Zelda Director/Producer Eiji Aonuma Never Finished The First Legend of Zelda
"I almost feel like there's still no game more difficult than it."
By Chris Pereira, 09/08/2011
If you've ever tried to play The Legend of Zelda -- maybe that free copy you got as a 3DS Ambassador -- and found yourself frustrated, you're not alone. Eiji Aonuma, who has led the Zelda series as a director and producer since the N64 installments, has never completed it himself.
"I've never actually finished it," he admitted to Game Informer when asked for his thoughts on the franchise's first game. And it's because of its difficulty, something that has hurt his enjoyment of games in the past. When 1UP profiled Aonuma in 2007, he was asked about how he once said he isn't interested in Mario games. He responded, "I'm just not good at them, that's why! I always fall!"
Explaining exactly what's stopped him from finishing Zelda, he said, "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."
So while the original Zelda -- which is 25 years old as of this year -- didn't really hook the man who would go on to greatly influence the franchise, it was the game that came out five years later, A Link to the Past, that did. According to him, it was the "sense of exploration of the world" that really grabbed his interest.
It's surprising to hear that he's still never played through the original for himself, given his prominent role -- he directed Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Wind Waker, and Twilight Princess. He was a producer on both Spirit Tracks and Phantom Hourglass, and has assumed the same role again for the upcoming Skyward Sword.
