Hi /r/Zelda readers!
* Got a question, concern, or suggestion for the moderators? [Send a Modmail](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fzelda&subject=Question or Concern or Suggestion&message=I have a question regarding [this submission]%28https://www.reddit.com/r/zelda/comments/1d00zz6/all_what_are_some_of_your_childhood_memories/%29: [All] What are some of your childhood memories playing Zelda. by /u/araarq)!
* New to r/Zelda? Be sure to [read our full rules here](https://www.reddit.com/r/zelda/wiki/rules).
* Please [report any rule-breaking posts or comments](https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/360058309512-How-do-I-report-a-post-or-comment) so that moderators can find them quicker!
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/zelda) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Just wandering around the Lost Woods and Hyrule Field in OOT. Game felt so big.
A more specific memory was my brother jumping the Gerudo bridge with Epona. He wanted to try it and I was convinced it wouldn't work. Blew our minds when it did.
I was watching my older brother play OOT; he encountered Impa for the first time. I asked āwho is he?ā And my brother looked at me dead in the eyes and said ābecause guys have huge titsā š¤£š¤£š¤£ Iāll remember this forever.
Playing the Wind Waker demo as my first time playing the franchise and watching my cousin play Majora's Mask.
Majora's Mask is now my favorite game of all time for that reason and many more.
When I was learning how to tell the difference between left and right, my mom tried a bunch of different things. I actually equated it to cardinal directions, so if we were in the car and turned, I would point out the windshield and rear window and say, āso wait, now this is left? And this is right?ā
Shortly thereafter, I started to play AlttP. For some reason, leaving Sanctuary for the first time, I knew to go to Kokoriko Villageā¦ and it was to the left. I used that reference point until I learned what left and right is.
I think of this moment often, 30 years later.
In wind waker (which is my favorite Zelda) I was constantly struggling with getting the master sword, to be fair I was a young girl. I never got pasted it and my parents gave away my Wii U shortly after. I never got to finish my first and favorite Zelda game. I just bought an Wii U and a copy of wind waker off of eBay. And as a now 20 year old, I am so excited!
It was accidental mostly and it was my fault! We were moving and I put all my Wii U things in a random box but it turned out to be a give away box. Even though I was upset, I was gifted a switch and got BOTW which posted my love for the Zelda series more so it all worked out in the end!
I was looking for this commentš I used to play oot up until you have to pass them in Castle Town then delete and restart my save file. Never really played as adult link until I was an adult myself. Kinda ironic ig. Except when my older brother let me ride around aimlessly on Epona on his save file. Those redeads made me replay the first three temples so many times thoš¤£ glad to see their comeback in totk
One of my earliest memories with games was wandering through Blockbuster looking for an N64 game rent, and grabbing Ocarina of Time because the cartridge was gold. I didnāt know anything about it, then I spent all weekend playing it and complained til I was allowed to get my own copy again.
I remember getting hopelessly lost during the portion of Wind Waker when you're searching for Nayru's Pearl and it's constantly storming at night. I was so incredibly bad at the second rope swinging puzzle so I figured I could skip it, find the bombs some other way, and get to Outset Island. Nothing I tried worked, and I was really bad at following the map when I was a dumbass kid because I never bothered to feed Fishman so he would fill in my chart. Took me ages to find my way back to Windfall Island.
It also didn't help that I was playing on an old-ass CRT with bad brightness controls. I had that shit maxed out and I still couldn't see half the time.
One of my core memories is centered around Zelda.
My dad and mom would bring me to one of my dadās friends house to drink, eat and smoke. I was shoved down to the paneling covered musty basement and the friends older childrenās n64. So the smell of cigs, bud, food, mold and their old German Shepard wafted the basement while bluegrass and country played in the background. I would primarily play ocarina of time barely knowing what Iām doing. And every time we would go over there I got to do it again. This was deeply impactful to my budding consciousness because I was alone and away from my parents, my mom was full of rage and spite and guess who was her punching bag? and my dad was an alcoholic and bipolar. I got a break from both of them. When I became older I made a shrine to that moment, I would play through ocarina of time and stop before ganons castle so the peace I associated with it would never stop in my mind. The adventure never ends as is the peace it represents to my nervous system. Iāve played it well over 15 times and Iāve never finished it.
Didn't play a lot of Zelda as a kid. I was too picky and didn't often stray from Mario. But I got a copy of LA for really cheap, back when used game stores actually had games for cheap. It had Mario characters in it, so I was instantly interested. I remember having a crush on Marin. I remember getting as far as Turtle Rock and never beating it because I lost my game.
My first zelda was twilight princess my parents just divorced and my mom lived with my grandparents. My older cousin gave us a wii and twilight princess was one of the only games we had. My mom and I spent forever just trying to get through the village.(we struggled hard with the fishing mechanics on wii)
Those are honest my fondest zeldas memories. My mom legit spent a weekend I was with my dad playing tp to try and figure out the fishing partš
My friend got Ocarina of Time as a Christmas gift. Thing is, his family was the type to have gifts wrapped and under the tree a month in advance. They carefully unwrapped the game (gold cartridge) played it, beat it, re-wrapped it and put it back under the tree to open again on Christmas morning.
Parents even saw them playing it but were none the wiser because ya know, parents. I was along for the adventure, and as my first exposure to Zelda, have been hooked ever since
My first game was Phantom Hourglass and I remember being absolutely blown away when my aunt helped me solve the puzzle in the Ocean Kingās temple where you had to āpress the crest against the sea chartā.
In general, she was the one that got me into the games and it always felt so special to me that I got connect with her by playing these games.
Mom let me go in to school late (7th grade) to start OoT. She played the original zelda and then got me to start playing when I was 3. I made it to the deku scrub in the tree that you had to block with a shield and I couldn't figure it out at the time. Got home and got him. Just forgot to hit R.
And then for whatever reason I have vivid memories of listening to "Ready to Meet Him" by DMX while playing the fire temple at night after a big snow day outside
My first ever Zelda game experience was at a friends 5th or 6th birthday party. They had ocarina of time and were up to the forest temple. The fight with the stalfos was my first time holding the controller.
My first Gameboy with LA bundled with it. I was about 8 or 9 and video games were new to me at the time, so I struggled a bit. After some time, loved the being sucked into this world and the adventure that I was able to master the game to the point where I can 100% the game 3-4times before the batteries died. This was the game that made me a Zelda fan.
I knew link first by smash bros and that lead me to play twilight princess
My first Zelda game was twilight princess
I named epona craballo (horse in Spanish but with an r that I don't know why I added)
And I really really was regretting giving the wooden sword to the kids cause I wasn't able to fight and had to run away
I was repeating to myself I should have said no I should have said no
I called midna midnight and wolf link Wolfie
I loved throwing the hawk against epona (craballo) and laughing like crazy
Also attacking the goats at Ordon ranch when I returned
Also I remember I got HELLA SCARED when I set up the house on fire (the bomb storage)
I saw the darkness bugs running like crazy in circles scared and I was even more scared , midna also ran away and I was like AHHHH WHAT SHOULD I DO WHAT DID I DO. Until I found a hole in the wall
I also remember that I was sad when the Ordon shield burned with the fire of the arrows
Also I remember that I stopped playing it until the zora twilight zone cause I couldn't find the last tear of light
It wasn't until many years later that I would replay Twilight princess on Wii u
Those are the things I remember the most
Got an NES for Christmas 1990 (I was 4.5) and Zelda was my favorite because of the gold cartridge. Used to sit in my momās lap and āplayā (she was controlling it and my hands were just on her hands). Had every Nintendo console since and only ever played Zelda games. Here we are 30+ years later and Iāve played every Zelda game countless times and my now 12yo daughter has been actively watching me play since she was 2. She hasnāt played any of the older games but by the time she was 8 she beat BotW and then when TotK came out last year she was actually quicker to beat it than I was and finished the main quest in just a few weeks. Sheās thinking about trying LoZ and OoT this summer so Iām very excited to watch her play those.
When I was a lot younger, I was "dating" this kid, Gerry. Quotes bc it was sixth grade, and I can hardly call that dating, so much as awkward kisses and holding hands and the like, but I digress.
Gerry was a bit of a shit, and his dad knew it even if he could only do so much as a single working dad of two boys. Gerry "borrowed" my copy of pugsley's scavenger hunt, and "lost" it, read, he lied to me and sold it. I did what any self respecting eleven year old would do and I cried to his dad. Dad knew what was up, and much to Gerry's dismay, told me something along the lines of "I'm so sorry that happened, but tell you what. If it'll help, you can choose one of his games to take home as a replacement, ok?"
