Game of the Month #92 (September 2022) - The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

In all his glory Link ventures back to the land of Hyrule. The predecessors of Link and Zelda face monsters on the march when a menacing magician takes over the kingdom. Only you can prevent his evil plot from shattering the peaceful Hyrule. In your quest you'll venture into twisting mazes dungeons palaces and shadowy forests. Test your mettle with mighty swords and magical weapons. Or heft a boulder and hurl it at your enemies. If the going gets tough dive into a river-you can swim to escape! Learn powerful spells locate magical artifacts and solve the mysteries of the evil magician and the hidden realm of Hyrule.

Had my "first" session:

Got to the East palace

This is my third attempt at this game as I tend to retire it at some point hopefully this time I beat it. I get why people like this game but i do find it rather difficult and the controls can feel stiff. It a beautifully created game but I do feel it can be unforgiving at times. Last time I remember getting to the sand dungeon and the worms in there constantly killing me but was certain I got past them the first time. Well we'll how far I can get this time

Had my "first" session:

Got to the East palace

This is my third attempt at this game as I tend to retire it at some point hopefully this time I beat it. I get why people like this game but i do find it rather difficult and the controls can feel stiff. It a beautifully created game but I do feel it can be unforgiving at times. Last time I remember getting to the sand dungeon and the worms in there constantly killing me but was certain I got past them the first time. Well we'll how far I can get this time

I get why people like this game but i do find it rather difficult and the controls can feel stiff.

So this reminded me of a story I find kind of funny. The first time I attempted to play this game it was on a GBA emulator on my phone, and having to use touch controls for the buttons just added to the difficulty. Later when me and my brothers got a Wii U we officially got the game on there, and my brothers were struggling with the early game difficulty. But because of my experience playing with touch controls having actual buttons was such a relief and allowed me to breeze through much of the game. Only died like 5 times overall, mostly to the same boss.

As far as pure iterative sequels go, A Link to the Past is up there with SNES greats like Super Metroid, Super Castlevania IV and Mega Man X as one of the best NES to SNES revamps. It takes the format of the first Zelda title and expands outwards in all directions. The overworld is more vividly realized, visually distinct and rewarding to explore, the player has access to many more items with both niche/situational uses and more universal applications. Boss fights are generally more structured than the HP sponge enemies in the original game, dungeon spaces are more playful and experimental in their structure, and offer simple puzzles as diversions in between the usual endurance gauntlets. As if this wasn't enough on its own, the presence of the mirror image dark world functionally doubles the available map real estate, which can border on superfluous padding at times but often gives the player more opportunity to explore and discover a great new upgrade. Nintendo would return to this second-world conceit several times, both inside and out of the Zelda series, and it's rarely been more effective than it is here.

Though I personally find the combat and puzzle solving a little too simplistic for my tastes and prefer a few of the later Zelda releases over it, I can hardly fault the game much for that, and considering how much of a massive improvement it is over the first few Zelda titles it's no wonder that A Link to the Past became the template that all future Zelda sequels would pattern themselves after.

I played today until I got the Pendant of Courage, the first dungeon. What a nostalgia trip!

I forgot how the intro of the game feels surprisingly mature for a Zelda game:

I think I'm the only one that will do this:

This is such an underrated track, I think it's my very favorite from the franchise:

Oh, and it's such a shame that A Link Between Worlds is now trapped on 3DS. I absolutely love that game, the idea of being half remake and half new game is genius.

I just finished A Link to the Past on GBA, I almost finished at 100% but I need to find a friend to beat the Four Swords portion with me so I can move onto the extra dungeon.

Anyways this game is a good 2D Zelda game and a good game overall. I didn't feel like the game was all that though.

I hated just how much knockback the sword had when you hit enemies with it. Especially sucks when you're next to a ledge and have little other options.

Sometimes when enemies or boulders are high up in the air, I assume that I shouldn't be hit by them when they're in that phase, but I get hurt by them anyways which sucks.

