Reviews from

in the past


everyone deems this game as one of the greatest of all times and I think this time I really have to agree

a link to the past feels grand revolutionary and awe inspiring even after 30 something years from its release and honestly it's something that I can't really say for a lot of games from this time they'd always end up being clunky or obtuse to play them today but for some reason I found none of that in this one so i can only imagine how incredible it would've been to play this game in 1991

after the very first zelda for NES (great but antiquated nowadays) and zelda II (haven't played it yet but I know it's a fucking chore) they went back to the winning formula of the NES era and greatly expanded on it on every level of existence and its not a surprise that this was the blueprint for ocarina of time and many zelda titles to come

story in this one is as simple as it gets zelda seeks help through the power of telepathy and link goes to help her shenanigans happen here and there and she gets kidnapped like a stupid ass so basically the main gameplay loop of the game is 3 + 7 dungeons going back and forth from the dark world until you get to the last dungeon and beat the shit out of ganon the end

its not really the most convoluted story ever in the universe but the atmosphere themes and vibes are absolutely unmatched the scene where you free zelda and run away with her is something so incredible I cannot put it into words its like I was reliving ICO all over again and I was really surprised they got rid of this sequence in a link between worlds like what were you thinking

the main lore is told by some different characters here and there like the legend of ganon and shit like that and thats also pretty jnteresting but the main meat of the game is pretty straightforward go to a dungeon get the dungeon item beat the dungeon rinse and repeat

playing this game is an absolute fucking blast and I was absolutely stunned at how many different weapons and accessories and upgrades and items there are here its kind of weird like theres probably 20+ items because the dungeon items are already a lot and then you get some extra items from exploring and shit like that so yeah

the overworld is absolutely incredible and traversing it is a fucking blast moving link around feels good and there's always rewarding you for exploring its useless to explain the main gameplay because it's fucking zelda I should not explain it but I gotta say that the dungeons range from fun to absolutely fucking ??? like I cannot explain it but ??? I had to open a guide most of the times because theres some stuff that made me go crazy im not joking funnily enough the ice palace didn't really give me a problem as much as the fucking mine did that dungeon is incredibly 1 boring 2 dumb 3 frustrating and i had to do it 3 times because first I didnt know I needed the ice rod so I had to take the ice rod and redo it and then I realised I also needed a magic bottle because my default magic tank wasn't enough what the FUCK were they smoking in the meeting room

and thats probably my main crutch in this games the fact that most of the time you won't know what the fuck you have to do now I do really enjoy exploring its world and defeating enemies or whatever but going around the overworld 99+ times without nothing new happening gets boring really fast and also some stuff is truly impossible if you don't open a guide like how am I supposed to know that to get the ocarina I need to dig a very specific square in a point that NO NPC told me about do I look like a fucking clown to you anyway apart from that? this game is perfect

using this variety of items is the most fun I had with gimmicks items in zelda coming and going to the dark world even tho a chore sometimes really gets the theme across and all the while listening to the bomb music

now art department ? this shit is insane the art style is incredible this chibified yet detailed kind of style for the sprites drives home the entirety of the game with the characters blending perfectly with the environments theyre in plus theres sexy alligators trying to fuck your ass and id honestly let them

music is also unmatched and every single thing is a bop and most of the tracks here will become staples of the series throughout the years but a personal favorite from this score is the dark world theme this shit is absolutely jawdropping yall don't even get me started the first time I listened to it I was sweating profusely for the love of everything holy

so umh for my current marathon in which I played two (2) games I can say that this one is my favorite one of the bunch now if you tell me do you prefere this or twilight princess I will smack you on the face and call you slurs try me

bring pink haired link back I'll become homicidal

O melhor: O mundo cheio de puzzles e segredos
O pior: Os desafios nas dungeons as vezes são bem frustrantes
Satisfatório: A música de vitória ao derrotar o boss de uma dungeon é uma das melhores do tipo já criadas

Mais um clássico pra riscar da lista. Esse é um que eu tenho a sensação de que gostaria mais se tivesse jogado na época, mas mesmo assim achei um bom jogo. O mapa de Hyrule é bem legal de se explorar, mesmo que os desafios de combate sejam mais um empecilho do que algo divertido de se abordar. Isso fica pior nas dungeons, que no geral não tem um design muito interessante, e muitas salas parecem ser só um amontoado de inimigos e armadilhas, sem muita coesão, para explorar o hardware novo.

