The Legend of Zelda series has had many memorable commercials throughout its history, but one of the most memorable has to be the 1991 Japanese commercial for The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.
The ad features a group of actors dressed as Link, Princess Zelda, and enemies Gibdor and Skeleton Soldiers, singing and dancing to a rhythmic rap soundtrack. For years, we have thought that this song was specially composed by Nintendo for the commercial. However, the recently discovered Japanese music production notes and our further investigation have revealed the truth – this song is not actually a new creation for the commercial, but an adaptation of an earlier work.
Game Boys: A classic tribute to Nintendo
The original version of this commercial rap song comes from the 1991 song “Game Boys” (ゲームボーイズ) by the Japanese rap group Scha Dara Parr, which is included in their album Towering Inferno.
Scha Dara Parr is a group composed of three musicians, Bose, Shinco and Ani. They have released many albums, and “Game Boys” can be said to be one of their most successful songs. The song was originally a tribute to the Nintendo, Super Famicom and Game Boy era, and even briefly sampled Koji Kondo’s classic melody for Super Mario Bros. So it’s no surprise that Nintendo later approached Scha Dara Parr and asked them to adapt the piece to promote The Legend of Zelda: Aspect of the Gods.
Invited to adapt, and also met with Shigeru Miyamoto
In an interview with Japanese magazine Weekly Playboy in 2015, Scha Dara Parr member Bose recalled that Nintendo contacted them in the hope of making a new version based on “Game Boys” to celebrate the charm of this open-world action-adventure game. This cooperation also allowed him to realize a dream-meeting legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto.
Bose also revealed that they actually played the entire game at that time, and since there was no Internet at the time, players could only solve the puzzles through constant attempts, and even called in the middle of the night to exchange information. He shared an interesting anecdote: “Once, I got stuck on a puzzle that required the use of a grappling hook. Later, in a nightclub, a friend showed me how to solve it. I immediately turned around and went home to continue playing “Zelda”, leaving the nightclub behind. This is really a wonderful memory.”
Rediscovering the music of Scha Dara Parr
After years of confusion, the origins of the advertising rap song have finally been revealed. This also leads us to delve into Scha Dara Parr’s music, such as their 1993 collaboration with De La Soul, “Long Island Wildin'”, and “Where Ya At?”, a collaboration with Beastie Boys member Ad-Rock.
If you are interested in the original version of “Game Boys”, you might as well listen to this classic song with a strong gaming culture atmosphere. It may give you a deeper understanding of the Japanese game music style of the 1990s.