New Zelda promises surprises

After years of anticipation and tantalizing teasers, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrives on May 12, 2023.

The long-awaited sequel to Zelda: Breath of the Wild will likely consume hours upon hours of playing time and move millions of copies. After all, its precursor has sold roughly 30 million copies.

The original Zelda was one of the first games to hint at how expansive and engaging video games could be. Ocarina of Time showed the full potential of 3-D gaming. Breath of the Wild demonstrated how much freedom a game could offer. What will Tears of the Kingdom offer? Rumor has it that there will be floating islands and a chance to soar through the sky. But many surprises await.

The inspiration for Zelda came from Shigeru Miyamoto, the mind behind many of Nintendo’s most famous franchises, who was inspired by early childhood experiences exploring woods and fields and occasionally getting lost in daydreams. An older Miyamoto set out to build a video game that would tap into the wonder of exploring unknown places.

Many early video games were extremely simple. Pong, a tennis-like game, featured a few white paddles and a white ball with nothing else. The original Zelda, on the other hand, allowed players to explore a world complete with mountains, rivers, forests, and more. Beyond that, everyone wants to be the hero, and with Zelda, you could literally save the princess.

After the release of the first Zelda, essentially every generation of Nintendo consoles has enjoyed at least one major Zelda game. Many of these games went on to be bestsellers and sold millions upon millions of copies. Check out some best game lists for a Nintendo console, and at least one Zelda game will surely appear. Skim through some lists of the best video games of all time, and you’ll likely find Breath of the Wild, Ocarina of Time, and A Link to the Past at or near the top.