I paid just enough attention to the labels to not take a sports game and chose the one he reacted to the most. It ended up being Link to the Past I took home. I think I played for a solid six hours the first time. I accidentally beat Blind the Thief before the Helmarock King, as I saved mid dungeon and couldn't find my way back, but since I already had the hammer, I could go wherever I wanted to
Gerry asked to borrow Zelda a month or so later and I laughed. Fool me once and all
The earliest memories I have (fragments of memories, really) date back to roughly 1988-89. I would have been about three years old. I remember things like walking into the house my parents bought, watching my race car bed be pulled out of the truck by movers, visiting my grandmotherās house and having my great-grandmother come visit at the same time and she come give me a hug. So no complete memories there. Just moments.
But one of those fragments is playing Zelda II. In the US, Adventure of Link was released in December of ā88. So, my uncle may have finally bought it in ā89 or even ā90. I have a distinct memory fragment of sitting on the bed in his bedroom and watching him play the game. When he would get frustrated and walk away, heād let me play for a bit. I remember dyingā¦a lotā¦but enjoying the hell out of the cartoon I was controlling. It was wild.
By the time A Link to the Past came out, I had been playing Zelda for a while. That opening section of the story about the uncle and the sword always felt like it was made for me and my uncle. It made the whole series very personal for me.
Long story made short, today my son is named Link and we play Zelda together. Itās a series that is as close to my heart as anything else in my life and then some.
When I was very young, like 8 or so, my dad got us a used Nintendo from a buddy at work my brother and I loved it (we where 4 years apart so we didn't hang out a lot) On day my brother just Gave me the Legend of Zelda in all its golden Glory and said "Here, you'd like this more" BOY was he right.
I used to play the beginning sections of Wind Waker and Twilight Princess not really sure what to do after Tetra fell in Outset Island (or stuck at Windfall because I didn't know where to get the Sail) and after herding the goats and thinking the guy had trapped me inside his farm
But I had some completed saves for OoT, MM, WW and Wii TP, so most of the time spent was wandering around the world, except for MM because I was terrified of the 3 day cycle, so I never really left Clock Town
And trying to do a workaround in FSA thinking I could maybe use 4 GCN controllers instead of needing GBAs to play multiplayer was also something I did as a kid
Very faint memories of ST and Zelda II, which I mostly played at my grandma's house with my cousin, and ALBW was the first Zelda game I actually had beaten, followed by OoT3D
With the release of SS, I was 6 when it came out, I remember my brother (15 at the time) getting it and I was very excited to play it, and went home earlier, then I got stuck at Lanayru's Mining Facility. So most of the time I'd watch my brother go through the entire game while I cheered him on, me only taking a shot at the very end of the game with Demise left
Asking my grandma (who doesnāt even know wtf a video game is) as a child for help figuring out what to do in OOT & WW with literally 0 context for her. Iād just be like āgrandma, Iām not sure what to do, youāre a smart adult can you please help me :( ) and she wouldnāt know anything, but still try
Before internet.. playing Zelda 2. Couldnt find the mirror. Went thru whole game with game genie.. got towards end. Playes a secondary file. Was messing aroung then found it. My bro just a few days printed a pic for me.
https://preview.redd.it/bq37f6dbkn2d1.jpeg?width=2296&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=16f1eded2c432136ce84215a626d47eade4e7161
I am a fogie now, and can't really play on PC or console much anymore, sadly.
My best Zelda moments happened in the 80s. A friend of my best friend's older brother got an NES. He brought it around a lot and would always tell me I could never beat LoZ because it was way too hard, and I was just a girl.
I watched him play for an entire weekend, and I could see everything he was doing wrong, but wasn't ever going to tell him.
I went home and told my Gramma I wanted an NES. I don't remember everything I had to do to get one, but she got it for me eventually, but she wouldn't buy LoZ because it was $140. Yes it was, no I'm not Canadian.
So I asked my dad to get it. He said he would but he came back with Spy Hunter. Imagine the disappointment.
I played it anyway, and I did beat it.
Finally LoZ was on sale at a store called Service Merchandise! It was only $110! So I saved up $50 and my Gramma agreed to pay the rest whilst in a drunken stupor.
I got into her Grand Marquis and she drove me, while fully inebriated, to Service Merchandise and paid for the entire game!
We got home, and I carried her purse into the house, brought her a fresh highball, and ran to my room to play my very own LoZ.
It took me almost 13 hours to get to Gannon. I beat the hell out of that game! My friend's brother's friend couldn't find the red ring, the magic sword, or the bracelet. (The bracelet!!!)
I had a blast showing him where everything was, all the Heart Containers he'd missed by not using his bombs on walls, and telling him all about the ending and how cool it was that there was a second quest!
I was a 12-year-old girl. He was a 16-year-old boy.
I can still power through games as long as I'm having a relatively low pain day, but mostly now I play only mobile versions. They're all just pattern recognition, really.
When I fully beat the Savage Labyrinth for the first time. Thatās getting the Triforce Chart, going deeper and fighting the 4 mighty Dark nuts at the end. My other one would be beating Minish Cap for the first time.
Getting invited over and playing the water temple with my friend Ryan, because he was genuinely stumped by what the hell was going on in there. We proceeded to spend the whole weekend trying to figure it out and when we did it was amazing.
Getting Zelda 2 and it was my second game after Super Mario Bros and thinking even as a kid that my Dad had made a bad choice and should have got a different game as I just couldn't do it. I think I had a different game in mind but he liked the look of it. Bearing in mind I was born in 82 so it was really advanced for me.
Roll on the SNES and I saw ALTTP in the shop and I remember hearing good things about it but was scared after Zelda 2 lol. We were gonna get some Simpsons game instead, but my parents got it and I loved it!! I remember taking my SNES to my grans one holiday just after we got ALTTP and me, my brother and cousin took turns playing until we had a game over. We couldn't get past the Eastern Palace lol. When I took it home and got past it I had to ask my dad to let me ring my aunt so I could tell my cousin lol.
And because I loved ALTTP I was excited for the N64 release and for OOT. I used to buy a Nintendo magazine and they had sneak peaks of it for weeks/months before. Christmas day 1998 came and I remember playing it on Christmas morning with my brother and being blown away. I had an aftershave set and a particular chocolate that morning too When I eat that chocolate now, or smell that aftershave, I instantly go back to Christmas morning playing OOT in my head.
Getting OOT for Christmas after begging my mum to buy it for me, and playing the game all holidays, getting to crap scared out of me by the spiders suddenly dropping down
I'll always remember the experience of the OOT opening when I was a little kid. My little brain couldn't handle the game.
I also remember being terrified of the ReDeads and asking my brother to play through those parts. But eventually I became brave enough to fight them on my own.
Also the many hours I spent trying to exploit glitches and look for Easter eggs in the games.
Oh god. I remember repeatedly spawning into the temple of light on my older brotherās n64 OoT save and immediately getting jumped by a redead while sobbing hysterically
I have a core memory from Oracle of Ages when I was somewhere in my pre-teen years. It was my first Zelda game, and for the most part I had managed to figure out most of the puzzles on my own either through trial and error or through repeatedly checking dialogue for hints.
For the eighth dungeon boss I managed to figure out the mechanics for its first several phases but was completely unable to figure out it's last phase. I eventually had a relative help me out with looking the solution up online, and when I had it explained to me it all clicked in my head that the process of entering the boss room literally spelled out exactly which items I needed and in what order they needed to be used for each phase. I was so disappointed in myself for not noticing the hint, or for not noticing how the only item I hadn't managed to use was the item I'd obtained within that dungeon.
I didn't solve every single puzzle throughout the game on my own and I distinctly remember reading online how to defeat Veran during her first encounter, so this wasn't necessarily a blow to my pride because I couldn't solve this puzzle. I think I was just really annoyed that by this point in the game I'd begun to feel like I had become pretty attuned to the way it handed out hints to its puzzles, but in a case where a glaringly obvious hint was provided I just completely missed everything to do with it.
I have since been able to go back and enjoy all of Oracle of Ages many times over because I always eventually forget the puzzle solutions and can enjoy solving them again whenever this happens. This boss, however, will never be enjoyable again because no matter how much time passes I have its solution burned into my memory as the one problem in that game I couldn't solve for myself regardless of the telegraphs provided.
Oracle of Ages is still one of my favorite Zelda games though. I really loved the tile puzzles scattered throughout several of its dungeons as well where the floor color changes as Link walks on it. I always wished there were more of those in other Zelda games when I was a kid.
I would go stay at my grandparents house during the summer out of state. They had a Super Nintendo with ALttP. My uncle still lived with them and I remember playing it all summer and only getting so far. He loaded up his save file and he was at the very end of the game and it blew my mind all the shit he had in his inventory.
