Why The Legend of Zelda NES Was Such a Success: IGN Discusses Their Thoughts and Theories

In a recent video uploaded to IGN’s YouTube channel, various members of the IGN staff discuss why they love The Legend of Zelda for the NES, and why they believe it was so successful.

One of the first topics of discussion was the marketing choices Nintendo of America made at the time. One choice in particular was the gold cartridge that The Legend of Zelda was commonly sold on; it made the game stand out from others on the store shelf. The Legend of Zelda was packaged in a box like other NES games, but it had a small window in which you could see the gold cartridge itself. Since then, gold has been a color that defines special edition box art for console bundles and games in the Zelda franchise.

I won’t spoil the rest of the conversation for you, so you can go watch the embedded video above. Do you have your own ideas on why the very first Zelda game was such a hit among one of the first generations of gamers? Consider sharing them with us in the comments below.