The History of The Legend of Zelda (1986)
5/11/20261 hr 13 min
Editor's Note:
Hey Post Games listeners! It's Post Games' first anniversary. To celebrate, and to give myself some time to prep the summer episodes, I'm sharing one of the monthly Patreon-exclusive episodes. This is the history of the original The Legend of Zelda, featuring one of the series' foremost experts and historians.
If you like this episode, you'll enjoy the rest of Past Games. Each month, I talk with a different expert about a game or moment celebrating an anniversary this year. Previous episodes include L.A. Noire with Tim Rogers, along with histories of Dark Souls and Animal Crossing with people who wrote the books on each.
Subscribe at Patreon.com/PostGames for $5 to get all that and more.
This Week on Post Games:
- Act 1: The Making of The Legend of Zelda
- Act 2: The 30-Year Evolution of Zelda Games
- Act 3: A History of the Zelda Fan Community
Show Notes and Bonus Episodes:
- Want full show notes for free, including links to everything we mention? Visit www.post.games
- Get weekly bonus segments, video episodes, monthly exclusive episodes, and more at patreon.com/postgames for only $5
Sponsors:
- Incogni Deal: To get an exclusive 60% off an annual Incogni plan, go to incogni.com/postgames
- Factor Deal: Head to Factormeals.com/postgames50off and use code postgames50off to get 50% off and free daily greens per box, with a new subscription only, while supplies last until 09/27/2026. (See website for more details).
- Quince Deal: Refresh your everyday with luxury you'll actually use. Head to quince.com/POSTGAMES for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns.
Guests:
- Max Nichols: Game designer, educator, and operator of Hyrule Interviews
- Closing Song: “Boléro” Maurice Ravel. Orchestre de l’Opéra National de Parism. Conducted by Manuel Rosenthal
Art & Music:
- Logo and Show Art: James Bareham
- Theme: Mark Sparling
All interviews on Post Games are edited for concision and clarity.
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Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsChris Plante· Host0:00
[gentle music] Hey, everybody. It is Chris, and we are celebrating the first anniversary of Post Games, the show made in a year. And a large part of why that is possible is because of Patreon supporters. I, on top of this version, have a Patreon feed that people can get for as little as $5 a month. $5 allows for this show to continue and to grow and for me [laughs] to pay for insurance, all the wonderful things that, uh, I need to do for myself and for my family. I also want people who subscribe to get something for themselves, too. You ultimately are paying for a product, and I should give you one. So Patreon subscribers get bonus sections in every single episode. They can range from 50 to even 45 minutes. [laughs] They get mini-episode bonuses. I have the Patreon book club, where we've talked about games like Perfect Tide: Station to Station and Titanium Court with the creators of those games. And as you are about to hear, I have a monthly series called Past Games, in which I invite an expert to talk about the history of a game that is celebrating its anniversary this year. So since it's 2026, we are celebrating a lot of anniversaries from 1986, 1996, 2006. This episode was actually voted on by the patrons to share with you as an example of what