After a three-week debate regarding whether Chrono Trigger or Earthbound should be ranked higher; a fight about whether Street Fighter II belonged in the top ten; and a heated argument about Donkey Kong Country that nearly became personal – we finally agreed on something.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is the third-best game on the SNES and not a single member of the New Player Ready crew debated this. Carl immediately began to wonder if there was something wrong with the team. Joe said we may have been experiencing a form of groupthink. Tim worried that we had lost our critical thinking skills. Sam believed possibly we were all suffering from simultaneous strokes. John suggested we put the conversation on hold for now and come back to it once we argued about something else to see if we still had our edge. But we did not do that. Instead, after replaying the game for this ranking, we all came to the same independent decision.
A Link to the Past is that good.
What Makes A Link to the Past So Good
Developed by: Nintendo | Release Date: November 1991
A Link to the Past took everything that was established in the original NES Zelda (exploration, dungeon crawling, gradual increase in power) and improved upon it. The overall size of the game world seems to be much larger than it technically is. The dungeons themselves are well-designed puzzle boxes. The Light/Dark World mechanic creates two completely separate versions of Hyrule that mirror and complement each other.
You play as Link, who is awakened in the middle of a stormy night by a telepathic message from Princess Zelda. The wizard Agahnim has taken over Hyrule Castle and is kidnapping the descendants of the seven sages to break the seal on the Dark World. What begins as a rescue mission quickly turns into a quest to save both the Light and Dark Worlds from the demon Ganon.
The dual-world system is genius design. Once early in the game you gain access to the Dark World, a corrupted mirror of Hyrule, everything is twisted and hazardous. In the Dark World, objects and locations will correlate to their equivalent locations in the Light World. For example, a boulder in the Light World may be a warp point in the Dark World. An entrance to a cave in one world may be inaccessible in the other world.
This creates an endless and constant form of exploration. You are not simply mapping one world — you are learning about the relationships between two worlds. Discovering a treasure chest in the Light World may require you to go to that location from the Dark World. Accessing an entrance to a dungeon may involve traveling between the two worlds multiple times to overcome obstacles.
Dungeon Design – Creating Puzzles for Spatial Awareness
The dungeons of A Link to the Past are among the best in gaming history. Each dungeon is centered on a particular mechanism or item, and the puzzles within are designed to challenge your ability to think spatially, timely and effectively utilize the tools available to you.
The Eastern Palace teaches you the basics – simple switch puzzles, basic combat, the use of the bow as your first large item. By the time you reach Turtle Rock near the end of the game, you will be solving puzzles involving ice physics, multiple floors, moving platforms and complicated enemy placement requiring mastery of all your items.
Ice Palace with its multiple floors and ice-sliding puzzles. Misery Mire with its teleportation maze. Skull Woods with its broken structure located across multiple buildings. Each dungeon introduces new concepts and builds upon the ideas you’ve previously learned. The difficulty curve is perfect – difficult yet non-frustrating and educational rather than instructional.
Challenging Boss Battles
Each boss battle tests whether you have truly learned how to properly use the item you obtained in the previous dungeon. Moldorm requires precise positioning to avoid falling off the tower platform. Blind demands you track an invisible enemy. Mothula combines dodging with environmental hazards. Trinexx in Turtle Rock requires the proper use of both fire and ice rods to reveal weak points in the monster.
The Overworld – Encouraging Exploration
Hyrule in A Link to the Past feels alive and populated with secrets. Heart pieces hidden beneath rocks, behind trees and in caves in the corners of the maps. Caves that require bombs to unlock. Hidden entrances behind bushes. Scattered fairy fountains in both worlds.
The game never tells you where anything is. Your map will show you terrain, but finding secrets will take observation and experimentation. See a crack in the ground? Bomb it. See a circle of bushes? Cut them down and you’ll find a hole. See a rock in an odd position? Use the power glove to lift it.
This philosophy of “rewards curiosity” permeates the entire game. The game trusts your intelligence enough to hide things in plain sight and allows you to experiment to find them. No quest markers. No glowing icons. Simply design that encourages exploration.
The Dark World adds another level to the game. Areas that appeared insignificant in the Light World suddenly become very important in the Dark World. The witches’ hut is transformed into the magic shop. The fortune teller becomes the cursed village. Navigating Hyrule requires you to understand both the Light and Dark Worlds simultaneously.
Combat – Weighty
Link’s movement and combat in A Link to the Past sets the standard for every 2D Zelda that follows. The swing of the sword has weight and length. The spin attack (charged by holding the sword button) will deal a great amount of damage, but you’ll need to time it correctly. Each item provides a unique method for approaching a combat situation.
