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The Legend of Zelda is the first video game of The Legend of Zelda series. It was first released in Japan, as a launch title of the Family Computer Disk System peripheral in 1986. A year later, in 1987, the game saw an overseas release on the Nintendo Entertainment System, and is played from a gold cartridge. The Legend of Zelda is the first home console title with an internal battery for saving game data.

At its time of release, The Legend of Zelda was noted for its expansive, nonlinear open world gameplay. It would eventually be regarded as one of the greatest and most influential video games of all time, laying the groundwork for the nonlinear RPG genre. A vastly different sequel for the same system, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, was first released in Japan less than a year later. The Legend of Zelda would eventually spawn more successive titles and spin-offs and become one of Nintendo's most popular franchises.