Facebook – Top 100 FAVORITE Video Games: 42

42: Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES/GBA?)
Developer: Nintendo
Year: 1991

I need you to know right now that Link to the Past might be the best Zelda game ever made. I want you to understand that I might actually believe that. But I also need to remind you that I type the word “favorite” in ALL CAPS in each post’s title, so as to not have you confuse this list with one in which I claim the order of these games really ranks them in my opinion of a different word, entirely: “best”. As such, there will be Zelda games further up this list than this one which some of you might think aren’t nearly as good as this one. That’s fair. But, while my love for Link to the Past is deep, it isn’t deep enough to rank it in the top 40. Having said that, let’s move on! 😀

In a prequel to the original NES games, Link finds himself once again (for the first time) summoned to save Hyrule from the forces of evil. See, somewhere between two and a million years ago, some old sages trapped Ganon in a dark dimension, but now he’s freeing himself and its up to Zelda and Link to stop him, using the power of the seven sages’ decedents in “modern times” – so to speak. This takes him on a quest through Hyrule and after obtaining the legendary Master Sword, he eventually travels to the Dark World, where the Triforce used to lie, to rescue the princess, the sages, and stop the evil Ganon once and for all (or, at least, until later on in the future).  One of the things that I like best about this game is that actually introduces a narrative into the Zelda games. In the NES titles you are Link and you save the world, but you don’t really know what’s going on, there is no living world to inhabit. LttP changes that by giving (text-based) voices to the characters, making them engaging and interesting to converse with.

While the narrative got an upgrades, the visual flair of the game received some, too. Dated by today’s standards, the game still looks crisp as hell, with vibrant colors to help make Hyrule live and breathe. The sprite models for the monsters and the people of the land come alive, themselves, helping to make you connect to the game as you play it. Aside from this, the detail and size of the game is much more grand, giving Link his largest Hyrule to explore in any game, I feel, in regards to simple land space (TOoT, for example, may be “larger” but I don’t think you had as many places to visit and things to see). It makes the game large on its own, even before the transition into the parallel dark world which immediately doubles the size of the game. The music feature is awesome as well, showcasing redone tracks from the past, as well as new songs to help create a more vibrant and freshly tense game.

Speaking of “the game” lets take a moment to talk about the awesomeness of the last Zelda game to come out before playing songs in some fashion was the most important point of the game mechanics. The dungeon crawl and puzzle solving of Zelda titles in the past rings true, here, with tons of areas to hunt for items in. Some of the now-mainstays in the series actually found their start, here, such as the Power Glove (upgraded from the previous Power Bracelets) and most importantly the Hookshot, the grapple item that takes you across chasms and drags dropped hearts and rupees to you. The bosses, too, are awesome, of note being Vitreous… the gel-bag of eyes. Others are cool, too, and follow the simple-to-understand formula of all Zelda games: use the item you got in the dungeon to beat the bastards. Other Zelda stereotypes include Heart Piece collection, fairy bottling, and chicken slashing.

All in all, A Link to the Past offers up hours and hours of classic, 2D Zelda fun, almost the best of the bunch. With engaging gameplay, colorful bosses, and a soundtrack that stands up – in my opinion – as the best of all Zelda games, the SNES outing for Link, Zelda, and company creates a memorable tale that is best experienced, rather than told about. The game is widely available for a number of different platforms (including the recent port to the Wii’s Virtual Console), so you don’t really have an excuse to not play such a great game. Play the game. Do it.

Classic Moment:
People in the Dark World change shape based upon their nature. Link? He changes into a pink bunny. Granted, you get the Moon Pearl and then can travel to and from with no problem, but the first time it happens its just funny as hell. And why is he pink?

Why Link to the Past > Super Smash Bros. Melee:
Kickass storyline. Need I say more? 

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Added March 15, 2017
In the past year I did Link’s Awakening, Link to the Past, Link Between Worlds, and now I’m on Breath of the Wild. It has been a Zelda heavy year, to be sure. I kind of want to get TooT and MM on 3DS but I’m worried, now that I’ve played a Switch, that I’ll find the screen and controls to be off-putting? Hm.