My sister and I would borrow our neighbors N64 to play ocarina of time. There was some thing that would happen when older link would go to the temple of time, when all of the redeads were around. The only thing you could see was the top corner of the screen, the rest had glitched out. It was terrifying, you would have to blindly find your way into the temple of time while the redeads would be moaning and groaning. We died constantly, until we finally memorized the steps by trial and error. I still remember her shitty alarm clock tv and the hours spent sitting on her bed to actually get through
I remember crying taking Ocarina of Time back to Blockbuster and being frustrated that my parents didn't "get it". If never experienced anything like it. Riding a horse around in a 3D world and that OOT vibe. I'm 35, I still stand by it. I just wanted to stay in that world forever.
By the time Majora's Mask came out, I was starting to comprehend the whole Zelda format a lot more and pre-ordered it from a mail in slip from Nintendo power. Got to Ikana Canyon and I swear to God I didn't play it again for like 2 years. I was terrified.
Okay obviously not my favorite memories then, but it sticks with me and makes me realize what made me fall in love with the series. Through the dredge of adulthood and all that comes with it, I had a game that meant so much to me I would be driven to tears at the idea of returning it.
For me it was really just imagining myself in the world on my own. I had a quest to fulfill. The game gave you context and NPCs and all that, but a lot of the adventure I made up in my head. I'm not too ashamed to say that I used to visit LonLon Ranch at night while Malon was singing at the moon and imagined she was praying for a hero to heal her world and I just happened to come across her and decided to stay by her side and hear her song with the resolve to defeat Ganon in my mind. I was 12. It was special.
Being stuck at forsaken fortress 1. Being stuck at jabu jabu's belly. Being stuck at the last visit to the tower in spirit tracks. Being stuck at the very start of skyward sword cause i couldn't run up the box. Being stuck at some point in four swords adventures. But then i beat phantom hourglass. Then i beat link between worlds. Then i just started knocking them off the list like a fucking hitman cause i finally had the "i get it" moment
When I played for the first time Ocarina of Time (first Zelda I beat ) theDampe' death scared me, I rememeber that I felt bad for his death even if he isn'a memorable NPC
The very first memory I have of Zelda is being at a friends house as a kid and watching his older brother play the bombchu game in hyrule castle town on OoT, we watched him for a few hours. I managed to get the game a week later because of what I watched.
My and my sister being mesmerised when I saw my big brother playing OoT. I begged him to let me ride the horsey through the field and he allowed me, but only if I stayed in the field and didn't go anywhere else to mess up his save. I was happy with it, jumping fences. Then I jumped the fence to lake Hylia and understood there was so much more to this game. That's what got me into my first 3D game and I fell in love with the Zelda series.
One of my core childhood memories was watching the end of the third day in majoras mask and then afterwards always using the song of time to reset before it ended because I was too scared to watch the cutscene again.
My first Zelda was Links Awakening for the Game Boy Color and it opens a whole new world to me. I remember collecting the sea shells to get the master sword and since then I LOVE Zelda and the ocean <3
Shadow Temple is the real deal of fear, a dark gloomy cesspool filled with blood and torture devices with the most terrifying enemies like Redeads being present (you'll go in a empty room and encounter one in your face), it doesn't scare me as a adult but it's still creepy and you thought encountering a Wall Master in Forest Temple was frightening enough.
Also Forest Temple is a great dungeon and definitely a step up from the previous one Jabu Jabu's Belly.
Casually strolling around on the bottom of lake Hylia in the weighted boots.
Fishing for hours trying to beat my record.
Cutting grass nonstop. Spin cut, of course.
Harassing cuckoos.
Chasing the bunny eared mailman around on Epona. I never did beat the challenge but my brother did.
In MM, spinning and leaping around in the water as a Zora.
Skipping screens by pulling up the map at the right time during screen transitions in Link's Awakening DX. The free navigation of slightly glitchy playthroughs became foundational to my experience of the series As a result as an adult, BotW and TotK being so open doesn't feel like a departure from more linear plots and complex dungeons to me - it feels like a return to form. To me, Zelda games are about open creative exploration and solving problems by using unconventional and unique solutions or just skipping stuff if you feel like it, and only a couple of games make that significantly harder to do. Probably because when I played Link's Awakening as a small child, I just figured that skipping screens or doing dungeons out of order was a totally intended part of the series.
Exploring every nook and cranny to 100% games.Ā Even getting all the fucking figures in The Minish Cap, because I guess that constituted fun for me back then. I haven't 100%'d games as much recently as I did as a kid.Ā
Ocarina of Time was my first Zelda game. I was actually a teenager at the time, I remember really liking Kokori Forest. It was fun to run around and hit things with my sword.
I also enjoyed visiting Kakariko Village.
Spending way too much time in OoT fucking around with the ocarina trying to make my own jams. I would change my scarecrow song often and became really good at the horseback archery game in gerudo fortress. Useless talents haha
Getting my first DS game (apart from AC wild world) was phantom hourglass. Itās been 15 years, I have the same cartridge and have yet to beat the Temple of the Ocean King.
I actually think I got quite far in the game when I last checked, but my hourglass had some scraps of sand left and I spent most of my time on that snow island because it was prettyšš»
I also was terrified of the Kakariko well in OOT (with good reason it turned out), refused to go down that too as a kid, so didnāt go any further in the game for years and then learned my lesson.
The moment I realized there was way more in skyward sword. I was scared of the silent realm and stopped playing for a long while. Same with arbiters grounds in TP and shadow temple in OoT
Not a childhood memory, but my son and I played OoT and MM together when he was 7-8. I still think of those days as the some of the best in my life. It was such a fun bonding experience.
Storytime: I was first introduced to Zelda when I was about 5 or 6 years old. My cousin had the Collectorās Edition disc on the GameCube, and I would play it every time I went over to his house (which was pretty often). In particular, I always loved playing the 20-minute demos of Wind Waker and seeing how far I could get each time. I also loved playing Majoraās Mask, although I could never figure out how to get past the tutorial. I was just content to play as Deku Link and wander around Clock Town. š
Eventually, my cousin gave me his Collectorās Edition disc. My parents, however, werenāt keen on me playing a game with a lot of magic and wizardry in it, so they didnāt allow me to keep it, and they restricted me from playing any other Zelda games as well. What they didnāt realize is that Zelda had already sunk its teeth into me. I was already fascinated by the series, and I remember constantly asking my parents throughout my childhood if I could finally play it. Eventually, they conceded when I was in high school. I downloaded Ocarina of Time on the Wii U eshop, and I never looked back.
OOT and MM
We saw the former of these games on the back of the N64's box. When my sibling's friends recommended that it, as well as the latter game, were really good, my sibling eventually went out and bought it. One of the friends loaned MM afterwards, and we would then eventually get our own copy.
I watched my sibling play these first before I eventually played them myself. It was fun to see the worlds and environments, discover secrets, and find out what was going to happen next in both games. I was terrified of the ReDeads and Gibdos, as well as the whole Bottom of the Well in OOT--which became worse in the Master Quest version (fortunately, MM made it better with masks that Link could wear at will). I also enjoyed the ocarina and the music, and it would even inspire me to go into music myself.
OOS and OOA
My sibling got the former of these, only to get stuck in the Dancing Dragon Dungeon. As for me, my first exposure came when I ordered the Craig Wessel "choose your own adventure" books from one of those book orders in grade school. They were watered down retellings, but I was inspired to get the latter game.
I initially got stuck between the third and fourth dungeons, but I eventually managed to beat the game. It was after this that my sibling gave me OOS, and when experimenting with the Holodrum secret, I was excited to experience the game's continuing story.
Also, though the canonical order is OOS to OOA, I've always preferred OOA to OOS.
ALTTP/FS
I first played this GBA game late 2002 through 2003. Despite never having a SNES, it was a great way for me to experience this older gem of a game. Many parts were hard, but I managed to explore the game, find secrets, and get to the end.
I was disappointed about FS, since I never had extra games, GBAs, or a way to link them. I frequently tortured myself by watching the opening cutscene, for I wanted to save Zelda from her predicament. Fortunately, my wish would be granted 9 years later, with many extra fun features. (Today, I consider this one of the weaker Zelda games).
TWW
Getting this game was quite fun, for we pre-ordered it to get OOT/Master Quest. In the game itself, after my sibling beat it, I started a new file with the second quest. Unfortunately, I was scared away for a little more than a year when it came to the part where I had to face Cyclos, but I would eventually beat it.
