit.

She shakes her head and leaves the room. I continue playing. After some aimless wandering, I finally locate the first dungeon. I navigate my way through, picking up keys, dying, finding bombs and a boomerang, dying. I find a bow that I can't use. I die again. 6 hits and an enemy can take me down, it seems like a lot until you realise this incarnation of Link is a hopeless swordsman.

I have the map and the compass now, and all I need to do is make it to the boss with all 3 hearts intact. This proves to be impossible. I make it to the boss room with two hearts, and I'm greated by a dragon shooting three balls at me.

I've figured this guy out. I slap him once over the head with my sword, then I run back and avoid the balls, running between them. I smack him over the head with my sword again, again and again, dodging the three balls he shoots at me, and eventually he dies. I pick up my heart piece and in the next room I pick up a golden triangle. Hooray! Only 7 more dungeons, and that was the easy one!

Despite getting frustrated with the game, I do feel a real sense of accomplishment.

The next day I go back out into the overworld, in search of the next dungeon. After wandering aimlessly for a while, and getting killed a few times in the process, I decide to head to GameFAQs for some direction. I then find the dungeon. I only actually die once inside there, as I'm either getting the hang of things, or having four hearts is helping a great deal. I'm on one heart when I stumble into the boss room. The damn thing is beeping at me in typical annoying Zelda fashion.

This limp lizard type thing just saunters over towards me. I remember the sagely advice from some guy sitting in the dungeon: DODONGO DISLIKE SMOKE, so I drop a bomb in its path, run out of the way and after the explosion, I run up to it and smack it with my sword once... and it's dead. Wow. I pick up the heart container, and then go to the next room to pick up the second Triforce piece.

I was glad that I didn't die that time, but at the same time I was disappointed at how easy that was. I've had random monsters on the overworld give me more trouble.