The Triforce is an integral part of Zelda lore. Its presence is felt everywhere, even being adopted by the Royal Family as part of their official crest. To the denizens of Hyrule, it is a sacred relic left behind by the Golden Goddesses. To Ganon, it is a tool for furthering his wicked plans to take over the land. And, to a Japanese music group called Akihabara Electric Circus, it is something to be celebrated in song.
“Toy Music: Dancing Super Mario Bros.” is a 1988 album produced by Akihabara Electric Circus in collaboration with Nintendo. It features music remixes from popular Famicom (NES) games including Super Mario Bros., Metroid, Kid Icarus, and, of course, The Legend of Zelda. It’s the Zelda track from this album that today’s column is about. Rather than simply remixing the game’s classic overworld track, which is an iconic theme on its own, Akihabara Electric Circus went all out, covering the game’s entire soundtrack while adding an 80s twist and even lyrics.
The track, simply titled “The Legend of Zelda”, has three distinct parts. It begins with the familiar opening notes from the game’s title screen, before a new beat kicks in and it turns into a funky electropop piece, complete with voiceover (in English, somewhat surprisingly) telling the story of the game. It places a special emphasis on the role of the Triforce, even adding in a special “Ooh ooh ooh Triforce” refrain between the verses. It’s funky, it’s catchy, and it’s completely and utterly 80s.
The middle part of the track is a musical journey through the game. We follow Link’s adventures through the overworld, into dungeons, across Ganon’s lair, and finally to victory. It’s punctuated with some of the smaller sound effects found in the game, and — for added dramatic flair — there’s even a scream from Princess Zelda when the music transitions to the final dungeon’s theme.
For the last part, the track returns to the same style as the first, with the voiceover introducing Link and his quest to defeat Ganon and rescue Princess Zelda. And, of course, his need to obtain the complete Triforce of Wisdom in order to do this successfully.
The Triforce was a key part of the very first Zelda game. The goal was to rescue Princess Zelda from Ganon’s clutches, but Ganon had stolen the Triforce of Power, and Link was no match for him on his own. Thus, the majority of the game is spent hunting down hidden pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom so that, once Wisdom is reunited, Link can enter into Ganon’s lair and attempt to take him down.
Newer Zelda fans who listen to this song may wonder why it mentions that the complete Triforce has two halves: Power and Wisdom. What about Courage, that third piece traditionally associated with Link? And, after all, “tri-” is a prefix that means “three”. Two halves of the complete Triforce doesn’t make any sense, right? Well, the original Zelda game only ever mentioned the two Triforces that feature in this song. The Triforce of Courage was not introduced until the second Zelda game, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. So, the song is correct for its time!
One final, neat fact about this track is that it went on to be used as part of the soundtrack for BS Zelda. BS Zelda was a remake of the original Legend of Zelda released in Japan for the Satellaview: an accessory for the Super Famicom that allowed players to download content via satellite. BS Zelda was broadcast live, and rather than having a traditional soundtrack, the game was accompanied by something more like a radio broadcast, which included voiceovers providing hints and narration in addition to music. Akihabara Electric Circus’s Legend of Zelda track was one of those broadcast during gameplay. It was while watching videos featuring BS Zelda gameplay that I first encountered this song. I was intrigued by the catchy 80s beat and was fortunately able to locate the full track thanks to the BS Zelda HomePage.
This fairly obscure but fun and catchy piece of music has become a favorite of mine, and I hope that through this article, you may enjoy it too!
