The Legend of Zelda 1

The Legend of Zelda 1 (ゼルダの伝説1 — THE HYRULE FANTASY) — Famicom, Japan, Nintendo, 1994. JP February 19, 1994. From Famicom & NES years in the Zelda Games Gallery.

A real, late-life Famicom cartridge re-release, not a myth: Nintendo ported the NES cartridge version back to Japan in 1994, near the end of the Famicom's life. The title screen was modified to add "1" — hence *Zelda no Densetsu 1*.

Battery-backed save replaces the rewritable disk. Produced in significantly smaller quantities than the 1986 disk original (Heritage Auctions lot descriptions for VGA-graded copies make the same scarcity point) — the scarcity is relative to the disk version, not a stated print-run number. Copyright on the package is reported by Zelda Wiki/Fandom as reading 1992 despite the 1994 release — check the box, do not date it by copyright alone.

Across the Pacific in this gallery: The Legend of Zelda.

Identification: this box carries the product code HVC-ZL, read off the printing itself.

Shown here at its verified native size, 586×800, the largest honest copy the Library holds for this box.

This page carries the verified front-and-back pair: use the flip control on the cover to turn the box over.

The 1994 cartridge reissue back: headline announces the Disk System game revived on a Famicom cartridge; JAN T4902370501568; the printed copyright reads (C)1986, 1992 Nintendo.