User Reviews

The Legend of Zelda is a cartoon contained within the much more successful Super Mario Bros. Super Show based on the game of the same name.

This cartoon is obviously a big screwup. It does no justice for the awesome game series it is based on, and anyone can you tell that.

Yet still, there's something about it that is extremely funny. Maybe it's how they turned Link into a cocky jerk, or the nightmarish acting, but it manages to be so funny you just have to keep watching.

In closing, the show is horrible, but it's hysterical. It's a guilty pleasure. Too bad it only lasted 13 episodes.

I see a few reviews here criticizing this series because it isn't "FaItHfUl tO tHe sToRy oF aLl tHe zEldA gAmEs," but these individuals aren't too bright. You need to keep in mind that when this was aired on TV, there were only two Zelda games in existence: The Legend of Zelda, and Zelda: Link's Adventure. Both of those games contained the most simplistic of plots and little to no story whatsoever. So for the creators of this series to take a couple of 8-bit games and create this animated series, it deserves some applause. Now granted, when you look in hindsight, the writing is pretty bad, the cheesy catchphrases are used way too often to the point that it becomes hilarious, and the trope of Link wanting to kiss Zelda only to have it interrupted each episode does get annoying; however, the sound effects pulled from the game give it an excellent nostalgic feeling. Plus this is a kids show and you can't say that you wouldn't have loved watching this when you were 4 or 5 years old. I mean damn, I remember watching Pokemon every morning before school and loving it, but when I look back at it now I can see all kinds of flaws.

Really repetitive and childish although Len Carlson as Ganon is awesome also some of the redesigns are pretty clever remember this was made when there were only one Zelda games in existence and the graphics were really limited.

How ever me personally I have never really cared for 80s kid shows that much and with some creative plots some which interestingly enough show up in later game series(kinda) there is an evil doppelganger of Zelda similar to the dark reflection of Link(shadow Link,Dark Link in later games) and Link loses his body(similar to how Zelda loses her body in spirit tracks) it's probably all a coincident given that Nintendo did not really favor this series but it is still kinda interesting.

If you decide to watch it wont hurt you but just don't expect a masterpiece.

Next to The Super Mario Bros. Super Show is The Legend of Zelda, Altough not lasting long on it's run. It's still a can't miss!

The 1989 "Legend of Zelda" animated series lasted for 13 episodes, and aired as part of "The Super Mario Bros. Super Show". As a huge fan of the video-game series, I was aware of the infamy that this series holds, but I figured I'd give it a shot- I was able to get the entire DVD set online for about $10, it arrived a few days later, I gathered some friends who also knew about the show and how bad it apparently was... and we popped it in!

This was bad. Really bad. Uwe Boll-bad. "Super Mario Brox. The Movie" bad. Just really, truly bad.

You know your cartoon based on a reasonably serious and well-loved game is going to suck when the most compelling episode revolves around our hero Link having to save a water-park. Yup. Whereas the games had Link saving the world, and featured deep plot lines about loss, power and corruption... in this cartoon, Link protects a water-park. I must give credit where credit is due, unlike the Mario series, at least this cartoon didn't have a bad rap song to start out with.

This series follows Link and Zelda, as they struggle against the evil Wizard Ganon. Whereas Link was a noble, good person in the video games, here, he is turned into a snobby, perpetually-randy teen-aged jerk. (With one of the most aggravating, irritating catch-phrases since Scrappy Doo showed up... "Hey!!!! Exc-uuussseee me, PRINCESS!" Makes me want to punch myself in the head.) And Zelda, always the damsel in distress in the games, is actually a capable heroine who more often than not saves Link. The evil Ganon, whom at the point of this cartoons release was just a stock villain, well... he's still just a stock villain. He shows up, cackles and threatens our heroes, is defeated, and flees. Rinse, wash and repeat in the next episode.

I will say a few things to this shows credit. For one, the animation was actually halfway decent, and was much better than Nintendo's other cartoons. The music was also a step-up, and featured some good orchestral covers of the themes from the game. And despite my complaints, some of the gags in the series did work, and I could see a 6-year-old loving this show.

