Sadly, Nintendo fans who bought the 3DS for its original price already have The Legend of Zelda (released alongside 9 additional NES titles and 10 GBA titles as part of Nintendo's "Ambassador" program for 3DS early adopters who paid high price for the system before the major price cut), so this will be a bit disappointing for them. Thankfully, more 8bit goodness is coming soon.
Alongside the release of the original Nintendo Entertainment System Zelda game, 3DS fans can purchase an 8bit sports classic with NES Open Tournament Golf, featuring Mario, Luigi and Princess Toadstool, also costing $5.
If you never played the original Zelda 1 before, you owe it to yourself to check the game out, and get the lowdown on how the Zelda series kicked off with Link's first adventure. In the game you set out to recover 8 pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom, a holy relic that Princess Zelda shattered into pieces and hid all over Hyrule to stop the evil Prince of Darkness, Ganon, from combining with the Triforce of Power that he already stole following his invasion of the land.
The game is as old-school as they come, and is VERY difficult by modern standards. There is no handholding and you are never told where to go, where anything is hidden, where dungeons are located, or what to do. You start out with only a Sword, but eventually you'll find all of the classic Zelda weaponry like a Boomerang, Bombs, and Bow and Arrow, as well as interesting new ways of traversing the land of Hyrule that will allow you to gain access to previously unaccessible areas.
Your goal is to find all 8 Dungeons, explore every room and find the hidden Item/Weapon held in each one, and defeat the Dungeon Boss in order to recover a Triforce shard.
Of course, The Legend of Zelda is one of the most well-known Zelda games given that it was the first, and many people have played it by now. So some will see its release on the eShop as "meh". But I find it great that the game is now available in an easy, portable form. And there are undoubtedly many kids who have not gotten to experience Link's inaguarle adventure, so this makes a welcome release either way you slice it.
The 3DS version also has a digital instruction manual built into the game which is a great deal of help, and will tell you what all of the Items and Weapons are and what they do. Which is sure to come in handy for newcomers.
I was never able to beat the Zelda 2nd Quest myself.... *sigh*
