The Legend of Zelda celebrates its 40th anniversary

First 4 Figures has released a teaser trailer for a new Link statue based on The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom to celebrate the franchise's 40th anniversary. This announcement marks the first official merchandise tie-in for the milestone, which technically hits on February 21, 2026. That is, the first that I can find.

Of course, writing a retrospective right now is a dangerous game. I fully expect Nintendo to announce a 4K remaster of Ocarina of Time or a new Switch 2 bundle approximately five minutes after I publish this article. But until that press release hits my inbox, we have a moment to look back at four decades of Hyrule. I like to live dangerously.

My first Zelda impression

My first trip to Hyrule happened at a friend's house in the late '80s. At the time, open-world adventure games usually meant text parsers like King's Quest or the abstract blocks of Atari's Adventure. The Legend of Zelda was different. It didn't ask you to type "open door." It just gave you a sword and let you explore.

That sense of agency was expensive. I did a lot of odd jobs in my neighborhood to afford the gold cartridge. I still pull it off the shelf once a year, usually around this time. Even though I've explored every corner of Hyrule, I still feel like I discover something new every time.

The side-scrolling detour

Then came Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. I understand developers don't want to just recreate the same thing with a few changes. You end up with Super Mario 2. I don't know what I was expecting. But it was not a side scroller with a Dragon Warrior like over-world. Years later, I can recognize the genius in its RPG mechanics and combat depth, but in 1988, it felt like the series had lost its way. It is still the only game that has a flawless downward sword thrust.

A Link To My Past

A Link to the Past wasn't just a return to form. It was a relief. The moment I stepped out into the rain in the opening sequence, I knew the top-down perspective was where Link belonged. It refined every rough edge of the NES original and established a formula that would dominate the industry for decades. At this point, I had my first job. I was able to purchase a Super Nintendo A Link To The Past bundle, along with F-Zero.

Fixing 3D combat

Ocarina of Time is often cited as the best game ever made, but its technical contributions are what actually matter. Before 1998, 3D combat was a mess of bad camera angles and whiffed attacks. Nintendo invented Z-targeting (locking on) and solved the problem instantly. I remember cancelling plans with friends the weekend it came out. I have no regrets. If Nintendo remakes any game from the Zelda franchise, I hope it's this one.

Majora's Mask followed, proving Nintendo could do dark and weird just as well as high fantasy. It was a risk that paid off, creating a cult following that persists today. However, this might be a love it or hate it situation. I don't generally like being timed or rushed in games. Especially Zelda games. I like to explore every corner and just hang out. Majora's Mask was counter to that. I adore my Major's Mask New 3DS XL.

Breaking the formula

The series eventually became a prisoner of its own template. Enter Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. These games didn't just update the formula. They threw it in the trash. They brought back the feeling of that first NES game: here is a world, go find the fun. Depending on how the stars align on any given Tuesday, my all-time favorite game is either A Link to the Past, Breath of the Wild, or Tears of the Kingdom. There isn't anything to say about these that hasn't been said before.

Even Echoes of Wisdom managed to apply those modern lessons of physics and freedom to the classic top-down perspective. It showed that the old and new styles can coexist without feeling dated. Is this one of my favorites? No. But it is still fantastic.

What comes next

We can trace the DNA of Wind Waker's art style and Skyward Sword's stamina mechanics into the modern games, but the future is murkier. Rumors persist about the next mainline entry playing with dimensional shifts or time mechanics in ways we haven't seen since the N64 era.

One thing I hope we don't see is a remake of the original NES game in the Breath of the Wild engine. People ask for this constantly, but they are missing the point. Breath of the Wild is already the spiritual remake of the original game. It realized the ambition that the 8-bit hardware couldn't quite handle.

With the movie in production, we are about to see Link reach a whole new audience and medium. Middle age dads finding excuses to take their kids to the movies. Given how Nintendo handled the Mario movie, I am cautiously optimistic. They seem to understand that the games and the films need to be separate entities.

As for the immediate future, it might not be the Switch 2 news we are waiting for, but it is a start. Until then, you'll find me playing my Switch 2, or as I call it, the Zelda machine.