Dá pra perceber que o jogo sofre um tanto por ser do primeiro ano do SNES, sempre achei curioso nunca terem lançado outro Zelda nessa geração. Link's Awakening é um jogo que eu consigo ver bem mais polimento de forma geral, mas entendo o carinho que muitos tem por A Link to the Past. Alguns momentos são bem memoráveis, principalmente quando envolvem possíveis descobertas no mapa do jogo, algumas delas bem obscuras. Dá pra ficar perdido algumas vezes se não prestar atenção nos detalhes, e o nível do desafio em geral foi mais alto do que eu esperava.

Imagine defining a massive series so elegantly that after 30 years of them riffing on these same beats over and over the most it elicits out of me is "yeah this is pretty chill"

El mejor juego de la historia si te llamas NintenJimmy tienes 35 años y jugaste a este juego en la SNES con tu primo John

No spoilers discussed from a narrative perspective; however, I do speak extensively on the gameplay and dungeons, which may be seen as spoilerish for people who wish to go into things completely carte blanche. As such, for those of you who do, avoid reading: the tl;dr is I don’t recommend playing ALTTP without a guide

Beaten on the SNES Classic

I did not want to give this game a mixed review. In fact, when I first booted up A Link to the Past, it genuinely enthralled me, the pixel art and 4:3 display bringing back memories of a childhood long forgotten; where the stresses of adulthood were as far away as the skies of Hyrule and fields of Arcadia. There’s always been something about the Super Nintendo that’s rung a deep chord within me, and I was consequently eager to re-indulge in nostalgia for the next 15 hours or so.

Alas, that was not to be. ALTTP starts off on a great note, yet a severe flaw of the era rears its ugly head again-and-again, degrading the experience no matter how often you try and address it: deliberate vagueness for the sake of artificial elongation. Picture this -- you’ve tolled extensively through a dungeon, dodging hazardous obstacles, slaying countless enemies, even dying a few times, but all that doesn’t matter as you’ve finally made it to the end boss, only….something’s off. Your attacks aren’t working, and you’re confident you’re employing every trick in the book….

Or, let’s not even go that far- say you’ve spent almost an hour meandering towards one of the new dungeons on your map, stressing about finding the right entrance, the right pathway, all whilst evading your usual hodgepodge of critters and traps, only….you can’t get in. Or you can get in, and you can’t progress past the first room for reasons you’re unsure of.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is what we call obsolete game design: when a game expects you to have meandered aimlessly in its world for the sake of finding that ONE hint or ONE item placed elsewhere that can circumvent a major hindrance of a dungeon down-the-line. While Fourth Generation titles were significantly better in this department than their forebears, you still had a number of releases, particularly in the RPG genre, that indulged in such hapless tactics for the sake of offsetting early-return losses.

Of course, ALTTP is not a pure RPG; however, it borrows enough here to the point where it shares those same criticisms as a Lufia I or a Castlevania 2: where you NEED to talk to a number of random villagers or scour the far reaches of the map(s) for the sake of progression. Fail to do that, and you’ll stumble into the same pitfalls I encountered above.

And look, I get it. Games back in the day, particularly Nintendo titles, were built on in-person cooperation and guide book procurement: heck, Nintendo Power explicitly published hints in its monthly catalog as a way of enticing more young’uns to subscribe. But in this day-and-age, such capitalistic feedback loops are nonexistent, and games are expected to be solvable without extensive manuals, a minimum standard ALTTP simply fails to live up to. And what makes this particularly irksome is that it literally doesn’t start off like this. For the first section, you can cruise along and complete the trifecta of introductory strongholds at your own pace in whatever order you want without worrying if you missed X trinket at Y location. Then the Dark World springs up and you’re granted access to 8 additional dungeons that can seemingly be completed in any order; a revolutionary feat for the time that probably inspired similar “open door” moments in later games.

EXCEPT, it’s a partial lie. The final four dungeons (Ice Palace, Misery Mire, Turtle Rock, Ganon’s Tower) all require you to have acquired a certain tool beforehand lest you get stuck either at the entryway or, worse case scenario, boss fight following an extended period of drudging.

