the game that would solidify nintendo's mainline Zelda formula that there would (mostly) not stray from for an unfortunately long time: do three dungeons where you get a new item halfway through that allows you to progress, get the master sword, do a few more dungeons, defeat ganon. throw in some stuff in the overworld and you've got yourself A Zelda.

looking back on it, the jump from 2d to full 3d must have been terrifying for developers to try and figure out how to do right, so it makes sense that they would just try to do A Link to the Past Again But In 3D. i still think this game is a classic but ultimately doesn't hold up under a ton of scrutiny.