This page explains in detail the interactions between the The Wizard series and the Zelda series.
The Wizard
December 15, 1989
The Wizard
Zelda
Sam playing Zelda II and Nick unplugging it.
In a scene in the movie, the protagonist's father, Sam Woods, is seen playing with the NES, and specifically sound and music from Zelda II: The Adventure of Link can be recognized. When his son Nick comes in, he even talks about the game:
- Nick: Pop I think we got it.
- Sam: Wait a second. I'm on the sixth palace of Hyrule. Yeah! I got past the river devil.
- Nick: Terrific.
- [unplugs the Nintendo]
- Sam: What the hell are you doing? I had the magic key. I got the cross. I was closing in on the barbarian!
- Nick: You're losing it pop.
Notably, while most of Sam's statements mention actual elements from the game, they're only partially accurate: Hyrule is the land where the game takes place, but the sixth palace, Three-Eye Rock Palace, is found only after passing the River Devil, so the first statement makes no sense. Also the River Devil is found on the map, not during action gameplay, but Sam is clearly seen and heard fighting to pass it. The second statement possibly references how the Magical Key is needed to open the locked doors in the palace, and how the Cross is the item found within, however there's no barbarian character in the game. He possibly meant Barba, the boss of that palace, which however is a dragon. Also in the moment of unplugging the console, a gameplay scene can briefly be seen, and it's not from the palace, nor the map, but instead shows gameplay from a town. Also, Nick is seen unplugging the controller, but the screen goes blank as if the console was turned off. It possible that Nick accidentaly made the TV lose the signal after shaking the console, since it was delicately tuned to the NES channel, as the black and white image and the pincers placed on the tuner.
In the immediatly following scene, after the runaway girl Haley tells her story to Corey, they reference the series again:
The telephone operator wearing the Zelda cap.
- Corey: It's like the adventures of Link. He has to find Zelda, you have to find a house. Same difference!
- Haley: Boy, is THAT sexist.
- Corey: It's not sexist! It's... romantic.
A minor, incidental reference also happens when the Nintendo gameplay tip call center is shown, and specifically the operator Haley talks with is seen wearing a cap with the Zelda logo on it.
License
The Wizard's company Universal did an agreement with Nintendo to use its games in the movie, and actually Nintendo convinced Universal to use almost exclusively NES games in the movie and not feature any Sega game, that were apparently originally planned.