It’s no secret that Nintendo has had a profound impact on the history of the video game industry.

After an epic collapse of the video game industry in the early ‘80’s, which left retailers with absolutely no desire to have anything to do with any product that called itself a video game, Nintendo was able to single-handily resurrect home console gaming, through their sheer determination and moxie.

What was once an emerging art-form that was left for dead, was suddenly reforged into an activity synonymous with the name Nintendo itself; through the popularity and might of the Nintendo Entertainment System.

While those salad days didn’t last forever, as new challengers rose and eventually overtook Nintendo’s position of industry leader, the company has continued to pioneer; pushing forward our conceptions of gaming, the mechanics of games, and what products will be accepted by the consumer.

After resurrecting the home console, Nintendo was able to define gaming on the go, through the portable Game Boy line of systems. When Nintendo needed to rethink both portable and home gaming, they did so through the massively successful Nintendo DS and the Wii systems.

At this moment, we are on the cusp of Nintendo’s next console, a hybrid device between  a home console and a portable unit called the Nintendo Switch. Much like the launches of the Wii and the Nintendo DS, Nintendo is once again attempting to redefine the concept of what it means to play video games.

There is a huge potential impact that the Nintendo Switch may have on the market place if they are successful in their endeavors to marry home and portable gaming.

However, as good as the Nintendo Switch may or may not be, no console is going to be worth a single dime without good games.

Fortunately, Nintendo has often been at the forefront of redefining the art of gaming itself; having published numerous games that have pioneered new mechanics and established new genre’s.

With the launch of the Nintendo Switch on the horizon (March 2017 as of this writing) I thought it would be fun to take a look back through the history of Nintendo and pinpoint the ten games that in my opinion, have been the Ten Most Important Games Nintendo Ever Published.

Throughout the month of December, we’ll be counting down the titles in Nintendo’s vast history that have pioneered standards for the entire industry and laid the foundations for Nintendo’s success.

These games were the games that were often instrumental in refining the very notion of what video games are and what they can be.

We already counted down #10, #9, #8, #7 , #6, #5 and #4 on our list, so you should probably take a look at those post haste.

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3. Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

It might be hard to imagine now, but Nintendo was much more experimental in the follow-ups to the two most successful games on the NES: Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda.

The direct sequels for both titles: Super Mario Bros. 2 and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link bore very little resemblance to what either of the two franchises would eventually become.

While Super Mario Bros. 2 still retained at least a shadow of the elements found in its predecessor (the Japanese version more so than the American version, which was a repainted version of another game: Yume Kojo: Doki Doki Panic) Zelda II felt entirely different.

Gone was the unique top-down viewpoint that helped the original Zelda title stand out from the crowd. In it’s place was a more traditional, 2D side-scrolling view during action sequences.

Those action sequences were very different from the original incarnation of Zelda as well. Combat became became punctuated with things like hit-points and experience levels; staple that were more at home in traditional RPG fare, and not what the Zelda series would eventually become.

While this story isn’t necessarily about Zelda II, it’s still important to reference just how different Zelda II was compared to its predecessor, in order to set the stage for just how important the third game, the Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past would be.

This is because the Legend of Zelda series, while popular with Nintendo devotees, was nowhere near being the pop-culture icon that we know it as today; and the experimentation that Nintendo allowed in Zelda II didn’t do much to cement the series as the gaming icon that it is today.

And that is why the third game, Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past is an essential part of the Zelda franchise and Nintendo’s overall history.

The dawn of the 16-bit era and the arrival of Nintendo’s Super NES console allowed a fresh start for the Zelda series; however, rather than take the series into further uncharted areas through an avaunt-garde approach to design, Nintendo decided to re-examine and build upon the foundations of what made the original Zelda game a classic.

With Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Nintendo jettisoned the superfluous additional elements that had crept their way into the Zelda lexicon in Zelda II.

Gone were the jarring 2D side-scrolling action sequences and the RPG hit points which never quite fit in with the overall sense of exploration and adventure that the original tried to convey.

Instead, Nintendo returned the Legend of Zelda series to its roots by restoring the simple-but-effective real-time combat found in the original, as well as the classic top-down perspective made famous in the original.

But it was the added power of the Super NES that helped the series truly blossom.

This added muscle gave Nintendo a much bigger canvass with which they could paint a much broader story.

Players were greeted with a truly cinematic opening, as the hero Link is awoken in the dead of night by a voice in his mind crying for help – the tranquility of his care-free youth washed away amidst a torrential downpour as he desperately chases his uncle, and is suddenly thrust into a battle to protect Hyrule from everlasting darkness.

These opening minutes set the tone for the truly epic adventure that would follow, as players traversed two sprawling renditions of the kingdom of Hyrule, as well as numerous dark dungeons, caves and mountains.

 

Elements that would become such an essential part of the Legend of Zelda lore, such as finding the Master Sword, dual-versions of Hyrule, and different races within the fantasy kingdom, all got their start in Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past.

Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past would have a strong influence on every other game that would be created in the series. 3D titles starting with Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time would draw upon its themes and expand upon them; creating a rich tapestry that helped fuel the series’ debut in 3D.

Portable titles for the Game Boy Color and the Game Boy Advance would use LTTP as a direct template in how those titles would look and feel.

The subtitle “Link to the Past” refers not only to its canonical place in the Legend of Zelda time-line, but also to the links to the past of the series itself.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past was truly a landmark moment for Nintendo. While the foundations for the series were definitely laid in the original NES titles, Legend of Zelda: A link to the Past could be considered the cornerstone of that foundation that paved the way for Legend of Zelda to become Nintendo’s top series.

Today, the Legend of Zelda series acts as a co-flagship series for Nintendo: sharing that honor only with Mario.

As Nintendo prepares to launch their next generation platform, the Nintendo Switch, it’s currently the promise of the next chapter in the Zelda saga, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, that the company is relying on to build anticipation for the next machine.

While we don’t know for sure what the finished LOZ: Breath of the Wild will look like from a game play perspective, savvy players will undoubtedly be able to find a strong “link to the past” if they search hard enough.

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I hope that you enjoy this look at the Most Important Games Nintendo’s Ever Published. Please keep an eye out at NerdBacon.com, or like our Facebook page as we continue the countdown!

We also want to know your thoughts on what games were most important to Nintendo. Have a disagreement with the list? Want to share a Nintendo memory? Just let us know in the comments section below.