10 Last Minutes Changes Made In The Legend Of Zelda Series

10. The Theme Song Was Devised Just Before The Original Game's Release

A lot of die-hard Nintendo fans know the theme song for The Legend of Zelda was devised in a matter of minutes. But a lot of gamers never ask an obvious question: why? Nintendo have a reputation for methodically planning out every factor in their products. Why would they slap together a melody at the last minute to serve as the main theme for a game? When you phrase it like that, it seems quite out of character for the company.

Originally, the theme song was going to be Maurice Ravel's Bolero, composed in 1928. The composer for the game, Koji Kondo, wanted the theme to have an otherworldly tone and thought Bolero would suit it perfectly. He didn't realise until it was too late that the song was not in public domain, meaning it couldn't be used.

If this was any other game developer, Nintendo would have been screwed. Luckily, Kondo was a musical genius. Considering he created all the songs for Super Mario Bros., that should give you an idea how talented he is. Kondo managed to write The Legend of Zelda's theme song the day before it was implemented into the game.