The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Description official descriptions
Recently, famine and drought have plagued Hyrule. When all seemed lost, a mysterious wizard, Agahnim, appeared and stopped these strange happenings from occurring. But there is talk that Agahnim now rules the country with his magic, behind the scenes. And then, one night, the Princess of Hyrule, Zelda, calls out for help - and the one who hears her pleas is a young lad named Link.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is a top-down action game with puzzle-solving elements (similar to the original Legend of Zelda). Players assume the role of Link, and their goal is to rescue Princess Zelda and save the land of Hyrule. All combat in the game is action-oriented - the player can make the protagonist swing the sword at enemies with a press of a button, or spin the sword around for a more powerful attack by holding down the button until it is charged.
Progression through the game is done by conquering a series of dungeons - each dungeon has its own special item associated with it, such as the hookshot (which latches onto a far-off object and pulls Link across) or the hammer (which can be used to flatten objects in your way). Most of these dungeons are rendered impassable until the dungeon's particular item is acquired; from there, the rest of the dungeon becomes accessible due to Link's latest new ability. The bosses of each dungeon are also themed to that level's particular item.
Link starts out with only three units of health; however, these can be increased by defeating dungeon bosses, which give one additional heart container, or by finding four 'pieces of heart'; which can be given for anything from passing a small trial to winning a mini-game. Some of Link's items also use magic - this can be refilled with collectible green magic pots. After defeating the initial three dungeons, Link gains access to the Dark World - many puzzles and difficulties come from alternating between the Light World (Hyrule) and the Dark World to make his way past previously impassable obstacles.
Spellings
- ゼルダの伝説・神々のトライフォース - Japanese spelling
- 젤다의 전설: 과거로 간 링크 - Korean spelling
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Credits (SNES version)
39 People (33 developers, 6 thanks) · View all
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Reviews
Critics
Average score: 94% (based on 51 ratings)
Players
Average score: 4.1 out of 5 (based on 339 ratings with 7 reviews)
The Good
Wow. This game man takes me back. I loved playing games on SNES. So much, I had a friend record himself and I playing them using the old VCR Trick, so I could watch it over and over again. Anyway, If I had to recommend a game that's a must play if you own a SNES, It's this one along with Castlevania 4. The characters in Zelda 3 are phenomenal, Ganon is so fricken good of a enemy. The way he warps time and hypnotizes the soldiers and captures the maidens. He does so much and it pisses Link off. Link has to fight not one but two last bosses. And I got really mad when I got to the top of Ganon's Tower and found Agahnim and not Ganon. I said "Where's the SOB?". There's so much in this game, and it's really long too. Took me as long if not longer to beat this game than Ocarina of Time and I really like that in a RPG.
The Bad
Uhhhhhhhhh, whatever.
The Bottom Line
How would I describe this game? Get a SNES off of Ebay for like $70.00. They're rare now. And BUY IT NOW, screw the auction part.
SNES · by Lake Hylia (2) · 2006
Definitely in the top 5 SNES games of all time.
The Good
Talk about a game that requires you to lock yourself in your room and cut off all forms of socialization. Thats what I did when I first bought this game. It was an instant hook. It was the only title besides FinalFantasy2 that I was longing for that badly and it was the first Zelda for the 16bit era! I knew from the first 5 seconds of this game that it was going to rule, and it did.
The graphics and sound undoubtedly improved 1000% from the NES to the SNES so we finally get to see Link in his nice new 16 bit outfit. It was a welcomed change. This game had a really sweet, highly detailed and enormous overworld to wander around in and get lost. The combat was so much better than the previous overhead view, it felt like you had total control over link now.
There was a sufficient amount of weapons and items to find and kill with. The overall atmosphere of this game definitely sucks you in to the world of Hyrule and whoever worked on this game should recieve some award for making a flawless adventure game full of life, challenge and entertainment.
The Bad
Nothing. Flawless. Absolutely flawless.
The Bottom Line
This game will forever be near the center of the adventure game hall of fame of the 16bit era. Definitely worth playing, you won't be sorry.
SNES · by OlSkool_Gamer (88) · 2004
my favourite video game of all time!
The Good
Everything. The intriguing and exciting storyline, the great puzzles, the whole vastness of the game, with the Light and Dark World, the way it was realised on the SNES, making it look great in 16-bit. Not forgetting the great background music,which really adds to the whole atmosphere of the game. Its my favourite game of all time, it just seems to have everything right which combines to make it simply unmissable
The Bad
Nothing really. Occasionally you could get a bit lost in some of the Dungeons when things got slighty obscure, but thats about it. Its hard for me to find fault in what I consider my favourite video game of all time
The Bottom Line
The best videogame ever made, has all the right ingredients of a truly classic masterpiece, you'd be mad to miss it
SNES · by Big C (56) · 2003
Discussion
| Subject | By | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | GTramp (81867) | May 17th, 2011 |
| tempering the sword | cathy roland | Apr 1st, 2010 |
| Anyone Heard of a Gold Cartridge Version? | mobiusclimber (235) | Dec 29th, 2007 |
Trivia
1001 Video Games
The SNES version of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.
Competition
There is a very well-hidden secret room with the name Chris Houlihan written on a wall tile. He is the winner of a Nintendo Power contest to have his name featured in a game.
Development
The original SNES version of this game took approximately 58,240 hours to program. (Source: Nintendo, World Features Syndicate)
Reception
To add to the evidence of the game's popularity and longevity: When Nintendo Power retired their Top Games list for the SNES, A Link To The Past had remained number 1 on the chart for more than five consecutive years.
References
In various homes across Hyrule, there are pictures of our favorite plumber, Mario on the North wall of each home.
Release date
The Japanese version of the game was released on November 21, 1991. Exactly seven years to the day later, the N64 game Ocarina of Time, was released in the U.S.
Title translation
The English translation of the Japanese title is "The Legend of Zelda: Triforce of the Gods".
Awards
- Electronic Gaming Monthly
- March 1992 (Issue 32) - Game of the Month
- 1993 Buyer's Guide - Best Sequel
- November 1997 (Issue 100) - ranked #3 (Best 100 Games of All Time)
- FLUX
- Issue #4 - #2 on the "Top 100 Video Games of All-Time" list
- Game Informer
- August 2001 (Issue #100) - #23 in the "Top 100 Games of All Time" poll
- GameSpy
- 2001 – #28 Top Game of All Time
- Retro Gamer
- October 2004 (Issue #9) – #16 Best Game Of All Time (Readers' Vote)
Information also contributed by Big John WV, CaptainCanuck, Echidna Boy, gamewarrior, Robbb and Tiago Jaques
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Related Sites +
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OC ReMix Game Profile
Fan remixes of music from <em>A Link to the Past</em>. -
Top 10 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past Bosses
Alex counts down his favourite boss fights from the game -
Zeldapower.com Forums
Message Board for all of the Zelda games
Identifiers +
- MobyGames ID: 6608
Contribute
Are you familiar with this game? Help document and preserve this entry in video game history!
Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Satoshi Kunsai.
Wii added by Corn Popper. Wii U, New Nintendo 3DS added by Michael Cassidy. Nintendo Switch added by Kam1Kaz3NL77.
Additional contributors: Jeanne, Alaka, gamewarrior, Игги Друге, BobaMa, Perfil Falso, Patrick Bregger, Thomas Thompson, Rik Hideto, FatherJack, A.J. Maciejewski.
Game added June 7th, 2002. Last modified November 21st, 2023.