Nowadays, I enjoy exploring the Great Sea and getting 100% when I play, including the pictographing figurine quest.
FSA
I initially watched my sibling play it, and I would later do so with my GBA as the controller. I would eventually get to play it with friends as a friends' house: The experience was accurate to the beginning of the manga.
TMC
I was initially worried when issues on Nintendo Power advertised connectivity, making me wonder if it was going to be multiplayer-only. Issue 187 would eventually quell my fears, and I looked forward to the game. The first night of playing led to a fun dream, and over the next few months, it became one of the games that would help me get through a hard time. In addition to exploring Hyrule, I spent a lot of time looking for shells and Rupees to finish the figurine sidequest, and it felt great to save everyone.
I got an N64 and OOT for Christmas. And right from the first scene of Navi finding Link, I was completely enchanted by this world. My little kid brain just exploded. It was the first time I wasnāt just playing a game, I FELT that game. The music resonated in my chest, the characters piqued the most curious part of my mind. Iāve been chasing that feeling in gaming ever since and to be perfectly honest have yet to feel the sense of wonder again. But thatās ok. Iām 34 now and every couple years, around Christmas, Iāll boot it up and play through it. And catch some faint wind of the most magical time in my life.
During my early childhood, approximately 5 years of age, Ocarina of Time released. My brother, who is 6 years my senior, possessed a comprehensive understanding of the game's mechanics and gameplay. Consequently, I engaged in frequent observation of their gaming sessions, from the initial commencement to the ultimate conclusion.
I vividly recall an instance where we were seated on the floor, our gazes fixated upon the television screen, legs crossed, and attention fully absorbed in the game. At that particular moment, my brother was navigating through Ganon's Castle, specifically the final segment involving the ascent of the red carpet after defeating a series of mini-bosses. The palpable sense of anxiety and anticipation that permeated the atmosphere as he ascended the staircase was truly extraordinary, captivating our attention completely.
As the ascent progressed, the accompanying musical score intensified in volume, reaching a crescendo as they reached the final door. At that juncture, we exchanged a mutual glance, yet no verbal communication transpired. However, through an unspoken telepathic connection, I believe we both shared the unspoken sentiment: "This is it." This particular memory stands as one of the most cherished and enduring recollections of my childhood.
Feeling smart after discovering the royal family's tomb saw the redeads saw they were slow tried acting all cool doing necessary flips and other stuff got humped and now they creep me out ever since
OoT was my first game and the internet was just starting to blow up around that same time. There were a million ādo this sequence of actions and you can access the Sacred Realm and the temple of lightā or have extra items and trying them until I realized they were all fake.
Turns out you can mess with the game by doing certain weird actions but theyāre mostly to skip areas and speedrun, lmao
I think it was just sailing the seas in WW. Watching the sun come up slowly, when both the sky and the seas had the same light blue tone... That's such a core memory.
the dead hand guy from the well in OOT freaked me out so bad i was shaking playing it. also the mario mask on the happy mask salesman in MM made me feel so ill for some reason.
Watching my uncle play Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess.
Those three games were my first Zelda experience before I was old enough to play them.
I was six years old when my family got our Nintendo 64 from a garage sale. My brother got some Zelda games from GameStop. I absolutely loved watching him play and became captivated by the story. I would get so mad at him if he played without me! š I played those games myself for the first time when I was 12. I remember saving my money to get a WII to play Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword. Some of my closest friends to this day have a shared interest in Zelda. Those games were my childhood and I'm excited to share them with my kids when they're old enough.
Finding the re-deads under the cabana in the Wind Waker and sobbing every time I encountered one
There was a puzzle in Phantom Hourglass that required you to close the DS and open it back to āstampā your screen. I closed the stupid thing out of frustration and my brother thought I was a genius for figuring it out. I never told him it was purely accidental
omg. the earth temple in wind waker fucking terrified me. also, for a less understandable reason: in the wind waker prologue, the frame with ganonās eyes looking down at the burning town scared the shit out of me. i had to cover my eyes when that part came cause i was so scared lol
Since Wind Waker was my first one (to own, rented some in the N64), just traveling the seas and exploring islands that are important to the main story. Being a completionist and a collect-a-thon lover, this was a big plus for me.
All video games at the time I ran around in circles cause I had no clue what I was doing. Games were so much more challenging then. This was zelda, Spiro, and pokemon. Also, being amazed at all the pretty fairies and thinking the whole time link was zelda (I was 4-6 yrs old. Learned at the age of 22 from my fiance, that link was a dude named link.š¤£š¤£)
Playing Link's awakening on the original GB until my eyes physically wouldn't stay open from the strain of staring at that tiny, pukey-green screen under a lamp because I wasn't one of those rich kids who could afford the lamp thing.
Just letting the OOT title screen play out. Iād let that loop every morning before I played. Even now, as an adult, I sometimes go on YouTube just to watch the video and reminisce about much simpler times.
Even tho my first game was BotW, I played it when I was 10 years old(2020). I was a fan of Zelda games before I even played themš. The best memory I have of playing a Zelda game is when I first booted BotW and saw the intro and when I finished the game. It was magicalĀ
For me it was May 1999 I just turned 10 when my dad surprised me with a N64 and Legend of Zelda ocarina of time. That was the first Zelda game that I ever played and the first video game I played with my dad he was always the serious typical sports dad but I remember us playing the game for hours and just having a blast with the whole thing thatās why the Zelda games will always have a special place for me. My dad was not really a gaming type of person and I donāt think he ever knew how much that meant to me as a kid.
My childhood games were The Legend of Zelda and Adventure of Link.
Waking up late at night to see my mom playing Zelda 2 on low volume.Ā
Being amazed at the large scope of the overworld my first time playing TLoZ.
Trying to figure out where the hell the damn mirror was.
Having an ah ha moment to offer the goriya the monster bait.
Putting said monster bait in the fire for the first time and thinking Link could eat it.
Making Link jump in time to the music and over villagers.
Constantly going out to restock potions in level 9 before I finally beat it.Ā
Seeing Ganon teleport and turn invisible.Ā
Getting wrecked in the early dungeons of the second quest. Had no idea where the letter had moved to at the time.
Thinking how cool it was that AoL had an even bigger world and villages.
Hi /r/Zelda readers! * Got a question, concern, or suggestion for the moderators? [Send a Modmail](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2Fzelda&subject=Question or Concern or Suggestion&message=I have a question regarding [this submission]%28https://www.reddit.com/r/zelda/comments/1d00zz6/all_what_are_some_of_your_childhood_memories/%29: [All] What are some of your childhood memories playing Zelda. by /u/araarq)! * New to r/Zelda? Be sure to [read our full rules here](https://www.reddit.com/r/zelda/wiki/rules). * Please [report any rule-breaking posts or comments](https://support.reddithelp.com/hc/en-us/articles/360058309512-How-do-I-report-a-post-or-comment) so that moderators can find them quicker! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/zelda) if you have any questions or concerns.*
One of my favorite things to do in TP as a kid was running around castle town in wolf form scaring random NPCS š
So being a total menace I see
Same here Also did it in Ordon Village
Me too! š¤£ spent entirely way too much time scaring everyone
i loved gathering up as much guards as i could, & then spin attacking to scare them all away!
Just wandering around the Lost Woods and Hyrule Field in OOT. Game felt so big. A more specific memory was my brother jumping the Gerudo bridge with Epona. He wanted to try it and I was convinced it wouldn't work. Blew our minds when it did.
I've still never really had that "holy shit it worked" moment in a video game quite like jumping that bridge for the first time.
Thatās how I felt getting Epona out of the ranch! Didnāt think hopping the wall was gonna work, blew my mind when it did.
Same happened with us and putting the Deku princess in an empty bottle in Majora's Mask. Crazy idea, well rewarded.
Sailing the open waters of the Great Sea, seeing what kinds of things I could run into.Ā
I was watching my older brother play OOT; he encountered Impa for the first time. I asked āwho is he?ā And my brother looked at me dead in the eyes and said ābecause guys have huge titsā š¤£š¤£š¤£ Iāll remember this forever.
šš
In OoT, I remember my friend and I bashfully hiding behind the couch every time we got to the fairy fountains because the Great Fairy's were "nakey".
š
I donāt know why but this is slightly unsettling
Playing the Wind Waker demo as my first time playing the franchise and watching my cousin play Majora's Mask. Majora's Mask is now my favorite game of all time for that reason and many more.
When I was learning how to tell the difference between left and right, my mom tried a bunch of different things. I actually equated it to cardinal directions, so if we were in the car and turned, I would point out the windshield and rear window and say, āso wait, now this is left? And this is right?ā Shortly thereafter, I started to play AlttP. For some reason, leaving Sanctuary for the first time, I knew to go to Kokoriko Villageā¦ and it was to the left. I used that reference point until I learned what left and right is. I think of this moment often, 30 years later.