You may be thinking, well Red, given that the dungeons are numbered on-screen sequentially, wouldn’t it make sense for the closing four’s secrets to be locked behind keys gleaned anteriorly? To which I would say yes if said keys were provided to you in a linear fashion. The problem is, all but one of those items (ranging from medallions to weapons), are not dungeon drops- they’re literally random loot hidden in specialized locations you have to go out of your way to find, and the only way you’re going to find them is through either talking to every random joe you see for a clue, shelling out rupees to the town fortune teller, or good old-fashioned hapless exploring. And hey listen, I definitely understand how all of this forced reconnaissance could’ve been enjoyable to a young person growing up in the 90s without similar console titles for comparison; but nowadays, it feels restrictive and tedious to have to meander elsewhere when you just want to complete the next fortress.

The pseudo-free roam nature of ALTTP also bothered me in a couple of respects. One, much like the Tomb Raider reboot and Metro 2033, it gets under my skin whenever a game lies about being wanderable: launching the Dark World map for the first time, you’re left with the impression that you can tackle any of these objectives in whatever order you wish, yet that’s immediately unveiled as a lie blatantly intended to waste your time running to locales you’re unable to enter. And two, there were so many small ways the developers could’ve alleviated said time-wasting: make the fast-travel bird system mandatorily accessible from the get-go; have an option to purchase charts or info to mark out secrets on the map (or prerender them entirely ala Metroid Prime); allow Link to transport between worlds without having to recharge the Magic Mirror; or incorporate better interconnection from area to area (seriously, it angers me how your sole option for traversal are these narrow roadways tucked inside each dimension -- I get they maybe wanted to limit how far players could travel initially, but considering they either way softlock places, it felt annoyingly redundant).

It’s a shame you run into these qualms because the vast majority of the dungeons are superb and really fun; the only ones I would say I was not a big fan of were Skull Woods, Gargoyle's Domain, and Ice Palace due to either an influx of unbeatable enemies/obstacles (more on that later) or extensive backtracking. This same praise extends to the bosses as well -- yes, like most SNES games, their brawls come down to a Phase 1 and slightly stronger Phase 2, but the bulk of them necessitate some level of strategy and, above all else, they’re grotesquely fascinating to stare at. If there’s one thing we can all agree on about ALTTP, it’s that its graphical design is top notch.

I know there’s been some controversy regarding Link’s pink hair, but putting that aside, the mute boy and his world have never looked better in 2D. As I mentioned before, the SNES capitalized on pixel art craftsmanship, and ALTTP is certainly one of the best depictions of this visual philosophy. Unique NPC figures have been developed for the two worlds, and thanks to some extraordinarily-talented artisans, they never feel like reskins of the other. Whereas the Light World is a plane dominated by humans, in the Dark World you get a sense it’s the opposite, with humans explicitly a minority amongst the roaming monstrosities everywhere: cyclopean bomb throwers, carnivorous vegetation, chimeric bodyguards, clawed wraiths etc… Yeah you get some uninspired variants like discolored turtles, mummies, and literal globs, but they don’t take away from their more-fascinating compatriots (a noteworthy trait given the SNES’s aptitude for creature feature extravaganza). I was also intrigued by the use of 3D geometry (the Princess capsules and TriForce assemblage), which never felt at odds with the in-game engine. The only critique I have is the lack of vivid differentials between the two realms: swapping from one to the other feels less like a dimensional rift and more like a seasonal change, the Dark World cloaked in muddied tints.

SFX was never elaborate in the SNES days, but ALTTP is pretty bare bones even by those standards. Compared to Donkey Kong Country, for example, there are only two wound cries (if you can call them that) for EVERY breed of enemy, with bosses somehow having it even worse. This lack of diversity extends to the OST, which inexcusably features 45 minutes(+) worth of music for the 10+ hours you’ll be playing. Because of this, you’ll be hearing A LOT of repetition, and while I like the Zelda theme as much as anybody, it, in particular, becomes GRATING to listen to given its usage as the Light World motif (as soon as those trumpets started to restate Michael Jackson Smooth Criminal-style, I wanted to shut off the TV). The Dark World’s version fares a lot better on the ears, but even still most locales simply don’t have anything unique: towns are nonexistent, there are only two dungeon tracks in the entire record, bosses (save Ganon) share a single leitmotif, and even the unique tunes tend to be a single chorus looped twice/thrice. Nintendo and Koji Kondo really dropped the ball here.

That said, there is some unique sound editing in the game that deserves to be highlighted. For starters, whenever you enter interiors, the overworld medley goes soft; secondly, inside of cave-like locations, Link’s dins gain an echoey effect; and thirdly, each of Link’s tools are granted a nice distinct rattle (a wise decision considering the amount of times you’ll be utilizing them during your journey).

