Fans of Zelda flocked in their hundreds to the HMV Hammersmith Apollo Theatre in London to witness and listen to the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra play a wide variety of Zelda music taken from games that have made up the legendary series for the past quarter of a century. Many had kitted themselves out with Zelda t-shirts, some even went the extra mile - dressing up in some very impressive costumes. The most spectacular being a pair who came dressed as the finely detailed Twinrova witches � Koume & Kotake.

After the doors opened at approximately 6:30pm the scramble was on to obtain some of the 25th Anniversary merchandise which was on offer, which comprised of a t-shirt or a choice of three posters. They didn't come cheap mind, the t-shirts were �25 each and the posters were �20 each. 3DS' were ablaze with Streetpass activated, many people obtaining Mii's in triple figures to help with the Streetpass Quest or find new pieces for their picture puzzles.

After backsides were firmly placed on seats the orchestra gradually filtered its way onto the stage. Eiji Aonuma, producer of many Zelda titles, welcomed us all to the concert and expressed his sadness how a fan in L.A. had filmed the concert and uploaded it online and remarked how a recording of a concert could never equal the experience of the real thing before introducing the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra and the conductor for the evening, Eimear Noone. The magic is about to begin.

The performance burst into life with a powerful rendition of the Hyrule Castle theme, taken from A Link to The Past. Eimear Noone addressed the audience to introduce herself and the orchestra, as well as our host for the evening - Zelda Williams, daughter of acting legend Robin Williams, who appeared at regular intervals in the evening to let everyone know what pieces will be performed next.

Zelda's theme was played, introduced sorrowfully by the violin section of the orchestra and reminding us all of the moment when you save Zelda and realise the game has drawn to a finish and it is sadly time to say goodbye. A Wind Waker medley contained the biggest variety of pieces from a game in a single performance, and proved to the audience that the large screen projected behind the orchestra wasn't just going to display just normal atmospheric images. Clips from Wind Waker itself were displayed to accompany the music that goes along with it and you can fully appreciate where the music is placed and be taken back to relive the experience you once felt when you first heard the music. This magical formula was later utilised in later performances with perfect synchronisation between game footage and the orchestra's performance.

Eimear Noone introduced each section of the Orchestra and the Capital Voices as they each took you through a journey of 19 ocarina melodies, with each section playing a different ocarina melody from Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. They later joined forces for a fun and bouncy rendition of Saria's Song.

An arrangement of boss battles that followed comprised of the mid-dungeon boss theme from Ocarina of Time and main boss battles from various games. Most of the game footage used followed a distinct fire theme. From Ocarina there was Volvagia and King Dodongo, Wind Waker featured Molgera, the boss battle theme taken from Spirit Tracks showed Fraaz, Master of Icy Fire, and Cragma the Lava Lord. To finish off was the Twilight Igniter Fyrus from Twilight Princess.

The Kakariko Village themes from A Link to The Past and Twilight Princess were beautifully entwined, almost indistinguishable because of the stunning talent of the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra. The 25th Anniversary Medley contained many tunes all beautifully drawn together, from Spirit Tracks, Wind Waker, Ocarina of Time, Link to the Past and Twilight Princess.

After the intermission various themes of encounters with the evil Ganondorf were performed, his main theme and the battles between Link and Ganondorf, and also when he transforms into the monstrous Ganon in Ocarina of Time.

The arrangement titled the Selected Shorts Suite, contained various melodies and relevant footage from many games in the Legend of Zelda series, including the Lost Woods and dungeon themes from A Link to The Past, the quirky music when you sneak into Hyrule Castle from Ocarina of Time and the Mayor of Clock Town's office and the Milk Bar themes in Majora's Mask, just to name a few.