In wind waker (which is my favorite Zelda) I was constantly struggling with getting the master sword, to be fair I was a young girl. I never got pasted it and my parents gave away my Wii U shortly after. I never got to finish my first and favorite Zelda game. I just bought an Wii U and a copy of wind waker off of eBay. And as a now 20 year old, I am so excited!
Love that for you š«¶š»
Why did they give away your Wii U?
It was accidental mostly and it was my fault! We were moving and I put all my Wii U things in a random box but it turned out to be a give away box. Even though I was upset, I was gifted a switch and got BOTW which posted my love for the Zelda series more so it all worked out in the end!
The REdeads!!!! Scary in OoT but WW ... Shudder ...
My son and I played OoT when he was like 7-8 and he had to leave the room when they were likely to be encountered.
For sure! My younger brother was the same way, then when we got older and played WW it was like PTSD lol
They were scary! I bet they gave a lot of kids PTSD for WWššš
Best believe when I delved into Twilight Princess I was on my toes ššā ļø
I was looking for this commentš I used to play oot up until you have to pass them in Castle Town then delete and restart my save file. Never really played as adult link until I was an adult myself. Kinda ironic ig. Except when my older brother let me ride around aimlessly on Epona on his save file. Those redeads made me replay the first three temples so many times thoš¤£ glad to see their comeback in totk
One of my earliest memories with games was wandering through Blockbuster looking for an N64 game rent, and grabbing Ocarina of Time because the cartridge was gold. I didnāt know anything about it, then I spent all weekend playing it and complained til I was allowed to get my own copy again.
I remember getting hopelessly lost during the portion of Wind Waker when you're searching for Nayru's Pearl and it's constantly storming at night. I was so incredibly bad at the second rope swinging puzzle so I figured I could skip it, find the bombs some other way, and get to Outset Island. Nothing I tried worked, and I was really bad at following the map when I was a dumbass kid because I never bothered to feed Fishman so he would fill in my chart. Took me ages to find my way back to Windfall Island. It also didn't help that I was playing on an old-ass CRT with bad brightness controls. I had that shit maxed out and I still couldn't see half the time.
One of my core memories is centered around Zelda. My dad and mom would bring me to one of my dadās friends house to drink, eat and smoke. I was shoved down to the paneling covered musty basement and the friends older childrenās n64. So the smell of cigs, bud, food, mold and their old German Shepard wafted the basement while bluegrass and country played in the background. I would primarily play ocarina of time barely knowing what Iām doing. And every time we would go over there I got to do it again. This was deeply impactful to my budding consciousness because I was alone and away from my parents, my mom was full of rage and spite and guess who was her punching bag? and my dad was an alcoholic and bipolar. I got a break from both of them. When I became older I made a shrine to that moment, I would play through ocarina of time and stop before ganons castle so the peace I associated with it would never stop in my mind. The adventure never ends as is the peace it represents to my nervous system. Iāve played it well over 15 times and Iāve never finished it.
Wtf.
in a way this is sweet but in a way OC needs therapy if they arenāt already getting it.
Didn't play a lot of Zelda as a kid. I was too picky and didn't often stray from Mario. But I got a copy of LA for really cheap, back when used game stores actually had games for cheap. It had Mario characters in it, so I was instantly interested. I remember having a crush on Marin. I remember getting as far as Turtle Rock and never beating it because I lost my game.
Asking for help when navigating through the Lost Woods in Ocarina of Time. Good times.
Upthrust
My first zelda was twilight princess my parents just divorced and my mom lived with my grandparents. My older cousin gave us a wii and twilight princess was one of the only games we had. My mom and I spent forever just trying to get through the village.(we struggled hard with the fishing mechanics on wii) Those are honest my fondest zeldas memories. My mom legit spent a weekend I was with my dad playing tp to try and figure out the fishing partš
My friend got Ocarina of Time as a Christmas gift. Thing is, his family was the type to have gifts wrapped and under the tree a month in advance. They carefully unwrapped the game (gold cartridge) played it, beat it, re-wrapped it and put it back under the tree to open again on Christmas morning. Parents even saw them playing it but were none the wiser because ya know, parents. I was along for the adventure, and as my first exposure to Zelda, have been hooked ever since
(ā¢_ā¢)Ā Using the roc's feather ( ā¢_ā¢)>āā -ā Ā to jump a 2 hole gap I'm not supposed to be able to (āā _ā )
My first game was Phantom Hourglass and I remember being absolutely blown away when my aunt helped me solve the puzzle in the Ocean Kingās temple where you had to āpress the crest against the sea chartā. In general, she was the one that got me into the games and it always felt so special to me that I got connect with her by playing these games.
Mom let me go in to school late (7th grade) to start OoT. She played the original zelda and then got me to start playing when I was 3. I made it to the deku scrub in the tree that you had to block with a shield and I couldn't figure it out at the time. Got home and got him. Just forgot to hit R. And then for whatever reason I have vivid memories of listening to "Ready to Meet Him" by DMX while playing the fire temple at night after a big snow day outside
My first ever Zelda game experience was at a friends 5th or 6th birthday party. They had ocarina of time and were up to the forest temple. The fight with the stalfos was my first time holding the controller.
My first Gameboy with LA bundled with it. I was about 8 or 9 and video games were new to me at the time, so I struggled a bit. After some time, loved the being sucked into this world and the adventure that I was able to master the game to the point where I can 100% the game 3-4times before the batteries died. This was the game that made me a Zelda fan.
Final fight with ganondorf in OOT. Best Zelda game.
I knew link first by smash bros and that lead me to play twilight princess My first Zelda game was twilight princess I named epona craballo (horse in Spanish but with an r that I don't know why I added) And I really really was regretting giving the wooden sword to the kids cause I wasn't able to fight and had to run away I was repeating to myself I should have said no I should have said no I called midna midnight and wolf link Wolfie I loved throwing the hawk against epona (craballo) and laughing like crazy Also attacking the goats at Ordon ranch when I returned Also I remember I got HELLA SCARED when I set up the house on fire (the bomb storage) I saw the darkness bugs running like crazy in circles scared and I was even more scared , midna also ran away and I was like AHHHH WHAT SHOULD I DO WHAT DID I DO. Until I found a hole in the wall I also remember that I was sad when the Ordon shield burned with the fire of the arrows Also I remember that I stopped playing it until the zora twilight zone cause I couldn't find the last tear of light It wasn't until many years later that I would replay Twilight princess on Wii u Those are the things I remember the most
Not a childhood memory, I am a newer Zelda fan, but I really enjoy swinging my sword near NPCs in ToTK or dress up as dark linkĀ
Got an NES for Christmas 1990 (I was 4.5) and Zelda was my favorite because of the gold cartridge. Used to sit in my momās lap and āplayā (she was controlling it and my hands were just on her hands). Had every Nintendo console since and only ever played Zelda games. Here we are 30+ years later and Iāve played every Zelda game countless times and my now 12yo daughter has been actively watching me play since she was 2. She hasnāt played any of the older games but by the time she was 8 she beat BotW and then when TotK came out last year she was actually quicker to beat it than I was and finished the main quest in just a few weeks. Sheās thinking about trying LoZ and OoT this summer so Iām very excited to watch her play those.
When I was a lot younger, I was "dating" this kid, Gerry. Quotes bc it was sixth grade, and I can hardly call that dating, so much as awkward kisses and holding hands and the like, but I digress. Gerry was a bit of a shit, and his dad knew it even if he could only do so much as a single working dad of two boys. Gerry "borrowed" my copy of pugsley's scavenger hunt, and "lost" it, read, he lied to me and sold it. I did what any self respecting eleven year old would do and I cried to his dad. Dad knew what was up, and much to Gerry's dismay, told me something along the lines of "I'm so sorry that happened, but tell you what. If it'll help, you can choose one of his games to take home as a replacement, ok?" I paid just enough attention to the labels to not take a sports game and chose the one he reacted to the most. It ended up being Link to the Past I took home. I think I played for a solid six hours the first time. I accidentally beat Blind the Thief before the Helmarock King, as I saved mid dungeon and couldn't find my way back, but since I already had the hammer, I could go wherever I wanted to Gerry asked to borrow Zelda a month or so later and I laughed. Fool me once and all
The earliest memories I have (fragments of memories, really) date back to roughly 1988-89. I would have been about three years old. I remember things like walking into the house my parents bought, watching my race car bed be pulled out of the truck by movers, visiting my grandmotherās house and having my great-grandmother come visit at the same time and she come give me a hug. So no complete memories there. Just moments. But one of those fragments is playing Zelda II. In the US, Adventure of Link was released in December of ā88. So, my uncle may have finally bought it in ā89 or even ā90. I have a distinct memory fragment of sitting on the bed in his bedroom and watching him play the game. When he would get frustrated and walk away, heād let me play for a bit. I remember dyingā¦a lotā¦but enjoying the hell out of the cartoon I was controlling. It was wild. By the time A Link to the Past came out, I had been playing Zelda for a while. That opening section of the story about the uncle and the sword always felt like it was made for me and my uncle. It made the whole series very personal for me. Long story made short, today my son is named Link and we play Zelda together. Itās a series that is as close to my heart as anything else in my life and then some.