There isn’t too much to say about the gameplay other than that there’s a ton of sword swiping and puzzle-solving, the latter usually simple and never falling into nonsense territory. Combat, on the other hand, leaves a lot to be desired, namely because of two big reasons: one, this game desperately needed a joystick as turning to reorient Link for a new slash can get vexing, due to the absence of diagonal movement and the jumpiness of later thugs; and two, I felt there were issues with the hit detection, particularly when an enemy was getting out of the recovery phase of an initial strike -- it’s not Secret of Mana-level bad, but it does prop up every now and then.

Worse, still, are the sheer number of unbeatable enemies Nintendo programmed for the sake of concocting barriers, a game design aspect that’s never made sense to me from a lore perspective: if bosses are meant to be the strongest foes, why can they be hurt whilst their underlings remain scratchless? But, putting that aside, ALTTP has one too many of these entities, and they become particularly irritating when placed alongside stationary threats like spiked columns or rebounding shields. I’m talking: bouncing diamondheads, firestreams, rotating laser eye projectors, wall-mounted laser eye projectors, little charmander things, water bubbles, etc….I could go on. While I understand they were just trying to craft unique challenges, it got to a point where it became ridiculous to encounter all these entities that not only served the same purpose, but were somehow stronger than Ganon.

In the end, ALTTP lives and dies by its dungeons, which would’ve been perfectly fine had they not been affected by the game’s other flaws. It does a lot right, and I’m happy it made a large impression on so many people back in the day, but by contemporary standards it’s frustrating- I didn’t even go into the difficulty and poor save spots, which send you back to the very beginning of a Dungeon (thank the Lord for the SNES Classic’s Suspend Points).

If you do play it, I implore you to utilize a guide; otherwise, you’ll be wasting a lot of time (like I did).


NOTES
+The 45 minute total is being generous as a chunk of those tracks, like the main menu and fairy pools themes, have the same copy/pasted harmony. Not to mention the official release comes with an ugly unused ting that was luckily removed in the final product.

-There is a story with a surprising amount of text dedicated to it, but it essentially comes down to the standard good/evil plot of yesteryear (in fact, there are times where it gets silly, like the beginning with Link’s Uncle - you’ll know it when you see it).

-Didn't even get around to talking about the respawning enemies, which get annoying, and the inane control scheme (I will never understand why Nintendo made the select button your weapon menu instead of the map- it's something I never got used to).

-Turtle Rock is full of homages to the Super Mario games: you’ve got lava pits, warp pipe-esque tubes, discount Pokeys, and even two freakin chain chomps!

-Don’t know why it’s called A Link to the Past when you’re traveling between alternate realities. A better title would’ve been A Link Between Worlds….


Quality Zelda benchmark. The true birth of "The Legend" and all the legacy and infamous Zelda-isms. OOT is just 3D ALttP and that's all it managed to do. OOT fanatics eat my ass out, I mean, eat your heart out.

the most overrated game ive ever played in my life. i seriously cant fathom how people think this is better than ocarina of time

The first Zelda game I’ve played and a classic 2D adventure that holds up startlingly well for its age. A lot of older games fall into two basic categories. The ones that need a guide to enjoy it or even complete it, or ones that are too straightforward and plain to even have a guide. I would argue A Link to the Past falls somewhere within the middle.

In actually completing the game it’s perfectly feasible without a guide. You’ll be at a great disadvantage without certain sword or bow upgrades, but it’s definitely possible. Personally, I don’t mind looking up a guide to make sure I get all the upgrades for a game like this. Not only does it give me an edge in the fight, it lets me see all there is to the game. Some items and extra heart pieces could be discovered by tinkering around with the magic mirror at hinted points, though other puzzles were definitely a touch too esoteric. Truthfully, compared to its peers A Link to the Past is perhaps superior for its time when it comes to hints. I know that compared to the first game this one improved their in-game clues when something special was nearby, such as with discolored walls hinting at secrets beyond.

Needless to say the game can get pretty demanding, so I’d strongly recommend getting every secret you can, guide or not. Even at full health and armor enemies can take a quarter of your health in one hit. And for some reason they also added bottomless pits PLUS knockback, the bane of my existence and super out of place here. Some enemies can be more annoying than others but my real frustration was with the hit detection. It was very inconsistent and made hitting certain enemies at an angle a chore. There’s a spin attack but that hardly helps hitting further than 2 inches away from you. More often than not it’s better to keep a distance or position yourself so enemies walk into your slashes. Fortunately you do get more acclimated to it. As you conquer more dungeons you get used to the idiosyncrasies of the combat and it even approaches charming, knockback notwithstanding.

