The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Super Nintendo
Nostalgia Factor:
If anyone actually read this blog, I’d probably catch a lot of flak for this review. People like to rant and rave about The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and say things like it is the greatest video game of all time, best Zelda game, best Super Nintendo game, etc. I don’t think it’s the best anything.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the Zelda series. I’ve given Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, and Wind Waker perfect or near-perfect review scores on this blog. I haven’t reviewed the OG Legend of Zelda or Twilight Princess yet, but I can guarantee you those games will get positive reviews as well. But A Link to the Past? Ehhhh……
I didn’t grow up with this game, so maybe that has something to do with it. I first played A Link to the Past somewhere between the year 2007 and the year 2009. This is what I call the “dark hours” of my life. I was depressed, lonely, I hated my job, and I had literally zero self-esteem. When I got home from work I’d get blackout drunk nearly every day of the week and pass out with almost no memories of what I had done the day before. I vaguely, VAGUELY remember playing through this game for the first time somewhere in those years. I don’t remember much about the game itself, other than that I was constantly getting stuck and having to look up online what I was supposed to do next. I always thought this was because I was a dumb drunk who didn’t know what the hell was going on, but it turns out that yeah the game is intentionally vague with what you’re supposed to do and where you’re supposed to go next.
I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself. I’ll save my issues with this game for the review itself. Dare to venture forward and hear my unpopular opinions on this game? Let’s go!
Story:
I don’t think the storylines are particularly good in any Legend of Zelda game – and that includes all the other titles I’ve given positive reviews to. Despite being an action RPG series, I’ve always gotten the impression that the stories of these games have played second fiddle to the exploration and combat aspect of the series. This shouldn’t be too controversial of a statement. Compare the story and dialogue of literally any Zelda game to something like Final Fantasy VI or Chrono Trigger and you’ll see what I mean. A Link to the Past is no exception to this.
The basic story boils down to this: An evil wizard has kidnapped Princess Zelda. Link rescues her. Link finds out that this evil wizard is trying to restore Ganondorf, who has been locked away in the parallel “Dark World”, to power. Link goes on a quest to retrieve three items, which allow him to access the Master Sword. Link defeats the evil wizard, but is sent to the Dark World in the process. In the Dark World, Link must rescue the seven sages from imprisonment. Once he does, he is able to destroy Ganondorf and the evil wizard once and for all. The end.
Gameplay:
This is where I have the most mixed feelings. I’ll start with the good. This can be a fun game to play. The controls are responsive, the battle system is improved from the original Legend of Zelda, there are lots of fun items to use, the dungeons are vast and creative, the bosses are great, there are secrets to be found everywhere. I like the whole switching back and forth between the Dark World mechanic. On the surface this is a really fun Zelda game.
To me, it just has too many problems that drag it down. The most glaring one is this: where am I supposed to go? What am I supposed to do next? I’m going to the location marked on the map and nothing is there. What the heck?
There’s just too much of that in the game. You’d think that since the game has a clearly labeled map with a blinking icon of your destination that this wouldn’t be a problem, but it is. Oh it is. You’ll see a marker on your map indicating you need to head to it and enter its dungeon. You do that, but then find out in the middle of the dungeon that you need an item you don’t have in order to complete the dungeon. Where is the item located? I dunno. Somewhere. Yeah, that’s a lot of help. The game map is so big it is like looking for a needle in a haystack trying to figure out where to find it. The game could have done a LOT better mapping these kind of things out for you. I think I ran into this problem once or twice in Ocarina of Time. In this game, I was having to look up help on the internet every few minutes or so.
It’s like this game was designed with the intent of selling strategy guides in order to be able to beat it. I bet those things were hot sellers back in the early 1990s. I just can’t even imagine being able to beat this game without some kind of outside help. It’s just so incredibly vague what you’re supposed to do or where you are supposed to go next. I’m sure if you beat the game with a guide once or twice you’d be able to do it from memory on subsequent playthroughs, but F that. The majority of the game just felt horribly cheap to me.
I feel like I’m being really harsh, but it’s the truth. And it seriously impacted my time with the game in a very negative manner.
Graphics:
Now we’re getting to what the game does well. This is a really good looking game. I love the cartoonish character models. The colors are fantastic. I love how the world of this game looks. I love how atmospheric some segments of the game are, particularly when it is raining or there is something spooky and mysterious going on. A Link to the Past is light years above and beyond anything accomplished in the original Legend of Zelda games. The graphical and technological leap taken is just incredible.
Sound:
The game sounds incredible too. All the little sound effects are just spot on. Many of them have become iconic over the years and can be found in Zelda games to this date. The music is epic. That classic Zelda theme is at its near-best in this game. There are a few Mario World-esque tunes to be found here as well. The music ranges anywhere from sweeping and epic when it needs to be and quiet and subdued during tense moments. This is one of those games I’d advise playing with headphones on. The graphics and the music combine for a truly atmospheric experience. I’m convinced this is why this game is so popular. Not because of the gameplay or the fun factor but for just how groundbreaking its presentation was for its time. Considering this came out in the year 1992, everything about its presentation is just extraordinary.
Overall:
I can’t deny that this game does a lot right. I just talked about the presentation. I’ve already mentioned the controls, the weapon selection, the items, the hidden treasure, the bosses, all that fun stuff. I can see why people love this game.
Unfortunately, I don’t love it. I don’t hate it either, though. Don’t get me wrong. Maybe it is just because this game is so built-up by its fans I felt like I expected more. I thought that this was going to be the greatest, most fun game I have ever played. And it’s not. It just has too many frustrating problems dragging it down. If I didn’t have to stop to look at an online guide every ten minutes, I might have liked this more. It’s not fun getting constantly lost or constantly stuck, not knowing what to do next. It’s not fun advancing through a huge dungeon only to find that you don’t have the key item you need to complete it. It’s not fun when the game gives you absolutely no hints or clues as to how to proceed. This left me constantly second guessing myself every time I’d encounter a difficult puzzle. Do I have the item I need to make it through this? Do I need to go back? Let’s look it up online.
Give me the original Legend of Zelda over this game. Give me Beyond Oasis. Give me freaking Golden Axe Warrior for crying out loud.
I don’t hate this game, I just feel it could have been a LOT better. I ended up only having a middling time with it. I am not saying it sucks, but at the same time I’m not jumping out of my seat over it either. Will I ever play this game again? Unless I’m playing through it with my son, probably not. I can see why people like it, but to me it joins Skyward Sword as one of the weaker Zelda titles out there.
Final Score:
C+
Check out my other Zelda reviews:
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