20 Best NES Games Of All Time
4. The Legend Of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda as a series has changed the trajectory of gaming multiple times. A Link to the Past showed everybody how to mix a sense of adventure with clear direction, Ocarina of Time showed everybody how to make an action game in 3D, and with titles like Genshin Impact and Immortals Fenyx Rising it's clear that Breath of the Wild has also had a big impact.
The most important Zelda title though when it comes to influencing the medium is easily the original.
The Legend of Zelda was the first console game to allow you to save, it popularised collecting permanent upgrades to add to your arsenal, exploring dungeons, permanent health upgrades, and the huge open-world clearly had an influence on open-world gaming.
Whilst most games at the time were either 2D platformers or high-score based titles The Legend of Zelda let you truly feel a sense of adventure.
This dedication to allowing the player so much freedom without much guidance does mean that the original The Legend of Zelda is hard to get into without a guide or way too much time, but seeing that the game impacted the industry so much I'd say we can forgive a little bit of outdated design.