Much like Mario, the story here is recycled and barebones. Save the girl, kill the baddie. Okie doke. I refused to pay attention further than that except when it made me. I’ll wait for future installments to get invested in the story of Hyrule and its kingdom. What I will say is this: the ‘do you understand?’ prompts the game gave me after childishly explaining basic fantasy concepts over and over again started to get pretty damn funny. It was probably the most joy I got out of anything related to the story.

One important point is the inclusion of the dark world. Using a magic mirror you can traverse to a dark, desolate version of the overworld. To return you have to go back to a shimmer at the place you last traversed from. Some set points like the castle gates act as a guaranteed way back for when your shimmer gets stuck or inaccessible, a necessary addition I can confirm.The dark world itself makes for some extra puzzles and is required to get to certain sections blocked off in the main world. While not perfectly intuitive It’s a neat gimmick that works because the quick back-and-forth between worlds gives you a reference point for where you’ll end up. Some side puzzles are obtuse, but by and large the main objectives are clear.

Overall, A Link to the Past is a solid retro title that not only marks when the franchise first finds its footings, but also serves as a terrific starting point for inquisitive gamers who wish to start the long journey that is the Zelda franchise.

This was my first Zelda game. It still holds up extremely well and in my opinion is among of the greatest games on the SNES. The joys of exploration it brings for me are nearly unmatched by other 2D Zeldas, the only one rivaling it being, perhaps ironically, A Link Between Worlds. My only real complaint is that I don't like how combat-focused the dungeons are, especially in the Dark World. It feels like a relic of Zelda 1's dungeon design.

A Link to the Past is placed among my top 5 Legend of Zelda games. It was a welcome return to the original style that Zelda II departed from, while adding more features and things that would become staples of the franchise. From heart pieces and Kakariko village to Zelda's Lullaby and the idea of 7 sages (though they are called "wise men" in this game, granted), and many more things to appear later, A Link to the Past was quite formative for the series. The game is truly wonderful. It plays well, looks great and has wonderful music. Definitely worth your time.

This is an insanely well made title and a staple of the SNES era. The puzzles are creative, the world is vast, and the entire game is a memorable experience that defines many 2D games and still holds up by today's standards. This is a true classic, and a game I can enjoy regardless of time.

I realize this game is not entirely my cup of tea, I had to look up and follow a guide a lot of the time 'cause I was lost or missing an item, also a lot of the bosses were lowkey kicking my ass into the dirt.

However despite all this I find that there is a lot to love and I can definitely recognize how important LTTP is to video games as a medium. From the score, to the world bursting with secrets, to the smaller things like the jingles of making a discovery, LTTP is nothing short of iconic.

A lot of the magic while I can still definitely appreciate is a little lost on me due to my frustrations but I mean come on it's LTTP of course its worth playing and of course it's a gem.

Esse jogo é excelente, principalmente para a época que foi lançado, mas eu acho que apesar de ter ótimas dungeons eu acho que ele é pouco intuitivo sobre o que fazer no world map, tive que recorrer a detonado para descobrir o que fazer.

If Ganon turned into a big worm Hyrule would be finished I can tell you that

"Finally. Some good fucking food."
For modern players this is likely the oldest Zelda that is still palatable.
Structured to be a semi-linear experience as opposed to the mostly open-ended nature of Zelda I and the strictly segmented structure of Zelda II, ALttP keeps the guard-rails on until the Dark World has been unlocked for a while. Really only offering the option of swapping the order of a few mid-game dungeons around granting the opportunity to attain an upgraded sword early. For 26 years this would be the last time a Zelda game provided such freedom of routing to players. Anyway it's a super solid and laid-back romp through pixel-perfect Hyrule. Unless you're trying to pull off a no-death no-continues clear for a "perfect" save-file, there's minimal challenge to be had that can't be overcome with persistence. Making for an easy recommend to the general gaming audience.

"Mmm. How can we be needlessly obtuse this time... Ah yes. Let's force players to fire their hookshot off-screen in order to reach the third darkworld dungeon." The only reason this didn't trip me up this time was due to my distinct memories as a kid getting annoyed that the skulls to hookshot to have to be blind-fired at. That this is pretty much the extent that ALttP gets obtuse is a credit to its improved signposting for player directions.
It strikes me I forgot about the entrance to Blind's Hideout...

Fuck the digging minigame.