Sometimes there will be enemies or moving obstacles in the way when going through a doorway or stairs and there's nothing I can really do but get hit.

Dungeons also weren't really that memorable for me either. Nothing made them interesting or standout in my mind.

I've always heard great things about A Link to the Past and while it's certainly not a bad game, I don't personally feel like it lives up to that hype. That might just be me though.

I just finished A Link to the Past on GBA, I almost finished at 100% but I need to find a friend to beat the Four Swords portion with me so I can move onto the extra dungeon.

Anyways this game is a good 2D Zelda game and a good game overall. I didn't feel like the game was all that though.

I hated just how much knockback the sword had when you hit enemies with it. Especially sucks when you're next to a ledge and have little other options.

Sometimes when enemies or boulders are high up in the air, I assume that I shouldn't be hit by them when they're in that phase, but I get hurt by them anyways which sucks.

Sometimes there will be enemies or moving obstacles in the way when going through a doorway or stairs and there's nothing I can really do but get hit.

Dungeons also weren't really that memorable for me either. Nothing made them interesting or standout in my mind.

I've always heard great things about A Link to the Past and while it's certainly not a bad game, I don't personally feel like it lives up to that hype. That might just be me though.

I've always heard great things about A Link to the Past and while it's certainly not a bad game, I don't personally feel like it lives up to that hype. That might just be me though.

I think so too. I've played the game a few times, first when I was a kid on my SNES, and most recently a few years ago on an emulator. I started it again two days ago for this month, but I decided that I didn't feel like doing another playthrough of it at this moment. I also forgot how short the range on Links sword swing is. Overall it's a good game and doesn't do anything badly, but there's just better games in the same vein in general now, and also better 2D Zelda games. If I wanted to revisit this implementation of Hyrule I'd probably replay the 3DS game over the original.

For the time it was quite impressive, as it's certainly bigger and better in every aspect than the NES Zeldas that came before it, and was one of the best SNES games on the platform. Imho Link's Awakening already surpassed it though just two years later on the Gameboy.

It's not a bad game at all, but from todays standpoint also not that impressive. I imagine a lot of the hype is from people who haven't played it since they were a kid, and thus have rose tinted glasses, or of course because they have such fond memories of it.

Made it to the mountain tower. Got the orb just need to do the boss now

Beat the Mountain tower and got the master sword now at the the hyrule tower. Reached the mage at the top but I keep dying on the gauntlet back up to him

So beat the mage and now in the dark world. Made it to the dark palace but missing a key I need to open currently the only path I can see

Already gotten further then I have before in the game and was able to beat the sand worms that made me retire last time. I see where I was failing now. I was trying too desperately to hit the worms and not dodging the projectiles. Considering that the projectiles always go off in the same pattern it's no wonder I was losing when I was prioritising them

Wish the dungeons had shortcuts for getting to the boss easier instead of making you climb the whole dungeon again to fight the boss

So yeah EoW update and I feel it's difficult to really review this game nowadays in terms of how it was perceived in the day. I can tell in parts this is a great game and there's alot of well designed ideas in here but it misses so many ease of life features you find in games of today such as shortcuts to bosses, fast travel, saving anywhere, etc. I'm basically just complaining bout the game but I'm still playing and I'm still making good pace in the game even without these ease of life features.

The things I like are the world and the setup for the dungeons for the most part. While I wish for shortcuts to the bosses they aren't infuriatingly large and easy to navigate once you figure out what you are doing. The world is also vast and have many hidden secrets hidden thoughout it and is a very well designed open world.

Got 2 pendants and working on the 3rd. I’m enjoying it so far; this is only my 2nd Zelda game and I’m leaning on a walkthrough. I don’t want to have to use it for the entire playthrough but I feel like I’m going to need those extra hearts for the bosses. Wish the map would be marked whenever you found a Great fairy or fairy farming spot since it’s easy to forget what’s where. For now I’m just marking up a photo I took.

Sometimes the controls get to me a bit when fighting. I’ll swing my sword but if the enemy in front of me was down a pixel or two I’ll miss and then I’ll get hit. It’s not enough to seriously make me mad though. The dungeons themselves (so far) aren’t bad to go through.