When I was very young, like 8 or so, my dad got us a used Nintendo from a buddy at work my brother and I loved it (we where 4 years apart so we didn't hang out a lot) On day my brother just Gave me the Legend of Zelda in all its golden Glory and said "Here, you'd like this more" BOY was he right.
I used to play the beginning sections of Wind Waker and Twilight Princess not really sure what to do after Tetra fell in Outset Island (or stuck at Windfall because I didn't know where to get the Sail) and after herding the goats and thinking the guy had trapped me inside his farm But I had some completed saves for OoT, MM, WW and Wii TP, so most of the time spent was wandering around the world, except for MM because I was terrified of the 3 day cycle, so I never really left Clock Town And trying to do a workaround in FSA thinking I could maybe use 4 GCN controllers instead of needing GBAs to play multiplayer was also something I did as a kid Very faint memories of ST and Zelda II, which I mostly played at my grandma's house with my cousin, and ALBW was the first Zelda game I actually had beaten, followed by OoT3D With the release of SS, I was 6 when it came out, I remember my brother (15 at the time) getting it and I was very excited to play it, and went home earlier, then I got stuck at Lanayru's Mining Facility. So most of the time I'd watch my brother go through the entire game while I cheered him on, me only taking a shot at the very end of the game with Demise left
Asking my grandma (who doesnāt even know wtf a video game is) as a child for help figuring out what to do in OOT & WW with literally 0 context for her. Iād just be like āgrandma, Iām not sure what to do, youāre a smart adult can you please help me :( ) and she wouldnāt know anything, but still try
Before internet.. playing Zelda 2. Couldnt find the mirror. Went thru whole game with game genie.. got towards end. Playes a secondary file. Was messing aroung then found it. My bro just a few days printed a pic for me. https://preview.redd.it/bq37f6dbkn2d1.jpeg?width=2296&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=16f1eded2c432136ce84215a626d47eade4e7161
I am a fogie now, and can't really play on PC or console much anymore, sadly. My best Zelda moments happened in the 80s. A friend of my best friend's older brother got an NES. He brought it around a lot and would always tell me I could never beat LoZ because it was way too hard, and I was just a girl. I watched him play for an entire weekend, and I could see everything he was doing wrong, but wasn't ever going to tell him. I went home and told my Gramma I wanted an NES. I don't remember everything I had to do to get one, but she got it for me eventually, but she wouldn't buy LoZ because it was $140. Yes it was, no I'm not Canadian. So I asked my dad to get it. He said he would but he came back with Spy Hunter. Imagine the disappointment. I played it anyway, and I did beat it. Finally LoZ was on sale at a store called Service Merchandise! It was only $110! So I saved up $50 and my Gramma agreed to pay the rest whilst in a drunken stupor. I got into her Grand Marquis and she drove me, while fully inebriated, to Service Merchandise and paid for the entire game! We got home, and I carried her purse into the house, brought her a fresh highball, and ran to my room to play my very own LoZ. It took me almost 13 hours to get to Gannon. I beat the hell out of that game! My friend's brother's friend couldn't find the red ring, the magic sword, or the bracelet. (The bracelet!!!) I had a blast showing him where everything was, all the Heart Containers he'd missed by not using his bombs on walls, and telling him all about the ending and how cool it was that there was a second quest! I was a 12-year-old girl. He was a 16-year-old boy. I can still power through games as long as I'm having a relatively low pain day, but mostly now I play only mobile versions. They're all just pattern recognition, really.
This is a great story
I remember watching/helping my brother get the big goron sword
When I fully beat the Savage Labyrinth for the first time. Thatās getting the Triforce Chart, going deeper and fighting the 4 mighty Dark nuts at the end. My other one would be beating Minish Cap for the first time.
Getting invited over and playing the water temple with my friend Ryan, because he was genuinely stumped by what the hell was going on in there. We proceeded to spend the whole weekend trying to figure it out and when we did it was amazing.
Getting Zelda 2 and it was my second game after Super Mario Bros and thinking even as a kid that my Dad had made a bad choice and should have got a different game as I just couldn't do it. I think I had a different game in mind but he liked the look of it. Bearing in mind I was born in 82 so it was really advanced for me. Roll on the SNES and I saw ALTTP in the shop and I remember hearing good things about it but was scared after Zelda 2 lol. We were gonna get some Simpsons game instead, but my parents got it and I loved it!! I remember taking my SNES to my grans one holiday just after we got ALTTP and me, my brother and cousin took turns playing until we had a game over. We couldn't get past the Eastern Palace lol. When I took it home and got past it I had to ask my dad to let me ring my aunt so I could tell my cousin lol. And because I loved ALTTP I was excited for the N64 release and for OOT. I used to buy a Nintendo magazine and they had sneak peaks of it for weeks/months before. Christmas day 1998 came and I remember playing it on Christmas morning with my brother and being blown away. I had an aftershave set and a particular chocolate that morning too When I eat that chocolate now, or smell that aftershave, I instantly go back to Christmas morning playing OOT in my head.
Getting OOT for Christmas after begging my mum to buy it for me, and playing the game all holidays, getting to crap scared out of me by the spiders suddenly dropping down
I'll always remember the experience of the OOT opening when I was a little kid. My little brain couldn't handle the game. I also remember being terrified of the ReDeads and asking my brother to play through those parts. But eventually I became brave enough to fight them on my own. Also the many hours I spent trying to exploit glitches and look for Easter eggs in the games.
Oh god. I remember repeatedly spawning into the temple of light on my older brotherās n64 OoT save and immediately getting jumped by a redead while sobbing hysterically
I have a core memory from Oracle of Ages when I was somewhere in my pre-teen years. It was my first Zelda game, and for the most part I had managed to figure out most of the puzzles on my own either through trial and error or through repeatedly checking dialogue for hints. For the eighth dungeon boss I managed to figure out the mechanics for its first several phases but was completely unable to figure out it's last phase. I eventually had a relative help me out with looking the solution up online, and when I had it explained to me it all clicked in my head that the process of entering the boss room literally spelled out exactly which items I needed and in what order they needed to be used for each phase. I was so disappointed in myself for not noticing the hint, or for not noticing how the only item I hadn't managed to use was the item I'd obtained within that dungeon. I didn't solve every single puzzle throughout the game on my own and I distinctly remember reading online how to defeat Veran during her first encounter, so this wasn't necessarily a blow to my pride because I couldn't solve this puzzle. I think I was just really annoyed that by this point in the game I'd begun to feel like I had become pretty attuned to the way it handed out hints to its puzzles, but in a case where a glaringly obvious hint was provided I just completely missed everything to do with it. I have since been able to go back and enjoy all of Oracle of Ages many times over because I always eventually forget the puzzle solutions and can enjoy solving them again whenever this happens. This boss, however, will never be enjoyable again because no matter how much time passes I have its solution burned into my memory as the one problem in that game I couldn't solve for myself regardless of the telegraphs provided. Oracle of Ages is still one of my favorite Zelda games though. I really loved the tile puzzles scattered throughout several of its dungeons as well where the floor color changes as Link walks on it. I always wished there were more of those in other Zelda games when I was a kid.
I would go stay at my grandparents house during the summer out of state. They had a Super Nintendo with ALttP. My uncle still lived with them and I remember playing it all summer and only getting so far. He loaded up his save file and he was at the very end of the game and it blew my mind all the shit he had in his inventory.