Fast and hardhitting enemies, constant projectiles and rare heart drops that always requires you to keep moving around while Link is having the traction of a wet diaper. Better be bringing yourself enough healing and magic potions or face the consequences.

A Link to the Past is both challenging and diverse with its otherwise well structured overworld of unique dungeons, sidequests and minigames. There's a fun and charmy adventure to be had if you can abide to its less forgiving nature.








I don't really think there's much to say about this game that hasn't been said, so I'll keep this short. I wasn't a huge fan of the hit detection or like, overall feel of the game? Too often I felt like I was in the wrong place, or attacking the wrong way, and it just kinda felt mushy to me. Also, some of the late game dungeons throw back to zelda 1 in terms of opaqueness and lack of direction. ANyways pretty much the rest of the game is wonderful, and I get why so many people love this game, even if I don't really. That world, and all the ways you get to explore it at your own pace, would certainly be magical if I was a kid, and had all the time in the world.

How does a game made with just pixels produce the greatest piece of game music of all time in Kakariko Village? How does it produce 2 excellent worlds to explore as well as innovative dungeons that have you thinking about 3D in a 2D game? A fantastic adventure which is testament to the power of creativity in gaming.

Following the massive success of the original Legend of Zelda, and yes, even the success of Zelda II, it was clear that Nintendo needed to pull a hat trick with a third installment to signify the series as one of their staple franchises. With the release of the Super Nintendo, and the incredible success of Super Mario World, it was all too clear where the series needed to go from here. So, after three years of development, Nintendo would then release The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

If you are familiar with the Zelda series, you would know that this game is one of the most beloved in the entire series, and is considered by many to be one of the greatest video games of all time. Personally for me, I also love it a great deal, but I wouldn't consider it to be THAT great. With that being said, it is an absolutely fantastic entry in the franchise, and without of doubt the best Zelda game in the series so far.

The story is standard for Zelda games, but then again, it works for this game and how it executes it, the graphics still hold up extremely well to this day, and are very appealing, the music is incredibly catchy, memorable, and iconic, the control is very solid, with no real problems with it whatsoever, and the gameplay is some of the best that 2D Zelda has ever offered up to this point.

Thankfully, this game returns to the top-down style of the original Legend of Zelda, and the gameplay mostly follows the same formula as that original game. It's an adventure game where you explore a vast world, fight monsters and traverse dangerous landscapes, take on numerous dungeons, fight bosses, and gather a wide assortment of items and upgrades to help you along the way.

All of this would become the staple formula for Zelda for a reason, as this formula was executed almost masterfully with this entry, and I absolutely loved replaying through it all. Exploring this vast, yet simple world, with so much more detail compared to the original game, finding all of the secrets throughout the land, seeing all the different landmarks and people throughout, and conquering all of these simple, yet demanding challenges with the dungeons and bosses. It is all so much fun to accomplish, all accompanied with a sense of freedom to explore the world around you, yet still having a bit of a helping hand with where you need to go next via the story text from NPCs, so you won't feel too completely lost the original Zelda.

As mentioned previously, this game would introduce the formula that most Zelda games after this would take after, where you have to hunt down three treasures of some kind, and then you are sent to a parallel version of the main world, where you then need to then collect more of a central artifact in order to finally take on the big evil, in this case of course being Ganon. Yes, it may be formulaic, especially compared to other games and later entries in the series, but again, it is executed almost perfectly in this entry, and there is a reason that it is still replayed all the way to this day, even with different alterations and playstyles used with the game, like randomizers and plenty of speedruns. Not to mention, many music pieces that would become staples in the Zelda series also stemmed from this game as well.

Now, I know I have been sucking this game's dick throughout the whole review at this point, but believe me, as I have eluded to, I don't think it is perfect, and I do have some issues with it, albeit small ones. First and foremost, while getting all of the optional items, Heart Pieces, and all that is usually pretty enjoyable, some of the little side minigames or whatever that you do in order to get these items can be pretty tedious and annoying. For example, there is this one side minigame in the Dark World where you are given 30 seconds to dig up this field, with there being a heart piece randomly placed in one of the dirt patches every time, so if you aren't lucky, you will have to keep digging... and digging... and digging... and DIGGING over and over and over again. It can get pretty annoying, and again, there are several instances of this in the game.

