Despite video games being one of the most popular forms of entertainment, the video game industry has an awkward history of commercial promotion. Early forms of marketing were focused on magazine publications to increase awareness, and publishers struggled to convey precise messages to a new generation of tech-savvy consumers. While the early days of print media were fascinating and humorous, the shift to television advertisements was just awkward.
Nintendo was certainly at the forefront of televised publicity in the early 1990s, and the vault of bizarre commercials that ensued was priceless. The industry gradually settled down and embraced a more subdued, compartmentalized method of advertisement through annual award shows and expos, such as The Game Awards and the Electronic Entertainment Expo.
But just when the days of weird televised promotion seemed to be over, Nintendo of Japan released a peculiar commercial for the release of A Link Between Worlds.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past remains one of my favorite video games, and I was beyond excited when Nintendo announced the sequel, A Link Between Worlds. As the game neared its release date in late 2013, I stumbled across a Japanese commercial that took me back to the early days of the Super Nintendo.
The gameplay and visual compilation are similar to other mid-2010s video game releases. However, the audio features a rap song that was made infamous in the early 1990s. With the exception of a discernable reference to the Nintendo 3DS, the song is identical to a Zelda rap video that Nintendo published in early 1991 to promote the release of A Link to the Past.
On the surface, it appears as though Nintendo of Japan was simply embracing an awkward part of its history, but the development story of the original Zelda rap is much more complex. To discover the secret behind the commercial’s production, we have to go back to an early 1990s interview with creative director, Yoshiaki Kuratsune.
Now a Senior Vice President at Nintendo of America, Yoshiaki Kuratsune was the creative genius behind several of the early 1990s Nintendo commercials. While the Zelda rap commercial proved to be the most infamous, the release was actually the third in a trilogy of musical promotions spearheaded by Kuratsune. The first piece of the musical triangle was the television commercial for Famicom Wars.
The video features a group of United States Marines running in cadence and performing a series of calisthenics in the desert heat. Ironically, no gameplay is shown during the commercial, which was a strategic decision by Kuratsune. In a Nintendo-sponsored interview with Japanese media outlet 1101, he admits the challenges of conveying excitement with a 2D simulation game. Instead of creating an awkward assortment of gameplay visuals and live-action, Kuratsune focused exclusively on the latter and left the gameplay to the viewer’s imagination.
The second piece of the trilogy was an orchestral production for the original Fire Emblem game. Similar to the commercial for Famicom Wars, Kuratsune does not showcase gameplay footage. Instead, he creates feelings of grandeur and royalty by using a symphony of talented vocalists dressed in medieval attire.
With two stylistically different productions under his belt, Kuratsune decided to up the ante for the commercial featuring A Link to the Past. He partnered with Japanese hip-hop group Scha Dara Parr, who were fresh off their debut album Scha Dara Daisakusen. The group created the perfect backdrop for the Zelda rap video. Scha Dara Parr admired their work so much that they dubbed the song “Game Boyz” and included it in the album Towering Nonsense.
For the visuals, Kuratsune went back to the well of live-action choreography, but this time the cast would also dance to the beat of the music. According to the director, the primary challenge was finding someone who not only resembled the character Link but could also dance. After nearly 300 auditions, Kuratsune finally settled on a relatively unknown high school girl. Kuratsune realized that a girl with boyish features would likely be a better fit for a live-action role.
The dance performance was superb, and the result was a nostalgic creation that was equal parts unconventional and captivating. Although the name of the girl has been lost to history, she did experience a brief period of regional notoriety, according to Kuratsune.
There you have it. The weird history behind the original Zelda rap commercial from 1991. If you are interested in seeing more pictures and learning more about the creation of the video, be sure to check out GlitterBerri’s interview translation. Who knows? You might even learn some new dance moves. Enjoy!
