A mod for The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
A Link to the Islands is a Wind Waker-inspired hack of A Link to the Past. It was originally called Lyra Islands and developed by SePH in 2004-2005, but it wasn’t finished. In 2015, the Lyra Islands project was once again restarted with the goal of finishing the game one day. New overworlds and dungeons were made, and the original LTTP graphics were restored. The project was eventually renamed A Link to the Islands.
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As of the time of the review I seem to be the only person on this site to actually have played this game. Let me tell you why it should stay that way:
Do you like A Link to the Past? How much do you like that game? Now do you want a version of that game that is simultaneously smaller in scope while being comically awful in its design? If you do then I don't know what therapist you should see but I would recommend one.
I don't want to be too harsh on a passion project ROM hack because it's not like I spent money on this or anything but I struggle to find fond memories of my experience in a surreal way. It feels like someone took a a timeless classic and skinned it alive and now is masquerading as a perverted facsimile of its image.
A good example being in the general world and level design which will be the focus of this review primarily because graphically and musically it is very similar to the original minus the use of some Minish Cap sprites.
How well do you think you understand A Link to the Past? I hope you know more than the casual player because this hack demands you understand how room information is stored to solve puzzles. What do I mean by this? You know how there will be a "Kill everything that moves" rooms? Did you know the game stores that information between rooms? Yes this hack demands you to wipe out multiple rooms of enemies for then a chest to spawn in the first room. Conceptually it is a simple puzzle but by its very nature it goes against readable game design especially within the context of the original.
Another great example is Pegasus Boots hopping. There is one dungeon that demands you know this niche trick where you crash into a wall with the Pegasus Boots to use the pushback to navigate over a hole. A niche trick but thankfully it doesn't demand you use bombs to the same effect.
Those are just some examples of the rather esoteric puzzle design found within this hack, not even going to go into shooting statues and one way paths. You get the idea hopefully.
Yeah, yeah dungeons can be lame and frustrating but what about the overworld? Well you only get one instead of two and about half of it is covered with water. A neat idea on paper but alas in execution it is boring and wastes time. Swimming in water is slower than walking on land is which already is tedious but throw that in with copy/paste island designs and it is a recipe for a strong negative reaction. One landmass per screen with them being the same size having a entrance to a small mini puzzle to get optional junk most of the time.
Alright, dungeons are bust and the overworld is slow. Atleast the game functions properly right? Right? Haha, dear hypothetical reader that is where you are wrong. The hack is riddled with glitches from breaking the scrolling and collision to having content be inaccessible. I believe I got as close to 100% as possible because I cannot find evidence of anyone ever getting the max heart count, 1/2 magic or Lvl. 4 sword. They seem to just be missing.
These problems are fascinating but I think I have an answer to why this is an unabridged mess. Apparently this hack was started by a person in the mid 2000s under the name "Lyra Islands" but it seems that project was abandoned and then later picked up by someone else. Too many cooks situation mixed in with the rather rudimentary hacking tools of yesteryear which I can assume the foundation of the hack was built upon. Within this theory crafting level hypothesis every complaint and issue falls into place.
Now why am I not rating this lower? Primarily because the features and designs left intact from the original SNES game carry the only positive traits. Is that fair? Probably not but I want to cap things off with me saying how much I respect the ability to finish the project. Most people don't get this far and I want to shine a light on how impressive that is along with this hack not being catered to the top one percent of players like "Parallel Worlds" was. Ultimately for as popular and influential A Link to the Past is the ROM hacking scene for this title is still in its infancy. A hack like this is an example of growing pains and serves as guidepost for future developers to look at and learn from. With that in mind I don't particularly recommend this hack but I am sure in a decade from now it will have carved out a small historical place for itself.
Do you like A Link to the Past? How much do you like that game? Now do you want a version of that game that is simultaneously smaller in scope while being comically awful in its design? If you do then I don't know what therapist you should see but I would recommend one.
I don't want to be too harsh on a passion project ROM hack because it's not like I spent money on this or anything but I struggle to find fond memories of my experience in a surreal way. It feels like someone took a a timeless classic and skinned it alive and now is masquerading as a perverted facsimile of its image.
A good example being in the general world and level design which will be the focus of this review primarily because graphically and musically it is very similar to the original minus the use of some Minish Cap sprites.
How well do you think you understand A Link to the Past? I hope you know more than the casual player because this hack demands you understand how room information is stored to solve puzzles. What do I mean by this? You know how there will be a "Kill everything that moves" rooms? Did you know the game stores that information between rooms? Yes this hack demands you to wipe out multiple rooms of enemies for then a chest to spawn in the first room. Conceptually it is a simple puzzle but by its very nature it goes against readable game design especially within the context of the original.
Another great example is Pegasus Boots hopping. There is one dungeon that demands you know this niche trick where you crash into a wall with the Pegasus Boots to use the pushback to navigate over a hole. A niche trick but thankfully it doesn't demand you use bombs to the same effect.
Those are just some examples of the rather esoteric puzzle design found within this hack, not even going to go into shooting statues and one way paths. You get the idea hopefully.
Yeah, yeah dungeons can be lame and frustrating but what about the overworld? Well you only get one instead of two and about half of it is covered with water. A neat idea on paper but alas in execution it is boring and wastes time. Swimming in water is slower than walking on land is which already is tedious but throw that in with copy/paste island designs and it is a recipe for a strong negative reaction. One landmass per screen with them being the same size having a entrance to a small mini puzzle to get optional junk most of the time.
Alright, dungeons are bust and the overworld is slow. Atleast the game functions properly right? Right? Haha, dear hypothetical reader that is where you are wrong. The hack is riddled with glitches from breaking the scrolling and collision to having content be inaccessible. I believe I got as close to 100% as possible because I cannot find evidence of anyone ever getting the max heart count, 1/2 magic or Lvl. 4 sword. They seem to just be missing.
These problems are fascinating but I think I have an answer to why this is an unabridged mess. Apparently this hack was started by a person in the mid 2000s under the name "Lyra Islands" but it seems that project was abandoned and then later picked up by someone else. Too many cooks situation mixed in with the rather rudimentary hacking tools of yesteryear which I can assume the foundation of the hack was built upon. Within this theory crafting level hypothesis every complaint and issue falls into place.
Now why am I not rating this lower? Primarily because the features and designs left intact from the original SNES game carry the only positive traits. Is that fair? Probably not but I want to cap things off with me saying how much I respect the ability to finish the project. Most people don't get this far and I want to shine a light on how impressive that is along with this hack not being catered to the top one percent of players like "Parallel Worlds" was. Ultimately for as popular and influential A Link to the Past is the ROM hacking scene for this title is still in its infancy. A hack like this is an example of growing pains and serves as guidepost for future developers to look at and learn from. With that in mind I don't particularly recommend this hack but I am sure in a decade from now it will have carved out a small historical place for itself.