In addition, I'm not sure if it is just me, but sometimes, the game can become quite a pain when it comes to the amount of damage you can take all at once, with all the shit the game can throw at you either out in the overworld or a room in a dungeon. Again, that might just be a me thing, but that can become quite annoying at times. Other than that, the only other complaint I would have is that it can be a guide game at times, but that doesn't bother me in this instance.

Overall, it is an incredible third entry in this franchise, and a fantastic game in general. Sure, it can be annoying with some elements present in the game, but aside from that, there is a reason it is so fondly remembered as one of the best games in the entire series.

Game #112

Glad to say I finally finished this but wow is the back half of this game unforgiving. Some of the dungeon puzzles are nearly impossible to figure out without some kind of guide. Also bizarrely the dungeons are so much harder than the actual bosses. Final Gannon fight was an absolute cakewalk but glad to have what many consider to be an all time classic checked off the list.

Still a definitive and incredibly well-designed game in all regards.

not my favorite zelda game, but probably the most important. it will always impress me how much they got right here.

This is the first video game I ever emulated, and the first game I beat on an emulator, years and years ago when I was a kid. A lot of time has passed since then and I wanted to give this another go while playing through Zelda so I figured that was a good excuse. Dungeons and exploration become a bit of a slog especially near the end, but overall this might be the second most technically “perfect” game I’ve played after Chrono Trigger. Really encourages me to continue with the older Zelda games I haven’t played yet and give them a first try.

Among the best dungeon crawler and not quite open world 2D Zelda games to come out so far. Its sprites, soundtrack, items and experience are well refined from the first entry. Even today it's still being played, speedrun and modded heavily and for good reason. I just wished the story was a little bit more developed.

> Defeats Ganon
> Can wish for anything now
> Wishes for the return of the Monarchy
> Dosen't even fuck Zelda
LINK, YOU FUCKING IDIOT!


This review contains spoilers

The game would be so much better if it had more quality of life changes that more recent games have:
- The exploration would be more fun if it was easier to figure out where you need to go after finishing a dungeon.
For example, when I reached the Swamp Palace, I realized I needed an item to go through the water. But the game doesn't help you one bit to figure out where it is.
The item is located in a remote place, in a corner of the map. Good luck to find it without a guide...

- The bosses are really good (probably the best part of the game) but it can get really frustrating because when you die, you're sent back to the beginning of the dungeon...

Aside from that, the combat itself was a bit clunky with the 4-directional aiming, but nothing too annoying.

It was really disappointing that all the dungeons had the same music.

The art-style holds up really well after all this time.

----------Playtime & Completion----------

[Played in mid-August 2021]
Playtime: 20 hours
Main story complete.

If I had not played this game then I would have never gotten into gaming as a whole!
To this day, this game defines what I believe should be the standard for all LoZ games! Plenty of creative dungeons, puzzles and a plethora of items to have fun with... and of course an amazing OST to top it all off!

Man, does this game hold up surprisingly well.

beautiful pixel art, simple but engaging gameplay and an interesting and fun world to explore make this one of the best Zelda games.

“THE REASON YOU BOUGHT A STRATEGY GUIDE IN 1992”

My previous forays into Legend of Zelda have not been kind. Shortly after giving up on Zelda II, I decided – you know what? – let’s get into A Link to the Past!

I’d heard a lot of good things about ALttP. Many friends and longtime Zelda fans have claimed that this is where the series truly begins. This is where the Legend of Zelda gets good.

And well, hey, it’s definitely my favorite opening hour of any LoZ game I’ve played so far. For a fleeting sixty minutes I really believed I might’ve been playing the best Zelda game ever made. Captivating, deftly-paced, and a map with objective markers. Talk about an upgrade!

So what happened?

Honestly I haven’t been feeling very confident about my internal rating system as of late. Sonic 1 and 2 are a 5/10. Super Mario Land is a 5/10. Final Fantasy XVI is a 5/10. And now this. I can’t really reconcile with the idea that all these games are similar quality-wise, because they’re not. All scores are subjective. Maybe one day I’ll realize Super Mario Land is actually the best Mario game ever, and maybe I’ll revisit Sonic 2 and fall madly in love.

Likewise, a Link to the Past is not a bad game by any metric; for me personally, a 5/10 is not a bad score by any metric. I’m weighing everything but I’m also going with my gut here.

I believe that playing Link’s Awakening prepared me a little more for ALttP. Knowing that Link’s Awakening was released after ALttP makes me want to play through Link’s Awakening again at some point – but also, it makes me question some of that game’s mechanics/conceits a bit more.