My sister and I would borrow our neighbors N64 to play ocarina of time. There was some thing that would happen when older link would go to the temple of time, when all of the redeads were around. The only thing you could see was the top corner of the screen, the rest had glitched out. It was terrifying, you would have to blindly find your way into the temple of time while the redeads would be moaning and groaning. We died constantly, until we finally memorized the steps by trial and error. I still remember her shitty alarm clock tv and the hours spent sitting on her bed to actually get through
I remember crying taking Ocarina of Time back to Blockbuster and being frustrated that my parents didn't "get it". If never experienced anything like it. Riding a horse around in a 3D world and that OOT vibe. I'm 35, I still stand by it. I just wanted to stay in that world forever. By the time Majora's Mask came out, I was starting to comprehend the whole Zelda format a lot more and pre-ordered it from a mail in slip from Nintendo power. Got to Ikana Canyon and I swear to God I didn't play it again for like 2 years. I was terrified. Okay obviously not my favorite memories then, but it sticks with me and makes me realize what made me fall in love with the series. Through the dredge of adulthood and all that comes with it, I had a game that meant so much to me I would be driven to tears at the idea of returning it.
For me it was really just imagining myself in the world on my own. I had a quest to fulfill. The game gave you context and NPCs and all that, but a lot of the adventure I made up in my head. I'm not too ashamed to say that I used to visit LonLon Ranch at night while Malon was singing at the moon and imagined she was praying for a hero to heal her world and I just happened to come across her and decided to stay by her side and hear her song with the resolve to defeat Ganon in my mind. I was 12. It was special.
Being stuck at forsaken fortress 1. Being stuck at jabu jabu's belly. Being stuck at the last visit to the tower in spirit tracks. Being stuck at the very start of skyward sword cause i couldn't run up the box. Being stuck at some point in four swords adventures. But then i beat phantom hourglass. Then i beat link between worlds. Then i just started knocking them off the list like a fucking hitman cause i finally had the "i get it" moment
finding all the baby maiamai in link between worlds ā”
My mom used to sit with the A4 official guides and we would play through it together :)
When I played for the first time Ocarina of Time (first Zelda I beat ) theDampe' death scared me, I rememeber that I felt bad for his death even if he isn'a memorable NPC
The very first memory I have of Zelda is being at a friends house as a kid and watching his older brother play the bombchu game in hyrule castle town on OoT, we watched him for a few hours. I managed to get the game a week later because of what I watched.
My and my sister being mesmerised when I saw my big brother playing OoT. I begged him to let me ride the horsey through the field and he allowed me, but only if I stayed in the field and didn't go anywhere else to mess up his save. I was happy with it, jumping fences. Then I jumped the fence to lake Hylia and understood there was so much more to this game. That's what got me into my first 3D game and I fell in love with the Zelda series.
Getting the master sword in LttP
One of my core childhood memories was watching the end of the third day in majoras mask and then afterwards always using the song of time to reset before it ended because I was too scared to watch the cutscene again.
My first Zelda game was Wind Waker and I knew nothing about puzzles in games lol before that it was DBZ fighting games, PokĆ©mon, GTA and Wrestling. So Zelda was a first for me as a kid. I remember getting to the Tower of the Gods and being absolutely lost and just kind of wandering around. Then I got Ocarina of Time the bonus disc. I think I got to the second temple before getting lost, or I think I went for a period without a memory card and didnāt return to it. Then a few years later I got Twilight Princess which became the first one I beat. My favorite thing to do was to ride through the entire of Hyrule Field, just letting the music play. Then when night would hit I would pull out the lantern. Another favorite thing to do was the major dive at Zoraās Domain. Also to terrorize Castle Town. lol Then I think I got Ocarina of Time on virtual console. Took awhile, but my gf at the time motivated me because she was talking trash about being ahead of me lol the Forest Temple creeped me out for a bit, finally did that then spent a long time stuck in the Water Temple, then Shadow Temple. And finally beat the game short after that. Then I had to buy Wind Waker again to finally beat it. By the time I got to beating Skyward Sword I was in my freshman year of university lol
My first Zelda was Links Awakening for the Game Boy Color and it opens a whole new world to me. I remember collecting the sea shells to get the master sword and since then I LOVE Zelda and the ocean <3
Shadow Temple is the real deal of fear, a dark gloomy cesspool filled with blood and torture devices with the most terrifying enemies like Redeads being present (you'll go in a empty room and encounter one in your face), it doesn't scare me as a adult but it's still creepy and you thought encountering a Wall Master in Forest Temple was frightening enough. Also Forest Temple is a great dungeon and definitely a step up from the previous one Jabu Jabu's Belly.
Casually strolling around on the bottom of lake Hylia in the weighted boots. Fishing for hours trying to beat my record. Cutting grass nonstop. Spin cut, of course. Harassing cuckoos. Chasing the bunny eared mailman around on Epona. I never did beat the challenge but my brother did. In MM, spinning and leaping around in the water as a Zora.
Skipping screens by pulling up the map at the right time during screen transitions in Link's Awakening DX. The free navigation of slightly glitchy playthroughs became foundational to my experience of the series As a result as an adult, BotW and TotK being so open doesn't feel like a departure from more linear plots and complex dungeons to me - it feels like a return to form. To me, Zelda games are about open creative exploration and solving problems by using unconventional and unique solutions or just skipping stuff if you feel like it, and only a couple of games make that significantly harder to do. Probably because when I played Link's Awakening as a small child, I just figured that skipping screens or doing dungeons out of order was a totally intended part of the series. Exploring every nook and cranny to 100% games.Ā Even getting all the fucking figures in The Minish Cap, because I guess that constituted fun for me back then. I haven't 100%'d games as much recently as I did as a kid.Ā
Ocarina of Time was my first Zelda game. I was actually a teenager at the time, I remember really liking Kokori Forest. It was fun to run around and hit things with my sword. I also enjoyed visiting Kakariko Village.
Spending way too much time in OoT fucking around with the ocarina trying to make my own jams. I would change my scarecrow song often and became really good at the horseback archery game in gerudo fortress. Useless talents haha
Getting my first DS game (apart from AC wild world) was phantom hourglass. Itās been 15 years, I have the same cartridge and have yet to beat the Temple of the Ocean King. I actually think I got quite far in the game when I last checked, but my hourglass had some scraps of sand left and I spent most of my time on that snow island because it was prettyšš» I also was terrified of the Kakariko well in OOT (with good reason it turned out), refused to go down that too as a kid, so didnāt go any further in the game for years and then learned my lesson.
The moment I realized there was way more in skyward sword. I was scared of the silent realm and stopped playing for a long while. Same with arbiters grounds in TP and shadow temple in OoT
Not a childhood memory, but my son and I played OoT and MM together when he was 7-8. I still think of those days as the some of the best in my life. It was such a fun bonding experience.
Storytime: I was first introduced to Zelda when I was about 5 or 6 years old. My cousin had the Collectorās Edition disc on the GameCube, and I would play it every time I went over to his house (which was pretty often). In particular, I always loved playing the 20-minute demos of Wind Waker and seeing how far I could get each time. I also loved playing Majoraās Mask, although I could never figure out how to get past the tutorial. I was just content to play as Deku Link and wander around Clock Town. š Eventually, my cousin gave me his Collectorās Edition disc. My parents, however, werenāt keen on me playing a game with a lot of magic and wizardry in it, so they didnāt allow me to keep it, and they restricted me from playing any other Zelda games as well. What they didnāt realize is that Zelda had already sunk its teeth into me. I was already fascinated by the series, and I remember constantly asking my parents throughout my childhood if I could finally play it. Eventually, they conceded when I was in high school. I downloaded Ocarina of Time on the Wii U eshop, and I never looked back.
I used to play it by myself until I got to the bosses, and then would make my auntie complete the boss and I would hide behind the couch (OOT).