Gerudo Valley came at you very bold and epic, simply not emulating the easygoing finger clicking rendition in Ocarina of Time. Instead using the formidable heavy power of the brass section and accompanied by the woodwind it created an aural vision, feeling as vast as the great desert itself. The inspiring theme from Hyrule Field took you back to the vast expanses of travelling back and forth on Epona. Two harps took on the Great Fairy Theme exquisitely, each starting softly and slowly before coming together in harmony, shortly being joined by the woodwind section and the vocal talents of the Capital Voices soon after to give an alluring performance.

A medley of Twilight Princess music (the favourite of conductor Eimear Noone) was played next with the footage changing as each piece is performed with a seamless transition. During this the Capital Voices took on a more prominent role than in any piece thus far. To finish off the night the orchestra played the Legend of Zelda main theme medley, taking on the slow intro of the original theme and then bursting into the light world theme from A Link to The Past, a perfect composition to end this magnificent performance.

As Eimear Noone turned to face the audience suggesting it was over they had another surprise guest. Much to everyone's surprise and huge delight it was Koji Kondo, the mastermind behind the majority of the majestic soundtracks of each Zelda game. He took to the piano and gave the audience the wonderful Wind Waker melody Grandma's Theme.

Eiji Aonuma returned to express his gratitude and asks us to remember how we felt when we heard that music being played again, how we felt when we first played the game many years ago and the experiences we had. He also mentioned how Skyward Sword will do the same with movement and how body memories may be formed and associated with the new music. A final treat was added in the form of a new arrangement that wasn't mentioned in the programme � the main theme from the long awaited Skyward Sword.

For those who paid extra for the VIP privilege, apart from receiving a Skyward Sword lanyard and a flashy plastic VIP pass to attach to it, whilst queuing for the after show meet and greet with Eimear Noone, two producers of the show and Zelda Williams were given a plastic ocarina, a keyring and the latest issue of video game magazine Edge. Sadly everyone was rushed through rather quickly to have their programmes (or other Zelda related items some brought with them) signed and a quick photo opportunity with Zelda Williams, so I wasn't able to bag an interview with the majestic conductor I hoped for.

This was a truly amazing night and was well worth the money paid to hear some of my favourite music from games that I grew up with and have been with me all my life. I would definitely pay to experience this stunning night again.

- Derek Wheatley

The utmost surprising aspect of the whole evening for me was the intensity of fan support. We turned up just after six and the queue was indescribable. People took over the whole street and you could barely move due to the sheet size of the crowd, which was particularly surprising as everyone there had guaranteed seats but you could tell some people had been there for hours. Similarly as people were making there way into the concert itself it was announced that it would start shortly and people start pushing more in panic. I've been to a number of events and I've never quite seen anything like it.

I'll be the first to admit I'm not like Derek. I have played the games and I have enjoyed the music but I couldn't tell you which song was from what game most of the time, but as Eiji Aonuma said the music certainly does resonate. While other Nintendo games do make good use of music, and some of them too have been subjects of orchestral renditions, the Zelda music holds such grandeur.

I was a little disappointed with how sporadically the video behind the orchestra was used (and the giant speaker in my way but that's the way the die rolls). At times there was simply atmospheric visuals and at other times footage from the games were used, more often than not just footage post-Wind Waker (presuming the Ocarina of Time footage was from the 3DS). While I love the visual style of Wind Waker it would have been great to see some other games getting the visual love too.

The music itself was wonderful and it was great to just sit back and enjoy it, something that is seldom done with such an active medium as video games. The various people that spoke on stage, Zelda Williams, conductor Eimar Noone, Koji Kondo and Eiji Aonuma, all provided their own unique voices and reflections upon the series and I'm sure for many fans it was wonderful to be in such close proximity of the people behind their favourite games.

I would personally say that the evening was enjoyable and seemed successful and I have no doubt that when the show goes on the road it will be a huge success. Although, if they take the merchandise with them they may wish to lower the prices, but then again merchandise is often expensive at concerts. Other than that rather minor point I think the symphony will be remembered for quite some time, and rightly so.

- Ashley Jones