But the writing is just so bad. It really feels like a phoned-in cash grab. It reeks of Nintendo selling the rights just to make a quick buck. None of the writers really seem to be trying with this show. At least the Mario show had puns... This show has one lame catchphrase that it falls back on constantly.

This is a pretty pathetic show. I give it a 4 out of 10, just for the unintentional laughs it will give you if you watch it ironically. But it's not worth buying, even for fans.

What do you think of when you think of a Zelda game? Do you think of the story of a courageous young boy out on a quest to save the world and Princess Zelda? The amazing and detailed game worlds? Beautifully written plots? The puzzling dungeons? The epic boss battles? The great music? Well, I can guarantee that you'll find absolutely none of that here! This cartoon is nothing like the games we all know, and most of us love. This was originally aired with The Super Mario Bros Super Show! It would be aired on a Friday, when SMBSS was first run, replacing one of the two Mario cartoons usually shown. As a fan of the Zelda series, I was somewhat aware of the show's existence and it's notoriety. 'Surely it can't be that bad?' I thought as I found all 13 episodes on the internet. I thought wrong. By the end of the first episode, I was speechless. It was bad. Then I watched the rest, stupidly thinking this might improve. It didn't. However I did manage to find some good points. The animation is noticeably better than the Mario cartoon. Less errors, continuity, etc. The voice acting was good. They put effort into it. Zelda is a more active character in this well before the games did. She actually fights. It would be a while until we see her pick up a weapon in the games. And have more of a part in the games. So, uh, yeah. Those were the only good things I could think of. I'm surprised I managed to think of any! Now the negatives. Oh, Link! Why did the writers make him so irritating? Here he is portrayed as a selfish, whining idiot who only saves Hyrule from evil so he can get a kiss from Zelda. What happened to the kind, selfless, courageous Link who saves the kingdom of Hyrule from evil because he actually cares?! Even in the first two games, (which this is based off as they were the only Zelda games released at the time this was made) it was established in the game manuals that Link would do anything to protect Hyrule and its people. Plus the writers of this cartoon decided to give Link the most annoying catchphrase ever; the infamous 'Well, excuuuse me Princess!" Next, the plot lines. The games have original, imaginative plotlines. This doesn't. The Zelda games have always had a more serious tone than the Mario games but nope. The writers just made this into a comedy show, like the Mario cartoon. The 'jokes' aren't even funny. I did not laugh once. At least the Mario cartoon made me chuckle a few times. The plots themselves aren't even that good. It's mainly the evil guy Ganon, showing up attempting to steal the Triforce but then our heroes Link and Zelda show up and defeat him. Then Link tries to get a kiss from Zelda, but it fails. Then repeat. Of course, they throw in some inane elements to try and keep it interesting, like one reviewer mentioned that there was an episode where Link had to defend a water park. Hmm. The character Sprite is irritating too. She was completely unnecessary. I'm not sure what her role was in this but she was very annoying and could probably give Navi from Ocarina of Time a run for her money as 'Most Annoying Fairy.' In summary, do not under any circumstances watch this show. Do not waste your time with it. You won't be missing out on anything. I wouldn't make even my worst enemy watch this. There was so much the writers could've done to make this to its full potential but couldn't be bothered to. Play the games instead. They are so much better than this. In fact some of them are regarded as the best video games of all time. And I just remembered that there's also a manga series based on a few of the games. I'm not sure if it's still in print but if you do find it, pick it up as it's pretty good and it's really what this should've been.

If you can just take it for what it is, it's actually pretty entertaining. Don't get me wrong it's horribly, but in a really fun way. Now if your a hardcore Zelda fan that dreams of a Game of Thrones/Lord of the Rings style series about the Legend of Zelda, keep dreaming because this is not that. Just a cheesy over the top so bad it's good cartoon, but that's okay if you can take it for what it is.

On a side note, if I had one thing to say about the show that it actually does really really well, it would be the chemistry between Link and Zelda. How they interact and how that helps drive the story I feel actually really works. It's works completely on accident but it still works.

It's not exactly the "best" cartoon series but it's not the worst either. It's has some ups and downs but I am fine with that because I did like the idea of the "Zelda world" being in a series and the characters interacting with one another. It's like my childhood dreams come true! It's stories do get repetitive. Princess in trouble, save princess and so on. Some episodes I will admit were decent like the Singing Unicorn. Some good action scenes too! All in all, it wasn't too bad but it's just needed something more creative.