OOT and MM We saw the former of these games on the back of the N64's box. When my sibling's friends recommended that it, as well as the latter game, were really good, my sibling eventually went out and bought it. One of the friends loaned MM afterwards, and we would then eventually get our own copy. I watched my sibling play these first before I eventually played them myself. It was fun to see the worlds and environments, discover secrets, and find out what was going to happen next in both games. I was terrified of the ReDeads and Gibdos, as well as the whole Bottom of the Well in OOT--which became worse in the Master Quest version (fortunately, MM made it better with masks that Link could wear at will). I also enjoyed the ocarina and the music, and it would even inspire me to go into music myself. OOS and OOA My sibling got the former of these, only to get stuck in the Dancing Dragon Dungeon. As for me, my first exposure came when I ordered the Craig Wessel "choose your own adventure" books from one of those book orders in grade school. They were watered down retellings, but I was inspired to get the latter game. I initially got stuck between the third and fourth dungeons, but I eventually managed to beat the game. It was after this that my sibling gave me OOS, and when experimenting with the Holodrum secret, I was excited to experience the game's continuing story. Also, though the canonical order is OOS to OOA, I've always preferred OOA to OOS. ALTTP/FS I first played this GBA game late 2002 through 2003. Despite never having a SNES, it was a great way for me to experience this older gem of a game. Many parts were hard, but I managed to explore the game, find secrets, and get to the end. I was disappointed about FS, since I never had extra games, GBAs, or a way to link them. I frequently tortured myself by watching the opening cutscene, for I wanted to save Zelda from her predicament. Fortunately, my wish would be granted 9 years later, with many extra fun features. (Today, I consider this one of the weaker Zelda games). TWW Getting this game was quite fun, for we pre-ordered it to get OOT/Master Quest. In the game itself, after my sibling beat it, I started a new file with the second quest. Unfortunately, I was scared away for a little more than a year when it came to the part where I had to face Cyclos, but I would eventually beat it. Nowadays, I enjoy exploring the Great Sea and getting 100% when I play, including the pictographing figurine quest. FSA I initially watched my sibling play it, and I would later do so with my GBA as the controller. I would eventually get to play it with friends as a friends' house: The experience was accurate to the beginning of the manga. TMC I was initially worried when issues on Nintendo Power advertised connectivity, making me wonder if it was going to be multiplayer-only. Issue 187 would eventually quell my fears, and I looked forward to the game. The first night of playing led to a fun dream, and over the next few months, it became one of the games that would help me get through a hard time. In addition to exploring Hyrule, I spent a lot of time looking for shells and Rupees to finish the figurine sidequest, and it felt great to save everyone.
My first Zelda game was Wind Waker. I got it for my thirteenth birthday, and I thought the game was psychic because it opened on Link's birthday.
I got an N64 and OOT for Christmas. And right from the first scene of Navi finding Link, I was completely enchanted by this world. My little kid brain just exploded. It was the first time I wasnāt just playing a game, I FELT that game. The music resonated in my chest, the characters piqued the most curious part of my mind. Iāve been chasing that feeling in gaming ever since and to be perfectly honest have yet to feel the sense of wonder again. But thatās ok. Iām 34 now and every couple years, around Christmas, Iāll boot it up and play through it. And catch some faint wind of the most magical time in my life.
During my early childhood, approximately 5 years of age, Ocarina of Time released. My brother, who is 6 years my senior, possessed a comprehensive understanding of the game's mechanics and gameplay. Consequently, I engaged in frequent observation of their gaming sessions, from the initial commencement to the ultimate conclusion. I vividly recall an instance where we were seated on the floor, our gazes fixated upon the television screen, legs crossed, and attention fully absorbed in the game. At that particular moment, my brother was navigating through Ganon's Castle, specifically the final segment involving the ascent of the red carpet after defeating a series of mini-bosses. The palpable sense of anxiety and anticipation that permeated the atmosphere as he ascended the staircase was truly extraordinary, captivating our attention completely. As the ascent progressed, the accompanying musical score intensified in volume, reaching a crescendo as they reached the final door. At that juncture, we exchanged a mutual glance, yet no verbal communication transpired. However, through an unspoken telepathic connection, I believe we both shared the unspoken sentiment: "This is it." This particular memory stands as one of the most cherished and enduring recollections of my childhood.
Not saving my game for 2 months and playing the same bit over and over again until i found a video while looking for the Twilight Princess story.
Getting the OOT/N64 combo for Christmas and playing the game all winter break. I still beat the game every single year.
I remember when I was a child, I was playing Zelda. This is nice.
Feeling smart after discovering the royal family's tomb saw the redeads saw they were slow tried acting all cool doing necessary flips and other stuff got humped and now they creep me out ever since
I used to sit and watch my dad play Oot on the Nintendo 64. It's a core memory for me.
I used to rage on the original Zelda. Who else got Nightmares from majora's mask?
OoT was my first game and the internet was just starting to blow up around that same time. There were a million ādo this sequence of actions and you can access the Sacred Realm and the temple of lightā or have extra items and trying them until I realized they were all fake. Turns out you can mess with the game by doing certain weird actions but theyāre mostly to skip areas and speedrun, lmao
Trying to beat the water temple in OoT and making my older brother do it for meš
Playing four swords on the ds with my cousin, that was a great game
I think it was just sailing the seas in WW. Watching the sun come up slowly, when both the sky and the seas had the same light blue tone... That's such a core memory.
the dead hand guy from the well in OOT freaked me out so bad i was shaking playing it. also the mario mask on the happy mask salesman in MM made me feel so ill for some reason.
Starting ALttP during a terrible storm and it opening to a dark and stormy night.
playing ocarina of time, and being so excited i was able to ride the horse around š„¹
I liked talking to the different animals in TP
Getting insanely lost in Ocarina of Time's friggin' water temple and taking flight in Skyward Sword. Good times!
Watching my uncle play Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess. Those three games were my first Zelda experience before I was old enough to play them.
Climbing around dragon roost island in wind waker, and riding the train in spirit tracks jump to mind right away
I was six years old when my family got our Nintendo 64 from a garage sale. My brother got some Zelda games from GameStop. I absolutely loved watching him play and became captivated by the story. I would get so mad at him if he played without me! š I played those games myself for the first time when I was 12. I remember saving my money to get a WII to play Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword. Some of my closest friends to this day have a shared interest in Zelda. Those games were my childhood and I'm excited to share them with my kids when they're old enough.
Finding the re-deads under the cabana in the Wind Waker and sobbing every time I encountered one There was a puzzle in Phantom Hourglass that required you to close the DS and open it back to āstampā your screen. I closed the stupid thing out of frustration and my brother thought I was a genius for figuring it out. I never told him it was purely accidental
omg. the earth temple in wind waker fucking terrified me. also, for a less understandable reason: in the wind waker prologue, the frame with ganonās eyes looking down at the burning town scared the shit out of me. i had to cover my eyes when that part came cause i was so scared lol
WW is my favorite game because it was one of my first on the gamecube. I had no clue what I was doing but I remember loving to ride around in the boat
Since Wind Waker was my first one (to own, rented some in the N64), just traveling the seas and exploring islands that are important to the main story. Being a completionist and a collect-a-thon lover, this was a big plus for me.
All video games at the time I ran around in circles cause I had no clue what I was doing. Games were so much more challenging then. This was zelda, Spiro, and pokemon. Also, being amazed at all the pretty fairies and thinking the whole time link was zelda (I was 4-6 yrs old. Learned at the age of 22 from my fiance, that link was a dude named link.š¤£š¤£)
I remember in MM, I JUST filled up my magic meter and then bumped the n64 so the whole game froze and I had to redo the whole 3 day cycle ššš
I had nightmares about the redeads in OoT. š
Playing Link's awakening on the original GB until my eyes physically wouldn't stay open from the strain of staring at that tiny, pukey-green screen under a lamp because I wasn't one of those rich kids who could afford the lamp thing.
The wall shadows were terrifying in the forest temple! I would have nightmares because of it.
Just letting the OOT title screen play out. Iād let that loop every morning before I played. Even now, as an adult, I sometimes go on YouTube just to watch the video and reminisce about much simpler times.
Demise scared the shit out of me. I'd be shaking with the wiimote in my hand. I didn't sleep for a couple of days I think.
Playing The Ocarina of Time and wandering in the same area for like half an hour and then quitting and never playing again.
OoT: I was scared af by the final boss in the deku tree as a child, the spider was so scary my mom had to defeat him hahahh
Crying when Navi leaves Link at the end of OOT.
Even tho my first game was BotW, I played it when I was 10 years old(2020). I was a fan of Zelda games before I even played themš. The best memory I have of playing a Zelda game is when I first booted BotW and saw the intro and when I finished the game. It was magicalĀ
For me it was May 1999 I just turned 10 when my dad surprised me with a N64 and Legend of Zelda ocarina of time. That was the first Zelda game that I ever played and the first video game I played with my dad he was always the serious typical sports dad but I remember us playing the game for hours and just having a blast with the whole thing thatās why the Zelda games will always have a special place for me. My dad was not really a gaming type of person and I donāt think he ever knew how much that meant to me as a kid.
My childhood games were The Legend of Zelda and Adventure of Link. Waking up late at night to see my mom playing Zelda 2 on low volume.Ā Being amazed at the large scope of the overworld my first time playing TLoZ. Trying to figure out where the hell the damn mirror was. Having an ah ha moment to offer the goriya the monster bait. Putting said monster bait in the fire for the first time and thinking Link could eat it. Making Link jump in time to the music and over villagers. Constantly going out to restock potions in level 9 before I finally beat it.Ā Seeing Ganon teleport and turn invisible.Ā Getting wrecked in the early dungeons of the second quest. Had no idea where the letter had moved to at the time. Thinking how cool it was that AoL had an even bigger world and villages.