The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

"This game is awesome."

In the golden oldies days of NES (nintendo entertainment system) Nintendo made a game called the Legend of Zelda. The game didn't really catch on at first but if you look at it today it is a huge franchise. Frankly I really didn't like the Legend of Zelda series until my friend played it at my house. And I was hooked on the game like crazy! Its like playing a game that God made himself because it is so good!

You are a young boy name (insert your name here) who wakes up while you are sleeping to hear that the young Princess Zelda is in danger at the Hyrule Castle. Your uncle who is there tells you he will go on a walk (obviously going after her). Along the way (insert your name here) finally reaches the castle. You release Zelda only to know that the evil wizard Agahnim is sacrifcing seven young princesses to unseal the gate to the Dark World where the infamous golden power known as the Triforce lies. You must find three amulets to wield the sword of evils bane the Master Sword! And restore the peace in the land. But if Agahnim gets the golden power/ Triforce he could destroy the land and make our world Dark world.

The graphics are really well detailed but they are killed by the lack of character detail and landscape detail. Link is very tiny along with the other characters in the game except for well.. bosses. But the graphics and environments were gorgeous when the game was released but that was a long time ago. But if you get passed all the 90s graphics then you will see that everything is colorful and cool. Even in dark places the environments are cool. No wonder the Super Nintendo was big! The character designs and models were very unique! It's just like staring at a painting that a famous artist has painted. I was really blown away by these graphics! And I hope you are too!

The sound is just music to my ears. Hearing the old Zelda song in sixteen- bit kind of music. And also hearing the freaky but awesome Dungeon music from Link to the Past. Even though there aren't any voice overs there are a lot of funny and cool sound effects the game is capable of. There is nothing like slashing your enemies to death while hearing them screech as they die. Also when you slash your sword it makes a funny sound along with the other weapons in your arsenal. Like the boomerang, and the bow for a couple of examples.

Controls are pretty basic because you only have a couple buttons but the doesn't make much of a difference. Because that just makes the controls in the game more easier to get the hang of. The reason why some people like the Super Nintendo is because of the controls. It only has a couple buttons making you a king of getting a hang of these controls in like ten or fifteen or maybe even less!

The gameplay is awesome I just can't get enough of it! The story, the controls, the sound, and everything else is just so mid blowing! But the thing that really blew me away was the Gameplay! But I wouldn't call A Link to The Past challenging it's just very addicting. There are many places you can visit or go to, items and weapons to upgrade, and finding new items along the way. The map is really small compared to The Legend of Zelda 1 for NES this is like not even half of the map in Zelda 1. But thats no big deal at all who cares its just a small map. Also just like the other Zelda games you can "save and quit" making the game easier instead of just entering a dumb password.

The fighting system can be a little repetitive because if you are in a dungeon and an enemy hits you will go flying back and might fall through a hole in the dungeon. But other then that the combat system is pretty fun. It's just slow paced at some times when there are too many things going down on the screen making the game a little slow. There are a whole bunch of things you can upgrade in the game. Bombs, arrows, your boomerang sometimes it will cost Rupees (money in Zelda games) to do it. But most of the time you can just find upgrades making your arsenal even more dangerous.

You can obtain heart container (a full heart) by killing a boss or finding pieces of hearts where looking in a place where no one would think to look. If you don't know what a heart container is it is a full heart which is kind of like a health bar. The more hearts you have the more powerful you are. Making the game that much easier for you.

There are many places you can travel in the game. Dark World, Death Mountain, Lake Hylia and all sorts of places. Some missions will have you traveling to these places for getting upgrades or a new item. Sometimes it is just fun to explore the game and see all of its colorful environments and cool landscapes. You might think I'm crazy but if you look for yourself you will know what I mean.

Overall this would be a great game for anyone who owns a Super Nintendo. It would also be good if you could pick up any of the sequels. Too bad Super Nintendos are old news now. If you want this game why don't you check out Ebay or Amazon.com. So what are you waiting for? Buy this game!

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/11/05