Before Nintendo settled for couch-lock players for most of its pubs, its marketing department had ideas. For The Legend of Zelda license, these ideas were often synonymous with adventure and challenge to illustrate Link’s adventures.
Celebrating the release this Friday, May 12th of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, one of the most anticipated games of 2023, here are a selection of the top six TV commercials of the Zelda saga.
Also read: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Here are the four new powers from the trailer
1. The intense American commercial of “Majora’s Mask”
People all over the world have their eyes on the sky or are glued in front of the television. Time seems to stand still while the threat grows: the moon crashes to earth. Destitute soldiers watch a child playing Nintendo 64 from behind the glass pane of a security room. With the end of the world looming, only one thing can stop it: the player.
The American commercial for Majora’s Mask, the darkest episode of the saga, is a gem. In this Ocarina of Time sequel, released in 2000, Link has just three days to stop the moon from collapsing. The ad perfectly illustrates what shines in this game: the need, the urgency, and the idea that the player is the residents’ only hope. The marketing department hit the nail on the head.
2. When Robin Williams played with his daughter…Zelda
The late American actor Robin Williams named his daughter Zelda, who was born in 1989, after the first game in the series, played by his eldest son Zachary. He appeared with her in two commercials for Skyward Sword and Ocarina of Time 3D about twenty years later. The result is adorable.
The actor’s attachment to the license shaped some fans so much that after his death, fan art that put him in the shoes of the King of Hyrule began appearing on the internet. Also, Nintendo seems to have paid homage to him by sculpting an NPC from Breath of the Wild out of his face.
3. Dolls on Cocolint Island
To promote the GameBoy episode West Link’s Awakening, released in 1991, the choice was made for an irrelevant rap. Too bad the western marketing team didn’t choose to keep the original Japanese advertising, much more fun, colorful and refreshing.
Link, Marine and the other characters in this excellent work were embodied by cute dolls who ventured into the exotic jungles of Cocolint Island while singing. A fun choice that also evokes the artistic direction of the recent remake on Switch.
4. “Will you ever finish Zelda III?” »
That’s the question asked at the beginning of this advertisement for A Link to the Past, available today in the Super NES catalog of the Nintendo Switch Online offering. The message is clear: the game is long and difficult! So it depicts a trendy young man with a crooked hat who is part of the third opus of the saga, released on Super Nintendo in 1991. But as he progresses in the adventure, we see him aging shot by shot. Until he became the skeleton that was always fixed in front of the television. “Do you think it’s over?” But this is just the beginning …”
A spot that will make you smile even more today if you know the length of the last episode of the series released so far on Nintendo Switch, Breath of the Wild.
Also read: Five video games like Zelda to enjoy ahead of Tears of the Kingdom release
5. The ultimate challenge: to save her
With two or three exceptions, The Legend of Zelda is always based on the same motive: Link goes to save Zelda. The Wind Waker commercial, in turn, builds on this idea by choosing to make the damsel in distress speak through images of this grand adventure.
But the advertisements particularly refrain from explicitly naming the young woman, and rightly so: In Wind Waker, Link doesn’t save Princess Zelda, but her little sister Arielle!
6. “Zeldaaaa!!! »
The first two works of the saga, released on NES in 1986 and 1987, benefited from almost identical promotion. It must be said that the images used illustrated the idea of walking through a dungeon.
We discover an actor playing Link walking through dark and dangerous fog-filled corridors while screaming the princess’s name. A bit strange though: We prefer Mute Link!