Zelda map
Image: History of Hyrule

When the original Zelda launched in 1986, it captivated players with its massive, sprawling map and an incredible level of detail.

While subsequent Zelda games have improved on this foundation dramatically, it's still easy to appreciate the level of complexity present in the NES original – and nothing captures that better than this hand-drawn map from 1986, unearthed by History of Hyrule.

Created by Takako Toshima for the Japanese magazine NewType, the map was originally spread over three pages, but History of Hyrule has stitched those pages together so we can finally appreciate it in its entirety.

How many little details can you spot? Let us know with a comment below.

[source twitter.com]