[floatleft]http://www.snackbar-games.com/images/reviews/legendofzelda/cover.jpg[/floatleft]For quite some time I have had a Gameboy Player and I didn’t really make use of it. I picked up SMA4:SMB3 and the Komani Arcade collection, but I didn’t really spend much time playing either game. Dots and I recently went on a family vacation and just prior to the vacation she saw the commercial for the Classic NES GBA SP. I have known about it for quite some time but I could tell that it made quite an impression on her as being something we needed. Long story short, it ends up being my early Father’s Day present along with the classic NES game The Legend of Zelda. LoZ is one of my favorite games of all time only being trumped by Super Mario Bros. 3 and Bionic Commando.

While on this vacation to the Magic Kingdom I spent far too much time playing my wonderful new toy. I haven’t had time to finish the first quest yet, but I really dig this retro throw back to my gaming roots. Like many of you, I got my start with the NES and I was ensnared by the nostalgic look of the Classic NES GBA SP. It has been a good long time since I had engaged in any type of mobile gaming, but I am glad that we took the plunge since I have obviously been missing quite a few awesome games.

[floatright]http://www.snackbar-games.com/images/reviews/legendofzelda/ss02_thumb.jpg[/floatright]The original Legend of Zelda debuted in 1987 and was quite a milestone in gaming at the time. The re-released GBA port of the game is an identical re-release of the original game. The amazing thing is that the game is just as solid as it ever was and even though I have the original game on one of the collector’s edition Gamecube discs, there is something special about playing it on a NES styled GBA, but I digress.

The game plays just as it did back on the NES with slowdowns caused by a screen full of enemies and all. I was able to adapt back to the controls on the GBA far quicker than I did with the Gamecube controller so playing on the GBA turned out to be much easier.

The game is 100% identical to its previous release and I have rarely come across someone that hasn’t played the original Zelda so I won’t go into detail about the game itself. It has been released as a part of Nintendo’s Classic NES Series for GBA and I think it is a stellar idea. There are so many NES games that I wish would be re-released so I could play them on newer hardware and Nintendo knows that. I am not sure if the $20 price tag is justified since LoZ is right about 17 years old now, but I was willing to pay it. $15 would probably make this game a little more appetizing to casual gamers that may be new to gaming. Zelda fans and GBA owners absolutely have to put this one on their short list, preferably at the top.

[floatleft]http://www.snackbar-games.com/images/reviews/legendofzelda/ss05_thumb.jpg[/floatleft]Legend of Zelda packs the same stellar punch that it did when I was 8 years old and it was amazing how all the secrets and tricks in the game seemed to come flooding back to me all these years later. The graphics are standard fare 8-bit, but the gameplay is just as addicting as it ever was. I implore everyone that doesn’t own this to find a copy as soon as possible. Unless of course you own the Zelda Collectors Disc for Gamecube, then you probably have already satisfied your Classic Zelda fix.