The Legend of Zelda was not an RPG like the Final Fantasy series, but it was the first video game I remember thinking “This is a story I dig.” Granted, I was around nine when the game came out, and the story is pretty simple: Build the McGuffin, save the girl. But the original Zelda was the first game I remember playing where the story seemed to matter: Unlike Super Mario Brothers, you could WIN the Legend of Zelda. So I played this game, shared strategies with my friends and scoured the map for as many of the secret passages as I could.

And I loved every minute of it.

Zelda was the gateway to pen and paper RPGs, console RPGs, comics, and computer games. I still remember my friends telling me that D&D was like, “playing Zelda with your friends, without a TV.” For this reason alone, this game will always hold a place in my heart.

What about you? What was your introduction into this wonderful world of nerddom?!