Oh man, What a game. Sure it's dated, But Miyamoto's imagination was just to big for technical limitations of the time, (as evident by the fact that he is still creating fresh ideas for modern game play)

I am the same age as this game (1986) so I don't actually remember my first time playing it. it's just always been there. And I've been enthralled as long as i can remember. The physical map you got with the game, and the backstory in the game booklet, led to an explorers mindset while playing the game. It had rich, vibrant colours, as well as dull muted ones. a stunning mix for the system, when used properly, which The Legend of Zelda did.
I still have my fathers original cart from '87 (US release date) and I have since purchased the second release gold cart. Not everyone will enjoy going back to the first game, but I do. Every time.

When did you first see/play this game? I don't remember, but it was a while back.
How would you rate its plot, gameplay and graphics?
Plot: SAVE PRINCESS. GO 10/10
Gameplay: You go around swinging your sword and completing dungeons. It's pretty fun. 9/10
Graphics: By modern standards? 1/10. But back then it was 10/10
What other games would you compare it to? No games from the time were ANYTHING like this.

The good Zelda games are the SNES one, the two oracle games and Windwaker for Gamecube. I didn't like the last one's style at first, but it may be the only cell shaded game I've seen that actually makes all look like it's all drawn, also it has fun dungeons. The only problem is that Windwaker has some big fillers to make the game longer, such as fishing triforce pieces all around the sea.

Still, the Zelda games probably where surpassed by their clones, like Soleil, Landstalker and Story of Thor, all of them for Genesis/Megadrive. Just that Nintendo didn't allow the Zelda games to be forgotten.

Well, now I think of it, they are all more like spiritual sucessors than clones. Still, this kind of isometric console adventure is a forgotten genre, probably is too much work for what the industry is used to, with all that openness (even if it's usually very limited), and getting new powers/tools as the game advances instead of having it all from start.

Too mainstream? I simply don't care, because this game incluenced nothing worthwhile - unimportant to the extreme

Feel free to share anything about The Legend of Zelda (1986) here!