It's a shame not many shows are as good as this nowadays. This show has it all. Gripping plots, amazing writing and super awesome music! I got the whole show for free as a powerup reward from gamestop a few years ago. I will never sell it because I love it.

Story: Even better than the Skyward Sword and Twilight Princess plot combined.

Animation: It's as if Jesus himself animated this before he died.

Music: My favorite song is the one that just plays in the show every five seconds.

Voice Acting: Well exuuuuse me, princess!

9/10 super special awesome

Yes it is kinda bad and all of that, but it is still some media about one of the oldest and bestselling Nintendo game franchises in the world: The Legend of Zelda. And to the critics, listen: It's definitely much better than the Philips CDi games.

Like most cartoon from that era, everything had to be cool and for that reason it hasn't aged that well. Still however there are quite a few positives.

The animation was fine, which loads of characters from the first two games added. Plus exclusive characters to the series. I watch twice now, and it makes me wonder and hope for some kind of new attempt.

The series seems deserving of another short especially with the success of Sonic and the many seasons of Pokémon. And the upcoming Mario movie.

Oh my gosh this is so terrible. The worst rendition of the Legend of Zelda I've ever seen. I love it so much and want to watch all the way through twice.

The Legend of Zelda is a tv show adaptation of the video game series. It doesn't require any knowledge of the game series, but the intended audience is fans of the early games. Various trends from the series started here.

The show is an episodic interpretation of various exploits by the evil Ganon to steal the triforce of wisdom. The main characters are very different from their game counterparts and the dynamic between them is entertaining.

The plot is repetitive, predictable and there's no overarching narrative. The catchphrases are iconic but cheesy. The animation is pretty generic and the action is simplistic but the sound design is great and has lots of callbacks to the classic game

If you are a fan of 90s cartoons or The Legend of Zelda and don't mind how corny it is you should enjoy this. It's actually pretty fun and humorous if you can get past the faults.

I'm a big fan of Nintendo's classic series of adventure video games "The Legend of Zedla". And when I heard that they did a cartoon series about it, I'll admit I was actually really wanting to see it. But when I finally looked it up on YouTube, I was greatly disappointed. This show was just cheesy, campy, annoying, badly scripted, dull and overall terrible. Here is a short list of things that are wrong with this show:

1. Link - In the games Link was meant to be a heroic, brave, and strong hero who would do whatever it takes to protect Princess Zelda and The Kingdom of Hyrule. In this show he is a cocky, smart-Alec, stubborn jerk who only does these things so he can get Zelda to kiss him. Plus he has an annoying catchphrase of "Excuuuuse ME, Princess!" which he says constantly in almost every single episode. I have no problem with catchphrases, but Link takes his annoying catchphrase way too far.

2. Bad plots - The episode plots are too dull and uninteresting. The games had great, well-thought-out, original, and epic story-lines, but in this show we get Link turning into a frog, The King of Hyrule building a water park, and Zelda falling for another guy. This show would have been much better if it had a story-arc, or a more serious and dark setting.

3. Spryte - Spryte has gotta be one of the most annoying characters in cartoon history. She's obnoxious, has an irritating, squeaky, high-pitched voice, and fails to do a good job at what she is meant for: comic relief. Her jokes are cheesy and terribly unfunny.

4. It's just plain dull - The worst thing about this show by far is how dull and effortless it is. You can tell the writers and directors didn't care if it was a good show or not. Because this show is repetitive, dull and boring. It's not interesting or exciting in any way, the action scenes are short, predictable and boring, the stories (as I already mentioned) are cliché, and not very Zelda-like, and the comedy portions of the show aren't funny in any way.

This show was just awful. It was unfaithful to the games, it was predictable, dull, boring, uninteresting, annoying, and just stupid. "The Legend of Zelda" is one of the worst cartoons of all time, which is ironic as the Zelda games are some of the greatest video games of all time.

