The Classic NES series of games on Game Boy Advance is a collection of the most popular titles from the original Nintendo Entertainment System console. These were issued in 2005 at the supposedly budget title of £15, a very high cost considering the age of most of the games and the fact Nintendo had been including them as free unlockables and giveaways in other games for a few years now. Most of the titles issued are early entries into now famous franchises such as the original Super Mario Bros. or Donkey Kong. This particular game is a rerelease of the original The Legend of Zelda. A primitive adventure game that would serve as a precursor to the entire RPG genre. It is also one of the few of the Classic NES series that comes close to being worth the price.

The Legend of Zelda is a deceptively complex game. Initially the game does not ask much of the player, you control the hero Link from a top down perspective and armed with a sword and shield, you work through the world killing monsters. As things progress however you begin to encounter dungeons filled with more sophisticated monsters and some basic puzzles. At the time this was actually quite remarkable gameplay as it placed emphasis on both action and exploration. It also functioned in a manner quite unlike many games today in that it encouraged you to make your own way through the world. The end goal is to collect all the pieces of the triforce macguffin but these are scattered throughout the world and the game isn't picky which order you pick them up in. Beyond that there isn't much of a story and most of that is explained in the game's manual. However, the appeal of exploring keeps the player interested and when you finally overcome all of the dungeons and fight the villain, Ganon, it's very rewarding to know just how much you did on your own. There's very little hand holding, you are literally thrown in the deep end and that's surprisingly refreshing from a game made in the 80s.

Fans of the series who didn't play this the first time around might be interested in checking it out and see the series' roots. While there is some merit in this, it probably won't carry your through the entire game which has moved on a lot in twenty years.

Unlike some of the Super Nintendo ports or the Super Mario Advance series, the Classic NES games haven't been tweaked in any way and look identical here to their original versions. This is something of a mixed bag as the game itself is inconsistent. The characters and monsters look quite good, if a little blocky but the worlds in Zelda basically consist of some perfectly square mountains and paths, more akin to a maze than anything else. It's a pity but ties in their overpriced nostalgia angle. Sound quality is vicious on the ears, even for a Game Boy Advance game and the music is repetitive as hell but this product is targeted purely at the nostalgia buff.

These days the original Legend of Zelda can be found on the Wii for less than this will cost you but if you simply must have a portable version then this is your only option. It can be found on Amazon for less than £10 and will probably pop up in other places too.

This will run on any Game Boy Advance or Game Boy Micro system, it is also compatible with the original DS or DS lite but not the DSi or DSi XL.