Is it legal to use sprites from a game like say zelda or mario and use them in own projects ? if not i cannot post screenshots on my 2d project in my journal :(

No it is not legal unless you have permission from the author(s) of the games in question. (I belive Nintendo owns the rights to mario and zelda)

Okey my journal is broken ! :(, i have done a really nice clone of zelda: a link to the past. but now i cant show you it :(

well thats life

Moving to the Business forum; I suspect they would be able to advise you further in matters of copyright.

If he is not making any money from his projects, is it still illegal? How is this different than using mario/zelda images on a fan website?

FAQ 61. http://www.sloperama.com/advice/faq61.htm

Quote: Original post by RDragon1
If he is not making any money from his projects, is it still illegal? How is this different than using mario/zelda images on a fan website?

It isn't different - both of those are illegal unless the images in question were provided by Nintendo specifically for that purpose (i.e. 'fan site kits'), or in some cases including screenshots with an article about the game may be considered 'fair use'.

Out of the two, the fan site however is far less likely to incur Nintendo's legal wrath.