When Nintendo released the original Legend of Zelda in North America in 1987, it promoted it with a pretty odd commercial, with actor and comedian John Kassir walking around a darkened room spouting the various enemy names from the game.
While it was certainly memorable (it's actually the second commercial for the game, but the first one doesn't seem to get mentioned as much today), it hardly 'fit' with the game it was designed to promote – but then again, it's important to remember that the series wasn't established in any way back then.
As we all know, Zelda has a rich selection of characters to choose from, and like many of us, Capsyst Animations was disappointed that these didn't form part of the advertising campaign for the NES classic. Thankfully, Capsyst has taken steps to fix this.
"I always enjoyed the illustrations at the beginning of the NES manual as a kid, and it saddened me to find out these weren’t actually part of a real animated promotion for the game," says the YouTuber. "So I decided to take those illustrations and re-create them as if they were! Enjoy this long-lost VHS promotion for the Legend of Zelda on the Nintendo Entertainment System!"
Created in Procreate and Procreate Dreams and featuring spot-on narration by Streamy McDreamy, this "lost" commercial really hits the spot, if you ask me – from now on, I'm going to pretend this was the real promotional push Nintendo made back in '87.