Using the bow for long-range attacks. Using bombs for area damage. Pulling enemies close or stunning them with the hookshot. Freezing enemies in place with the ice rod. Burning them with the fire rod for sustained damage. You’re not simply swinging a sword mindlessly – you’re deciding which tool to use for the task at hand.
The variety of enemies continues to keep combat exciting throughout the game. Soldiers and spear throwers in the beginning of the game teach you basic enemy patterns. Later enemies like the teleporting Wizzrobe, the shield-stealing Like-Like, and the aggressive charging Lynel require different methods of approach.
The progression of the Master Sword feels earned. You begin with a basic sword. Upgrade to the Master Sword after completing the first three dungeons. Continue to improve the Master Sword with tempering. When you are done with the sword, it will feel legendary because you’ve earned every upgrade.
The Music – Iconic Soundtrack
Koji Kondo’s soundtrack for A Link to the Past is iconic. The overworld theme is probably one of the most recognizable melodies in gaming history. The Dark World theme uses similar themes from the Light World but distorts them to create a creepy feeling. Each dungeon has a distinct musical theme that fits the mood of the dungeon.
The pendant dungeon theme sounds adventurous and mysterious. The crystal dungeon theme is darker and more urgent. Ganon’s Tower music is fittingly epic and ominous. The final battle theme increases in intensity as you advance through the phases of Ganon.
The Sound Effects – Providing Feedback
In addition to the music, the sound effects also provide a lot of feedback to help guide your gameplay. The jingle when you solve a puzzle. The fanfare when you acquire an item. The high-pitched beeps when your health is low. The sound design is used in conjunction with the music to create an immersive audio experience.
Why We Agree
During our ranking debates, A Link to the Past was the only game that generated no disagreement. Joe, the self-proclaimed Sega fanatic, called it “damned annoyingly perfect”. Tim, the newer player, referred to it as “timeless design”. Sam, the strictest standards advocate, praised the tight controls. John, the most vocal British computer gamer, made a brief attempt to say that Zeewolf on the Amiga was better, but eventually gave up after replaying A Link to the Past.
Carl did not have to intervene in any way, which was an unheard-of occurrence and slightly disturbing.
There is a very simple answer – A Link to the Past does not have many faults. The controls are very responsive. The difficulty curve is perfect. The dungeons are well-designed. The overworld is full of secrets. The dual-world design creates complexity in a meaningful way. The pacing of the game is never slow. Each item is useful. The progression of the game is enjoyable.
This is simply game design at its best – a clearly defined vision executed flawlessly. Nintendo had a very clear idea of what they wanted to create and they created it perfectly – no compromise, no half measures, no caveats related to “for its time”.
Is It Still Relevant Today?
Yes. A Link to the Past was released in 1991 and it still plays perfectly today. The controls are responsive. The graphics are clean and easy to read. The design elements are intuitive. The difficulty is fair. None of these aspects feel old-fashioned or archaic.
All modern Zelda games – including Breath of the Wild – borrowed heavily from A Link to the Past. Dungeon design, item-gated exploration, balance between combat and puzzles, and rewards for curiosity. BotW broke many of the traditional rules, but the fundamental DNA remains from this game.
The GBA port added a multiplayer mode and voice acting – disregard both. The original SNES version of A Link to the Past is perfect in its current state. Available on the Switch Online service, easily emulated and still available for purchase on several Nintendo platforms. There is no excuse to not play this if you have not.
Why It Is Ranked Third
A Link to the Past ranks third on our list of the greatest SNES games due to two games barely edging it out. Chrono Trigger’s groundbreaking story and time travel mechanics. Super Metroid’s atmospheric mastery. Both games are more innovative in certain areas.
However, A Link to the Past is the most expertly crafted game on the SNES. Every element of the game exists solely for the benefit of the game itself. The dual-world design creates meaningful complexity without confusion. The dungeons are both instructive and challenging. The overworld rewards exploration continuously.
This is the game that showed 2D Zelda could be more than just “the NES game, but bigger.” This game established the formula that would continue to define the series for decades to come. And it did so with the polish and precision that few games are able to achieve.
The Verdict From Our Whole Crew
As usual, we don’t agree on much. Joe claims that Sega is inherently superior. Tim brings fresh perspectives that often contradict our nostalgic memories. Sam expects nothing but technical excellence. John will not stop talking about British computer gaming. Carl does his best to keep us on topic, but mostly fails.
However, A Link to the Past? We all agree. It is a masterwork of game design that is timeless in design and will continue to be relevant for decades to come. The controls are tight, the dungeons are brilliant, the exploration is fun, and the entire experience feels coherent from start to finish.
If you have never played it, play it. If you played it years ago, play it again and appreciate the design work. If you are creating an adventure game, study this one because it is the template that still works.
Unanimous Rating: 10/10 – The 2D Zelda that perfected everything
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