24 February 2026

LEGO Fan Recreates the Map from Original NES Legend of Zelda to Celebrate the Franchise’s 40th Anniversary

By newsgame

In celebration of the 40th Anniversary of The Legend of Zelda, a number of longtime and newer players have been sharing unique tributes to the beloved action-adventure franchise, including one fan who made a jaw-dropping LEGO recreation of the original map of Hyrule from 1986 that started it all. Despite no major celebrations to be officially announced by Nintendo to mark the massive milestone in the series’ history, fans have happily taken it upon themselves to share their own fun memories and mementos, with this stunning Hyrule map from The Legend of Zelda among a slew of custom projects to resonate with the Zelda community.

Decades on from the original 1986 release of the first-ever Legend of Zelda game, the franchise has become synonymous not only with Nintendo but with gaming as a whole. The Legend of Zelda series remains widely recognized as one of the most prolific and popular adventure franchises of all time, having captured the attention of fans across multiple console generations, from 2D to 3D and making the move from simple top-down dungeon-crawling to sprawling open world exploration and more. It should come as no surprise that one of the biggest anniversary milestones is being celebrated by fans in a number of ways, with custom creations showcasing what made players fall in love with The Legend of Zelda in the first place.

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The Legend of Zelda 1986 Map of Hyrule as LEGO

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Reddit user 7676Free shared a look at their incredible LEGO recreation of the entire in-game map of Hyrule from the original 1986 The Legend of Zelda game. The LEGO Hyrule map consists of 16,000 individual brick pieces, complete with labeled dungeons, all three swords, hidden caves, heart locations, and more fun Easter eggs for fellow fans to spot. 7676Free followed the same color scheme as the 1986 game, or at least as close as was possible, bringing the pixelated graphics of 2D The Legend of Zelda to life in full 3D LEGO glory. The full build-out required almost a year of design preparations with Stud.io, along with the time needed to physically construct the entire project. Gathering all the necessary LEGO proved to be one of the greatest challenges, though 7676Free notes that 11 years of collecting and a local club helped make gathering parts much cheaper.

Who’s That Character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Who’s That Character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)

Fellow Zelda fans applauded the impressive Hyrule map LEGO build, with many voicing an appreciation for the time and dedication needed to set up and complete such a large custom build. One comment in particular pointed out the significance of a single fan putting in so much effort to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of The Legend of Zelda while Nintendo has yet to share any key announcements about the franchise’s accomplishment. It is worth noting that there is a new official Legend of Zelda LEGO kit set to launch in 2026, though that set will feature The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and not the original 1986 game. Despite no major Nintendo-led celebrations as yet announced at the time of writing, the Zelda fandom as a whole seems to be keeping spirits high with fan-made content and community-focused festivities.

Some have worried that the quick passing of the 40th Anniversary of The Legend of Zelda sans fanfare may have been due to the 30th Anniversary of Pokemon taking center stage, namely because a Pokemon Presents showcase has been confirmed for February 27 and celebrations for that franchise are well-underway in a variety of ways. While there may still be some unexpected surprise announcement from Nintendo to recognize The Legend of Zelda reaching such a crucial milestone, many fans are presently focused on supporting fellow community members, like 7676Free, and are enjoying existing games and media from the series’ rich history.