I’m a little disappointed that the Zora are still hostile toward me even though I contributed to their economy.

I feel like for the top most temple on the map someone said, “Let’s see… we haven’t had a rage boss for a while…” It bumped me out of the room and I landed on an enemy that took my last heart. 🤬

There are strategies for this boss but what worked for me was persistently chasing its tail out of sheer annoyance. Who knew?

I feel like for the top most temple on the map someone said, “Let’s see… we haven’t had a rage boss for a while…” It bumped me out of the room and I landed on an enemy that took my last heart. 🤬

There are strategies for this boss but what worked for me was persistently chasing its tail out of sheer annoyance. Who knew?

I also love how it completely resets its health every time you get knocked out of the room 🥲

I also love how it completely resets its health every time you get knocked out of the room 🥲

Ahhh yes, that. I may have uttered something similar to your username on a particularly unfortunate instance.

So EotW update:

Not much progress just got to the boss

Beat the boss and made my way to the swamp palace. Returned to the light world and decided to explore a bit. Was able to get a bottle and the swimming flippers. Found the mysterious pond and upgrade my boomerang and shield

Beat the swamp palace

Got a new heart and did the flute quest. Made my way to the skull woods

Beat the skull woods. That butterfly arena was annoying to deal with, with its moving spikes. Now trying to find the entrance to the dungeon in the village. Found it in the centre just trying to figure out how to open it

So beat the thieves den boss and moved onto the Ice palace and beat the boss there.

So the dungeons which are move spread out then built like a tower I find enjoyable as it's much easier to get through the dungeon to where you need to get if you die with the tower types you have to repeat the dungeon up to the point where you died. Another thing I noticed is that you don't need the item in the dungeon to beat the dungeon. Which i geuss is something which came along in later series of the game. Feels weird that but it's not hampering the game.

So EotW update:

Not much progress just got to the boss

Beat the boss and made my way to the swamp palace. Returned to the light world and decided to explore a bit. Was able to get a bottle and the swimming flippers. Found the mysterious pond and upgrade my boomerang and shield

Beat the swamp palace

Got a new heart and did the flute quest. Made my way to the skull woods

Beat the skull woods. That butterfly arena was annoying to deal with, with its moving spikes. Now trying to find the entrance to the dungeon in the village. Found it in the centre just trying to figure out how to open it

So beat the thieves den boss and moved onto the Ice palace and beat the boss there.

So the dungeons which are move spread out then built like a tower I find enjoyable as it's much easier to get through the dungeon to where you need to get if you die with the tower types you have to repeat the dungeon up to the point where you died. Another thing I noticed is that you don't need the item in the dungeon to beat the dungeon. Which i geuss is something which came along in later series of the game. Feels weird that but it's not hampering the game.

It has been (had to take a peak at my completions) over 6 years since I played but I feel like I remember needing the item for at least one of the dungeons, maybe it was a later one though.

It has been (had to take a peak at my completions) over 6 years since I played but I feel like I remember needing the item for at least one of the dungeons, maybe it was a later one though.

I was thinking more the armour then another item. I have noticed the game using items once for puzzle and then never again as well but they may get used the further I so can't say just yet until I finished the game

It’s been a while since I updated, but I encountered bad hands in skeleton forest and a liar princess in the next dungeon. I knew something was off about that one… there are a lot of things here that honestly wouldn’t have crossed my mind to try such as using the fire rod to burn away the skeleton. On one hand I like it because it’s a sneaky little gimmick, on the other it can be a bit frustrating since you would probably have spent a long time trying to figure out what to do before trying random things.

I also found out about the difference between the ice palace for the GBA and SNES versions. It makes me wonder what led up to that change exactly. Also it looks like I logged the SNES version by mistake. Whoops. Since it originally came with the cartridge, I’m playing Four Swords as well.