Rating: 1/10 "Horrific"

There are two types of bad in television. Cringe-bad and Fun-bad. The Legend of Zelda (1989) definitely fits into the second category. It is based on the Nintendo video game of the same name (1984). While watching this absolute mockery of Zelda lore, I would constantly find myself laughing at the atrocities of the dialogue and plot. The animation and music are both ok, but not as good as some '80s classics. If you somehow don't know this already, Link's catchphrase is "Well, excuse ME princess!" This catchphrase is basically everything wrong with the show. It turns Link into the most unlikable a$$hole in history and he is one of the worst parts of all of this.

But, as I said before, it's ok because this show is fun to watch. Fun-bad but fun.

If it were unironically bad this would be 3.5/10 but because it is fun-bad I rank it as 7.2/10

If you are a Zelda player then this will appeal to you for how bad it is, but if you are not you will be completely miserable.

This does not age well. Links attitude towards Zelda is horrible. He is so cocky and selfish. Not like a hero that saved hyrule at great personal sacrifice. And vice versa. Zelda is treats link like a danger to her personal space. Not like a princess who was saved by Link multiple times before. The fighting is just stupid. Gannon is cheesy. The bad guys are too easily defeated that it really does make a bad story. I really wish they would do Justice and do a live action version. The character right out of the game were a bit too spot on too. They were just animated like the video game without any more fluid motion.

Why would you even like such a thing? I mean, seriously?

I love Zelda the video games, I can't think of anything in the world video game wise that I love more. I was so juiced when I got this DVD because I though it was going to capture the bliss of the video and the beauty that is link and his quest. It didn't. I was so angry I sent it back three episode in.

The first thing that upset was Link's voice, seriously he sounds like his nose is got a laundry clip on it. The second was his hair color, brown...brown! He is a blonde, a beautiful, perfect blonde!

The 3rd and the most important to me I found about 30 seconds into the episode. He is a jerk. The Link I know gives up everything to save Hyrule without getting anything in return, he is a hero because he cares about the people and not because he gets something out of it. I just wanted to pop his head off.

It may sound like I'm a crazy fan, but I'm just stating my opinions, I would suggest this series to anyone unless I wanted them to mock it with me or see the horror and feel my pain. It is worth a watch if you like TV shows and movies because everything is worth at least one watch, you don't know what you like unless you try it.

It's amazing, cute and corny. If you're basing it off of the games, you might see it as bad but as a show on its own in the late 1980's it's so lovely.

What I remembered from my childhood: Link's "Excuuuse me, princess!" catchphrase.

What stood out to me watching again with my kids: Zelda and Link have an incredibly toxic relationship.

She's a manipulative narcissist, he's the creepy "nice guy" who expects physical affection in exchange for anything he does for someone else (and repeatedly whines about it).

Neither are particularly faithful and seem ready to cast each other aside as soon as someone better looking comes along.

Conversations were had with my kids about how poorly Zelda was treating Link and how important it is to help people because it's the right thing to do and not just because you want something from them.

I can't help wonder if this was just as damaging to kids forming ideas about relationships as the rom-coms of the era.

Contrast with "Captain N" of the same era that we also watched recently, but featured a strong female lead and a much more respectful male lead.

Zelda or Link is just boring. Boring games and now this a boring show that couldn't last long. It's a decent show that remains a big boring sight.

EXCUUuuuooouuuzzzz ME, Princess!!

Best cartoon ever. Zelda is so cute. Link is cuter. She should have kissed him when she had the chance.

Best episode was the kissing contest when some demon replicates Zelda's body and Link decides to hold a kissing contest to tell them apart. Of course the demon kisses Link no problem. The real Zelda just slaps Link, so it's obvious she's the real one. Lol.

I think the only legit kiss Link got was from Zelda's dad.

I watched this cartoon in the UK in the early 1990s and thought it was very entertaining. The character of Link is you're average confident but cocky American with a magic sword and Zelda who acts like a Canadian nobility.

The characters and animation are very well drawn and represented though the storylines are slightly wooden it is still entertaining

From what I have read on the Trivia Link was a more sophisticated on noble character committed to his duty, his repetitive catchphrase gets very irritating you would think for such a person with an important job he would have better Sarcasm. Zelda is good as his sidekick as well as the lady protects she is not an annoying damsel in distress with abit of Romance.