Classic NES Series: The Legend of Zelda

It?s almost 20 years later, and this game still rocks my world.

One of the few video-game designers in the 1980s truly possessed of genius, Shigeru Miyamoto inoculated American youth with Super Mario Bros. before unleashing this quasi-RPG/exploration masterpiece that infected a generation of game geeks like a communicable disease.

Despite initial confusion about whether or not it would be about the mental-ward meanderings of F. Scott Fitzgerald?s schizophrenic wife, the original Legend of Zelda was a pixel-perfect testament to video-game artistry that completely leveled the proverbial playing field for adventure/quest games. Almost 20 years later, the sucker holds up. As pointy-eared lad of Hyrule Link, you explore dreamlike mystical lands, graveyards, and secret underground dungeons while contending against indescribable dangers, epic bosses, and hordes of enemies ripped right out of Greek mythology armed with enchanted weaponry and a cornucopia of ingenious tools and gadgets. If there is one Classic NES cart to throw your nickel to, it?s this one. Trust us on this.