The Legend of Zelda

What happened

Released in 1986, The Legend of Zelda, also from Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto, dropped players into a large open world to explore at their own pace, solving puzzles and battling monsters as the hero Link. It let players save their progress, a novelty for console games of the time.

Why it matters

Zelda pioneered the open-world action-adventure, showing that games could offer exploration and long, non-linear quests, and became one of gaming's most influential franchises.

Sources

• The Strong National Museum of Play. The Legend of Zelda · Reputable source