Old, rare, beautiful Zelda artwork


Video Games

Silver Crusade

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Stumbled upon something that hit me like a ton of nostalgic bricks.

A collection of awesome Zelda artwork done for Nintendo Power way back when, spanning the first four games of the series.

Then I found an even larger and more complete collection.

Those specific pieces always stuck with me ever since I was a kid. There was just something about how lush they were and how they brought those games to life. That specific artist was actually a big part of what shaped the visuals of fantasy for my childhood, right alongside DiTerlizzi, Brom, and Elmore/Parkinson.

God, this piece in particular. When I started playing D&D, that's what I wanted my PCs to be, right there.

I never knew the artist's name until now, Katsuya Terada, who it turns out eventually went on to do Blood, The Last Vampire. He also did a lot of artwork for Nintendo Power. Final Fantasy* and Dragon Warrior/Quest particularly stand out in my memory as likely examples of his work. If so, he didn't exactly cleave close to official artwork in those cases, but I was still fond of them for how...different and fantastic it all was. I believe he also did interior artwork for the Final Fantasy Mystic Quest manual, and surely he's done far more for other games. A LOT of inventory/item artwork from that time bears a similar style. I don't know if there are any larger collections of his videogame-related artwork from that time, but I'm certainly going to hunt for it now.

Man, to have more art like this in the videogame industry today...

*His Final Fantasy IV artwork, not so much. Thinking of the first game here...

Silver Crusade

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*sees picture of Marin and Link on the beach*

...

DAMN YOU WINDFISH!!!!


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Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Wow, nostalgia flashback! Man alive I remember how those pics inspired me so vividly back when I was a kid.

Ironically, the one that did the biggest number on me isn't there; it wasn't by the same artist, and wasn't from Nintendo Power. I can't find it today, but it was (if I recall correctly) on a plast lunchbox, of all things, and showed a close-up of Link on a staircase inside some tower. The stairs ended (implying a long drop) directly behind him, and a huge armored knight took up the entire stairway in front of him...and I think a window showed a castle in the background.

That, to me, was the iconic "back against the proverbial wall" image. I remember it being more "cartoony" than these images, but I was awed by it nonetheless.

Rysky wrote:


*sees picture of Marin and Link on the beach*

...

DAMN YOU WINDFISH!!!!

I think that might have been the first game where I cried at the end.

Silver Crusade

1 person marked this as a favorite.

@ Alzrius This it?

Silver Crusade

Rysky wrote:
@ Alzrius This it?

That's some excellent Google-fu right there. :)

Silver Crusade

Mikaze wrote:
Rysky wrote:
@ Alzrius This it?
That's some excellent Google-fu right there. :)

If artwork is involved, I findz et :3


Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
Mikaze wrote:
Rysky wrote:
@ Alzrius This it?
That's some excellent Google-fu right there. :)

Holy crap, that's it! I'm amazed you found that! Your Google-fu is stronger than mine!


Dotting for perusal when not at work.

Liberty's Edge

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Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber

I had a Nintendo Power subscription throughout most of the NES and Super NES era. When Link to the Past came out, they started featuring this pretty awesome comic.

Silver Crusade

Alzrius wrote:
Mikaze wrote:
Rysky wrote:
@ Alzrius This it?
That's some excellent Google-fu right there. :)
Holy crap, that's it! I'm amazed you found that! Your Google-fu is stronger than mine!

Only when art is involved :3

Silver Crusade

1 person marked this as a favorite.

While A Link To The Past (and the artwork that came in the little side booklet) was my introduction to the series, this has to be hands down my favorite piece of art from my favorite game from the series.


5 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

This is a pretty cool one.


Dot and list.

Silver Crusade

2 people marked this as a favorite.
Jam412 wrote:
This is a pretty cool one.

falls out of chair

Oh my God.

Seriously. Wow. To anyone that hasnt clicked it yet, check it out now! :D

It took a while to load for me, so by the point it got past Link/Zelda/Ganondorf I was like "This is really cool. Love that emphasis on their signature weapons and all the sages in the b-"

And then it KEPT loading. Holy crap. For a moment I was like "Wait, where the heck is Midna" and then THAT loaded and it just kept going until the climax at the bottom.

DAMN

I want to buy a print of this, BAD.

So much history in that one picture. :)

Man, every campaign should get an image like this. With ALL of the characters.


