Legend of Zelda a Link to the Past Review Length
Join us equally nosotros review all the games on the SNES Archetype Mini Edition in chronological order!
It's been over 25 years since The Fable of Zelda: A Link to the Past came to the Super Nintendo. That's two decades and some change. V panel generations. A quarter of a century – and I've still even so to play another game with an opening scene that'due south one-half as intense.
Whenever I outset a new game of Link to the Past, I never rush through its first moments. Zelda'southward ominous, telepathic message to Link pairs upwardly beautifully with the storm rumbling outside the motel he shares with his uncle. Link's uncle, too sensitive to Zelda's mental pleas, sets out into the monsoon with a terminal warning to his nephew: Don't leave the business firm.
Luckily, the quondam man can't tell y'all what to do. He's not your REAL dad.
Link plops out of bed, grabs the lantern stowed beside the tabular array, and charges into the belly of the storm. And that'due south the opening minute of the all-time Legend of Zelda game of all time.
It's never easy to rank Zelda titles, heed you. At that place'due south always some biting and scratching over the top three spots, which are typically reserved for A Link to the By, Ocarina of Fourth dimension, and Majora's Mask (I'm curious to see where Breath of the Wild falls in the next decade).
Link to the Past is inarguably a near-perfect specimen of game evolution, though. The kickoff Zelda game for the NES forms the core of its Dna, which is a corking start. And then information technology adds layers to its story, gameplay, graphics, and sound until it blossoms into ane of the best action-adventure games of all fourth dimension.
Though later Zelda games offer libation items, better combat, trickier dungeons, and more than imaginative enemies, I've however to play another championship in the series that's every bit well-paced every bit A Link to the Past. There's no trace of the tedious beginning that 3D Zelda games became infamous for (a flaw Jiff of the Wild rectified, thankfully). The aforementioned storm at the get-go of the take a chance spurs you towards Princess Zelda, whom y'all rescue in the first hour of your take chances. The heaviness of Link's very offset task is a notable switch from The Legend of Zelda and Zelda Two, which brand princess-saving Link'due south terminate goal.
Link is and so instructed to explore Hyrule's overworld and several dungeons to fetch the McGuffins that free the Main Sword from its pedestal. With the Primary Sword in-hand, Link cuts down the evil sorcerer that'due south plaguing the peaceful land of Hyrule—
Simply that'south just the first.
Though A Link to the By never really makes a hole-and-corner out of the Dark Earth, entering Hyrule's twisted twin realm for the first time is a bit of a stupor. You're offered a taste of the land'south shadowy magic quite early in the game, when Link stumbles into a portal on Decease Mountain and is turned into a bunny who's helpless to wield a weapon. While exploring the face of Dark World's Death Mountain as a timid rabbit is overwhelming by itself (specially since you even catch a glimpse of your terminate goal, Ganon'south Tower, looming menacingly on its acme), information technology's nix compared to inbound the Night Globe for keeps and discovering you lot accept 8 more dungeons to work through. The three you articulate on the light side of Hyrule to win the pendants and the right to wield the Main Sword are just a baby-step towards lasting peace – like taking a trip to the hardware store to secure the wrench you need to ready a gushing pipe.
Nintendo clearly knows it created something special with A Link to the Past'south "Light Globe prep / Dark World struggle" formula, because information technology used the same blueprint for Ocarina of Fourth dimension and Twilight Princess. Interestingly, while I appreciate what Nintendo was aiming for with its successive uses of the mechanic, null tops inbound the Dark World, checking my map, and seeing the blinking markers that signal the size of the chore in front of me. Even ameliorate is knowing that the Dark Globe itself is teeming with secrets. There are cervices and caves everywhere that hide Rupees, heart pieces, and even stories from unfortunate innocents and scoundrels who were pulled into the Dark Globe and transformed by its magic.
What's more than, A Link to the By'south dungeons are perfectly-sized. They're not likewise short, and not too long. Each 1 is based on a unique gimmick. Sometimes you explore alpine towers that require you to take leaps of faith down to lower levels (quite a mind-blowing feel if you lot ascend to A Link to the By through the first two NES games), sometimes yous flood corridors to swim across gaps, and sometimes y'all slip-and-side through a network of pipes. Many of the items yous find in A Link to the Past'due south labyrinths have since gained a permanent place in Link's armory, and by extension, pop civilization: The hook shot, the mirror shield, and the Fire Rod are every bit much a office of the Zelda series as swords and faeries.
The release of A Link to the Past marks such a monumental moment in the beloved series' history that information technology feels little to pick at the game'due south flaws. Nevertheless, there are a couple. While the game's backgrounds withal look fantastic (the faux-3D issue used in castles and dungeons literally adds a noticeable new dimension to the flat environments of the beginning Zelda game), character and enemy sprites look kind of apparently. Bosses are likewise wearisome outside of the mammoth Helmasaur King and Vitreous, that nasty-gross pile of eyeballs that rules over Misery Mire'due south dungeon.
It'd likewise be nice if each dungeon in A Link to the Past had its ain theme. The game'southward soundtrack is incredible on its ain, of course – The Giddy Pink Rabbit is one of my favorite pieces of game music, e'er – but I'd like something likewise Dungeon of Shadows to back-trail me while I'grand walking around in circles looking for that last cardinal.
If you want to fire the hookshot at the back of my caput for fifty-fifty bothering to grouse about A Link to the By's miniscule problems, I don't blame you. It's a brilliant adventure that forever inverse the Zelda series, and action-adventure games in general. Its inclusion alone justifies the asking price for the SNES Classic Edition.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the By is superb. If you haven't played it yet, beg your ancestors' preferred deity for forgiveness, then get downwards to piece of work. What's that? Y'all've already finished A Link to the Past 30 times? That's great. Make it 31 times.
v/5
Source: https://www.usgamer.net/articles/super-nes-classic-game-by-game-6-the-legend-of-zelda-a-link-to-the-past
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