Eiji Aonuma Never Finished the Original Legend of Zelda

In a recent interview with Game Informer, Eiji Aonuma gave us some background on his personal history with the Zelda series. In particular he talked about the original Legend of Zelda and had this to say.

I’ve never actually finished it… I almost feel like there’s still no game more difficult than it. Every time I try to play it I end up getting ‘Game Over’ a few too many times and giving up partway through. Certainly after playing the original Zelda for the first time, I didn’t ever think that I wanted to make a game like that.

I find it hard to believe that the man behind most of the modern Zelda titles hasn’t even beaten the original game! Crazy. Makes you wonder if Aonuma’s experience with the original Legend of Zelda has caused any difficulty influences on future titles. Many of the recent titles, in particular The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Phantom Hourglass have been criticized on occasion by core Zelda fans as being a bit too easy. A stark contrast from the two NES Zelda titles that released in the late 80’s.

So how did somebody like Eiji Aonuma, who never beat the first Zelda game end up being on the Zelda team? Well, it turns out it was the third Zelda title, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past that got Aonuma hooked. He had this to say about A Link to the Past.

That sense of exploration of the world itself was really where I latched on to the series.

It was there where Eiji Aonuma got his inspiration for the video game Marvelous, which was the first game that Eiji Aonuma directed. After seeing his work, Shigeru Miyamoto brought Aonuma on to the Zelda team and the rest is history.

Game Informer is promising tons of goodies that will be released in the coming weeks so be sure to stay tuned right here at Zelda Dungeon where we will report once these become available.

Source: Game Informer
Related: Legend of Zelda Walkthrough
Related: Skyward Sword Strategy Guide

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