There is a good amount of streamlining here, mainly with map markers and fast travel using the ocarina, but it’s still not enough. Link’s Awakening had Ulrira giving you hints through the telephone, which was a good way to give players some direction (or a necessary refresher if you took weeklong breaks like I did). ALttP has fortune tellers, which give you some hints and even refill your health to max when you consult them – this is great! I was very happy with the fortune tellers… until they stopped being useful.

Towards the second half of the game, I guess the developers decided that hints weren’t conducive to players making progress, and then relegated the remaining hints to optional side quests.

Unfortunately, I suffered from a lot of the same meandering in ALttP as I did in Link’s Awakening. I was always wondering, “Where am I supposed to go?” Even with a map marker, the exact sequence of steps needed to access some dungeons can oftentimes be a little confusing at best, and downright hieroglyphic at worst.

There was always a 50/50 chance that what I needed to do was tied to a puzzle within the vicinity of the place I was in – or it was on the complete opposite end of the world map. I hate playing games where I need to keep referring back to a guide to navigate. For this game, I only opened a guide when I needed to know – is the answer nearby or someplace else?

Unlike Link’s Awakening, however, I found that the answer was almost always close by. There were also only a few times where my progress was interrupted because I didn’t have X or Y items. You get the idea. It still ain’t perfect.

I really enjoyed the dungeons in the latter half of the game where I felt the difficulty was balanced more around a series of increasingly harder encounters and room-based puzzles instead of constant backtracking and guesswork. Or maybe I’m just getting better at the series’ vocabulary.

Sometimes, you push a block, and a door opens. Sometimes, you kill all the enemies in a room, and you get a key. Simple stuff.

Even so, and knowing full well this is a 30+ year old game that’s been endlessly reiterated upon, the game really should’ve been more explicit in its demands and expectations of players.

For example: in the seventh dungeon, Turtle Rock, the player gets a popup saying they shouldn’t proceed unless they have a magic potion (to refill their magic meter). What the game doesn’t tell you is that you need the Ice Rod to defeat the dungeon boss, which is an easily missable item on the other side of the Light World map that isn’t required for any other section in the game.

I understand most people that’ve played this game are speaking about it from a nostalgic POV. They played it growing up. Tips and strategies for certain areas were tribal knowledge. Games were journeys back then.

It’s a weird problem because I’m playing this game on my Nintendo Switch handheld, and I typically space out hour long play sessions over days or weeks. I feel like the average player back then would’ve spent double or triple the amount of time I did dawdling around looking for clues on how to progress. I would love to really soak in Hyrule and appreciate every pixel of the artistry on display here, but that’s just… not how I play games. Obviously I don’t like to rush through games either, but I have my limits. I don’t always need to know what I’m supposed to be doing, but I’d at least like some more direction.

I don’t approach games or films or television shows or books with the goal of “consumption”. But with games, it’s also a matter of ability – both latent skill and learned experience. I mean, other types of media can be “challenging,” sure, but with games, it’s not like films or TV shows stonewall their audience if they don’t understand the plot or the script or the visual storytelling. Movies don’t stop if you don’t ace a pop quiz or whatever. Video games are different. You’re getting pop quiz after pop quiz and if you don’t pass each one consecutively, you get held back.

Written guides feel like cheating if you ask me. But also, what else are you supposed to do? Spend countless hours trial-and-erroring your way towards victory? You do you, man. If you’ve got that kind of time – by all means, go for it. Thing is, I didn’t grow up with this. I’ve got hundreds of games I want to play. I’ll do guesswork until I’m red in the face and then I’m just using a guide because I need to progress.

Just tell me where I need to go. That’s it. If I need an item in the desert, tell me. Give me a popup that says, “Hey [playername], you might need an item from the desert to access this dungeon”. That’s all I need.

I also definitely abused the rewind feature on this one. Too many ridiculous traps and combat encounters to contend with later on. Way too much combat for my tastes. The i-frame windows are not generous at all, some enemies practically stunlocked me to death in some instances.

Maybe you’re a fan of the cryptic puzzles. Maybe it makes you feel like a real adventurer. That’s great! I love that for you. I don’t want to yuck anyone’s yum.

My enjoyment of the game was split 50/50: on one hand, when I was able to figure out a puzzle solution or traverse a dungeon on my own, I had a blast; on the other hand, whenever I ran into the myriad progression-halting puzzles or trial-and-error boss fights, I felt like I was banging my head against a wall. My score reflects this experience.

You might want to play this one with a guide.