Thank fuck the controls are fixed from Zelda 1. Establishes the formula we all know and love. Dungeons (while they do all have the same music, probably for memory reasons) all play very differently from each other, providing a sense of uniqueness that would grow along with the series. The overworld is well designed and I love the soundtrack. There are quite a few individual moments I dislike; dungeon 3 is pretty bad, Ganon's tower is a bit too hard and unforgiving for me, there's some cryptic bullshit to obtain a lot of crucial items and while definitely controls better than Zelda 1, it could still be a little better overall. Still, great sign of things to come.

It was a very neat experience. Feels a lot like the original, just with more stuff, better graphics, a more interesting story, etc. Obviously it was released on a more powerful system, so that's to be expected. It feels like a natural next step for the Zelda series. I'd give it a 8.5/10, it had some annoyances, and Dark World dungeon 5 in particular was a lot harder than I expected it to be, and the mechanic with the hands in DW dungeon 3 was irritating, but overall the game is really fun and enjoyable

HOOOOOOOOOOOLY SHIT QUE JOGO BOM. Primeira vez jogando de fato um Zelda e gostei demais. Tem uma boa dificuldade, passei raiva em algumas partes, mas acontece, tirando isso, o jogo envelheceu bem, é muito agradável nos comandos, ritmo e dificuldade, além de uma ótima soundtrack. Talvez alguns jogadores precisem de alguma coisa para se orientar no jogo, como eu precisei, já que ele não te da tudo de mão beijada, você tem uma liberdade absurda de fazer quase tudo, mas precisa sempre procurar os objetivos em todos os locais, não tem uma direção 100% linear. No mais, ótimo jogo, recomendo muito, não tanto como entrada na franquia de Zelda, mas quem gosta da série ou quer experimentar algo diferente nela, recomendo sim o A Link to the Past

Pros: Adventure. This game honed in on what made people love Zelda on NES, and created an experience that set the formula for the future of the Zelda franchise for decades. Hyrule is still big, you still have tons of freedom of exploration and discovery, but the game guides you through a somewhat more linear approach of progression through a solid story and dungeons. The world feels alive, there's towns, characters, wildlife, and gorgeous music. And as you discover the story, you're put through challenging dungeons with great puzzles and action, cool new items (that hookshot changed the game, man, such a good new item), and then you get a BIG moment, in the reveal of a parallel world, the Dark World. The game is an absolute epic, and I feel the dungeons hold up best of all.

Cons: I hate the graphics, I hate the art style, I hate the sprites. I especially hate Link's sprite... And it's not just the pink hair, even though that's so weird of a thing, considering yellow and orange were available to use in the palette... But it's Link's clothing, not only does it look frumpy and odd, the green of the hat, is a different green from the green of the tunic. And I don't know if it's an OCD something or what, but it bothers me to no end, it literally makes me enjoy the game, this amazing game, far less, having to look at that ugly wonky-ass looking Link the entire time. It's not enough for me to dock this otherwise perfect game a full star, but half a star will do...

What it means to me: Didn't play this game until after OoT, so it was pretty cool going back to this one, discovering so much of what I loved in OoT originating here. Especially the music, Kakariko Village and Zelda's Lullaby, such wonderful tunes. I return to this games OST quite often, it's cozy and inviting, good nostalgic feels. And I do think this is a great game, I see why some folk claim it the best Zelda game.