... should I be distressed that I could never (and indeed, still can’t) afford a Nintendo(?) console to play any of these games, and so I neither recognise most of the characters nor understand any of the context for these images? :-X


Mikaze wrote:


God, this piece in particular. When I started playing D&D, that's what I wanted my PCs to be, right there.

Which one? It is hard to tell with you sometimes...;)

I have never been a Zelda fan but those a cool pics.


Trace Coburn wrote:
... should I be distressed that I could never (and indeed, still can’t) afford a Nintendo(?) console to play any of these games, and so I neither recognise most of the characters nor understand any of the context for these images? :-X

It shouldn't be too terribly difficult to play them on emulators. I recommend NEStopia for the NES ones.

Oddly, the only one I've beaten in the entire series is the Adventures of Link. Though I do seem to recall playing a lot of Ocarina of Time, and may have beaten that at some point.


2 people marked this as a favorite.
Mikaze wrote:
Man, every campaign should get an image like this. With ALL of the characters.

I would kill for the opportunity to do this for my Kingmaker game when it ends. I just wish I knew someone who'd do it and what it'd cost, so I could start saving money and designing a basic layout suggestion now.


2 people marked this as a favorite.

Can't believe I've never seen some of these. Amazing finds. I absolutely love Zelda games, and am prepping a Zelda Pathfinder game for when my group finishes Runelords. A guy who goes by Deimos-Remus on deviantart has done some pretty amazing Zelda fan art that has sort of the feel of these, although they are single characters/creatures, not scenes.


he's a righty in some of those... tsk tsk tsk. awesome find though.


cuatroespada wrote:
he's a righty in some of those... tsk tsk tsk.

?


Orthos wrote:
cuatroespada wrote:
he's a righty in some of those... tsk tsk tsk.
?

In most of the games in the series, Link is left-handed. The only ones where he's not are the Wii version of Twilight Princess (where they flipped the whole bloody game) and Skyward Sword. Well, and some of the 2D games he's a "switch hitter" due to technical limitations.


Aaaaaaah.

I never got into the 3D Zeldas. I'm pretty exclusively a 2D SNES-era plus handhelds player more often than not. About the only things I did much with past that stage was Final Fantasy and some Mario.

Silver Crusade

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Yeah, he's pretty much the most well known left-handed character noted for his lefthandedness in videogames. Possibly in fiction at large.

Also why some folks were disappointed in his right-handed portrayal in Skyward Sword and the Wii version of Twilight Princess(which is a particularly bizarre case, honestly).

John Kretzer wrote:
Mikaze wrote:


God, this piece in particular. When I started playing D&D, that's what I wanted my PCs to be, right there.

Which one? It is hard to tell with you sometimes...;)

GANNON SI NOT NOBEL ORC HERO HE A GROSS PIG-MNAThe smaller guy in green. ;)

Not the hulking, over-built, over-armored/weighed-down Vallejo-build type, but instead the plucky underdog, humble peasant hero.

Heck, I couldn't resist giving my Wrath of the Righteous PC that style of cap. :)

Trace Coburn wrote:
... should I be distressed that I could never (and indeed, still can’t) afford a Nintendo(?) console to play any of these games, and so I neither recognise most of the characters nor understand any of the context for these images? :-X

I can't be entirely objective about the series, but a key part of its appeal might come from growing up with them. Especially if you played them during the earlier "fill in the blanks with your imagination, kids" 8-bit/16-bit era.

A big part of their appeal might be best explained by the series' creator's inspiration for the series: He wanted to make something evocative of playing in and exploring the woods outside his home as a child. Dress that up in a fantasy world, and it's no wonder it clicked with so many. :)

Silver Crusade

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Also, still geeking out over that huge piece Jam412 linked.

Gah, the fact that it has Veran and Vaati alone...


*looks at the massive piece*
WHERE IS BEEDLE?!

I don't like him all that much, but he was still in plenty of the games....


Who is Beedle?


Beedle is the guy that runs all the shops in the toon link series.
He might have been in skyward sword, but I don't remember.


Ah, if Toon Link = Wind Waker and others like it, that explains why I don't recognize him, I've never played any of those.


Pathfinder Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber

Here is a cool new piece for the new Majora's Mask 3ds game. link


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Rysky wrote:
Alzrius wrote:
Mikaze wrote:
Rysky wrote:
@ Alzrius This it?
That's some excellent Google-fu right there. :)
Holy crap, that's it! I'm amazed you found that! Your Google-fu is stronger than mine!
Only when art is involved :3

On a minor note, the piece linked to above (which still awes me) has moved slightly, and can now be found over here.

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