Game Discussion of the Week: LoZ: A Link to the Past

Although it's probably my less favorite of the 80s-90s Zeldas, I still have fond memories and would easily give it a 5. Every Zelda from that era is a 5 to me; it's only after Majora's Mask (which I really, really like, but at the same time has some flaws that I cannot ignore, so it's a 4) that I start giving lesser grades to them. Oracle of Seasons is probably a 4, Minish Cap is between 3-4, Twilight Princess is between 2-3, Phantom Hourglass is a 2...

10 out of 10 iconic game that is still influential to this day. It excels in multiple categories, including gameplay, art design, music, plot, and you can easily see why this game would be nostalgic to people, as everything in it is notoriously memorable.

Link to the Past was the first Zelda game that I played to completion. I remember watching clips of it in the early SNES commercials, and seeing bits of Link to the Past seemed particularly impressive.

I received the game for Christmas in 1991 and was not disappointed.

It doesn't quite have the same openness as the original Legend of Zelda, and basically set the 1 item/gimmick per dungeon formula that was in use all the way up until Breath of the Wild. Certain areas of the world are locked off until you get specific items from each dungeon, making the overworld a bit like a top-down Metroidvania.

LttP also introduced the Light World/Dark World mechanic which would be used occasionally in the rest of the series, though sometimes flavoured differently like Ocarina of Time's Past/Future mechanic. I always enjoyed this particularly with secrets that required traveling between the light and dark worlds.

Hyrule is bright and vibrant, and the Dark World feels like a drab, hopeless place with all its life drained.

Enemy sprites look great, particularly some very large bosses.

A great, memorable score with both re-used tunes from the NES era and new music that would be re-used in future installments.

And you can kill an evil wizard with a butterfly net.