![Did The Stampers Really Think Miyamoto Copied Sabre Wulf With Zelda? 1](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.timeextension.com/1af2dde751fd9/did-the-stampers-really-think-miyamoto-copied-sabre-wulf-with-zelda-1.900x.jpg)
As we all know, it's very hard to come up with truly original ideas in the world of video games.
Sure, there are a few trailblazing titles which established new genres single-handedly, but most games take an existing template and iterate upon it, offering improvements and evolutions which make the core concept better without actually offering anything in terms of innovation.
1984's Sabre Wulf wasn't as technically groundbreaking as its isometric sequel, Knight Lore, but it nonetheless introduced a unique blend of exploration, experimentation and combat which would influence many other titles down the line – one of which, if the Stamper brothers are to be believed, was The Legend of Zelda.
Speaking to Retro Gamer magazine almost 20 years ago (and unearthed by John Szczepaniak), John Pickford – who, along with this sibling Ste, would work with the Stampers on titles like Ironsword: Wizards & Warriors II before becoming Rare Manchester – recalled a conversation in which Sabre Wulf was cited as a direct influence on Zelda:
They [The Stampers] kept telling us how much better Japanese game design was. They took us to one side and said, rule number one - you can't have any bugs. We were like, 'Yeah, right, not possible!" Then the second rule was that everyone's got to be able to finish it. As opposed to just making it harder until it crashed, like on the Speccy. Suddenly, it was about making games that people could enjoy, not us showing off how clever we were and it meant a fundamental shift in our approach. Mind you, they also showed us the first Zelda and said, 'This is Miyamoto's rip-off of Sabre Wulf', cheeky bastards...
Shigeru Miyamoto has previously claimed that Zelda's gameplay was inspired by his childhood exploring the fields, woods and caves in Kyoto rather than any particular video game.
While Sabre Wulf – and many of Ultimate Play the Game's other titles – were commercially and critically successful in the UK, it wasn't until the NES and SNES era (and the formation of Rare) that the Stampers' work gained global fame, so it's unlikely that Miyamoto would have been introduced to Sabre Wulf before working on Zelda in 1986.
However, we know that Rare was working with Nintendo before Zelda arrived, having approached the Japanese company with a reverse-engineered NES development kit to become the first Western studio to create games for the 8-bit system – so who knows?
Sabre Wulf forms part of the Sabreman series and would be followed by Underwurlde (1984), Knight Lore (1984) and Pentagram (1986). Another sequel, Mire Mare, was never released. Rare would reboot the series in 2004 with the GBA title Sabre Wulf, while the series would inspire the character of Sabre Wulf in Killer Instinct, Rare's fighting game franchise.
Comments 9
Tower of Druaga came out the same year which is a much more likely influence, although as someone unfamiliar with Sabrewulf before this article it looks very cool!
Hydlide was released in Japan two years before Zelda. A game Miyamoto was more likely to be exposed to.
@LowDefAl @_NetNomad
Both astute points. Actually, this is all part of research I dug up for something which is going to be published in a few days - this being a side diversion.
There's an interview between Miyamoto and Endou, where Miyamoto describes having the Druaga cabinet in his office at Nintendo. So there is absolutely a direct line of influence.
Miyamoto doesn't mention Hydlide, that I've seen. But Tokihiro Naito, creator of Hydlide, admits to taking direct inspiration from Druaga.
However! We also know that Japanese companies scouted out the UK for computer games. Hudson sent Takashi Takebe to London to research the ZX Spectrum. This ultimately led to Eric and the Floaters, and other Hudson games. So JP companies were aware of the UK's output. It's a gloriously complex tapestry!
Sneak preview, you can see Sabre Wulf in the top row of games, chronologically:
https://x.com/kierannolan/status/1793953899386130460
When I first saw NES Zelda (which probably would have been on Gamesmaster), I thought it was a rip off of Acornsoft’s Labyrinth (released 1984) on the BBC Micro. Even the little guy looks a bit like Link. Again, I doubt Miyamoto would ever have seen that.
Miyamoto clearly said the Legend of Zelda was not based on any of those awful games, it was a game he made based from his experience as a kid who loves exploring into caves and ruins and finding lost treasures and stuffs. These games that are accusing him of that aren't even that, there's no cave, there's no exploring, it's a character swinging his weapon with no rhyme or reasons across different part of the jungle. That's it. Link is not a depiction of Miyamoto but an avatar for the player to play the game so they would experience the same childhood memory that he did but in digital form. Back at the time the only way you could make an action adventure game that offer the same level of exploration and depth is through a bird eye perspective. Just cause they exist first doesn't necessarily mean Zelda is a ripoff of them and even if it is it doesn't share their ideology, gameplay, or mechanics.
@Serpenterror why do you have to call the games awful?
There was a lot of early computer games, that Zelda was obviously taking inspirations from.
But don't mention this to the fanboys, or they will eat you alive
People have already mentioned the games that actually influenced Zelda. Though anyone who knows anything about video game history knows that whatever some of the people may have been influenced by, that the aesthetic of games back then were a mask for simple mechanics and ideas, and the ones embodied in Zelda were so much more sophisticated, original, and well thought out, that any comparisons to similar games are basically delusions of grandeur from those games' developers. Not to mention things like music, and redefining open worlds.
To me this just reads like British humor. I wouldn’t take it too seriously.
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