In order to better tackle that stupid puzzle in the Ice Palace (on the SNES version), I always do the dungeons out of order so that I have the Cane of Somaria from Misery Mire on hand. Makes it a lot easier. I completely forgot they changed it in the GBA version.

So I've just finished here's my final day updates leading to the completion:

So made it into the swamp but was missing the medallion to change the weather. Had to look it up but found it was near the tower in the moutains. Got that and the bomb medallion. Entered into the Misery Mire and found the map and compass. Making some good progress in this level

Finished the Misery Mire and upgrade my sword and bow. Just opened up Turtle Rock

So finished turtle rock. Wasn't too bad of a level... until ya went to the 2nd basement floor. Still made it through and killed the boss with ease. Basically two hits per head and then dead. Now exploring the ground floor of Ganons tower

So finished the basement and now heading up the tower. Almost reached the boss but was killed by the room filled with those armored headed creatures

So just beat the game. Got 22 hearts and died 113 times. First full play through. Still see why it's a classic but still it's rather antique game design I felt hampered the game and I'm games have improved since then. I'll write a review but I enjoyed my playthrough but was annoyed when I had to repeat dungeons when I died on a boss

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Completion September 17, 2022
Main+Extras 22h 25m 1s
Notes 22 Hearts: 113 Deaths
Review
+Vibrant open world with many secrets hidden throughout the area
+Some intriguing and well designed dungeons sprinkled through it’s game
+Great variety of bosses fought in each dungeon
-Death at a boss can mean having to repeat the whole dungeon again
-Some puzzle can be cryptic and need better pointing towards solution in the game
Overview: The legend of zelda: A link to the past is a classic top down game with some excellent world design filled with vibrant locations, interesting dungeons with great boss variety and an interesting switch up in the world sections. It main hampers though are it’s more antique game design which is nowadays seen as a nusiance then back in the SNES days. These includes having to repeat a whole dungeon if you die at a boss as there are very rarely any shortcuts to bosses. This is especially an issue with tower based levels. It also can be rather cyrptic with it’s puzzle design with certain items being needed to either enter dungeons or used in boss fights but it rarely up front tells you that you need to get these items and you need to be lucky to figure out where they are in the open world. If you can get past these more antique gameplay design then Link to the past is worth a play through

8/10

Finished. No one told me about those boss reappearances but they actually were not that bad the second time around. Having the equipment upgrades really helps. All in all, I can see why this game is well liked. If I wasn’t using a guide to help me out I’d probably still be working on this since there are some aspects that are a little unforgiving. Like knalb, I’m really not a fan of having to repeat a dungeon if you die. It’s a pretty harsh penalty since you have to retrace your steps and get past other obstacles again just to get back where you were. There was also this one boss in the final dungeon that I beat twice since I left the room to heal. When I went back in to continue, the doors locked and the boss reappeared.

I also expect that unless you’ve played it many times it’s not an easy game to put down for a while and pick back up since it’s easy to get lost unless you finish the entire section you were playing. With that, it’s still a game that rewards exploration and seeking out secrets. I think the developers wanted to really encourage players to look everywhere for everything the game had to offer.

Final word, it was all worth it to see that flute boy made it.

First time playing through this game and I am attempting it guideless.

I have been stuck in certain spots more than I would like to admit, but have still had some fun with it. I'm afraid of putting it down and "shelving" it for awhile because this is definitely one of those games where it's hard to pick up where you left off if you take an extended break.

And done! This game is still fun today, but you definitely have to cut this game a good deal of "it's a 30 year old game" slack to enjoy it. Some of the choices are beyond bizarre, and the game is built to keep you searching for hours for what to do if you don't have a guide. Perhaps the best way to play this game is to somehow come into it blind and just sit in front of a tv for dozens of hours trying to figure out where to go, but I still had a good time using a guide to beat it in a reasonable time. Good game if you come into it with the right mindset, but certainly not the best you can find in the genre.

I'm not someone who takes into account year released when giving scores, but it's certainly a 1992 10/10.

I'd probably give it an 8/10 though.

Would be a 9 without the Moldorm /s